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We live in a world where answers are just a search away. AI, Google, and YouTube can give us solutions in seconds. That’s great, but it also means we don’t practice persistence as much as we used to. In the latest Five with Fry, I share a story about why sticking with something matters and what you gain when you do.
The Website Struggle
I was building a new site for Coordle using a tool that generates code from natural language prompts. At first, I built it out as separate pages, but then I realized I had no idea how to connect them. Hours of Googling and YouTube videos later, I was irritated and stuck.
This is the moment when most people quit. They stop at frustration. I didn’t. I kept tinkering, kept asking myself, “What haven’t I tried yet?”
The Breakthrough
That question led to the answer. I didn’t need separate pages. I needed one central page with navigation that led to everything else. I copied the code from my original pages, pasted it into the main one, and it worked. Problem solved.
The real win wasn’t the website working. It was the new skills I gained in the process. I figured out how the tool actually functions, how pages flow, and how to give prompts that get me what I need.
Why Persistence Matters
There’s a particular satisfaction in sticking with a problem until you figure it out. I call it the “glory” moment—the point when you realize your persistence paid off. That’s when growth happens. If I had quit, I never would have learned what I now know about web design, coding, or even how I approach problem-solving.
Persistence isn’t about suffering through for no reason. It’s about staying with a problem long enough to discover a new way through it. The learning lives in the struggle.
Final Thought
When you hit that wall of frustration, don’t let it stop you. Ask, “What haven’t I tried yet?” That question might open the door to your next breakthrough.
Want to hear the full story? Listen to this week’s episode of Five with Fry.
