Persistence Pays Off by L.A. Nik

Persistence Pays Off

When I want something to happen, I make it happen. But I can’t do it all alone. Nobody can. You have to associate with people who have confidence in you and support your dreams and your ideas. Those people are out there – it’s up to you to get out and find them.

One of my favorite places in Los Angeles was The Comedy Store and one of the very first people I met was Dean Gelber – the General Manager. For some reason, he and I just hit it off. I think it was because we had a mutual love of cars and mechanical gadgetry. We became really good friends right off the bat and continue to be close to this day.

The Comedy Store became my second home. It became my support network. I hung out there all the time and got to know everyone who worked there. I got to know all the regular comics and all the regular customers. I still went to a lot of other places around town, but The Comedy Store was the place I felt the most celebrated and supported. It felt like home.

When I lost my home in L.A., Dean gave me a home. It was right on Genesee and Santa Monica Boulevard. It was a really nice house and I lived there for a year - rent free. Dean and Mitzi Shore took care of me. Mitzi was always feeding me. They gave me jobs to do, money, even gave me a Range Rover to get around in. Without them I would have had a tough time getting through that phase of my life. They did a lot for me and helped me through a lot and I will always be grateful.

The Comedy Store felt like home to me.

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It was through my friendship with Dean and Mitzi that I learned that there is no one more persistent than a comedian. Even a bad band gets cheered. When people are drunk, they’ll still applaud and cheer. A bad comedian who’s bombing on stage gets silence. That’s the worst possible sound you could ever hear when you’re on stage! But they keep going.

They get on stage in front of these people night after night just praying for a laugh. They try their jokes out a different way. They keep going until they get that laugh from the crowd. And when they get that laugh, it’s an adrenaline rush. It boosts their confidence and they get funnier and more entertaining.

Comedians struggle big time. The Next time you’re at a comedy show, laugh. Even if it isn’t funny. The confidence boost might make them funnier!

Talk about persistence! I have a lot of admiration for Steven Adler's persistence in life.

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I’ve always been an exaggerator. I never lie, I hype. There’s a big difference. When I find a place that I think is really cool, I’ll hype it up on my blog. If I find a new musician that I think has some real talent, I’ll tell everyone about them and how great they are. If I’m promoting something, I’ll send out as much hype as the Internet will let me.

As much as I can hype up my own abilities, I’m also quick to hype up others. That’s one way to get other people to support you. You can’t be taking all of the time. You have to give back.

There's a difference between “a hype” and “a lie.” I will hype stuff to the roof but I'll never lie. Hyping something is exaggerating to the best of something without hurting someone. Lying is hiding something to gain an advantage.

Hyping is saying, "This is the best show and you'll have the most fun on a Sunday night ever!”

I love finding new things and sharing them with others. That’s my whole basis for staying in Minneapolis! I think Minneapolis has a lot of potential and has a lot of cool things to offer! I’ll do whatever I can to get people to see what I see, to go where I go.

You don’t have to buy into everything I say. You can disagree with me all you want! Just join me for a cocktail sometime and listen to what I have to say. Allow me to convince you. 

If you’re still not convinced, then be on your way. I’ll never beat a dead horse. Everyone has a limit to how much they can hear. I know when to quit. As soon as people tune me out, I’m done. Usually, I’m the one tuning them out. But then again, I get bored easily.

Persistence is similar to struggling for your dreams. You have to keep that at the forefront of your brain at all times. You can’t let yourself get distracted from what you want most in life. Like the comedians who torture themselves every night on stage telling jokes to a silent audience. To them, it’s rehearsal. It’s stage time. It’s practice until they get really good and get their own special on Comedy Central. To them, the silence is worth it for the huge laughs they’ll get later.

Each day in your life is stage time. Learn, create, and share every day of your life. Never give up and never quit a day too soon.

I know I’m a pest and I know I get demanding. But when I really believe in something, whether it’s myself or someone else, then I won’t give up until somebody else sees what I see.

I hosted the Paralympics' Nordic Skiing World Cup and met
so many people with more persistence than I'll ever have. It
was very inspirational.

This is true not only for business and making your dreams come true, but also in pursuing relationships. You have to pay attention to when it’s a good time to pursue someone and when it’s a good time to pull the plug.

Timing is everything.

When I was on the pursuit of my girlfriend, Nancy, I knew she was something special and I knew we’d be good together.

She wasn’t so sure.

Two days after meeting her I had to go to L.A. so I asked her to go with me.

“Are you crazy? I just met you! I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said.

Okay, I have to admit, that made sense. But while I was out in L.A., I texted and called her every day. I made sure she knew I was interested and I was serious.

Best of all, she responded every time. If she hadn’t responded or texted back with “Stop texting me, you creep!” I would have left her alone.

But she didn’t.

Two week later when I came back, we had a date and have been together since. That was over six years ago.

Persistence pays!

It wasn't easy getting a mid-western, crop duster's daughter to
go out with me but persistence paid off.

Everything I’ve ever done was because I had the confidence to back up my hype. I’ve met thousands of people all over the world. Some of them have remained my close friends to this day. I just keep going to new places and meeting new people. The more people I get on my side, the better for me, the better for my friends and the better for the place I’m living.

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I went to Catholic school in my childhood so I know about the bible. And guilt.

There is nothing more persistent than religion – it’s the ultimate hype. I do believe in a guy named Jesus Christ. I do believe he existed. No matter where you are in the world, there are calendars based on his life. That’s just too big to be a hoax. There had to be a guy named Jesus who was born and died.

Think about it, you can’t make up a story and make it take over the whole world. It couldn’t happen today – it wouldn’t last. The odds are that he did, in fact, exist. There are twelve different books written about the guy in twelve different parts of the world. They didn’t know each other when those stories were written. They certainly didn’t email one another or send each other text messages.

Who knows what the real story is. Back in the day, you would have been stoned to death if you didn’t believe Jesus was the son of God.

That is some serious hype!

Think of it this way: if I told you a story about a man I knew and then you tell the story to your friends and they tell their friends, by the time it gets out to hundreds or thousands of people, the story has changed! It’s human nature. People make up stories every day. Stories get exaggerated and embellished. Who knows what really happened!

Nothing can be proven.

The persistence paid off though.

Christianity is huge in this world and it all centers around one man.

Let’s put it this way. Our calendars – our concept of time, is based on the death of this one man. 

Now that’s hype.

And persistence.

By L.A. Nik