The first article in a series on Persistence. It starts a few years back with my dear ol’ dad. When I was getting interested in developing a new-product business with the Two Minute Turtle™ Timer, I felt I had to choose—to quit my day job to pursue the new Two Minute Turtle Timer idea or to relegate the business to evenings and weekends?

Most loving parents would tell their child what my dad said, “Don’t quit your day job. You can’t beat something with nothing.” That makes sense. But I weighed my options and, given how much I believed in this Two Minute Turtle Timer and how others were liking it, I determined I’d always regret it if I did not try to give it my full attention. So I quit my former job.

Then, my dad had another reason to reconsider my quitting a respectable day job. “Why does anyone need a 2-minute toothbrush timer, anyway…can’t people hack it?” He was asking whether tooth-brushing for 2 minutes is really so hard that you need to buy a special new timer to do it correctly? Good question—especially for older generations who didn’t grow up with as many gadgets. But, it turns out that two minutes of something you don’t want to do, like brushing teeth, is not as easy as it appears. Two Minutes is a rather long time to focus, yet so brief that the brusher might wonder if it matters.

Next, my dad asked, “How about a one-minute timer? I brush for one minute. Two minutes is too long to brush teeth.” So we made a one-minute timer but not many wanted it. Then, a year later, his dentist told him he needed to start brushing his teeth longer—for 2 minutes. So, my dad dug up the Two Minute Turtle Timer I’d given him and he tried it out. After all those reasons why he was against the whole idea, to his surprise—and my delight—he found the Two Minute Turtle Timer was helpful for brushing his teeth! And he was even willing to go on the record saying so.

Dad taught me from an early age the importance of persistence for achievement. So in the first weeks of a new year, 2020, from the Two Minute Turtle Timer, our message to you and to us is: persist! Keep taking it slow and steady and you will get where you need to go.