Think As Inc

DON’T GIVE UP

March 15, 2010 on 1:04 am | In life coaching | No Comments

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." -- Annie Dillard, Pulitzer Prize winner

On January 1, we were pumped, inspired, and motivated to have a super new year.  As the days pass, our resolve may wane.  The exercise routine becomes tiring.  Those networking goals become tedious.  That research into your dream career can wait.  If you miss a day or days or weeks, just start over.  If February or March or even April has to reset your clock back to January 1, then so be it.  Just don’t give up.

Our goals are made up of small steps over a big period of time.  Like the quote says, our days add up to our lives.  It may not seem like you’re doing much each day, but it adds up over time.  Skipping a day might not seem like a big deal, but that adds up too.  Motivation doesn’t just come like a bolt of lightning.  Motivation is fed by action — persistent activity, discipline, small steps each day.

Don’t beat yourself up over missing a small period of time (or even the first weeks of this year if that’s your case).  Get back on track, and when you look back over a longer time period (say, a few weeks), you’ll have a more realistic view of your progress.  Maybe you exercised half of those days.  That’s great!  Now shoot for three quarters of the days over the next period.  Maybe you had just one networking lunch.  That’s a start!  Now shoot for two, and you’ll have doubled your result.

Don’t give in to the temptation to quit just because you don’t stay perfectly on track.  The path to success is never linear.  Expect some bumps, plateaus and ruts along the way.  Just keep moving and eventually you will pass them by.  Just don’t give up.