BIG Staying Power: Never Give Up
Hello Monday Motivators! Welcome to June. The year will soon be half over and so now comes the big test. What goals, ideas, plans, or dreams did you set the beginning of this year? And where are you on that journey? Are you trying to catch your breath or are you humming along?
It’s easy to start out with big ideas and dreams and lots of enthusiasm, at work or at home. It is also easy to lose your enthusiasm and energy when things aren’t going as you planned. As something becomes more difficult or you meet roadblocks you had not expected, it is easy to say, “Why am I bothering with this?” Or, “This is too much work or too hard.” “Maybe I don’t want this as badly as I thought.”
This is the time to look at what we are doing or want to accomplish and evaluate the importance of it. Will this particular idea save money? Will this goal bring your closer to your life’s dreams? How will this new process impact your department or organization? In what way might this impact your community?
Any idea, concept, goal or dream we have that will benefit others and ourselves, is worth fighting for. I’ll offer you some tips for staying motivated and on track to give you some of that much needed, Staying Power. Most often, the road is not going to be straight and fast. The road to achievement is more like a winding road – up a mountain, with steep drop-offs, (and sometimes there is snow and ice)! There are ups and downs; you don’t know what to expect as you go around the next curve.
In fact that reminds me of a story about when my husband, Dave, and I drove from Lansing, Michigan to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2000. We were moving to the desert! It was mid-fall and we decided to take the northern route on highway 40 so we could take in all the beautiful scenery of Colorado and Utah. The moving company warned us that the weather could take a quick turn-for-the-worse during that time of year, but we checked things out and thought we would coast through without any hitches.
Boy, were we wrong. When we started our way up into higher elevations, we felt the temperature drop. The gas station attendant told us that snow was probably coming so we got in our vehicle and decided to keep moving. We were actually doing pretty great, enjoying the huge mountains until we came around the next turn and – BAM! – tons of big, white, frozen flakes were coming down hard and fast. All of sudden Dave could barely see the road. The roads were quickly covered with snow and we were on winding, steep hills. Dave was determined to go on, but I told him to stop and spend the night in a nearby small town. Stopping for the night was a good decision as the weather grew worse throughout the night and roads were packed with mounds of snow. The next day we awoke refreshed and continued our exciting journey all the way into Las Vegas desert (free and clear of any snow-packed roads!).
5 Tips for Staying Motivated and On Track:
- First, tell yourself you are not going to give up. You might have to change your approach or develop better persuasion skills to sell an idea at work, but you are not giving up.
- Look deep inside as to how you really feel about this idea, goal or dream. Think about its level of importance to you or how it might impact others. Is it something you really want? On a scale of 1 – 10, with 10 being “I can’t live without having/doing this!,” where are you on the scale?
- Study all the outside variables that are slowing you down—is it lack of knowledge, finances, networks, mentors, family support? In other words, what barriers are blocking you from being successful and moving forward?
- Is it your own thinking? Fear about failure or fear of success? Think long and hard; get to the root. Then you can develop a plan of action.
- Enlist the support of others. We can’t achieve our goals, ideas or dreams on our own. At work, who can be your cheerleader? In your personal life, who can push you through to the finish line?
No doubt staying power is a key to success. When you read any books, articles, or magazines about highly successful people, you see that they did not have it easy. If anything, they had monumental hurdles to face and they did.
What additional tips for staying motivated and on track would you offer to your peers? Let’s discuss in the comments section below.
Wishing you a great week. Stay focused… stay on course… see your ideas become reality.
Joan Burge
Image courtesy PicJumbo.com
