What would be different about your life if you were to never give up on anything you ever started? How would this impact you? Every single day we think of hundreds of excuses why we shouldn’t do something. It starts the moment our alarm clock goes off, and we make that decision if we should get out of bed or hit the snooze button.
You hear the buzz of the clock and the tiny voice in the back of your head that whispers, “it’s ok, just lay here for another 15 minutes”. In doing so, you make yourself 15 minutes late for the start of the day and create an unnecessary frenzy.
We’re all guilty to a degree of doing this and allowing self-talk and self-doubt. Sometimes it’s the effort that we have to put in that gets to be too much. You can almost always come up with a reason to quit; however, what you need to do is find the motivation to move forward and stay the course.
I was never much of a runner growing up and only started regularly running in my 40’s. I was in decent shape but never imagined myself being able to complete a half marathon. The distance seemed long and unnecessary. Who needs to run this far unless being chased by a wild animal?
Race day was an abysmal mix of rain and wind. At the start, we were cautioned over the loudspeakers to complete the race in 3 hours as the next high tide was due and would inevitably cause additional flooding. As if there wasn’t enough pressure, now there was a time constraint. And what about this part concerning ADDITIONAL flooding? 3 miles into the race, the course took us through a completely flooded side street.
With no way to avoid the puddles, I trudged through ankle-deep water. My training did not consist of running in waterlogged sneakers for 13.1 miles, but so be it. When I approached the finish line, wind gusts blowing at my face at 20 MPH, completely soaked, I looked up and saw a time of 2:11 minutes. I didn’t think that was bad for a first-timer considering the conditions.
There were a few times during the race that I could have easily called it quits, but I wasn’t going to give up! I broke the course down into small segments in my mind (maybe 3 miles at a time), and when I completed 3 miles, I focused on the next three. That’s how I made it through the race and how I approach other portions of my life.
How can you create a mindest where you never give up on anything starting today?
Nothing is easy
Being successful takes hard work day in and day out. If success were easy, everyone would have it. Take on the daily challenges head-on. Some days will be better than others, but remember that most times, you are chasing your dream, and no one wants to give up on their dreams. The video below was shared with me by a friend and former co-worker who, like me, finds inspiration when she needs it. The message is powerful and discusses your purpose and your gift. “The way you overcome your fear is with your dreams. Make your dreams so big that nothing matters but your dreams” – Steve Harvey . This video is worth a watch when you have time.
No one wants to live with regret
Have you ever had an idea and didn’t act on it only to find two years later someone pursuing precisely what you wanted successfully? It’s a terrible feeling to live with regret. Do what you want to now so you don’t live with regret in the future. There are a million things in life to try, and many people give up when they don’t see their dreams turning into reality. The beginning is always the hardest part. Similar to when you are pushing a stalled car. That first push to move, the vehicle takes every bit of energy you have, but once it gets rolling, it becomes exponentially easier. The same is true with success. Small wins fuel bigger wins!
People are relying on you
As someone with a family, I know that people are counting on me. Knowing I have mouths to feed and bills to pay to keep a roof over our heads is all the motivation I need to keep moving forward. Maybe that’s why I work a full-time job in sales, and a few part-time side hustles at night to help make ends meet. Remember that most everything you need to succeed is within reach.
Success and accomplishment feel great
The feeling when you have achieved a goal is like no other. For me, running that half marathon and crossing the finish line was a true feeling of accomplishment. I trained and prepared myself as best as I could. The race threw some adversity at me, but I overcame each obstacle and finished, which ideally was my goal. Everybody at one time has considered giving up, but it’s when you push through that you find your inner strength.
Failure once does not equate failure all the time
- “I haven’t failed — I’ve just found 10,000 that won’t work.”
- “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try just one more time.”
- “When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this – you haven’t.”
- “Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don’t.”
- “Failure is really a matter of conceit. People don’t work hard because, in their conceit, they imagine they’ll succeed without ever making an effort. Most people believe that they’ll wake up someday and find themselves rich. Actually, they’ve got it half right, because eventually, they do wake up.”
You deserve this
Everyone deserves the right to feel accomplishment and happiness, even you! The bumps and obstacles you hit in the road are just minor delays on your road to success. Learn how to navigate the challenges you face, and you’ll never give up again but instead continue forward.
You may be closer than you think
Success is often right around the corner and closer than you think. If you give up too soon, you could be jeopardizing the success you deserve. Look no further than the story of Arthur Fry, a man who worked for a company called 3M. Mr. Fry sang in the choir at his local church but had issues holding and bookmarking the pages of his hymnals. Mr. Fry mentioned the problem to one of his coworkers who, strangely enough in 1968, had developed a “glue” that just wasn’t sticky enough to hold anything together.
Whenever the co-worker used it to bond things together, they pulled apart. Mr. Fry thought, what if this glue that isn’t “sticky enough” could solve my problem. He tried some of this glue on small sheets of paper, and the Post-It Note was born.
There are numerous stories similar to this all over the internet. Here are 10 of those inventions for you to read about.
People want to see you fail – prove them wrong!
Sad as this may sound, there are always others who are rooting for you to fail. It’s, unfortunately, become the culture that we live in. What better way to show that person what you’re made of then by proving them wrong and proving to yourself you can do it! Tune out the negative and focus on the positive.
Inspire others
Other’s successes inspire people. You never know who is watching, so always strive to do your best and never give up. You’re working hard, and continuing even through the difficult times could be the inspiration they need to continue themselves and ignite the fire they needed. Others always inspire me, and hearing their stories motivates me to try to do better myself.
You learn about yourself
Never giving up provides us insight into our strengths and weaknesses. It teaches us valuable lessons about what motivates and drives us and what works and doesn’t work. The knowledge you learn about yourself today will help you do better next time and overcome the challenges you face in the future.
Stay committed to your dreams and goals, and never give up. If you want to achieve great things in life, you must remain committed. Reasons to quit present themselves to us every day. Focus on the end goal and continue moving forward. Prove your doubters wrong and learn a bit about yourself on your journey. When you push through and work hard, good things will happen, and doors that you thought were closed will open.
How do you avoid quitting in life? Please comment below and share the post with your friends.
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I love this post. My husband once said something which I wrote down and pinned on the wall in my art room. “A mistake made is a lesson learned. Failing proves you’ve tried and without trying, you’ll never succeed.”
It’s so easy to give up and admit defeat, but nothing can beat that feeling of success when you persevere.
Amen! Success is addicting. Once you’ve had a bit you want more.
I’m definitely guilty of giving up easily and moving on to the next thing before I’ve given it a proper chance. I’m getting better over time but it really does pay off if you can stick to something and make it work in the long term.
Great points, especially the one about failure. As a society, we are often taught that failure is a negative thing but it’s a necessary step on the path to success. Small failures and missteps help us learn and grow, allowing us to become the person that we need to be in order to reach our goals! This is an important reminder for everyone. Thank you for sharing.
This was very inspiring and encouraging! My first focus went to your half marathon and your great time for a first 1/2 marathon ever and in your 40s! I think my first 1/2 was 2:31 and I may have been in my early 50s. I’m impressed!
The second thing that seems to be staying with me throughout your whole post is that there are people who are actually rooting for you to fail. And that deeply saddens me. I guess they must be so bitter and so they want other people to feel miserable too. I don’t know. But it’s sad.
Anyway, your post encouraged me to keep going!
Thanks, Alexandra. Two meniscus tears later and my running days are over. Guess that’s what happens when you start late. 🙂
Congratulations on your first 1/2 marathon! It is amazing what we all can accomplish when we keep moving ahead. I really appreciate your reminder that ‘Failure once does not equate failure all the time’. Personally, the fear of failure is my own hardest struggle to overcome. I need to remind myself that it is better to try and fail than to never try at all.
Failure is a part and parcel of achieving something remarkable while in our pursue of success. Learning and moving on is the only way forward. Staying positive is the key without any doubt. Great read.
Absolutely love this, Scott! Could have read at a better time. Phew. I sat for a few minutes to digest the first line. I’m sooooo incredibly hard on myself. On the other hand, good for you in finishing that half-marathon, I love the 3 miles concept, I can for sure adapt that and use in other areas of life. Another thing I always say is that unfortunately, people do want to see you fail, so I will always be here to prove them wrong. Even tho a lot of times, it’s exhausting. haha
Prove those haters wrong!
I am very guilty of giving up on things that I said I will do. In 2020, I am not making any excuses. You are right, we do learn something about ourselves.
Succeeding can be a slow process but quitting won’t speed it up!