Life has its ups and downs. We all know that.
Sometimes, we start with a task or change we want to do for ourselves, but after a while we begin to feel discouraged. We feel like giving up.
So how do we deal with that situation? How should we react when we feel like giving up?
Let's say your goal is to learn spanish. You have already tried for several weeks, but now you feel discouraged because you don't see much progress.
Let me share some of my tips with you on how to keep going:
1 - The 5 Minute Hack
Even if you don't feel like it at all - tell yourself to start practicing spanish for 5 minutes. Only 5 minutes! After that you allow yourself to take a break.
The psychology behind this is that we humans often make a much bigger deal out of something that actually isn't that hard. The key is just to get started! Once you have started your practice, you will realize that it's not as bad as you actually imagined, and you will probably keep studying for longer than 5 minutes.
2 - Make a commitment
You want to learn spanish? Great. tell everyone about it!
Tell your friends/family: "I will learn to speak basic spanish within 4 months. " or "if I don't learn spanish grammar structure within 2 weeks, I will treat you to a coffee!"
By announcing your goal publically, you feel like you entered a commitment and you don't want to quit or lose your bet.
Of course, you can also do it less drastically and make a written contract with yourself, as long as you keep your promise and don't fool yourself!
...Or maybe write a steemit article about the goal you want to pursue? ;)
3 - Focus on your goals
"When you feel like quitting, think about why you started". I love this quote, because it's so true.
I have already talked about the power of visualization in several posts, and I can only repeat that it's so important and helpful!
We always have a good reason why we start a new task or project.
In our example, we probably wanted to learn spanish because it's a helpful skill in life, or maybe because your job requires another language, or because you are going on holiday to a spanish-speaking country.
Whatever the case may be - remember why you started. That alone is a good enough reason to keep you going!
4 - Allow yourself a break
If you've been practicing spanish everyday for 3 weeks straight, maybe you just need to step back and regain your focus. Treat yourself to one day off. Get out of the house, meet up with some friends, have a good time. Just take some time to re-fuel and re-energize!
When you get back to work the next day, your head will be much clearer, and you will feel refreshed and maybe even more motivated than before.
Sometimes a break can have a positive impact on us - of course that's only the case if you limit your "down time" to a certain time frame, and continue working afterwards!
5 - Look how far you've come
If you give up now, everything you've done to work towards your goal so far would go to waste. You may feel like you haven't made much progress in learning spanish, but think about what you HAVE learned - wouldn't it be a pity to just forget about all of that? All the hours that you put into this already? Than you might have just watched TV instead of practicing spanish.
Look at your accomplishments, and you will realize that it wouldn't be a smart decision to give it all up now.
And if you need help realizing how far you've come, visualize it, write it down, or let someone else tell you it. You are not giving yourself enough credit!
Whatever your goal is - losing weight, learning a new skill, working on a project or even writing a Steemit post - keep going.
Even if you feel like taking a nap, like forgetting about everything - DON'T. Keep moving.
There's a reason why you started, so you have a reason to finish it!
You can do it!
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© Sirwinchester
Nice writing!
This example with a spanish is exactly what I'm up to right now! I was like "wow, yeah, I really need to focus!"
Thanks for the post
what a coincidence, awesome! Yes you should start practicing your spanish now then!
Especially true of working out. Sometimes you feel like it's the last thing you want to do and would rather "start tomorrow." Tomorrow never comes because it's now today, so starting today is what makes all the difference.
Step two and making yourself accountable is a brilliant and often overlooked strategy. If you know that you will owe someone if you don't do something that should motivate most of us to do so. The larger the amount you'll have to give, the more likely you are to follow through with your goal.
This can also work in reverse. If you want to help a friend, you can give them some positive reinforcement by taking them out and doing something they enjoy if they reach a certain goal.
You're full of helpful practical tips @sirwinchester. It's no accident or luck that you have been successful. I find that the harder I work at something the more "luck" I have. I build my own luck through hard work :)
great article as always, inspiring
Great post, enjoyed reading it...
great quotes, thanks for posting
Excellent piece, cant believe I wasn't following you . Sorted now!!
Yes, you are right. I always have remind myself why i have started- never do things by halves
@sirwinchester Great post and ideas.
Sometimes it helps to write down your goal / purpose.
Then look at that piece of paper throughout the day to keep your focus and not give up.
That's some seriously good stuff sir, so glad I started following you after our classical music conversation yesterday (?).. I'm reading this thinking "Wow this is the way I'm trying to work Steemit to be successful" and also seeing how much of this I'm not doing, that would be good to implement, or at least implement better. God bless, Guy
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step...
You motivate me everyday again <3
Number 4. I need to give myself a break.
couldnt agree more!
#1 is so important. I think we all try to achieve a goal with huge effort, all at once, at the outset. But you're so right - success comes from consistent, smaller efforts. Habits and commitment. It's frustrating when you see others quickly achieve a goal you're been working toward for a while. But I'm not sure I want quick success anymore. I think that would affect me negatively in many ways. Better to work for it and enjoy the quest.
"It's frustrating when you see others quickly achieve a goal you're been working toward for a while. "
I would think about it this way: Hard work beats talent.
One guy is talented, he is fast and gets to the finish line quickly.
The other one knows that he takes longer, but keeps going continuously.
Many people think that this would be a bad thing, but it's good. it means that hard work and patience pay off. Maybe the one guy is not talented in THIS skill, but he has other talents! And if he puts the same amount of effort in there.. he will create something big
thank you for this reminder, I needed EXACTLY this right now. upvoted
you are such an inspiration. thank you for sharing your tips!
Excellent post! This post is highly recommended for everyone, especially new steemians.
I will refer to this post in my next post for encouraging our growing community.
Steem on,
Mike
That's awesome thank you! And also thanks for your feedback, appreciate it!
Thank you @ sirwinchester this was a very inspiring post, I often have felt like giving up on life lately.
You should delete "giving up" from your vocabulary ;)
Remember that you are not alone. you can get support from anywhere, no matter if physical or via internet, your voice is being heard - as in this case!
Life can be bad sometimes, but we can be certain that it can only get better then - so stay patient
i think tip 5 is especially important. we keep working and working, and forget to look back at how far we've actually come!
Not sure I felt like quitting this morning, but had a ton on my plate and started feeling down. #3 reminds me to remember what I'm trying to accomplish and what it means to us. Thank you for all of these. Followed ya!
thank you! Glad that you liked it!
it's destiny that I found this article right now, it's exactly what I needed! I'll get back to studying now lol
thank you for sharing your knowledge, this is very helpful. upvoted so hopefully many more people can benefit from it!
Great content as always💪🏼 thanks for the motivation boost
You two make gold out of everything you touch. I can't say I have honestly seen two more driven people at such a young age. You are really helping a lot of people more than you know :)
we are here to help and support others, but most people have forgotten that. who wants to live in an egoistic world?
Amen!
"When you feel like quitting, think about why you started"
I LOVE this quote. I try to live by it as much as possible, it's so true!
your quotes look so awesome, great design. love how much effort you put into your posts
Great article @sirwinchester 💙
👍awesome tips @sirwinchester
+1 and following ! Another good one !!!! Keep up the good work ! "Real" value ...
thanks for sharing this material I really like what you posted. Thank you so much
@sirwinchester Kicking goals with both feet! great stuff
nice article. its a good motivation to us. up for you man
Really great quotes and nice motivation article!
I often felt like there is no reason for doing the things I started to work on.
But it is true - Only persistance makes a final success!!
Thanks for this post!
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