I’ve lived long enough to experience multiple times in my life when I either gave up on something, or gave up on something at the perfectly wrong time. What I mean by the wrong time, is that I was on the verge of accomplishing something. It could have literally been within weeks. Sure, you could say I wasn’t focused or disciplined enough to follow through on a few of the projects I have in mind, but from experience, I eventually learned not to do this.
One of the ways I learned not to give up was via having the right encouragement from others who were supporting me to pursue what I was going after. Even if the odds were clearly stacked against me to be successful. What I also learned is that I needed to figure out how to believe in myself. This factor alone would largely contribute to helping me to not give up, and to succeed.
Last week my tenacious persistence, and remaining laser focused on pursuing a project I had been working on becoming a reality for the last three years finally happened. What was even better, was that the project doubled in scope, and will allow me to work with exactly who I wanted to work with. This is despite numerous people saying what I was pursuing was unrealistic, or a pipe dream. I knew that neither of these things were true, and that the people who were saying this didn’t fully appreciate that I could make the projects come to life.
However, in order to make the projects become a reality, I was also aware of the fact I needed to do something completely different than was expected. Leveraging my strategic, creative and communication abilities, I did this. More importantly, I can confidently say I am now on track to do even more things very few people believed was possible. Eventually I will be able to share with you more information about the projects I am referring to, but right now I am not in a position to be able to do so.
The projects I am undertaking are literally going to pave the way, and provide new opportunities and a model for other people, and specifically for women to consider. I’m extremely excited about these facts, and the impact I will be able to have on the lives of people who would never have expected to be doing the type of project work with me they will be.
Part of the reason the project opportunities have been granted to me, is because I have earned the right to pursue them via having just enough experience to do so. Although, more importantly, these opportunities were also offered to me because someone was willing to take a chance on me. They believe, like I believe in myself that I can have a major impact on the people I will be working with, and they are open-minded enough to say “let’s make this happen!”!
When I received the verbal commitment about these projects, I was overwhelmed with pride and happiness. I also knew that all of the extremely hard work of pursuing these projects I had put in over the last three years, was finally paying off. Now, the even harder work will begin to bring the projects to life, but knowing that I will be able to apply my expertise to the people I will be working with will be incredibly satisfying and rewarding for both me and them. Who doesn’t love a win/win scenario?
So, if you are looking for some inspiration not to give up on something you have been either trying to pursue for a while, or potentially related to something you want to pursue, but have talked yourself out of doing so, here are some suggestions to help you get back on track.
· Find at least one person who believes in what you are attempting to accomplish. They can either provide you with motivation, or serve as an accountability person to help you remain focused on your pursuit.
· If what you are attempting to do hasn’t been done before, think through, write down, and visualize what the end result of the project will look like. Refer to this information on a regular basis. Have it serve as a “script” for times when you are losing sight of your goal.
· Take a page out of Simon Sinek’s play book, and clearly define your “why” you are pursuing what you are doing. It will make it much easier to accomplish what you are attempting to do when this simple question is clearly defined.
· Create a timeline for your project. Even if it might take years to accomplish what you are pursuing. Having this in place will help to serve as a way to get back on track, if this happens.
· Put a reminder in your calendar on a weekly basis to see where you are on your “timeline”, and be kind to yourself if you didn’t make any progress. There will be times when you might be at a standstill, or have obstacles in your way which are contributing to this. When this happens, think of them as prolonged “stop lights”. Eventually the light will turn green.
· If you have talked yourself out of pursuing something you want to do, but perhaps are afraid of doing, write down a list of the worst and best things that can happen when you accomplish your pursuit. Often the worst things will never happen, and imagine what it will be like when the best things do!
I’m a firm believer that everyone is capable and has the capacity of doing at least one, perhaps multiple incredible things in their lifetime. What will yours be?
TAGS: #Motivation #Inspiration #Dontgiveup #Persistence #Business #Productivity #Empoweringothers #Believeinyourself #Makethingshappen #Pursueyourdreams #Goals #Pursueyourgoals #Leadership