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“If you come in a tight place and go all the way, until it looks like you couldn’t hang a minute longer, never give up, because that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Some days are light and filled with inspiration. Some days are just routine.
And on some days you might think to yourself: “I give up”.
You may feel like just giving up …
- Your new habit to exercise or eat healthier.
- Your own small company or blog because you didn’t have the results you expected or desired.
- Real Feel better about yourself.
- Dating because you don’t seem to find the right person or maybe even have a good date.
Ending in such situations is a normal part of making positive changes in life.
But what you do if you feel like giving up will determine a lot about where your life is going.
In today’s article I want to share 10 things that helped me to hold or change direction on those difficult days.
1. Use realistic expectations.
This one has been very important to me.
Use realistic expectations, not by listening to advertisements that promises quick results. Not by listening to perfectionism – from the people around you or yourself – who make no mistakes or failures.
Use it by listening to the people who have already gone where you want to go.
Listen to the people who know what works and how you stumble and fail along the way and you can tell how long your journey can last.
You probably don’t get an exact blueprint. But the things that people can tell you personally or through books and blogs can be a great guidance.
2. Remind yourself why you do this.
It is easy to lose the big whole in the busy daily life.
But if you feel like giving up, try to reconnect why you do what you do.
Maybe it’s the OM:
- Support and keep your family safe.
- Live healthier and longer so that you can see your children grow up.
- See the world and explore new things.
Write down your answers.
Then when you feel like pulling out that piece of paper with your most powerful why (s). It often helps.
3. Remember: it is darkest for the dawn.
This thought helped me to hold when things are felt very difficult and I felt like giving up and going home. Because I found it true.
When it seemed to be at the lowest point with my blog and company, with my dating life or with my motivation in life in general, something always happened.
Probably very often because I am forced to change something at that low point in how I did things.
But perhaps also because life seems to have a kind of balance if I just continue. If I just keep taking action instead of giving up and nothing to do, something good always happens.
Seeing this repetition itself strengthened my belief in taking action and to continue even on difficult days or weeks.
And it brings some comfort, even when things look pretty dark.
4. Connect again with the base.
When I come across a plateau or a longer rough patch, one thing that has often helped is simplifying and reconnecting with the base.
It is easy to get overwhelmed by all the information that is about every change you can make in life.
That can lead to confusion and try to do too many things at the same time.
In those situations it was useful for me to simplify.
To simply concentrate on a few or one of the things I have learned that are the basic foundations in this area of life. To improve my social skills Those things were, for example, to maintain a positive attitude and to adopt an understanding.
5. Learn more and course correct.
Re -reconnecting with the basics often works well. But sometimes during a rough patch or when I’m stuck, it has been useful to change my course somewhat instead.
To investigate how I do things, what results they bring and to compare it to how people who went to me have done things.
To be honest with myself and admit that perhaps one or two things or small parts of what I do not work so well.
And to replace those things for a while – based on what others have done in the past – and see if that works better.
Even if it means that I have to come out of my comfort zone.
6. Tell yourself: Only for today!
Here is a small sentence that I got from Brian Tracy that I often use when I have a bad day with a new habit.
I say to myself: only for today I will xx!
Replace xx with what you will only do for today, such as making exercise, going first with the most important task on the day or eating a healthy lunch.
By telling myself that I have to do it alone today, I get two big benefits:
- I release the mental burden of recent times. I did it and future times that I will do it. And so the task becomes much lighter and the inner resistance melts away.
- It also reminds me that the period that I invest in changing a habit is not the rest of my life. After 30 days the habit will usually be automatic, so it’s not something that I have to do at Willpower in the coming years or decades.
And guess something, when it comes tomorrow, I will probably have a good day with less resistance and I will probably have the feeling that I am doing the task again.
7. Make contact with the people around you.
I have discovered that if the obstacles seem insurmountable if I don’t have the energy to tackle another obstacle, then one thing is that a ton can help to open about it.
To talk to my wife, a friend or my parents. To ventilate, find things for myself while the other person listens. And to get a sober and experience -based advice when I need it.
This supplements my energy and motivation.
If you have trouble finding someone to open up at the moment – or the people in your life have difficulty understanding or helping with a current challenge – then you can, for example, look for supporting Facebook groups or other groups online.
8. Look back and celebrate how far you got.
If you feel like giving up and you are overwhelmed and tired, then it is easy to lose perspective on what you have achieved so far.
The things you have learned, the steps you have taken and the obstacles that you have overcome.
Think about those things if you feel like giving up. Rate and celebrate what you have done so far to move yourself to your goal. Appreciate yourself for the trouble you have put.
This helps you to re -turn your perspective into a more optimistic and to find a new step that you can take to keep going ahead.
9. Just cut some play and take a break.
Yes, it can feel like you just want to give up. But in my experience that can sometimes simply indicate that you need a well -deserved break after you have done too much work or have tried to adhere to a too optimistic time plan.
So if that happens, listen to your body and mind.
Take a few hours or days off. Rest, recover and forget the task, the project or what you want to give up at that time.
This can change how you feel in a remarkable way and charge your batteries.
10. See if it’s time to stop and try something else.
Sometimes it’s not time to give up. But it may be time to stop what you do and try something else.
If you feel like giving up or you are bored, if you don’t feel any real passion or excitement or curiosity about a change or your current path, ask yourself these two questions:
- Do this because I really want it?
- Or am I doing it because someone told me or because so many people around me seem to have done or work on it?
However, what you want is not easy to know before you get started. You may have to try different paths before you find one that suits you.
And just because everyone seems to keep around you does not mean that you have to love it or that you have to give up the habit of regular exercise.
Instead, try to walk, cycle, play badminton or table tennis. Try a new way to do what you want and see if it fits better and nicer for you.