Man sitting on a rock feeling frustrated. Picture: iStock
Today I am struggling. Today, I don’t feel like writing. Today, I don’t feel like sticking to my workout routine.
Today, I don’t feel like I have any great ideas and I don’t feel like I have enough time to make the good ideas great.
Today, I feel like giving up. Research has shown that grit is the characteristic linked most closely to success. I could use some grit today. These are the things I remind myself of when I feel like giving up.
Consider every thought you have as a suggestion and not an order. Right now, my mind is suggesting that I feel tired. It is suggesting that I give up.
It is suggesting that I take an easier path. If I pause for a moment, however, I can discover new suggestions. My mind is also suggesting that I will feel very good about accomplishing this work once it is done.
It is suggesting that I will respect the identity I am building when I stick to the schedule. It is suggesting that I have the ability to finish this task even when I don’t feel like it. Remember, none of these suggestions are orders. They are merely options.
I have the power to choose which option I should follow.
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Relative to the time in your normal day or week, nearly any habit you perform is over quickly. Your workout will be finished in an hour or two.
Your report will be typed and complete by tomorrow morning. This article will be written and done in a short while.
Life is easier now than it has ever been before – 300 years ago, if you didn’t kill your own food and build your own house, you would die. Today, we whine about forgetting our cellphone charger. Maintain perspective. Your life is good and your discomfort is temporary. Step into this moment of discomfort and let it strengthen you.
US president Theodore Roosevelt famously said: “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” So often it seems that we want to work easily at work worth doing.
We want our work to be appreciated and respected, but we don’t want to struggle through our work. We want our stomach to be flat and our arms to be strong, but we don’t want to grind through another workout. We want the final result, but not the failed attempts that precede it. We want the gold, but not the grind.
Anyone can work towards a gold medal, but few want to train like an Olympian. And yet, despite our resistance to it, I have never found myself feeling worse after the hard work was done. There have been days when it was damn hard to start, but it was always worth finishing. Sometimes, the simple act of showing up and having the courage to do the work, even in a routine manner, is a victory worth celebrating.
Life is a constant balance between giving into the ease of distraction or overcoming the pain of discipline. It is not an exaggeration to say that our lives and identities are defined in this delicate balance.
What is life, if not the sum of 100 000 daily battles and tiny decisions to gut it out or give it up? This moment when you don’t feel like doing the work is not a moment to be thrown away. This is not a dress rehearsal. This moment is your life as much as any other moment. Spend it in a way that will make you proud.
So what do I do when I feel like giving up? I show up. Do I show up at my best? I doubt it.
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