Dare To Live Without Limits Week of 8/16/2021

Why you should resist the temptation to give up

Giving up may seem tempting when things aren’t going well. If you are feeling tired, frustrated, worn out, or disheartened, giving up on a goal is appealing. Regardless of how drained you are, you should never give up because you only fail when you give up.
There are numerous reasons to persist. You never want to regret that you gave up on pursuing a goal you really wanted. Anything worthwhile takes effort. Taking the path of least resistance doesn’t provide the elation goal achievement provides. Success feels great. The more difficult the goal, the better it feels once reached.
You never know how close you are to achieving your objective. More often than not, you are closer than you realize. Persistence is essential in order to reach your objective. Utilize the principle of the slight edge: A small amount of extra effort produces results far in excess of the effort required. Giving up guarantees you won’t make it.
You learn and discover. Setbacks are a normal part of the road to success. Setbacks are a learning experience. They are never justification for giving up. Setbacks identify areas which need to be adjusted. Setbacks may also indicate an alteration in your course is warranted.
Fears are overcome through persistence. Giving up reinforces fears. Breaking through fears opens up more possibilities. It’s amazing how much more can be accomplished once your fears are no longer limitations.
You become more creative. Creativity is essential for solving problems. By refusing to give up, you use your creativity to overcome obstacles. There is always a way to reach your objective. You have to adapt, adjust, and improvise as needed. Purge the concept of impossibility from your self-talk.
Your confidence level increases. Being successful builds confidence. Solving problems builds confidence. When you persist, it becomes a way of life. Giving up creates self-doubt and insecurity. People who give up will do so in response to the slightest adversity.
You connect with your inner strength as you realize that you already have within you what you need to be successful. This self-reliance is a tremendous asset which is often overlooked. Too many people look instead to external factors they erroneously believe are responsible for their success or failure.
You also realize how much you are capable of accomplishing. You go through life being told what you can’t do by all of the naysayers. Ignoring them in order to follow your own path enables you to reach amazing destinations.
You develop a can-do, will-do attitude which enables you to get things done. There’s a big difference between making a commitment to do something versus saying you’ll give something a try. Trying is a back door to failure. If something isn’t successful, people who try say, “Well, at least I tried,” as they give up.
With each successful accomplishment, you realize how many possibilities are open to you. You start thinking about all you can do and stop worrying about what you can’t do. Conversely, when someone gives up, they add another item to their growing list of things that won’t work.
You discover that things not working out as planned is not failure, but rather an incentive to change strategy or direction. Since you never fail unless you give up, you always look for a way to move forward. If you fall, you get right back up and keep going.
You keep learning. As you persist, you discover effective strategies to repeat, along with ineffectual approaches to avoid. You learn from your own experiences as well as from those who have gone before you.
Never give up. Regardless of how tough your circumstances are, keep going forward. Giving up is a dead end without possibility. Perseverance and determination get you to where you want to be.

NOW AVAILABLE: "Dare to Live Without Limits," the book. Visit www.BryanGolden.com or your bookstore. Bryan is a management consultant, motivational speaker, author, and adjunct professor. E-mail Bryan at bryan@columnist.com or write him c/o this paper.  2021 Bryan Golden