Remember Job in the Bible? Like a good country song, he lost his wealth, his health, and his family…and probably his dog…but he didn’t lose the faith, and all was eventually replaced and returned to him.
In life, we will be tested and challenged and confused, sometimes many times in one day- the internet stops working, the computer crashes, and just when we get things working…we spill coffee on ourselves. Sometimes it is comical how many things can keep us from our plan. But there is nothing like perseverance.
People give up for many different reasons:
- Overwhelm.
- Boredom.
- Too much to do.
- They no longer believe they can do it.
- It’s annoying and frustrating and the reward seems less than the effort required….
Here are some Joumor Principles To Help You Stick To Your Plan:
Review and Confirm:
Get real with yourself. Be truthful and honest, even if it’s hard to admit. Do you really really really want this? Because it will probably be challenging. Decide right now if you are willing to fight for it if you need to. Otherwise, it might be best to leave it here for now, and choose to focus your energy on something you are passionate about. Remember, it is okay to let something go.
Just keep going, just keep going, just keep going:
If you’ve decided that you you Really want that goal, no matter what happens, simply don’t give up. Do not lose the faith and curse your luck. Try no matter what, and do your best to NOT complain, (because it’s boring and ineffective).
One Dream, Specific Goals, Matroushkya’d Tasks
Break your dream into tiny achievable goals that you will know that you have met. “Be wealthy” is a dream, “earn $250,000/year”is a goal, “send proposal to John, send invoice to Marie” are tasks. Get clear that your tasks are pointing upward to your goal/s and that your goal/s lead to your dream.
Unitask
If you have 5 invoices to send, some research to do, phone calls, emails, eating and napping to do, set yourself up to do one thing at a time until it is DONE. If you are trying to nap, don’t check email on your phone in bed…or change your napping goal to “rest.” Set singular goals that you focus on, task by tiny task, until they are achieved. Tons of research shows that task switching is exhausting and confusing for our brains. In my experience working with clients, when people reach decision fatigue from too much task switching, they become irritable, aggressive, blameful, and definitely want to throw the project out with words like, “Just forget it. I can’t.” The smaller the task, boom! The faster you get that jolt of dopamine for completing something, which builds momentum and makes it easier to focus on the next thing.
Everything Takes Longer Than You Think
Need to call the IRS? Leave yourself 4 hours. I’m not kidding. It could take 10 minutes, or they could ask for info that you don’t have…after looking for it you’ll have to call back and wait on hold again for a half hour…next thing you know, it took all day but Phew! it is done.
People usually give up on their plans because they give up on themselves. When you Joumorously set yourself up to win by articulating what you want and then going for it step by tiny step, you will be much more able to laugh at the challenges along the way, and keep going anyway. Wherever you arrive, it will be a place that you earned completely. Whether or not it is what you originally had in mind, you will be proud you didn’t abandon yourself.