I'm fighting today. If you've ever struggled to stay consistent with something important to you, my struggle may be familiar to you.
Since November 12, 2012, it has been 939 days. That was almost 2 years and 7 months ago when I first published an article on JamesClear.com. Every Monday and Thursday for the past 939 mostly glorious, sometimes frustrating days, I've written a new post. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year.
Today, I feel like giving up
But today? Well, today I am fighting. Today I don't feel like writing. Today, I don't feel like sticking to the routine. Today, I don't feel like I have great ideas and I don't feel like I have enough time to make good ideas great. Today I want to give up.
Research from the University of Pennsylvania has shown that determination is the characteristic most linked to success . I could use some sand today.
This is what I try to remind myself when I feel like giving up ...
Your mind is a suggestion engine
Treat every thought you have as a suggestion, not a command. Right now, my mind suggests that I feel tired. Suggest that I give up. Suggest that I take an easier path.
However, if I pause for a moment, I may discover new suggestions. My mind also suggests that it will feel great to do this job once it's done. It suggests that I will respect the identity I am building by sticking to the schedule. It suggests 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 mere options. I have the power to choose the option that I follow.
The discomfort is temporary
Relative to the time of your normal day or week, almost any habit you engage in is over quickly. Your training will finish in an hour or two. Your report will be typed to completion tomorrow morning. This article will be completed shortly.
Life is easier than it has ever been. You would have died 300 years ago if you didn't kill your own food and build your own house. Today, we complain about forgetting our iPhone charger.
Keep perspective. Your life is going well, and your discomfort is only temporary. Allow yourself to be strengthened by this uncomfortable moment.
You will never regret a good job once it's done
"By far the best reward life has to offer is the chance to work hard at a job worth doing," Theodore Roosevelt said,. We appear to want a lot of things a lot of the time to work easily on a job that is worth doing. We want our work to be useful and respected, but we don't want to struggle with our work. We want our stomachs to be flat and our arms strong, but we don't want to do another workout. We want the end result, but not the failed attempts that precede it. We want the gold, but not the routine.
Anyone can want a gold medal. Few people aspire to train like Olympians.
And yet, despite our resistance, I have never felt worse after finishing the hard work. There have been days when it has been very difficult to start, but it has always been worth finishing. Sometimes just showing up and having the courage to do the job, no matter how mediocre, is a victory worth celebrating.
This is life
Life is a constant balancing act between succumbing to the ease of distraction and overcoming the pain of discipline. It is not an exaggeration to say that this delicate balance defines our lives and identities. What is life if not a hundred thousand daily battles and small decisions to gut it or give up?
When you don't feel like working, what do you do? This is not the time to squander. This isn't a practice run. This moment is as much a part of your life as any other. Spend it on something that will make you proud of yourself.
Let the world decide
So what do I do when I feel like giving up? I introduce myself.
Am I showing up in my prime? I doubt it. But my job is not to judge how good or how bad I am.
My job is to get the job done and let the world decide .
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