PERSEVERANCE. HOW YOU GET THINGS DONE
THERE IS MAGIC IN EVERY BEGINNING …
But do you bring things to a good end?
A few examples:
You renovated your apartment weeks ago, but the final touches remain unfinished.
You have generously sorted out and cleared out, but the boxes remain in the hallway or basement.
You are writing a book, but the end remains unfinished.
You equip yourself with all the material for a new project, but it fails in the implementation.
…
Over time, many unfinished projects and open construction sites accumulate in your life. The “someday – list” grows.
You know the look on children’s faces when adults fail to deliver on their promises?
That’s exactly what happens when we constantly abandon our plans and projects halfway through. We disappoint ourselves. We undermine our self-esteem. At some point we already reckon that we won’t finish the thing anyway. The belief system and the habit “I can’t finish anything” become entrenched.
MOTIVATION
It is not a matter of always biting through to the bitter end. If, for example, we find out that the training or subject we are studying is not at all suited to us, it is sometimes better to draw a line under it and invest the time in a more suitable alternative. Professionally, too, we often have to try out different jobs before we realize what really suits us.
But the bottom line is that success – in the sense of achieving goals you set for yourself – is not possible without a fair amount of stamina and perseverance.
8 TIPS FOR MORE STAMINA
This brings us to the first point for successfully completing things:
1. is it really YOUR goal?
There is so much we should, could, should have to do … but do you really want it? If you are chasing the goals of others, even though you don’t really care about the outcome, then you are subliminally sabotaging yourself. Not only are you putting your precious life energy into the wrong goals. Your self-confidence suffers as well, because you probably struggle to actually achieve the goals. Check your motivation and say goodbye to wrong, but also unrealistic goals.
2. Sort out “old shoes”:
We simply outgrew some goals and dreams. We no longer need what we once wanted to do. Regularly and honestly check your “someday list” to see what is better off on the “never again list”. This creates relief.
3. Focus on one thing at a time:
When we try to tackle everything at once, we quickly get bogged down. Focusing on one project helps to focus attention and energy and set clear priorities. You could reward yourself by allowing yourself to start a new project as soon as you finish one.
4. Visualize the outcome:
What always helps me when I’m stuck in a motivational hole is the miracle question: imagine a miracle happened and you achieved your goal, what exactly is different? Picture this goal in all its facets, as if it were already reality. This way you activate your inner resources to stick to it.
5. Set yourself partial goals:
A miracle does not happen overnight. Especially with big tasks and projects it helps to divide the way into stages. Set milestones to shimmy from one step to the next. The advantage: This way you can celebrate not only at the end, but each stage goal. Reward yourself for what you’ve accomplished. This not only increases the fun factor, but also improves stamina and motivates you to reach higher goals.
6. Say goodbye to perfection:
Do you know the Pareto principle or the 80/20 rule? This principle states that we achieve 80% of the result in 20% of the time. So for the remaining 20% of the way, we need 80% disproportionately more time. The closer we get to the goal, the more we get lost in details. In the startup scene there is the term MVP – Minimum Viable Product. This means something like “a product with the minimum requirements and features”. Instead of striving for perfection, we can also work towards an MVP and save a lot of time, money and effort.
7. Don’t give up too soon:
At some point in our adulthood, we have forgotten to keep our eye on the ball when something doesn’t work right the first time. What seemed easy at first becomes more difficult. Whenever we enter uncharted territory, we encounter obstacles and resistance. Failure is an essential ingredient of success. It is the only way we can learn and grow.
8. Be prepared to face the consequences:
Sometimes it’s not the project itself that blocks us at all, but the consequences we face when we complete it. Whether our hopes will be fulfilled, whether we will get the response we hoped for, what we will do with the empty space that then opens up …
I have known a lot about perseverance since I have competed in Olympics Judo. Learn more about my personal story.