Have you ever set a goal that filled you with excitement? That energized you and consumed your thoughts? You envisioned success and felt the swell of pride at your future triumph? You were unstoppable!
You broke down the goal into manageable phases and started working. You hit the first few milestones without issue.
But then you hit a roadblock. You took a break then went back to work; still, no progress. You attack the problem from a different angle but don’t get the results you anticipate. You may be seeing FAILURE coming at you a full speed. Did you quit? Or did you keep going?
Few people actually reach their goals because they quit when they hit the roadblock. Or they take a break that becomes permanent.
You need a strategy in place, BEFORE you hit that dreaded roadblock. Take some time to plan how to turn that roadblock into a manageable detour.
Six steps to keep you going:
TIP ONE: Gather plenty of motivation reminders, before you hit the roadblock. When you are excited about reaching the goal, pull together motivation quotes, pictures of your goal, even write yourself a letter as if you have reached your goal outlining all the exceptional rewards you’ve reaped from your hard work. When FAILURE is looming large, take a few moments to motivate yourself and remember the excitement you experienced when you started out.
TIP TWO: Be a Fly, Not a Bee. In situations where you are trying to break through a roadblock, it is better to imitate a fly, not a bee. When you place a bee in an upturned jar, it will buzz along the bottom of the glass. When you place a fly in an upturned jam jar, it will fly frantically around, exploring every corner until he finds a way out. So be a fly, explore every angle of the problem and find a way through, over, under or around that roadblock.
TIP THREE: Embrace the Journey. The knowledge we gain as we work toward our goal is invaluable. Don’t be tempted to take a short cut. You’ll only be short changing yourself. Accept the bumps and bruises!
You may have heard the story of “The Man and the Butterfly” about the man who saw a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon. To help it out, the man cut a bigger hole in the cocoon and pulled the butterfly through. However, instead of flying away, the butterfly was unable to fly. Its body was too swollen. What the man did not understand was that the butterfly’s struggle to emerge through the hole forces fluid from its body to its wings and thus makes them strong and ready to carry its weight. Like the butterfly, we need to struggle to succeed.
TIP FOUR: Maintain Objectivity! Take a step back, distance yourself from the situation. Find a position where you can look at the situation with objectivity. Life isn’t an either/or undertaking. Life has depth, color, and numerous angles.
TIP FIVE: Don’t Judge Yourself as a Failure. Failure is not a bad thing, despite what our culture tells us. One of the most quoted expressions in our modern culture is: “Failure is not an option”. But this is to misunderstand the real nature of success. We need to fail in order to succeed. And we need to fail big-time in order to succeed big-time. Practically every successful entrepreneur, from Thomas Edison to Walt Disney, experienced failure many times over. But they didn’t judge themselves. They interpreted failure as “not succeeding yet” and saw it as just one more step on the road to success.
TIP SIX: Manage Your Own Morale. It isn’t fun to be stuck or realize that your progress is slower than you desire. The realization of your goal feels as far away as ever. That’s when you have to manage your morale. Handle your stress and remember to work on the things you can’t see: your thought patterns, your emotions, and your spirit.
Remember:
“Where the mind goes, the man follows.”
Joyce Meyers
[Originally Published at Cynsational Services.com]
