Persistence Pays: Training Yourself to Finish What You Start
Have you ever choked under pressure, or worried you will not complete a project, then ended up feeling guilty and disappointed in your own abilities?
Although you may truly desire the end result, the difficulties you face, and looming deadlines make you want to throw in the towel. Sometimes getting to the finish line or putting in that last effort can be overwhelming.
You need to develop persistence and perseverance! With these two attributes, you can overcome obstacles and keep moving forward until you achieve your goals.
Here are some strategies that will help develop persistence and perseverance:
Be consistent. Sometimes, it may seem you’ll never get there. Expect and anticipate that and prepare for it. Then remind yourself to keep on keeping on. Running a marathon requires taking a single step, followed by another, over and over, thousands of times, until the finish line is crossed, and the reward is reaped.
Reflect on what you’ve already done. When you see what you have already achieved you’ll get another burst of motivation to push on. Remember that only 10% of a project completed, is 10% already done, that does not have to be done again.
Stay positive and enthusiastic. Focusing on the positive makes it easier to keep moving forward and continue making progress. Being positive is a powerful choice that you can make - take advantage of that power.
Do not underestimate how long it will take, and how much effort is required to finish. Big projects inevitably experience delays and obstacles. Plan for them. If you must make a guess how much time you’ll need, it’s better to overestimate.
Make a commitment to yourself to finish what you start, then hold yourself to account. Promise yourself you’ll persist until you succeed. Then do it.
Tweak when you need to. Situations and people change, so there may be times when you need to adjust the timeline or even change the end goal. Keep your finger on the pulse, stay focused, identify when it’s time to make tweaks, do so, and keep moving forward.
Set mini-goals. Setting interim goals that are easily achievable, are crucial to building motivation and enthusiasm. Success begets success. It builds momentum, fires, you up, and keeps you moving forward.
Being persistent and consistent can be tough, but the rewards are enormous. Perseverance and dogged determination always pays off!
