It should have been a good week. After months of depressing wet and cold weather and short days, London has suddenly blossomed into spring.
I have a lot of plans that are coming to fruition – video courses and Kindle books I’ve been working on are nearing completion. I love this bit! Well, I usually do. But this time there are issues. There are technical difficulties and people not getting back to me.
Suddenly, I’ve noticed things get on top of me. So I thought I write down my reasons why we shouldn’t give up:
1. It wouldn’t be worth it without a struggle
Why are you doing this in the first place? So you could put a website together and be successful straightaway? Where would the fun be in that?
2. You’ve gone too far to turn back now
You’ve worked hard to get where you are now. Even if you’re disappointed you haven’t got further, you’ve got to keep going. You’ll regret it if you don’t.
3. It’s always darkest before the dawn
The period after most of the work is done and before “going live” or hitting the “publish” button is the most critical.
Gurdjieff showed in his rule of 8 how the universe will always find blocks just before the conclusion of a project. I have found this always to be true. When these block come you just have to smile, get your head down and battle through them. You can do it.
4. What else are you going to do?
Quite a lot – you can watch TV, read the newspaper, drift through life unconsciously. Don’t do that! You’ve done it before, you didn’t enjoy it and it brought you nothing.
5. Show yourself you can do it
The thing I have found most inspiring is when I prove to myself I can do something after having first felt it impossible. I did this with web design. I thought I’d never be able to understand how to put websites together and it was a great boost to my self-confidence when I finally figured it out.
Imagine what you could prove to yourself?
6. Imagine the benefits of getting there
Put yourself in the state of mind of having completed a task you’re finding difficulties with now. Imagine you completed it to your absolute satisfaction. What will you have achieved? Money? Fulfillment? The thought of having helped someone? Whatever works for you, work towards it.
7. Most importantly, remember to enjoy yourself
Why are you doing this in the first place? It’s easy, after a few months or years, to forget our initial purpose. I got into design and the internet because I really love mass communication. But in the hurly-burly of life and work, some days I just forget why I’m doing this.
If you enjoy yourself while creating something, people will enjoy themselves whilst using your creation.
Here’s some advice, if you’re going through a tough patch
I’m the last person to give advice I’m one of the most disorganised, slaphappy, poorly-motivated idiots I know. I’m forever finding myself on Facebook looking at funny videos of cats when I really should be trying to earn money.
But, if you’re finding motivation difficult, here are some of my tried and tested solutions:
- Get up and do something different for a while
- You could go out with friends and family, read a book or spend time with your loved ones talking
- Take your clothes off (no, I’m not going weird), put shorts, t-shirt and trainers on and go for a run (the reason I put it like that is because if you just think “I should go for a run” you’ll persuade yourself not to; if you think “I’ll just put my running stuff on” you’re more likely to do it)
- Don’t listen to negativity (other people’s or your own)
- Meditate
- Enjoy yourself!
And, finally…
Spring is here (for northern hemisphere people) and the world economy is – maybe – picking up. However, I think motivation is something we’ve all got to work at, all the time.
I don’t usually write motivational or personal development articles. In fact, this was more for my benefit than it was for yours. But if it’s helped one other person then it was worth writing and publishing.
What about you? Have you got anything you can share to help with our motivation and productivity?
Hi Rob,
It’s nice to know spring is coming. It’s different here in Cambodia. It is hot all the time. Too much sun maybe.
I also have difficulty in managing myself to get things done. I just keep telling myself you need to believe in what you are doing. You need to do the best of your time. You don’t have time. So when you have it, make a good use of it.
Sometime I complained to myself I don’t have time but when I have time I don’t know what to do.
I need to priority things and focus on what need to be done. I also plan to release a short eBook about making money online but didn’t write a word of it yet.
Hey Santel, I want to go to Cambodia! I know talking about the seasons here doesn’t ring true for lots of people but it’s such a big deal to me!
I know, I’m exactly the same, trying to get everything done.
Good luck with your new e-book. Let me know if you need any help.
Thanks Rob, it’s a very good article for me right now and I agree with all those points, but my favourite one is 4th 🙂
Glad you liked them, Oksana. You’ve been getting loads done recently! 🙂
good article Rob. Been feeling a bit down after working with a difficult client (I had a bad feeling about them at the start, and now regret not listening to my gut and turning them away). Your article cheered me up.
On a positive note the SEO starting to work getting a steady stream of 2 or 3 enquiries from it every week now. Need to keep it up now !
Hey Louis, We’ve all had those issues with clients before. But congratulations on getting 2 or 3 enquiries a week. That’s awesome! That’s a great success story, you should write about how you achieved that on your blog. 🙂
I took your advice Rob, I wrote my latest blog post about it. Take a browse if you get time.
Cool, so you’re getting leads from your blog having optimised “freelance web developer bromley” etc. ? Awesome, works every time.
Glad you’re seeing success, Louie, keep it up 🙂
thank you for your advice,bro
My pleasure 🙂
Have read lots of motivation pieces, and have written one or two, but these ideas haven’t appeared before. Nicely done.
Thank you, Astro Gremlin.
Aha! Was testing to see if I could post a comment. Read the error message more carefully. “You may have disabled javascript. Please enable javascript before leaving a comment on this site.
The cache may have been out of date. Use this link to view a fresh version Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Give Up
Error Code: nc03”
So, duh, used the link to refresh. By the way, I can’t imagine your standards if you think YOU are disorganized!
I’m sorry you’re getting these errors. I think the commenting is working for most people as I’ve been testing it through my Facebook group. 🙂 This error is caused by the GASP plug-in which stops spam!
Where’s the fun in giving up so quickly? The struggle makes the journey and reaching the goal so sweeter.
Indeed, Craig. 🙂 Thankyou for your comment.
Hey Rob, just found this article of yours and the timing couldn’t be better.
And now that you mentioned it, I think that’s the main reason I go running!
Whenever I am feeling out of place or stressed the heck out, I just jump into my running gear and go for a strong run.
Thanks again man, currently not so much in a dark place right now but there is still a long way to go.
Sergio
Hey Sergio, great to hear about your running. I love to see your smiling face on Facebook when you’ve just finished another run 🙂