Staying the Course
How often have you committed to doing something and then failed to see it through? I committed to writing a weekly blog post with great enthusiasm. Full of bravado and absolutely dead certain that I would ace it.
So how is it that a mere 10 weeks later I missed a deadline? 12 weeks to create a new habit and I was on the cusp of that beautiful new routine when BAM, I missed it.
The true measure of a person is how they behave when things don’t go their way. I keep chanting this in my head every time I wake at 3am and berate myself for missing the deadline.
BUT this cannot carry on. I am faced with two choices:
Just get on with it and write the blog and submit it late
Stop blogging altogether
So often in life we are faced with choices like these. New gym memberships spring to mind. We agree, we commit, we go, we get stiff. Then we stop going. It is cold. It is dark I am tired. Headache. Lazy. And the longer you stay away, the harder it is to go back.
Your mind becomes your creative ally.
No one would read what I have written anyway.
Who cares if I am not fit and in shape?
NO one can stick to a gym routine so why even try?
But there is a silent witness who DOES care. That silent witness is you. How you do one thing is how you do EVERYTHING.
If you think of yourself as
reliable
committed
dedicated
Then you need to ACT as such. The more deadlines you miss, the more excuses you make for not showing up as you had promised to show up, the more the little voice inside your head will break you down.
Whispering...
“You see, you are not THAT capable/slim/confident/(insert your thing) person.” “you.are.just.like.every.other.average.person. Don’t feel bad, average is good. Average is OK.”
Or is it? Not for me it isn’t. Why be average when you can be exceptional? The trick is to hop back on the horse when you fall off.
Sure I missed a week but now I am back. You need to take a long hard look at what made you miss the deadline. My list looks like this:
Month end madness at work
Too many holidays (wait - how did this end up as an issue on my list!?!)
School starting again
Month end admin for our property portfolio
The question now becomes “How do I make sure I meet future deadlines?”
I can write extra blogs during quiet time (does that even exist!?)
I can block out time in my diary to write
When I start mindlessly surfing FB, I can STOP and jot down blog ideas
There is always always a way to get back on track. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Don’t tell yourself those dreams are for someone else. They are your dreams and only YOU can make it happen.
I’d love to hear from you about commitments you have failed to keep and if/how, you got back on track!
