Please Don't Give Up

I heard a story today from a person who has been through something we have all been through...something she cared very deeply about and had worked very hard to build was shoved aside by co-workers and a boss who did not realize what it really meant to her and why.  It even started out not having the same meaning to her and I am not really sure if she understood why it was so important to her until today.  So people made a decision about something and when she tried to provide another perspective they blew her off.  Royally.  She was at that place, again, we have ALL been there at one time or another, where she thought she should just back off and shut up.  Now I admit, there are times when that is appropriate.  But when we picked apart the hurt feelings of being ignored, the rational reasons the decision was wrong in her mind, and her perception of the hypocrisy we found out why she cared so much.  She valued the program on some personal as well as business sense levels and she didn't want to see it fail.  In fact, she wanted to see it replicated!  So then, when asked what she needed to do to achieve a different result next time she was full of ideas and she knew that she did not want to let the program go because of one relatively little bump.

So, when you get to the point that you want to give up, on anything, write down WHY it is important to you.  And then ask yourself (or call someone you can ask to push you) WHY ELSE?   And keep going until the answers do not roll off easily.  And you are really thinking.  That is when that part of you that cares so deeply will let go of the real reason.  And look at that, write it down and really think about it.  THEN you can make your decision.  If you decide to keep going, put that piece of paper where you will see it quickly the next time you get down and use it to help you fight off the urge to give up.

How do you bounce back when you hit a roadblock?