Life can be tough. Some days, it’s hard to find the motivation to keep going. To celebrate Never Give Up Day on August 18, this week’s Simple Living Sunday post is all about perseverance. Read on for tips to help you know when it’s time to dig in and keep going, and when it’s okay to walk away.
If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Three simple pleasures and highlights
It has been a busy week for me. For the first time since early 2020, life actually felt like the “old days”. Continuing my practice of celebrating the simple things in life, here are three simple pleasures and things that brought me joy this week.
- I spent five days in Toronto for an employee benefits conference. For many years, this conference was a highlight of my year with great learning and networking opportunities. After two years of pandemic cancellations, it was so wonderful to gather with friends and colleagues from my professional association, ISCEBS.
- On Tuesday evening, I attended a reception with my fellow Canadian attendees (and a few honorary Canadians). It was held at a canoe club on the shore of Lake Ontario. We were treated to a spectacular sunset.
- I returned home Wednesday evening. On Thursday morning, my husband and I went to the St. Jacob’s Farmers Market. I love this time of year when all the fresh fruits and veggies are in season.
This week’s simple living focus: Perseverance
Never Give Up Day is about cultivating a mindset of determination and perseverance to help you get through all of life’s ups and downs.
It’s true that nothing worthwhile comes without hard work. If someone makes something look easy, you can bet they’ve spent long hours, and often years, perfecting their craft.
In our win-at-all-costs world, giving up is seen as failure. But is deciding to cut our losses and move on to other things really failure, especially if we’re headed in the wrong direction?
The most important thing is to keep going. The second most important thing is to choose the right direction.
Maxime Lagacé
If you’re on a road trip from Toronto to Vancouver and you realize you’re headed east toward Montreal, you would stop and turn around, right? The same applies with anything in life. If the task you’re working on matters and it’s moving you in the right direction, by all means keep going. On the other hand, sometimes it’s better to stop, reassess, and move on to something else.
The point I’m making is sticking with something out of stubbornness, or because you’re afraid to admit defeat, can be harmful to your mental health. It can also have a negative impact on those around you.
This week, let’s celebrate Never Give Up Day by refocusing and reassessing the things we’re working on.
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Three things to do this week
If there’s a task you’re struggling with, here are three things to try this week to regain your perspective.
Make sure you’re headed in the right direction
If you feel like you’re not getting anywhere, ask yourself if you’re headed in the right direction.
I’ve written before about the importance of focusing on the most important tasks, instead of trying to do it all. If you’re struggling with motivation, step back and ask yourself why this task matters. Does it align with your values? Will it move you closer to your goals?
If you can’t remember why you’re doing something, or you feel like this task or project no longer aligns with your goals, it may be time to reshuffle your priorities to focus on things that matter.
Take a break and recharge
In How do you relax and recharge?, I wrote about the value of taking breaks. While it may seem counterintuitive to the idea of Never Give Up Day, even elite athletes prioritize rest so they can maintain their peak performance.
Taking a break can give you a fresh perspective and help you find the energy to continue.
Break your project into smaller tasks
Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.
Walter Elliott
If you’re working on a large project, you might feel like you’re not making progress. Try breaking your large project down into smaller tasks. And take time to celebrate small wins and milestones along the way.
Let’s go back to the example of the Toronto to Vancouver road trip. It’s a long trip—4,388 kilometres to be exact. It would be silly—and possibly fatal—to set out and try to drive it with no breaks. When we made that drive years ago, we made the trip over five days, stopping every night to visit the other wonderful cities along the way.
Large projects are no different. Ticking off smaller tasks that move you toward the eventual goal can help keep you moving and enjoy the journey at the same time.
Instead of stubbornly persevering, the best way to celebrate Never Give Up Day is to reassess and refocus on your high priority tasks. And that might mean letting go of other tasks that are less important.
What do you think? Should we never give up, or is it okay to change direction? Join the conversation, and drop me a comment below.
Giving up sounds like you’re a failure, I prefer to say changing direction because I believe as we evolve as human beings we naturally change courses and that’s okay to do. However, pertaining to goals we’ve always wanted to achieve, I totally believe in never giving up as long as you still believe in why you truly want what you want/want to achieve that goal… Breaking it up into manageable pieces, as you mentioned, is a great way to edge yourself towards that finish line- I totally believe that!
Changing direction is a good way to put it. I agree that things evolve and priorities change. It’s good to regularly assess if you’re on the right path, or even a path you still want to be on. Some people just get so focused on the destination that they forget why they set out on the journey in the first place.
Thank you, thank you, Michelle! I really needed this! I have been feeling stuck on many fronts. This is a wonderful reminder to take stock and recalibrate! Oh, and your photo of the sunset in Toronto is absolutely gorgeous! Cher xoxoxo
I’m sorry to hear that Cher. I’m glad I could be of a little help. Sometimes we all need a reset.
Thanks, Michelle. It is definitely helping. Yes, that’s true, isn’t it? Cher xoxoxo
What a much needed and inspiring post!
Thanks so much Kat. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Being persistent carries such immense power with it, in a world of folks who seem to give it before they barely begin! I learned many valuable lessons from quitting and from persisting. Quitting my passions revealed how far I could have journeyed down those roads if I simply refused to quit. Persisting with blogging over the past 15 years brought me places I never could have imagined. Persist!
Hi Ryan, I think you hit the nail on the head when you talk about persisting with your passions. When you find something you love to do, it’s worth pouring every ounce of your energy into it. Sadly, many people do what other people want them to do which rarely works.
A wisdom-filled post, Michelle. Thanks for sharing! 🌞
Thanks Lisa. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
I am so drawn to simple living and I love how you’re exploring this; your tips of things to do next week are really helpful too. A reminder I very much needed!
Hi Molly! Thanks for dropping by. I’m glad you enjoyed my post. One of the things I love to do with my blog is cut through all the noise and get back to basics!