What to Ask Yourself Before Giving Up

When I first got into exercising, I couldn’t stay motivated at all. I had to ensure my attitude, energy, and schedule was perfect before even considering exercising. But when I was overruled by my emotions, I usually procrastinated and pushed exercising off for another day.

The best entrepreneurs, athletes, artists, and leaders all have a very specific key that makes them the person they are today. Rather than allowing themselves to be ruled by any petty emotions or negative thoughts, they take control of their conscious behavior to do what’s necessary.

When people allow themselves to be overruled by distracting thoughts, persuasive bad habits, and low energy, they rain-check their goals for another day. When people do decide to eat healthier, they usually start off well. But as it gets harder and junk food become more and more appealing, they suddenly lose their willpower for that slice of pizza or double cheeseburger.

As horrible as it sounds, healthy foods such as vegetables will rarely outmatch the taste of fatty and greasy foods. Therefore, it will require a certain level of discipline to maintain that willpower. The same principle of easily giving up applies to anyone who aims to be productive on any given day. People normally start off well by purchasing a notepad to keep a record of their progress, along with an outline on how to make the best version of themselves.

However, within a week, that’s when things get complicated for the average person. Their goals get mixed up with their schedule like a bunch of old Christmas lights. They have to deal with work, family, and relationships making those commitments too difficult to maintain. This is usually the part that either breaks or makes an individual on the give up cycle. When petty emotions and negative thoughts takes over an person’s head, the first beliefs they have are:

1. “What’s the point? I see no progress and I’m getting no where.” (This happens when you’re working on a goal, but see no end results. A common time this thought usually occurs is when someone is establishing a business or trying to lose weight. They see no progress within a short time period and make the assumption they’re only wasting their time.) 2. “I’m too tired to do this or that. I’ll just push it off for another day.” (It’s extremely easy to overwhelm yourself when you have a full time job, commitments, and children to feed. Like a cellphone battery, humans only have so much energy before they’re completely depleted. Thus, by the time they reach their last 15% of battery life, they neglect their goals and ambitions.) 3. “I want to eat healthier, but I’ll start that goal next week because I’m not ready yet.” (Fast foods and anything unhealthy is too convenient, cheap, and tasty for the average person to simply ignore. Usually before anyone commit themselves to a healthier lifestyle, they view it as a major change that’ll negatively affect them and they push it off until they’re emotionally ready to embrace it.) 4. “I had a rough day at work today. So I’ll exercise tomorrow.” (The idea of exercising seems tiresome by itself, let alone do it. Anyone could exercise on a day they have nothing else to do other than watch television or play video games. They have the extra built-in energy to do so. But after working at a job you hate, listen to a boss you can’t stand, and drive home in the same headache traffic, the last thing you want to do is purposely tire yourself out after arriving home.)

The list continues, and you and I have many similar things we say to ourselves to prevent us from doing anything simply because of what our emotions are telling us at the time. Negative thoughts becomes such a habit you usually don’t realize you’re doing it until a week later, when you suddenly realize you forgot about exercising.

To cut ties with your negative thoughts, think consciously in the moment and ask yourself one of the following questions:

1. “Why do I want to accomplish this goal?” (Too often when humans are overwhelmed and see no progress on what they’re working on, they forget their reason for wanting to do it in the first place. When I first started michaelgregoryii, I had many moments where I sat at my keyboard questioning the purpose of this organization. I rarely saw any major progress and it drained a chunk of my energy to keep it running. But after digging through my thoughts, I remembered my exact reasons, and continued forward. When times get rough, think on why you wanted to work out, write a book, or start a business. That way, you won’t see giving up as an option.) 2. “Who’s watching me right now? And if I gave up, what would I be telling them?” (Every time I want to give up my goals such as exercising, writing, or socializing I ask myself this very crucial question. I know if I gave up, I would be just another person who said they wanted to do something but allowed the common problems get in the way. I wouldn’t consider myself a role model for my siblings or my nephew. Think of someone in your life you wouldn’t want to disappoint simply because you didn’t feel like doing something.) 3. “If I just spend 3 minutes working on it, I know I’ll be more likely to stick with it.“ (Humans are creatures that behave like a snowball rolling down a hill. Once you start a goal, you’ll have a natural urge and motivation to continue doing it rather than simply pushing it side. All you need is a little push to get that ball rolling down the hill. I never did enjoy exercising entirely and can come up with a thousand excuses just to avoid it. But I know once I exercise to one song I’m playing, I’ll easily transition to the next song that plays. Before I know it, I spent over 40 minutes exercising.) 4. “My happiness isn’t at the peak or beginning of my goal. It’s on the gradual buildup to it.” (Everyone gets excited whenever they start a goal, but overtime become tired during the buildup process. They envision the end results too often and when they don’t reach that point, question the purpose of their journey. But imagine if you ran a marathon. Are you going to feel like a champion if at the beginning of the race, someone picked you up in their car and dropped you off at the finish line? Could you proudly tell others that you won the race? When I wrote my first book, the buildup was stressful because of the editing process alone. But my vision was to finish my first novel because it was one of the biggest goals I wanted to accomplish. Envision the peak of your goal and pursue it like a runner heading towards the finish line. You will get tired, others who are well experienced will pass you along the way, and you will want to give up. But persistence and growth will lead you there overtime.)

Make sure you ask yourself these 4 questions before giving up on your goals. No one’s perfect and everyone has a moment when they considered giving up. Stephen King was broke and struggled when he first became a writer. He even had to get rid of his telephone because it was too expensive. He received so many rejection letters he began collecting them. But he remained persistent and continued his growth and now stands as one of the greatest writers of our era.

Oprah Winfrey struggled throughout the beginning of her career because of a variety of her characteristics. But those criticisms never got in the way of her ambition and goals. With persistent and drive, she worked her way up in television from a local network anchor in Nashville to now owning her own network.