Staying the Course
Every time you set out to do something, many things arise
that stand in your way of going on to complete it. You should never accept to
be pulled back and shackled by anything. You can get slowed down or thrown off
course by any circumstances. My experience has shown me that the greater the
significance of that which you are trying to accomplish, the greater the
opposition you will face. Therefore if you are facing heavy duty opposition,
distraction and waves, it is highly likely that you are rattling some serious
rattlesnakes and ruffling heavy feathers.
How can you ensure that you stay on course at all times?
1)
Anticipate distractions. You must constantly
check around you and you will know beforehand some of the sources of your
distractions. When they come with your prior knowledge or prediction, you are
able to handle them more confidently because you saw them coming. Try as much
as possible never to be caught by surprise. There should be very few things
that catch you by surprise and you will handle your distractions much more
easily.
2)
Make a plan for tackling anticipated
distractions. If it has a chance of happening, then by all means prepare for
it. You should have in place your response mechanism for distractions so that
you waste as little time as possible in dealing with them and maintain your
focus on the most important thing.
3)
Know what the main thing is and keep it that
way. When you have a thorough understanding of what it is you are chasing
towards, then you are able to easily tell what it isn’t. Those who are aiming
at nothing will constantly hit their target irrespective of how disappointing
it is. You should know what you are chasing so well that anything else that is
not it stays out of your view.
4)
Accept that hardly everything goes according to
plan but still move on. You must get to the point of understanding that even
with the best anticipation and planning, there will still be a few surprises
along the way. These should not make you quit. You must continually pick
yourself up and move on towards the all-important goal.
5)
Develop thick skin. Resolve in your heart that
nothing is going to break you until you receive the thing you are chasing.
Those who get there choose to push ahead with what they are chasing Thomas
Edison who invented the light bulb. It is said that he tried to do this same
thing over 10000 times but each time something happened that was not right. The
guy did not allow any of these happenings to faze him. He stayed the course
until he delivered a working light bulb to the world. Which brings me to my
next point.
6)
Think constantly about the people who will
benefit if you get to the end. There are times when we need to talk to
ourselves about the significance of what we are trying to accomplish. There is
need to think of what you are doing in terms of the impact it is going to have
on those who are waiting for it. That should push you harder to make it work.
The very idea of knowing that someone will benefit immensely from what you are
doing keeps you doing it. I have toiled on businesses sometimes not because
they are making money right away but because I have thought of the benefits
when I make money and the benefits to the customers who will be served by these
businesses. It has kept me going during the times when I would easily quit.
7)
Get yourself a coach. We all need someone urging
us from the outside. Even the best athletes work under a coach because it gets
the best out of them. There are days when you don’t feel like getting out of
bed to go and do what you need to do. During such times, a coach will help you
in spite of yourself. You will get out because there are certain expectations
upon your life which you cannot quit on no matter what. The presence of someone
constantly checking and analyzing your movement pushes you to deliver the best
for yourself and them all the time. Find a coach who can push you, who you
respect and whose commitments you want to honor.
8)
You must develop a never say die kind of
attitude. It is good to constantly rise up, dust yourself and move on. The
constant knocking should not get you quitting. Like the champion that you are,
you must never allow anything to bury you permanently. There is need to
constantly wipe off the dust and carry on the fight. Your withdrawals must only
be tactical to allow yourself to gather your strength afresh before you go on.
Never give anyone or anything the pleasure of bragging about how they made you
quit. If only you can rise up one more time, there is always the possibility
that you will win. Never say die. Stay the course until you receive your
reward. A lot hangs on this decision.
