Don’t Give Up! 5 Tips on How to Keep Going When Times Are Tough!

I once heard that giving up is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. That quote resonated with me deeply.

Let’s repeat that:

Giving up is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

I know it is easy to give up when times are tough. It’s easier just to throw in the towel. There have been so many times where I felt like giving up. The thought still crosses my mind from time to time.

I wanted to give up when:

Only a few people were reading my blog posts
No one was signing up for my newsletter and receiving the free e-book I worked so hard on
I was criticized many times
I felt like I had nothing to offer of value despite my unique experiences
When my life turned upside down just last week

I never truly gave up.

It is in the adversity that you find out how strong you are. You will surprise yourself.

I kept going when no one commented on my carefully crafted blog posts. I kept going when people criticized my content. I kept going when I felt like I had no support. I kept going without an email list. I kept going when my website received no visitors. I kept going when I moved to a new town.

So I’ve been there. I know what you may be going through. I know the thoughts rolling around in your mind.

You may be thinking:

Why bother? I don’t have what it takes.
I’ve been working so hard but getting nowhere.
I am too old…too emotional…too introverted…too depressed…
I can’t get over… (enter a limiting belief here)

I had all those thoughts…and more.

I once heard a story that I want to tell you now. Keep in mind, this is a paraphrase of the original story.

There was a man who had gold rush fever. He traveled west and found a spot where gold was likely to be found. He started digging. He worked at it for weeks, until he was rewarded with gold ore. Excited, he left his mine to get the equipment needed to bring it out, and some help. Apparently his mine was one of the richest in the west!

Suddenly one day, the vein of gold ore disappeared. There was nothing left to mine. The dream was over.

So he sold all his equipment to a junk man for a measly few hundred dollars.

This junk man was no fool. He went to an expert who advised him about fault lines. He said the vein of gold continued just three feet from where the man had been digging!

There are two takeaways in this story:

You don’t know how close you are!
If you feel like giving up, maybe you just need someone to guide you because you are so close!

Are YOU three feet from gold?

So what do you do if you feel like giving up? Here are some tips!

Take a reflection break. Why do you want to give up? Is this a goal you truly want, or is it something someone wants you to do? For example, if your parents want you to go to medical school but you really want to be a rock star. You won’t succeed if you’re not working toward what’s in your heart. Is there training you need that will help you along the way? Could you benefit from a mentor to show you the way through the minefield?
Have you tried a different way? Perhaps there is a better way to get to your goal. If you’re exercising to lose weight, are you doing the right exercise for your body and your goal? Is your exercise fun so that you stick with it?
Write down all solutions, no matter how outlandish. Sit for an hour when you are sure you won’t be disturbed. Write down everything you can think of. Maybe you’ll think of something that never occurred to you before. Narrow it down to the few possible solutions and see which one would be the best course of action to take.
Think of past accomplishments. How did you persevere, instead of give up? Sometimes we just need to be reminded that we do have what it takes, and have proven it to ourselves in the past. If you find this difficult, ask your friends or family.
Just don’t give up!

If you give up and start over in something new, think of this: You have to start from square one in the new endeavour. Do you really want to start from scratch? Do you want to go through the early days again? It would be like quitting school in Grade 7, and having to start over in Grade Primary again when you return. Who wants to do that?

Even when you aren’t being successful, you are still gaining valuable experience. Experience that could one day help your business, or your life, or even help other people. You will one day be of value to someone, if you aren’t already. If you give up now, the people you could have helped won’t get the help they need that perhaps only you can provide.

We all have unique experiences. We all have something to share. We all have something to bring to the table. Don’t let your place at the table be empty. If you go to a buffet, there are dishes of all kinds – main courses, appetizers, desserts, beverages…if one of those categories weren’t represented, then the buffet would be missing something. There is a time and place for giving up. Here are some times when it’s OK to give up:

Give up when something’s not working or you realize it’s not what you want
Give up bad habits and thoughts that are holding you back
Give up negative relationships
Give up negativity
Give up caring what other people think about you

There’s something you should keep in mind. It takes years to be an overnight success. Seriously. When someone seemingly becomes successful overnight, you don’t know the blood, sweat, and tears that happened behind the scenes.

It takes a lot of work before your success becomes public. I have been working hard on my business, but to most people around me, it didn’t look like I was getting anywhere. What I was doing was building the foundation of my business. All the boring stuff that people don’t get to see. Lack of results made it seem like I wasn’t working to move forward.

That was one thing that made me want to give up. My lack of progress. I had to take a deep look at myself to see that I have accomplished a lot behind the scenes. It was then that I knew I had it in me, and that one day I would get to the point I could say I was a success.

One last thing I want you to remember is that you will be of value to someone. Someone out there needs you. There are a few people out there who, if they didn’t write a certain blog post, or offered a certain course, that I would have just given up. Forever. They have no idea how they helped me. You have no idea how you will help someone else. You may never know. Still persevere. If you give up, someone out there is not going to get the help they need that only you can provide.

Sure, lots of people out there are doing what you’re doing. I went to a weekend leadership conference where there were at least 20 different speakers. Some of them I resonated with, others I didn’t. Their message was all the same, but they delivered it differently from one another. I was there with a group of people, and we all had those 2 or 3 speakers that really spoke to us…but you know what? None of us had the exact same 2 or 3 people! Someone out there needs your voice!

I really hope I convinced you to keep going. I’m going to leave you with one final quote:

“When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.”

~Dory (Finding Nemo)

I have a picture of this cute Disney character by my desk to remind me to keep swimming.

Be awesome, and may your life be passionate!