Every athlete needs it. Every learner has to stay in tune with it. Any project worthwhile cannot survive without it.
We spent the first of the series going high level on your drive. By the second post we went a little further in and tempered your ego. With the last in this series we’re going after what you need to make it to the finish line. We’re going to find your fuel.
It can be unavoidable at times. The wall gets to everyone in any endeavor that really challenges or stretches you. You can get stuck. We’ll discover together four practices that can help be the fuel you need to break through that obstacle and keep your drive alive.
First, we need to sharpen our awareness. Tells we’re getting closer to achieving our goals are what keep us from giving up. Pausing to reflect upon milestones is a great start to ensuring you keep those tells filling your tank to press on. Being aware of when to celebrate is super important. Celebrating as you reflect on milestones is essentially what you need to keep your personal morale high. Hard work is pretty much impossible without a little fun once in a while. So, fill your bucket with lots of positive celebration along the way.
Another way to fuel yourself forward is to look and find that someone who can show you clearly through role modeling what you want to reach or become. This person ultimately becomes a mentor for you. This however, is not a person that nags at you to keep going when you feel like throwing in the towel. Instead, they give you positive momentum by inspiring you through your work. This person rarely tells you what you want to hear and instead tells you what you need to hear. Look for those qualities in your momentum coach as you choose one.
Third, make sure you don’t burn through all your reserves because you try to bite off more at one time than you can chew off. Bad planning or blind drive is a major cause of going all in to fast or to much and then burning you out. Divide that goal into manageable projects with regular milestones along the way. Be very smart about how you define your milestones. There’s tons of strategies out there like 30/60/90(s) or 30/30(s) or even 90/90(s).
Here’s an example.
I like 30/30 plans. Simply taking 15 minutes in the morning before you start your day, lay out what you want to hit that day so you are more purposeful as well as intentional, and then save 15 minutes to recap your impact as well as reset for the next day of work. This is a total of 30 minutes each day. Who doesn’t have 30 minutes in a 24 hour day? Do this for 30 days with a big milestone in sight you want to achieve at the end of that 30 day mark. At the end of the month you will have guaranteed you put in 15 hours of energy as well as time planning towards your milestones at the end of the 30 days. The plan accomplishes giving you more breathing room down the line incase you have to deal with snags or traps. It’s very intentional, very purposeful, and simple.
Lastly, the ability to modify and be agile when you find something isn’t working will keep you from spending energy down the wrong path. As mentioned above you may find during one of your 15 minute sessions of reflection each day in the 30/30 plan the approach is off. By modifying your plan on the spot you can give yourself a bit more time rather than pushing yourself past a limit and burning out. The cautionary tale here is not to modify to many parts at once or repeatedly. Less is usually always better with the approach to modifying. Also, there is no failure in modifying your plan. You might be tempted to think so and give up. Instead, remind yourself you are simply maintaining momentum toward what’s really important.
Our drives are challenging. By going after a positive focus, seeking out a mentor for inspiration, really being purposeful with our time, keeping the progress front of mind along the way, and modifying our strategies when we need to we will find all the fuel necessary to reach the end during our drive.
Going into next week my challenge to you is to help others do the same as you find a cadence of success with the above. Fueling someone’s else’s motivation, becoming their mentor, can literally give you fuel to keep going too. It gives me a turbo boost every time that I need it, at exactly the right time. You will be blown away by your positive impact you can have on other people.
Thanks for viewing and reading this week’s series. I’ll announce next week’s series by Tuesday. Have a great week.
Shawn
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