Keep Going

Sometimes we just have to fight through. We know what we need to do and something or someone keeps dragging us down.

I find this often when working on corporate projects. There tends to be someone that digs in and wants to stop all progress. They don’t realize what they are doing. They think they are being helpful by pointing out potential issues.

But when this is done to the extreme, and if they have authority, it can be devastating for a project. It grinds to a halt as you scramble to rethink everything. Instead of relying on the research and planning done to that point, everything gets questioned. Instead of pushing on, everyone backtracks.

I’ve found that the best thing to do, is often to explain it to the individual and then push forward. Nothing is perfect and it never will be. But we need to keep making progress. We have to quickly determine if they have legitimate concerns. If they do, then address them. But if they seem to only be throwing out problems to create chaos, then learn to push past them.

You might also see this when you are building something and can’t seem to get it to be 100% perfect. We get caught in a loop where we want it to be perfect and when it isn’t, we redo it. Over and over, always getting close but not exactly how we want.

In these instances, we may have to settle for 90% instead of 100%. Some people read that and gasp at the thought of not trying for perfection. But that perfection often comes at a cost much greater than it is worth. If you determine it isn’t worth the extreme cost, then learn to push past it.

We also see this when we are striving for some internal improvement. We tend to have a fearful mindset emerge. It frightens us into proceeding at a snail’s pace. It halts our progress and screams that we can’t keep going.

We have to take the same approach as the other scenarios. First, we have to determine if that worry is legitimate. If there is an issue, then address it. But if it is rooted in fear and apprehension, then push past it.

There will always be obstacles and adversity. This could be a reason to rethink what you are doing and confirm that you are on the right track. But sometimes it is just a blocker to your success. It comes up and prevents improvement. It uses all sorts of logic to trick us into stopping what we are doing.

But we need to learn how to keep going. We have to keep pushing towards our goals and objectives. Being flexible is great, but we can’t allow that flexibility to sabotage our efforts and pull us away from success.

It isn’t easy to spot. But if you experience this a few times you will start to learn when an obstacle creates a need to rethink what you are doing. You will see the obstacle that needs to be ignored. It sounds strange to ignore an obstacle but if we do we can continue making progress. That progress is the only thing that will calm that resistance and allow for greater growth. No amount of logic, discussion, persuasion, etc. will remove the obstacle. Only progress will.