One way to ensure you won't succeed...and three ways to prevent it!

QUIT! Stop, give up, give in to critics and take no for an answer. However you put it, quitting is the best way to ensure you won't succeed. The best way to succeed is to keep going! Even when it's tough. Even when the odds seem to be against you. When it feels like your whole life is full of rejection, keep going! 

If there is anything I have learned on this roller coaster ride that is the road to entrepreneurship, it is to not give up. If you're pursuing a dream, working on a hobby that you want to turn into a business, writing your first book or just striving to be better at something - the key to getting good at it is to not quit. This applies to any goal you're trying to achieve, personal and professional. We all have the same amount of hours in the day, it is our choice on how we use them. When pursuing a difficult goal, giving up will usually cross our minds - because it is HARD! It requires work, discipline and sacrifice, but if you want it bad enough it is totally worth it. 

Here are a few tips to help you keep going:
1. Write down specifically what you want to achieve and more importantly - WHY. Keep that greater reason front and center in your mind and in your decision making. That way, when giving up seems to be an option, you can make the choice based on your greater goal as opposed to just how you feel in the moment.
2. Keep a record of your progress. It is easy to focus on the negative, and forget all the positive things and little wins we have had along the way to a greater goal. All the baby steps matter; document them, celebrate them and use them as motivation to not give up.  
3. Get support! Find people who believe in you and your dream, even when you don't. It could be joining a group of people in the same situation as you and encouraging each other and learning from each other, finding a close friend who can act as an accountability partner who lovingly checks in on you to remind you of your goals and your why and asks for updates, or hiring a professional coach to help you meet your goals and make progress. 

There are multiple cliches and motivational quotes that I could bring up here....  But one of my favorites is found in the wisdom of Dory from the movie Finding Nemo - "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming!"  I hope you get this song stuck in your head and repeat it to yourself when you feel like giving up! What are you swimming towards? I'd love to hear about your goals and dreams in the comments. 

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