On the back of Wednesdays Instagram post where I spoke about going broke and ruffling through the back of my couch to get money for the bus; today’s piece is a follow up for anyone that is currently struggling with their diet, a training program, a personal relationships or even their job. 
 
Here are my top three things to do before you give up on anything.

1: Learn to rest, not to quit.

Take a break from it for a couple of days before you give up. 

I’m very vocal on my podcast about my hatred for running; and as I put in the final training sessions for an upcoming 100 mile ultra-marathon, there is one thing I am grateful for when it comes to running.

It’s ability to force you to rest and not quit when you want to finish a race.

My friend Marcus Smith was on the podcast recently talking about how to build mental toughness. There was one line from that episode that really jumped out at me.

“Stopping and taking a break is sometimes the thing that you need to do to move forward. At the time it might seem like you’re going backwards but the best thing you can do in that moment is to take a break. You have to ask yourself, ‘what the best thing you can do in that moment that will get you closer to the finish line?’, which, ultimately, is the end goal after all” 

The next time you feel like quitting a diet, a training program or even something else in your personal life. Take a break first.

If you decide after a few days or even weeks that you still want to quit, then you can. 

At least you made the decision based on thought and rationality and not feeling or emotion. 

That break away can also be the time that you become clear on why you’re doing it in the first place.. Which brings me to point number two. 

2: Write down the reason you are about to give up.

Sometimes it’s not the entire thing that’s the problem, it’s a small component part that you are frustrated with.

In the case of your diet, if you are ‘fed up’ with eating clean whole foods all the time; it’s worth considering some form of flexible dieting whereby you eat clean 80% of the time every day and 20% of the time, you eat whatever you want.

As long as it’s a calorie controlled plan that’s in alignment with your goal, then you’ll still get great results.

Of course, that’s assuming that your end goal is important to you..

Which brings me on to my last point.

3: Ask if you REALLY care about the end goal? 

I wrote in Rewire Your Mindset about being willing to pay the price when it comes to hitting any goal you set for yourself.

However sometimes, that’s not the issue.

The issue is that you don’t really care all that much about hitting that particular goal- sure it would be nice to be leaner or slimmer; but you don’t have a big enough ‘why’ to motivate you.

This is what I call ‘having your ladder up against the wrong wall’

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

For example, maybe you can’t prioritise dieting right now.

Maybe it’s work, romantic relationship or family commitments, but you just can focus on it right now.

That’s fine. 

Understand that’s the case for this moment in time and adjust your expectations and goals accordingly. 

Or

Set a new goal that DOES motivate you- an upcoming event, a dress or pair of jeans you want to fit into or date in the near future to keep you focused.

Neither are right or wrong..

But just make sure you ask yourself these three questions ..

Is this goal important to me?
 
Am I willing to pay the price?
 
Is my ladder up against the right wall? 

In my experience, that’s normally enough to get you back on track.

And if its not, then you know that your ladder was against the wrong wall in the first place. 

Now you can focus your energy elsewhere. 

Either way, you win.