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Quit or Persevere?

For me, the answer has always been to persevere; I know you have always seen it through, too; it's the Champions' way.

There are times, however, when the task at hand can be challenging, and it gets the better of us. I've personally had to stop, take my mind off it and start something else, then eventually return and try it again. Has it worked? Not always.

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The problem I found was that the more jobs I began, the more overwhelmed I felt, so much so that I never finished. It doesn't take long before it feels like you have a mountain of things to get done with no light at the end of the tunnel. It becomes frustrating and hard to manage; we can become inactive. Sometimes we don't know where to begin.

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The Champions Of Change Newsletter is a perfect example of that. I wanted to create it as part of Peoplepreneur®, but the thought of starting among everything I had to do delayed it. Three months in, I now have the momentum to keep them coming.

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I know you also have so much to do; allocating time to everything is one way to prioritise, and even changing your environment can help; however, completing the task is what we must master. Let me give you something that works.

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Overcoming the toughest of tasks

Navy SEALs are perhaps known for their most demanding military training; notably, the candidates go through a sort-out training called 'Hell Week'. They have little sleep, four hours, and are put through sixty hours of activities in wet and cold environments.

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After the week, they noticed many of these candidates would drop out of the program. It bought a vast loss of resources and time. When they brought in Eric Potterat, a psychologist, he reviewed the mental toughness program to find how they could increase the ability of the candidate to push themselves to complete the task required of them. He came up with what he called the Big 4.

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Four habits to help them accomplish their tasks, and how we can adopt them.

1) Focus On The Now

2) Imagine How Good It Will Feel

3) Breathe Deeply

4) Cheer Yourself On

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Habit #1 Focus On The Now

When trying to accomplish something that requires more focus, a great technique is to narrow our focus. Remove all distractions and become laser-focused; see nothing but the task.

The Navy SEALs are taught to focus only on the twenty-mile run; they aren't supposed to think about anything else. Not the next meal, not what's happening after, not tomorrow, not the end, or how others are doing.

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Imagine pedalling up a hill on your bike; you only need to focus on cranking that pedal one at a time, not when you'll reach the top, not how tired you're feeling or the brain saying stop. Each rotation brings you closer to the top.

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What are you typically focusing on? The process or the result? Can you shift it? Try it.

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Habit #2 Imagine How Good It Will Feel

Mental rehearsals are a powerful technique that will bring the positive feelings you have associated with the activity.

Just imagine that you have completed the task. What would it feel like to accomplish it? What does it mean for you? How has completing it benefited you? Break down the task into smaller steps so you feel great about meeting each step.

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Taking a moment to replay every moment of that accomplishment over and over again will deeper the feelings you attach. When trying to complete the activity, you will begin to transfer that energy into it.

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Here is an example of my little one; I gave her a lolly but told her she could have it until she finished her food. She repeatedly pretended to lick the lolly and say, "mmm mmm, it's nice", to show that she was experiencing it.

As you can imagine, the actual taste was intensified 100% more than it would have been when she wasn’t allowed to have it; she mentally created the expectation of it.

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Habit #3 Breathe Deeply

Is your handbrake on? Your mental handbrake kicks into gear the moment we dive into panic mode. We can experience anxiety, discouragement, demotivation or feeling physically drained.

When you find yourself talking negatively to yourself:

"I can't do that."

"I'm not good enough."

"I won't get it done."

In our brain, we have a small thumbnail size part called the Amygdala. It's responsible for the handbrake when you feel like you are unsafe. So when you feel like you're failing, the Amygdala stops everything, and you begin the panic reaction. It's a natural process.

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The only way to stop this from happening and keep you in a state you can work with is to flood the brain with oxygen; breath deeply.

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Navy Seals use a 6-2-6 process, inhale for the count of six, hold for the count of two and then exhale for the count of six. Two or three times, and that should do the trick. What this is going to do for us is lower the blood pressure, flood the brain with oxygen and allow us to think and react in the right ways.

So breathe.

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Habit #4 Cheer Yourself On

If there was any voice we allow our minds to listen to, it better be yours. There could not be anyone more to cheer for you if not you. Minimising the voices in our heads that do not serve us requires our voices to be louder and more potent.

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In each passing moment of trying to complete your tasks, cheer yourself on. Say, "you can do it", "go for the next shot", or "you did it", or "Look at you; keep going". Replace all those negative thoughts with joyous cheers.

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Keep reminding yourself of the success you are accomplishing each moment and see it through.

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Time to Persevere

What are you trying to get done? Is something holding you back?

Could you try these four habits out?

Here's the disclaimer: you may feel that this is somewhat worked the first time you try. Let me tell you; habits need conditioning for them to stick. To be repeated over and over to form routines that we are currently governed by.

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Those that preserve are those that do these instinctively. We'd never be short of accomplishments if you and I could develop these skills.

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So approach your most dreaded task like this:

Focus on the specific task in the immediate moment

Feel the accomplishment as you do it

Keep calm and breathe 6-2-6

Positive thoughts, nothing else

It's time.

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