Persistence
After reading Girl, Wash Your Face, by Rachel Hollis I had to pre-order Girl, Stop Apologizing. It is split up into three sections: Excuse to let go of, Behavior to adopt and skills to acquire. In each category, there is at least one topic that resonates with me.
Excuses to let go of:
“I don’t have time!” — Let me tell you — I have been using this excuse for as long as I can remember. Earlier this year, a friend made a comment on social media, — it jerked me back to our conversation about 7 years ago – when I told her “I don’t have the time because I have a long commute”. My commute back then was approximately an hour and a half on most days, one way! Years later — I am still using the same excuse — with a slight twist. It morphed into “I don’t have the time because I have young children”. This comment on social media from my friend made me realize I need to let go of that excuse because I have been using it for at least 7 years! After seeing the words “let go of your excuse” written out for me made me, — affirm my mind shift. You will never have enough time to do everything, but you need to make time if you want to see changes. As one of my mentor Sue Bryce says, “I don’t believe in time management, you have to make time for the things you want”.
Behavior to adopt:
“Learning to say No”. As an outgoing person and a people pleaser, I LOVE to go to events, parties and do favors if need be. I am often asked to run errands and say “yes” because I don’t want to disappoint. Then I would feel bad for saying yes because I had planned on (planned activity) that day! Similarly, if an event is scheduled on a day I had plans to be productive I either change my plans so I can go to the event or feel bad because I have to miss an event. I realized I need to set a schedule and if something lands on the dedicated work day/time to say “No” and let it go. Not feel miserable and dwell on it.
Skills to acquire:
Persistence. When I watched Rachel’s video about persistence, I cried. I legit cried. As I write this section, I procrastinated. For some reason this resonates with me — I feel my unrealized potential yet it is hard to stay motivated. I get into a groove and then life happens. — Someone in the family gets sick, a complicated pregnancy, hospitalization, moving, babies, etc. While I get back up on the horse, it takes me weeks if not months to get back up again. It is so much easier to disconnect and not think by watching a show on Hulu or Netflix than actually doing work. I understand that I need time to relax and decompress. I also had to give myself a grace period, because of the life adjustment of a new baby and healing up from surgery.
Don’t get me wrong — I LOVE spending time with my children — I am truly grateful that I have the opportunity to stay at home with them. I am now ready to enter a new chapter or season in my life. To everything, there is a season, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh… a time for play and a time for work. At this moment it is time for work.
Let me ask you… where would you be if you had not given up on a dream? Not holding back? Would you be a doctor? Would you have lost 50 lbs? Run a marathon? Become an adoptive parent? Be a successful marketing research analyst, HR manager or well-known business in the area? What is stopping you? Time? Money? Connections? There is a way. Find a way. Nothing changes, if nothing changes. Be persistent. Starting today, I am no longer breaking a promise to myself because know I am made for more.
I have so many people to thank for my mind shift. Sue Bryce planted the seed and it was reiterated by Rachel Hollis, Mel Robbins, and various podcasts — even Maisie Williams from Games of Thrones — However; I think it was a culmination of this wonderful book by Rachel and her videos about the book that has cemented this shift.
