How Long Should You Try?

We’ve been taught planning and goal-setting is the key to success. We are made to believe that that in order to achieve what we want, we need to plan properly to make our lives easier and to get to our end goals. But what happens when the experience does not match up with your planned expectations? What happens when your goals all of a sudden now seem so out of reach?

Earlier this year, I published the post “19 Hacks for 2019”. In the comments section, you expressed how excited you were this year to work smarter, make healthy lifestyle choices, do better at your relationships, etc. So how’s that going for you this early March?

Does this poem resonate with anyone this glorious Monday morning?

Woke up this Monday morning feeling blue

“Some prayer and morning meditation will do,”

I convinced myself sheepishly as I rolled out of bed.

Yet the desire to hide under the covers beckoned instead.

I penciled down some notes and things to do in my diary.

I mused, “Nothing like ticking things off to beat the misery!”

Noon time comes, but surprisingly, I already feel tired

This has been the norm lately – not how I am usually wired!

My equilibrium is usually the super-efficient over achiever;

My normal is to succeed fully in each and every endeavour.

But lately I feel extremely demotivated, inefficient and slow:

I miss the old self who was always on the go!

So much for all the high hopes I had for the new year;

Surely this was supposed to be the glorious season to shift gear!

“Tomorrow will be a better day,” I utter as I encourage myself.

“You have another opportunity to try again; be kind to yourself.

Remember that the best is still to come.”

Without a doubt, the best is yet to come!

– Sibahle Magadla

Missed your morning run/gym session? Your money-making/financial management plan not going as planned? Last week’s office meeting didn’t go well? Still waiting for that promotion? Still trying to get your business off the ground? Still dealing with major  issues in your marriage/family? The fact of the matter is, in spite of our circumstances (and  the accompanying thoughts, moods and feelings), we human beings WERE DESIGNED FOR HOPE. Just because certain aspects of your life aren’t working out as you’d like, it doesn’t mean the other aspects of your life should suffer too.  Choose HOPE.

Remember to wait. Yes, the clock is ticking, but think of waiting as an active process: whatever you’re going through actually does represent an opportunity for growth; for creativity (and disruptive ideas); for developing other aspects of your life or character. Figure out what that looks like for you…

There will come a time when you’ll struggle even to remember what’s causing you so much worry today, so have HOPE! I’ve shared below some quotes and passages to keep the fire of hope burning in your life:

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. Confucius

Only in the darkness can you see the stars. Martin Luther King Jr

Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day. E.B. White

You will face many defeats in your life, but never let yourself be defeated. Maya Angelou

We must pass through the darkness, to reach the light. Albert Pike

Hope keeps you alive. Lauren Olive

Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future. Robert H. Schuller

Out of difficulties grow miracles. Jean De La Bruyère

There are far, far better things ahead than anything we leave behind. C. S. Lewis

As long as we have hope, we have direction, the energy to move, and the map to move by. Lao Tzu

The difference between hope and despair is a different way of telling stories from the same facts. Alain de Botton

Consult not your fears but your hopes and dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what is still possible for you to do. Pope John XXIII

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6

Friends, we need to keep in mind that things don’t always go as planned, but they will always work out. Feel free to read these quotes out loud, share them with your friends, paste them on your fridges, your bathroom mirrors and vision boards! Carry on in 2019 with high hopes, in whatever situation you find yourself. For HOPE helps us not only to survive: HOPE helps us to THRIVE…

How long should you try? Until. ― Jim Rohn

“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” 1 Peter 5:10.