What do you do when you’re halfway to your goal and you’ve lost your mojo?
It was a Saturday afternoon in October 2007. Niagara Falls, Ontario. My wife and I had been running for our lives. Or at least our dream. We were sidelined on the curb of an unfamiliar street among a group of strangers
It was our first marathon. We were two km’s past halfway. The start was invigorating, setting out with thousands of runners and a shared dream of becoming finishers. The first 23 kms breezed by. However, ten months of endurance training wasn’t enough to prevent an injury. The IT band in my right leg gave out. There were 19 km ahead of us and my leg wouldn’t let me run more than 70 metres without cramping up.
The Choice
Isn’t it true that the work you love doesn’t feel like work at the start of a project? You possess more than enough energy born of enthusiasm and expectations of a successful outcome. Your confidence is energized by a quick start. You get traction.
But then comes the middle. Frustration steps in, you lose momentum, and finishing your project is all too quickly in jeopardy. What do you do? The key treatment for IT band syndrome is to rest from the activity that is causing the pain. What do you do if rest isn’t an option? You have a deadline to meet or a finish line to cross.
You face a choice. Do you give in or press on?
Important work of any nature, including writing, is more like a marathon than a sprint. You need stamina not speed.
As I tried to massage some heat into my leg, Jocelyn and I remembered a lesson God taught us 28 years earlier.
Finishers
We were in the middle of our first ministry assignment. Discouraged. Disillusioned. Done. We quit. No one blamed us, but we knew we were better than that. We learned then that its always too soon to quit.
The Secret
Here’s the secret: the decision to finish any project is made for you before you start. When you settle on never quitting on important work, you’ll find the mojo to keep going when your momentum is gone. Pause. Embrace the pain. Start again. And again. Finish.
Writing
this post is illustrative of the secret. I wrote it. Didn’t like it. Made some
edits. Liked it even less. Lost momentum. Frustrated. Despaired that I could produce
anything readable. Felt like quitting. Wrote a bit more. And some more. Now you’re
reading it. Thank you.
Many people react emotionally to frustration, or setbacks. Successful people respond strategically.
You don’t have to do everything alone, so don’t be afraid to ask for help or support if you need it. Often, just sharing your burdens can be the biggest boost in getting your mojo back.
You can follow his writing at REVwords.com
He would love to hear from you.
Thank you, Bob, for not giving up on this post. It turned out to be a keeper. I'm making especial note of the following quotes:
ReplyDelete"Important work of any nature, including writing, is more like a marathon than a sprint. You need stamina not speed."
"Many people react emotionally to frustration, or setbacks. Successful people respond strategically."
I can relate to needing to revisit an in-progress blog draft several times. Microsoft Word is a wonderful writing buddy in helping us easily remove or move sentences and paragraphs around until the writing flows smoothly.
Well done, once again. Thanksgiving Blessings to all.
Thank you, Wendy. Encouragement is your forte and that is exactly what writers need.
ReplyDeleteWow! Wow, wow, wow! I probably would not have had the gumption to keep on going under those conditions... Let me rephrase. I wouldn't have entered in the first place cause I'm not a runner! However, this story does make such a great point about the writing process. Keep on going. Finish the race! Well said!
ReplyDeleteRunning is probably one of the few things you don't do in your marathon called life. Thank you for leaning in.
DeleteWhat a great example of perseverance and how important it is to continue to the finish line when the road gets tough. Thanks for this inspiring post, Bob!
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon. Thankful for you taking time on a Thanksgiving Monday to read an connect!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story of ultimate determination. What an inspiration!.. My runner friends have told me that somewhere at mile 18, they hit “the wall”, and they're trainied to take one step, then the next until they get their “second wind”. One even wrote an article on "My Talk with the Coach", his divine coach.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Sandi. Running and writing - one step or one phrase after the other.
ReplyDeleteYou know I know about marathon running. On my first marathon, I went into it with this question: “Time will pass. That you have no control over. Where do you want to be at 11 am this morning?” It reminds me that time is continually passing , what do I want to have accomplished when I look back? It helps me to start now so that I can be done sooner.
ReplyDeleteLove the "start now so I can be done sooner." That's a good way to get out of the mire in the middle. Hope you are still running.
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