Finding Your Mojo at Midpoint by Bob Jones

 

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.

 

Finishing a marathon was important work and we weren’t quitters. So, we started a rhythm. Run 70 metres. Stop. Massage. “It’s too soon to quit.” Run 70 metres. Stop. Massage. “It’s too soon to quit.” We have the medals to prove we are finishers. And we learned that ALL marathoners breakdown, suffer injuries, and feel like quitting at some time. Loss of mojo comes with the territory.

 

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.

Bob writes to grow hope, inspire people to be real, forge an authentic faith in Jesus, and discover their life purpose.

You can follow his writing at REVwords.com

He would love to hear from you.