Seven Ways To Keep Going When You Feel Like Giving Up

Okay, pep talk time! Anyone feel like hanging up the cleats? Or how about, stick a fork in me, I'm done. Because of the economic instability our world is in, all of us and I mean all of us right now are feeling some level of pinched, afraid, frustrated, and ready with some things to just say, "Screw it! I'm done. I'm so done."

We'd all like some answers because answers or at least some clues would bring comfort, and I don't know about you but a warm cup of comfort sounds really good about now. We'd also like some successes under our belt minus the failures, but failure and success are two sides of the same coin. It is very tough for many of us, and therefore very easy to feel like you want to give up right now. But before you throw in the towel, here are seven things to consider first:

• Re-frame your situation

In the quote above, Napoleon Hill framed Edison's light bulb journey in terms of failure. Edison framed his situation as, "I just found 9,999 ways to NOT make the light bulb." This context is a positive because it puts Edison's effort in a position where every situation was a discovery, something new to learn. In his mind, he didn't fail, he just found out a new piece of information which could help him create the light bulb. In fact, who knows in one of those discoveries he could have come up with another invention totally un-related to the light bulb. Many successes were happy accidents that resulted from failures.

Taking Edison's approach, instead of thinking, "Oh, I have not been able to make this blog advertising thing work." I have re-framed it to, "Oh, I've discovered 25 ways to NOT make money online through blogging. I can package that information into a book and sell it." People are willing to pay money to learn from your mistakes so they can save time and frustration. As well, instead of making money through advertising, perhaps my new revenue stream is books. The goal has always been to make money, but maybe I just had to change the stream in order to get to that money goal. Try applying Re-framing to your situation.

• Stop focusing on the news

There is nothing that will get your emotions to nose dive faster than watching the news on TV or online. News programming is designed to focus on the doom and gloom in the world because unfortunately, fear and the unfortunate is what gets ratings and page views. Ever notice that a half hour news TV show is something like 25 minutes of calamity and distress sprinkled with commercials of "Hey buy stuff" ending with some happy stuff in the last 5 minutes because by that point viewers have been on long enough so the show gets its ratings.

Go on a news detox for 3 days and see how it affects your emotions and feelings. Odds are that you will be in a better space mentally and emotionally, and those I-wanna-give-up feelings will either subside or at least shrink to a mild roar.

• If you think you got it bad, someone else's got it worse

Not to harp on someone else's misfortune or dire situation, but our situations are never as bad as we think they are because there is always someone in a more stricken situation than ourselves. If you think about or see someone else who is in a worse position than you, it will help you realize that maybe your situation is not as bad as you think and that things can get better or re-strategized.

For example, when I was in the Philippines last month, I saw people living in shanty towns and washing their clothes in rivers. It quickly helped me see that my situation in the US, although not where I want it to be, was better than living in a shanty town. Just the fact I am a citizen and live in the US is a great benefit in itself. It may be sucky times in our country right now, but I could be living in an impoverished country or be in a country where women are not encouraged at all to be independent or business owners. Now, I can see my financial situation in a more worldly perspective.

• Change your goggles:

We tend to look at our life and the things in it through our filters, let's call them the you-goggles. Your you-goggles were created from your believes, thought patterns, and past experiences which are skewed to one direction and are biased to you. The you-goggles explain situations where two people can be looking at the same thing yet see completely different things. Each has their you-goggles on and seeing through their filters.

When looking at the situation you're ready to give up on, try looking at it with different goggles on. Ask yourself things like, "How would my mentor see this situation? How would my parents see this situation? How would the smartest or wisest person I know see this situation?" When you change your goggles, odds are that new ideas and inspirations will pop into your head which in turn will help you see more of the upsides in your situation, or give you new insights on different things you can try.

• Move. Take action even if it's small

The more you sit or lay around and not move, the more it will breed depressive and negative thoughts around your situation. Why? Because all your attention, the weight of your psyche, becomes more and more focused on those doom and gloom thoughts because that attention has no where else to go. Even small acts like going outside for a walk, meeting a friend for coffee, or planting some flowers in the backyard can give your mind other things to think about.

You know why cute kittens, puppies, and babies are so popular? Because, boom! When we're hit with the cuteness everything clears the mind and in floods the happiness. Why do we feel better when we go workout? Those endorphins of yours are now zooming all over the place after that workout making you feel good. Plus, doing things like lifting weights, running on the treadmill, or stretching in Pilates helps give you a sense of power in that moment as well as giving you the opportunity to release tension and stress.

Organizing piles in your house to help de-clutter, making phone calls, creating budget sheets, or having those important heart-to-hearts with loved ones or co-workers are also ways to start taking action to help you stay on course when you feel like giving up.

• Patience my friends

When you live in an instant gratification culture, patience tends to fall by the wayside. Like our fast foods, we want it our way, and lickety split. Even notice how we can get impatient with the microwave, and that a minute seems like for-evah. Even blogging has gotten down to 140 characters.

You've heard me say this many times and I'm gonna say it again today, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will your happy ending. I know, ouch, but it is true. And that journey to our happy ending is not going to be paved with all happiness and perfection. No. There will be bruises, heartache, and frustration because those things are the flip side of the coin of wellness, joy, and encouragement. But those "bad" things are not there to punish us or make us suffer, those situations are growth opportunities or I like to call homework.

Your desire to give up may simply be that you are being impatient because things are not going your way or as you want them to. Perhaps, the universe has a better plan, and if you can just be patient and let the cards unfold when it is their time, you just may end up with something beyond your expectations.

• You are never alone. Seek out the help of your peeps

An easy thing to do when you're feeling like you wanna give up is hide in your cave all by your lonesome. While some alone time is healthy indeed, spending weeks and months is not going to help your cause. And again, all that cave time in isolation is only going to breed more of those negative thoughts because hello we have the you-goggles on 24/7 with no one around to help us see wider and brighter.

Start opening up to your friends and loved ones. I used to think that asking for help or guidance meant I was somehow weak or incompetent. In actuality, it's the opposite. Asking for help is a sign of great strength because no one makes it on their own in this world, and the journey is so much more pleasant and easier when you have others along the way.

Now some of you might be saying to yourselves, "Well, no one gets me. No one understands what I'm going through." I will say that at one time I would have totally agreed with you because I felt the exact same way, but then I discovered this thing called blogs and social networking sites. Really, you'd be amazed as to what people are going through and how open they are about their situation. And people are really, really kind and supportive out there in the interwebs.

I can't even begin to tell you the level of kindness and support I have gotten from other people online, complete strangers in fact. In many ways, the blogosphere and socialsphere has been a great compliment to traditional therapy because Ive been able to meet people who do indeed know exactly how I feel and have been through the same things.

I've met many kindred spirits, and it often reminds me that at some level we as humans are one, and we may appear different on the surface, but yet can share so many commonalities underneath. So when you feel like giving up, try reaching out online or even in your local communities, and odds are you'll find someone who can help you up.

So, what are some ways you've used to help you keep going when you felt like giving up?