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Just getting through isn’t always a bad strategy

August 10, 2018Scott Miker

When you are really pushing yourself with the systems and habits approach to improvement you will certainly come across obstacles and tough times.  You will feel it isn’t worth it or simply say to yourself, “this sucks.”

With most improvement strategies this signals the beginning of the end.  This is when most people lose interest and decide that it isn’t worth the effort they have to put forth.

But we don’t have to give up on our goal.  I’ve found that throughout life there are always ebbs and flows.  Sometimes things are easy and sometimes they are hard.  Sometimes a bunch of bad luck hits all at the same time.

This makes it difficult to stick with consistency in your routine when everything else is changing.

When things get rough, we have to remain flexible.  This might be going back to only doing the minimum you set for a little while.

But I’ve found that rash decisions in the middle of a disaster tend to be too far on the extreme.  Usually it is only about 50% of the disaster you believe it to be when it is happening.  It usually isn’t so bad if you don’t cave and downward spiral from the setback.

Normally I hate just getting through.  I enjoy life and tend to be happy on a day-to-day basis.  Therefore I want to enjoy life, not be miserable and struggle.

But I’ve found that through difficulties it is often better to keep going and keep working to see if it subsides.  Many times disasters I thought were long term eased up after a couple days of keeping my head down and working through it.

On one hand this could be recipe for disaster if we don’t adjust and flex what we are doing over time.  On the other hand this helps us gain the consistency needed to get through tough times and temporary fluctuations.

So when disaster first hits, take a breath and do a quick evaluation.  Is this something that really truly requires flexibility and change?  Or is this just testing your resolve?

If you can halfway answer that question you can then move forward by incorporating changes and adjustments or you can push through.  After a little while ask the questions again.  You may be surprised that by the time you ask yourself again, the pain around the disaster subsided; you rode out the storm and are back to your normal routines again.

Life is always changing and it is how you address those changes that will define you.  Sometimes you need to pivot and adjust and other times you have to put your head down and work through it.  So remember that just getting through it can be an effective strategy when the challenge is a short term fluctuation and will get back to normal after a short while.

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Stop taking everything so seriously
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How to cultivate quality