January
if at first you don’t succeed.
In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. – Bill Cosby
I have a bit of a confession to make. I’ve always been a bit of an overachiever. I loved school and did well academically. It was something I was good at and receive positive attention from my peers because of it. So naturally, I thrived. Over the years, I got used to being the “smart one” and always doing well in school. It got to the point that I became afraid of failing. Not failing classes but failing at any given task I was presented with. It affected me so much that I would actually quit if I thought I wasn’t going to achieve my desired outcome. My mom was always there by my side, encouraging me to keep going and reminding me that quitters never win.
Eventually, as I grew older and matured, it dawned on me that quitting is failing. You never really fail until you give up. I decided that whatever task I was facing that even if I failed, at least I would fail trying.
Needless to say, I believe a lot of that mindset spilled over into my weight loss efforts. I’ve been a yo-yo for years, at one point losing over 150 lbs only to gain it back. I looked into the past instead of looking forward, and I subconsciously told myself I was going to fail again, so I slowly just quit trying. That or me being the impatient person I can be didn’t get the immediate results I wanted and it felt like I was never going to reach my goal.
Luckily, I’ve grown up a lot since then, and I’ve decided that even if I were to fail, I’ll fail trying, even though I don’t think failing is an option in this. I’ve lost weight before, so I know I can do it. It’s a matter of determination and perseverance. The belief that we will fail will cause the failure for more than our own abilities. So if you feel like quitting today, don’t. You can do it. I believe in you.
I can relate so much to this. It was easier to stop trying than to realize that my absolute best was not good enough…to lose weight or get an A or XXX. Then, my reason for not being “the best” was simply that I didn’t try my hardest, not that I was a failure.
I understand the failed logic in that now. Even though, if I’m 100% completely honest with myself it is still something I think about….
{Totally unrelated, but have you ever read the book The Shack? OMG – it is so good. Not in a “its greatly written” type of a book but in a “this message is so powerful” type of a book. Must read.}
You are absolutely right, you never fail until you give up. Thanks for the reminder. :-)