Persistence
|
Persistence is sticking with something even when it's hard. It's an important part of a Growth Mindset.
It's easy to keep doing something when it's fun. It's hard when you run into an obstacle that appears too big. Intelligence on its own cannot help you overcome obstacles; it’s persistence – refusing to give up – that will give you the best chance of reaching your goal. A huge part of Anxiety Management is Positive Thinking and Perspective.
You need to change the way you look at things with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). And it's hard. But just like Triggers (those pesky things that trip our anxiety alarm system), in order to be successfully change your thinking, you will need a Disruptor. A Disruptor can make you stop and think about the situation in a different way. |
Instead of giving up when things get hard, try these things instead:
Try to figure out what you need by yourself
This means knowing the difference between ‘hitting the wall’ and a challenge has gone from a helpful stretch to becoming insurmountable or overwhelming.
Sometimes it's hard to know the difference. The best way to know when to walk away is when you go from uncomfortable frustration (when learning happens) into a negative thought spiral (when unhelpful habits can form).
Know where to find Support.
Do you need another set of eyes or ears? Sometimes it helps to ask about another person about a particular part of your goal or a step you can't figure out. It doesn't mean you're giving up and it doesn't mean you're asking someone else to do it for you, it just means you need a fresh Disruptor.
This means knowing the difference between ‘hitting the wall’ and a challenge has gone from a helpful stretch to becoming insurmountable or overwhelming.
Sometimes it's hard to know the difference. The best way to know when to walk away is when you go from uncomfortable frustration (when learning happens) into a negative thought spiral (when unhelpful habits can form).
Know where to find Support.
Do you need another set of eyes or ears? Sometimes it helps to ask about another person about a particular part of your goal or a step you can't figure out. It doesn't mean you're giving up and it doesn't mean you're asking someone else to do it for you, it just means you need a fresh Disruptor.
|
Take a minute before you quit
Take a break to figure it out. Go for a walk or take some days off. Check in with yourself: are you hungry or tired? Is there a step or task that is a Trigger? Try to remember why you started. Recenter with this worksheet. Celebrate every success
When you work towards a goal, there is no success that is too small to celebrate. If your goal is to practice mindfulness for 5 minutes every day for a month, celebrate each week. Or every 4 days. Or every day! Reward yourself for your hard work as you go. |
Make mistakes. Often.
Failure is an inevitable part of any project, any day, any journey. However, being persistent means we're better equipped to learn from mistakes and use failure as a learning experience. It is important to reflect on what went wrong and identify ways to improve in the future.
Your mindset is pretty important. It's how you choose to look at situations. It will help you view mistakes as a chance to learn,
Failure is an inevitable part of any project, any day, any journey. However, being persistent means we're better equipped to learn from mistakes and use failure as a learning experience. It is important to reflect on what went wrong and identify ways to improve in the future.
Your mindset is pretty important. It's how you choose to look at situations. It will help you view mistakes as a chance to learn,
Find the Value
Some of us over here love efficiency, or when you do something that gets multiple results. So, we always try to figure out how to get the most out of a goal or project or chore by finding the extra value. For instance, if we're feeling stressed, we'll go for a walk or bike ride and listen to a book. Even if we feel kinda yucky, at least we're changing our perspective with a book.
Finding the value is finding that thing that's good for you even when it doesn't feel great. When you start working on a goal, you should look for other benefits (good things) that you get out of it. Practicing your Plan, for instance, might score a new friend. Or a new Perspective. Or a better way to do what you've been struggling with!
Some of us over here love efficiency, or when you do something that gets multiple results. So, we always try to figure out how to get the most out of a goal or project or chore by finding the extra value. For instance, if we're feeling stressed, we'll go for a walk or bike ride and listen to a book. Even if we feel kinda yucky, at least we're changing our perspective with a book.
Finding the value is finding that thing that's good for you even when it doesn't feel great. When you start working on a goal, you should look for other benefits (good things) that you get out of it. Practicing your Plan, for instance, might score a new friend. Or a new Perspective. Or a better way to do what you've been struggling with!
Use your Spark
When you do what you love, it never feels like work isn't always true, but it is true most of the time.
Find a way to work things that you love to do into your goals. Do you need to practice talking to adults and you love the library? Set a goal that involves talking to the librarian.
Do you need to work on mindfulness and love playing legos? Set a mindfulness goal that involves legos.
There's no rule that goals have to be hard and terrible at the same time.
If it's a project that you don't have control over, you can still work your spark into it. You just might need to be creative to get there. As long as you can identify a supportive adult, you can find a way to work your spark into anything!
When you do what you love, it never feels like work isn't always true, but it is true most of the time.
Find a way to work things that you love to do into your goals. Do you need to practice talking to adults and you love the library? Set a goal that involves talking to the librarian.
Do you need to work on mindfulness and love playing legos? Set a mindfulness goal that involves legos.
There's no rule that goals have to be hard and terrible at the same time.
If it's a project that you don't have control over, you can still work your spark into it. You just might need to be creative to get there. As long as you can identify a supportive adult, you can find a way to work your spark into anything!
Tricking Your Brain
|
When you hit a wall (where you just can't motivate yourself to keep going), especially if the thing you're doing makes you anxious, research shows that the best way to get past it is to trick your brain.
Reappraisal: an assessment of something or someone again or in a different way. |
Your body feels stressed when you're excited and when you're anxious, so what if you make it think it's excitement and not anxiety? Reappraisal is Reframing. It's essential to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) from Identify.
Another way to trick your brain is to take small bites of your project or goal. If the total task seems too overwhelming or intimidating, focus on a little bit every day.
You can also visualize, or imagine, being done. You can remember what it was like last time you completed something and how good it felt. That helps your brain calm down and refocus.
Another way to trick your brain is to take small bites of your project or goal. If the total task seems too overwhelming or intimidating, focus on a little bit every day.
You can also visualize, or imagine, being done. You can remember what it was like last time you completed something and how good it felt. That helps your brain calm down and refocus.
|
|
|
|
|