[watcher]

when you guys are fighting an uphill battle that takes months and possibility even years, how do you keep yourself motivated to keep pushing? i found that the human spirit can sometimes seem infinitely resilient, yet so frail that the slightest things can break it, and while at first that determination is unwavering, time has a funny way of chipping away at it. it was once said that constant dripping can hollow out a stone. such persistence can be rewarding, but a persistence going in the reverse direction may hollow out one's soul as well.

[Deadalready]

To me there is no such thing as failure only feedback

Every obstacle we encounter is an indication we're moving somewhere, a parked car can't possibly hit something, in fact the faster a car moves the more likely it'll hit something. Now if I'm driving high speed it's hard to watch everything at once, sometimes I get my friends to look out for landmarks while I'm driving along, or read instructions or maps so, "Many hands, light work".

I think it's important to celebrate every step of the challenge, I can't sit through a movie I hate only to like the ending. I learn to love every step and I also find people who share the passion and knowledge. I also have this desire to learn everything about something, whenever I start a new activity I go out and soak every morsel of information I can find on it.
Another thing I love to do is read motivation books or visit motivation seminars and it really helps me strive towards goals.


Remember you can judge the strength of a person's character by the obstacle it takes to overcome it.

[watcher]

hehe... it was also once said... every failure is a sign pointing in the right direction.
i just thought of a small idea to make the battle a bit more worthwhile...
i'm gonna record it... write my thoughts on paper and perhaps mail it to myself and the involved persons when it's over.
until then, i'll seal it up and leave it as is... as a momento of my journey.

[Deadalready]

Why not blog your progress online? Then you'll have people watching your every move and holding you accountable. It's much harder to give up a goal when there's someone breathing down your neck.

[watcher]

Why not blog your progress online? Then you'll have people watching your every move and holding you accountable. It's much harder to give up a goal when there's someone breathing down your neck.

i'm not much a fan of making my life public. despite that i share a lot in these forums, there's certain aspects of my life that i'd rather keep to myself. furthermore, there's aspects of others that i should keep from public space in order to protect their privacy. i already have a blog i write into, which is somewhat general and somewhat specific, but it's not much a progress tracker as much as a string of thought processes which i go through from day to day.

besides... the audience doesn't like to support personal causes that drag. eventually they will disapprove and demand a new course of action. who likes to keep hearing about the local sports team struggling to get to the next level? it becomes old and people forget easily. hehe

[baoi]

I am constantly fighting a uphill battle, and i'm always at a disadvantage.

But i keep going because i have a lot of support from the people i love/live with. Also, thinking of when i get to wherever i am heading, it will all be worth it. Just dont be a failure.. you've invested oh so much already.

[yoyomonkey]

that's an awesome question i should have been asking myself....
well, for me, focus purely on the goal and the obstacles that are in the way of the goal.
if it's something you really NEED TO/HAVE TO achieve, forget the 'time' factor. i mean, don't look back because its pointless. you just have to make sure you get to the end.
there are some things i think would have helped me or would have liked as i am trying to reach my goal.
-support- from family or friends (or random blog viewers... well, i don't like to have people view my personal business either but i dunno, i might make one later. i may eventually need one.)
-hobbies- something you enjoy to do during your breaks. increases morality

mm.. the hollowing out of one's soul while fighting an uphill battle huh?
well, you'll just have to make sure you become an adjuchas and eventually a vasto lorde..... (haha, bleach joke)

[Pogichinoy]

I keep myself motivated by the idea of greener pastures at the end of that hill.

Find your goal, set the steps to achieve that goal, make it happen.

[cavil.]

Despite what your fellow commentators have noted, failure is real.

Failure is real and evident. Failure has led us to an ill-advised war, real estate bubble, subprime mortgage crisis, and etc. It has led to drug-related deaths, murders, political strife, and etc. But obviously people can learn from failure from missions and tasks, take away lessons to succeed yet again. It's hard because of the fear of losing everything again, but possessing determination is key.

Like you've stated, persistence is rewarding. Diligence pays off.

How do I keep pushing myself? It's the idea that it can be done and it ought to be done for me. I do things for a better future, a stable one. I do things because I don't want to end up struggling (who did so nobly) financially and socially. I do things because it's innate within me to learn, to explore, and try new things. I do things because I like a challenge (no matter how pigheaded it seems).

Though, persistence should never be credited it as courage or honorable, it's actually achieving the goal through that persistence that ought to be admired.

[Tuffcore]

Sometimes, it's about the journey, not the destination.

When you get to the top of the mountain, you usually think about how you made it over that big giant rock and rarely about how easy it was to hike 3 or 4 steps on an open trail. In life, it's about those big giant obstacles that you overcome to get to where you are now. Hitting a wall is going to happen sometimes. Embrace it and celebrate your victory later.

If you find yourself discouraged, it means you need gratification at certain intervals of your journey. Learn about that. Learn to find ways to reward yourself even if it's as simple as sitting down and showing yourself how much progress you've made since you started out on this path. The solution might be simple or it might be as complicated as adopting certain side journeys in the process.

[SeX1eStAsaBa]

I stay motivated by trying to pin point the time when I wanted to start the uphill battle. Why I wanted to do it in the first place. I'll try to get that feeling back so that I know it's a worthwhile battle. I guess what I'm saying is I'll keep pulling that emotional trigger to keep me motivated.

I'll also try to imagine the end result and how wonderful it is to be there.

[viper2788]

ive been a real mess lately... and i find myself quite depressed most of the time. basically, college hasnt been working out for me and im kind of stuck right now. ive screwed up in the past but i always knew the next step, and how to recover. this time i just dont know. at first it was just confusing.. and after some frustration, its like i am accepting my loss, as it is leading me to constant depression. its as if i lost interest in myself, and all the pride i used to have. "im not half the man i used to be" is exactly how i feel right now. little things really start to all gather up and get to me.. things which didnt bother me before.

i realized when my friend told me the other day that im "slacking" and that i barely stick up for myself anymore.. as my friends and i often jokingly talk trash - "fry-time" as we call it. on top of that, ive lost all competitiveness(beer pong, sports, that need to be better than the other guy).. and my interest in meeting new people-girls especially. sadly it only makes me more depressed as i realize all these things..

anyway.. how do you guys keep your chin up during hard times? what keeps you going through all the bs life throws at you?

[watcher]

hmm... this topic is somehwat similar... maybe u can go here and find some inspiration:
http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=221963

[Take Five]

i've been the same way ever since college started. i find that i don't even get mad or depressed when bad things happen to me now...i just feel indifferent because i'm used to it. i start expecting the worst to happen to me. it scares me.

[Prot]

For me, I've always hated the way the educational process is structured around acing exams. Yet I have to go through atleast college to get the job I want. So my motivation is the goal of getting the job.

If the things you are doing are not making you happy and also are irrelevant to your goal, then maybe you need to find out what you want and how you can get there. If the things you are doing are not making you happy but is vital or significant in you obtaining your goal, then you just gotta remember your goal.

I know what you mean by losing interest in everything. I just find other things to do. If I am bored of playing video games, I will read books. If I am bored of that, I will _____ etc. There really is a huge amount of things you can do. If you can't think of any, join a club, or volunteer for something.

[Ogihara_Hideki]

You just have to will yourself to get out of the rut you're in. You have to promise yourself to do it. But the very first step is to get started and I'm sure you've tried and had no success a million times over, but you just have to keep moving forward. You have to believe that no matter what situation you're in now, that you're gonna come out at the end a much better person and that there's no failures in life, just experiences. I was in a similar situation. Graduated college a few years back working a meaningless job to pay the bills, wasn't meet new interesting people, didn't have any dreams or direction, eventually saw all my close friends move on with their careers, relationships, lives etc. I lost all motivation to do the things I once loved and most importantly, I couldn't stay focused enough to make any major strides in my life. I was wandering aimlessly and was seriously depressed. And to make matters worse, I somehow tricked myself into thinking that I was incapable of doing anything. I even spent tons of money seeing a mental health professional and guess what? None of it helped me. My shrink was basically telling me things I already knew. One day, it just hit my like a ton of rocks. Either I was going to promise myself, that no matter what, I would pick myself up every time I fell from this thing called "life" or I wasn't going to go on for another day. That day was the most scariest and pivotal moment of my life. The things you need are right in front of you. You just have to make use of them.

1. Reconnecting with my family and (friends). I would talk to my mom and older brother like mad. Sure sometimes they would give me answers that, on the surface was definitely not what I was looking for, but I knew that they were in just as much pain to see me all broken up and wasted so I always took what they told me to heart. It takes tough love.

2. Get Spiritual. I'm not trying to evangelize here or anything. But search for help from a higher authority.

3. Cut out all negative activities. You're going through tough times no need to go on those late night benders and try and self-medicate, get drunk etc.

4. Start taking care of yourself more, physically. No better way then to boost your mood then to go for a workout.

5. Stay around positive influences and constantly reinforce positive thoughts in your mind even though you feel like crap. Chances are you've habitually become a negative person over time. No one can beat you down like yourself. Cut it out! Like you said before, it's the little things. It's all about the little things that pile into big things. Don't let the little things get to you.

6. If school isn't working out for you at the moment maybe you should seriously look into taking some time off. This is one mistake I made and I rushed my way through school. Looking back, I should have took some time to re-evaluate what was really important to me.

7. Give. You'll be so surprised to know that you have so many things to offer others. Look for those opportunities and give whatever you can. (not talking about money)

8. Write all the things down that are bothering you and write all the things down that pick you up. Write all the things down that's good about you. The key here is the WRITE things down and look them over. This may sound like a self-help cliched technique but you'll be surprised to see how effective it can be.

Hope this helps and good luck!

[sokky]

get into a small and simple routine you'll get use to it and it be like second nature. once you begin to keep yourself busy and always moving being motivated becomes a whole lot easier. works for me..

[Aerolite]

I kind of keep little reminders of things that motivate me in areas I frequent around my home. I've done some of this without thinking, actually. For example, right next to my monitor I have some books, grad school flyers, sketchbooks/journals, that keep me on a more visual track in life. These things are always in my view and I tend to just pick one of them up whenever I'm bored.

I've noticed how amazing it is I get off track and depressed in life, when in reality I've just forgotten what's most important to me.

Go find more hobbies to do, even if you find out that you suck at them. You'll be learning new things and will hopefully find something you enjoy that you're also good at. It's really easy to be depressed around the same college stereotypes until you realize how dumb some of the issues you compare yourself to really are. I've recently had bouts of depression regarding some of the (intoxicated) situations/ + (party) people I've associated with in college and I decided to break away from that. I want to meet new people and go to places that motivate, inspire, and make me happy.

[Sleepypig]

stick some important quotes around your wall and look up once in a while

[Irysinon]

ive been a real mess lately... and i find myself quite depressed most of the time. basically, college hasnt been working out for me and im kind of stuck right now. ive screwed up in the past but i always knew the next step, and how to recover. this time i just dont know. at first it was just confusing.. and after some frustration, its like i am accepting my loss, as it is leading me to constant depression. its as if i lost interest in myself, and all the pride i used to have. "im not half the man i used to be" is exactly how i feel right now. little things really start to all gather up and get to me.. things which didnt bother me before.

i realized when my friend told me the other day that im "slacking" and that i barely stick up for myself anymore.. as my friends and i often jokingly talk trash - "fry-time" as we call it. on top of that, ive lost all competitiveness(beer pong, sports, that need to be better than the other guy).. and my interest in meeting new people-girls especially. sadly it only makes me more depressed as i realize all these things..

anyway.. how do you guys keep your chin up during hard times? what keeps you going through all the bs life throws at you?

Motivation? What the hell's that?.................................j/k.

You sound just like me, minus the friends. I never keep my chin up during hard times. I see no point. But, if there's something you want to do and you know what that something is, set it as your goal and think only about achieving it. Set your emotions aside (god I wish I had no emotions. They get in the way of everything imperative) and put your focus on your goal. Try thinking of proving everyone wrong by going against the grain or pulling a surprise that no one expected, in terms of what you do with yourself academically or financially. That temporarily eases the depression. I've personally accomplished all of my goals and it took many years, and now I don't know what to live for. Nothing else appeals to me. A bunch of different hobbies? I've explored them, but they've never given me any fulfillment. I never came out of them feeling renewed or refreshed and saying 'oh wow! I feel so great to be alive!' I just feel like the longer I continue living, the more I'm sick and tired of everything. I can relate to the confusion, the moodiness, the 'drowning-in-alcohol-sorrow-feeling-like-an-alien-surrounded-by-opposing-minds' and empty futile drive for life. I guess it's just about doing. Go with what you know and do best. Eat good food and exercise. In the very end, nothing really matters anyway.