I am not a great runner.
Sometimes you just have to face facts. I run for my health, but that doesn’t mean that I’m particularly good at it. Because of that, it also means that I often have bouts of what I’ll call “running despair.” If you’re anything like me, you’ll know what I mean. Those moments when you are gasping for breath, cursing yourself for having gone for this run in the first place and just begging for it to be over. Or maybe it’s just me.
It tends to happen whenever I’ve pushed myself to go a bit longer or a bit faster. I’m asking more of my body than I normally do and my body responds. And when it does, all I want to do is to stop. To put myself out of my agony and just stop running. But I’ve learned from experience that once you stop, it is very, very hard to start again. And even if you do, you will almost certainly move slower and be less motivated to finish strong. It’s why I try to run outside (as opposed to on a treadmill) and to make sure that I go on paths that pretty much demand that I finish the course.
But more than anything else, I’ve found one little trick that helps me get through these moments. I talk to myself.
Not in the delirious, muttering kind of way. I simply start repeating a statement to myself.
“Just Don’t Stop.”
Sometimes, I’ll throw myself a little self-encouragement. “You can do this. You’ve got it. Just don’t stop.” There are times that I will slow to a pace that is barely faster than a walk (this seems to be especially true on hills!). But I don’t stop. I keep moving. I keep repeating this phrase to myself until the moment has passed.
Inevitably, when I am done, I am proud of what I have accomplished. But it takes a lot of focus to “power through” those moments of my “running despair” to achieve my true objective on the other end of it.
When you are engaged in any kind of transformational effort, I think that it can feel a lot like this. Almost by definition, any true transformational effort will demand that you push yourself and your organization. The combination of organizational inertia and competing priorities will always create a situation in which you hit barrier after barrier. And sooner or later you will hit that moment of despair where you simply want to stop.
Don’t. Just repeat to yourself over and over again,
“Just Don’t Stop.”
When we coach IT leaders as they lead and execute a transformational program like this, we often talk about what we call the “trough of despair.” It conveys this idea that when you are trying to create this kind of significant change, things often get worse before they get better. You have to invest a vast amount before you will see any return. But as the cliché goes, it is “often darkest before the dawn.” Finding yourself in the “trough of despair” is almost always a clear signal that you’re about to breakthrough and find tremendous success.
But you have to get through it. You need to keep telling yourself, “Just Don’t Stop.”
“Just Don’t Stop.”
Keep moving. Keep your momentum. Stay on course. You will get through it and what you will realize on the other side of things will astound you.
I know that this sounds very simple, but would you be willing to try this? Are you willing to push yourself and your teams to achieve something amazing and then just keep at it until you get there? Are you willing to “Just Don’t Stop”?
If you are, I have a few suggestions for you. First, consider signing up for our email updates. We are in the process of restructuring everything right now and a major component of our new approach will be focused on giving IT leaders like you the tools you need to drive and sustain change. I don’t want you to miss out on anything. (Click here if you’d like to sign up.)
Second, if you aren’t already following me on Twitter, I’d love to have you join my personal community of IT change agents. One of the things that I will commit to doing is to provide a steady stream of encouragement, using the hashtag #InspiredLeader. I’ll help you to maintain your resolve to “Just Don’t Stop.”
Finally, I have one last request. I know that there are a lot of ways that people persevere through this “trough of despair” and I’m sure that a lot of you have gone through it. What other advice might you offer to the rest of us? How do you persevere and keep going when every bone in your body is begging you to stop? Apply this in any context, business or personal, that works. But please share your strategies with the rest of us in the comments below.
That’s it. I believe that you are capable of great things. I believe that you can lead your organization to an amazing future. You just have to keep going. Just don’t stop.
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Tag/s:Personal Development
