You may not be this close again

*These insights are drawn from my personal pushup challenge experience last year.

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The pause hit me at 30. Too early. At least ten too soon. I questioned everything holy and good, took a breath, and kept pushing. My pushup number this week is 46, but this morning, my 55-year-old body almost failed me at 40. Then a thought pushed me on — you have six more to go, and you may not get this close again today.

That lesson transcends an old man in a pushup challenge.

What goal are you working towards? Are you growing weary? Thoughts of quitting?

Don’t quit! You may never be this close again, and you may be just three feet from gold. So, how do you keep fighting when you’re wearing out?

Three mindsets to keep you going when you’re tired

1 — Pause at the top

When I take a 3-second rest during my pushup sets, I do it at the top. My arms are straight and can easily handle the load. And I can take a deep breath.

Check your gas light when you charge 148 mph up the winding mountain road to your dreams. Before you run out of fuel, find a plateau to pause and celebrate a small victory. For example, if you daily wake up before the rooster to take online classes, finish a section, and sleep late the next morning.

But don’t break on a down note. You’re less motivated to restart.

Recharge — just for one day and get up fighting the next.

2 — Damn the torpedoes!

Develop the mindset that quitting is the riskiest action you can take. 

Failure is acceptable; it’s a temporary event that refines you, not defines you.

But quitting isn’t an option.

Quitting marks you and etches a deep rut in your psyche. I quit Little League All-Stars after the first practice because my inner enemy convinced me I wasn’t good enough. That evil voice was more powerful than the ten head coaches who chose me.

43 years ago.

I haven’t forgotten.

Seth Godin said:

If failure is not an option, then neither is success.

Damn the torpedos and full speed ahead!

3 — Burn the boats

Fight like your life depends on it.

Or better yet, act like your family is in jeopardy. Your weight loss, a higher paying job, your new business, whatever your dream is, focus so intently on it that meaningless distractions can’t deter you.

If zombies attacked your child, you wouldn’t slow down to check your phone when it buzzed with a text message.

Your dream is your baby.

Burn the boat and fight!

You are closer than you think

Don’t surrender. And don’t wait for a hero to help. This is your dream. Don’t sabotage it. Take a break to celebrate a small victory, and then keep charging. Learn from failures, but don’t write “quitter” in your bio.

Godin also said:

The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.

So, fight for your baby! Watch it grow into a beautiful, young crowning achievement.

For the record, I did press on for six more pushups, and later in the morning, I hit 50 on a second set.

Stick with it. Your gold might be three feet away.

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