There are times when being stubborn has it’s uses. Like when you feel like giving-up when you need to continue.

But stubbornness will only take you so far, and while it may delay the inevitable, it won’t help you give up giving-up. The only way you can break the giving-up habit is by changing your outlook, by changing how you approach a problem.

Losing the Battle

Problems can be tackled in many ways, but what is important, is that you approach a problem with confidence, and sufficient motivation to persevere, and not give up.

You can develop your own problem solving skills and, for some people, they can be taught. Motivation, however, is personal, and is something that can only be developed on an individual basis.

So how do you develop your motivation for problem solving?

“Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.”
Marilyn Vos Savant

You have to lose, to fail, to miss the target, to fail to understand and know exactly what losing feels like before you can begin. The best problem solvers are generally not people to whom success is second nature. This is because they are not used to having to cope with difficulties, or to struggling to overcome adversary.

One of the brightest people I know is also one of the worst for regularly giving-up because he is not used to the daily struggle.

If you regularly have problems you have to overcome, you have one of two choices. You can either let them overwhelm you and give up, or you can fight each battle in turn, and eventually win the war.

Winning the War

Think of a time you’ve made a mistake. Do you view as it as a failure?

Don’t view mistakes as negative, view them a positive. Every mistake is not a failure, rather an opportunity. An opportunity for you to learn what not to do, what not to say, so that next time you are confronted with this problem, you are better prepared.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan

Making mistakes can be frustrating, painful and embarrassing. However, not doing something for the fear of making a mistake is the biggest mistake you can make. Giving-up when you can carry on is more damaging than any mistake you can ever make.

Giving-up closes doors, it passes opportunities by, it narrows your options, but it is the easy option. Persevering, learning from the mistakes you continue to make maybe less appealing, but it is far more rewarding.

If you can give up giving-up, then however many mistakes you make along the way, in more ways than one, you will always be a winner.

~ TranceFixed

“Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.”
Orison Swett Marden (1850 – 1924)