per Google, is the firm or obstinate continuance of Action in spite of difficulty or opposition.

Persistence is taking action even when it feels pointless, as though your efforts may not pay off. What you have to do is remember that they will as long as you don’t give up. Even if you experience setbacks, which we all will… keep going! Sometimes our goals have to be modified mid-run, but that’s okay. Identify where you would like to be, how you can continue to get there and then run like hell toward that goal. About one hour ago, I ran into a woman at Walgreens that I had asked a pretty typical question I ask people at random. “What would you be doing or where would you want to be if nothing could stand in your way?” She told me then that she would like to attend school and become a nurse. When questioned about what was stopping her currently, she gave a few excuses. One was her children, another was time and money and the last one was her age. I remember replying that the time it would take for her to “think about it” as she told me she planned to do, she could have investigated some schools, applied, enrolled and attended her first class…because hey she was 30ish and had been “thinking about it” for the last 15 years.

Fast forward 6 months and she is still cashiering at Walgreens. Now this is not a diss to her, but it illustrates how we allow our negative thoughts to stand in the way of how successful we want to be and how successful we can become.

I was scrolling through my Facebook side panel pages when I noticed all of the started ventures I have embarked on and at some point lost my gusto to continue. During a recent procrastination attack, I started to think that although I am not where I would like to be with all of my goals, I can get there as long as I don’t give up on them. Somehow I have to keep going even if it seems like there is little benefit. The large scale payoff comes from being able to look back and say “I did that”. With every checked off goal from my list, I get a new sense of accomplishment and motivation to keep going. So I decided that not only will I continue this year with ALL of the ideas and interest that I have, I will also add to those (in reasonable proportions). This will include: continuing to work with youth, continuing to write and finishing my book, working for myself solely, traveling internationally, increasing fitness level, passing 2nd licensure test and teaching a few more women how to stop complaining.

So for all the naysayers who don’t believe in making New Year resolutions, the resolutions don’t have to be new per say. They can be unresolved goals you set out for yourself last year, but the key is to keep setting goals because otherwise you are a passenger in your own trip through life, in which you are meant to be the driver!

Happy New Year and Girl, Stop Complaining!!!!

SamanthaMichelle