Defeating Discouragement
March 17th, 2010
By Tom Reilly, author of “Value-Added Selling”
Discouragement tastes bitter, feels overwhelming, reeks of quitting, looks like surrender, and sounds like failure. The toughest battles we fight are internal. Our toughest opponents are ourselves. Discouragement is a battle of wills: “Will I quit? Will I press on?”
When I add the prefix “dis” to any word, it means to move away from, to deprive of, or to be the opposite of. To discourage is to deprive of hope, confidence, and courage. This self-inflicted wound fills me with doubt. I act without courage.
Discouragement comes from listening to the wrong voices–internal and external. It yields to the gravity of the status quo as we attempt to succeed. We may impose an unrealistic time line on our achievements or simply tire of the battle. When we quit too early, we miss our goal and cheat ourselves of the lessons we have learned on this journey. Our discouragement becomes disappointment in ourselves for giving up the fight. Disappointment for failing feels different than disappointment in ourselves for quitting when things get tough.
To succeed and ultimately achieve your goals, you must press on in the face of discouragement. Everyone knows discouragement–it is one of the more democratic components of success. You must press on to earn your success. If success were easy, everyone would achieve it. You press on when you keep your eye on the prize versus the distractions along the way. Rudyard Kipling’s poem, If, says it well:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
Hold on, friends. Press on. Your journey is not over until you quit or reach the destination. You may be ultimately disappointed in the outcome of your efforts, but you never want to be disappointed in your efforts.
Get the latest Sales Bytes from Tom Reilly by subscribing to our RSS Feed.
Read More Sales Bytes
You can read more Sales Bytes, or you can subscribe to our RSS feed to receive them as soon as they are available.
Subscribe to our RSS feed to receive the latest news and
updates from our site, including Tom's Sales Bytes. (learn more about RSS Feeds)
The Most Recent Sales Bytes:
- How Persuasive Are You?
- Added: August 5th, 2010 - How many of these questions can you answer in-depth?
- Added: July 27th, 2010 - Dreaming Bigger about Business
- Added: July 21st, 2010 - Timing Mangement, The Value-Added Way
- Added: June 30th, 2010
See our full list of Sales Bytes from Tom Reilly.