Letting Go

Honestly speaking, many of the toughest times on my path to self-improvement weren’t the actual failures themselves – it was when I just quit altogether. I’d exercise regularly for several months before somehow losing all sense of rhythm. On occasion, I dropped projects that really interested me and left behind important objectives I held very close to heart; also, I saw my productive habits dwindle away to nothing. Initially, I usually held myself accountable. I thought giving up momentum meant I lacked willpower – or else I was just not driven enough to truly prosper. The longer I remained stagnant, the much harder it got to believe that restarting would be possible. Each missed day seemed to make getting back on track even more daunting, and before long, a couple of days turned into weeks – or sometimes even months.

Finally, I came to realize that losing steam isn’t necessarily a sign of failure – rather a typical aspect of any extended endeavor. Our lives change course. Priorities get rearranged. Unexpected problems arise. Our energy waxes and wanes. No one remains perfectly inspired each and every day. What sets apart individuals who ultimately see real, lasting success from those who throw in the towel is not that highly successful people rarely lose their momentum. Rather, it’s that they figure out how to get back on track – rather than letting short-term setbacks turn into long-term dead-ends. This newfound awareness completely transformed my perspective. Rather than questioning why I’d faltered, I started wondering how I might get going once more with even more insight – and less self-criticism. Here in this article, I’d like to share the strategies that have helped me regain motivation after losing momentum – and discuss why beginning anew can really be one of the strongest elements of our own growth process itself.