The Year of Fulfillment: Time to Finish What You’ve Started

One sure fire way for me to get down in the dumps, is to simply let myself down. Letting myself down by breaking commitments that I set forth over my life. Whether I only completed half of a book, gave up on writing a screen play, or stopped my healthy eating; my failure to bring these items to completion, is directly related to breaking a commitment I made to myself. Unfortunately, this can often lead to me withdrawing from the situation. Well, maybe more of a hibernation, but basically I have given up on the task temporarily, or even indefinitely. Do you want to know why a lot of us experience this hibernation period? It’s because we tend to put the focus on perfection and not progress. This elicits guilt. An exhausting , not to mention totally self conceived feeling, that begins to drain us dry. We begin to withdraw from things that are not even related to the topic. (i.e. stop going to social events, stop working out, etc.). Ultimately finding ourselves completely checked out.

What I’ve found to be true over the course of my life, is that the potency of my commitment, is contingent upon the ‘Why’ that initially ignited the spark. We can obtain help from all the self help gurus we want, but there is no greater inspiration to triumph over this stalled moment, than that initial, genuine desire to accomplish something. Our daily life can get extremely busy, making it difficult for us to remember the big picture. Therefore, it is extremely important to reconnect with your objectives, to keep you moving forward. It’s also important that we acknowledge that our ‘Why’ can change over time, just as our life circumstances change.

Being able to uphold your commitments to yourself, requires self awareness and self respect. When you don’t honor your commitments and promises to yourself, it has a big impact on your internal credibility and your peace of mind. (Hence you stop believing in your ability to complete a task) But with us understanding this very point, it’s important for you to lend grace and mercy to your life. Forgive yourself for the moments when you weren’t the person you needed to be. Maybe you went down a path that you knew you shouldn’t, yet it built character in your life. Maybe it was a time in your life that presented you with your purpose and unique abilities. Pardon yourself for the times you forgot your own worth, for these times were needed in order for you to learn how important you really are. This time was important for you to learn that you don’t need the validation from other’s to succeed.

I know this post has been a bit of a ramble, but the simple truth is this… Some days we will see life as glitter and rainbows. Other days, we may find that life is a bit mundane and routine. And then there will be the times where apathy kicks in and you have mentally checked out. News Flash! There’s nothing wrong with you. It is perfectly normal to run into this mentality, when attempting to make changes in life. The key to this is in how you respond to difficult times. Your actions determine your course, so choose wisely! Pick up the pieces, and finish what you started!

Tasks for the Journey:

In your journal, write out all of the activities/goals that you have yet to accomplish. Under each activity, list out the “Why(s)” behind it. Evaluate whether the why is enough to keep the engine going, or if you should let it go. (If you don’t know the why, it doesn’t mean you should automatically discard the goal… it just means it’s time to be a bit more introspective)