Persistence is key to being successful. It’s hard to find someone who became successful with the inconsistent mindset. Especially during this period, where people have zero motivation to do something productive. It is crucial to maintain your persistence despite the situation unless on special occasions.
Frankly, I’ve been not doing a good job of being persistent, but I always try to be more optimistic despite the harsh environment that we are in right now.
I’ve been trying to set up a daily schedule to be more productive and persistent, once you started to get lazy, it is extremely hard to get back on track.
So I recommend getting out of bed and do anything you can to have the motivation to do other works. Once you get used to that routine, being persistent will be easier. I am also trying to maintain a lifestyle that is not lavish, and I hope this mindset will not change throughout time.
I’m a huge procrastinator. No matter how much work is on my plate, I’ll always deal with it the minute before deadline. Last summer, I did the whole summer holiday’s assignment in the last 5 days.
To procrastinate, you have to know your limits. There must be a point where you just know that you have to get started—or you won’t finish even if you pull an all-nighter. Like 5 days before school starts or every Sunday night.
Every Saturday night I tell myself to work, but I always end up working my butt off on Sunday night. Every Psychology project, I do it the night before it…
Being the huge procrastinator that I am, I don’t recommend stalling. Change is hard, for me and everyone else. Whenever things become habitual, they stick like super glue—and tearing them off would hurt a lot.
Why not start little, one day at a time? We have to fight fire with fire, strengthening a new, better habit while damning procrastination.
Change can be hard, but it’s possible. Even the huge procrastinator I am, I didn’t wait until Sunday to clear my plate of work. Sometimes it’s not just work, work, work if you manage your time rightly. I’m done being lazy.
We endure vigorous, agonizing, grueling, strenuous sets.
We push our bodies until we throw up.
Our shoulders pop and crack constantly.
We wake up at four A.M. for morning practices.
We don’t only train in the pool, we run, lift weights, and basically do anything coach tells us to do.
We work and work and work for the hopes of dropping time, yet, many times, our times are stubborn and don’t budge.
We stare at a black line for hours. 25, 50,75, 100. 25, 50…
We cry at times.
We are always striving for a bigger and better goal than the one we just achieved.
“Normal” kids are watching TV; we are training.
We work nonstop, constantly, everyday to take off .01 seconds of our time.
We try our best and still get yelled at. We try our best and get rewarded.
We experience being unmotivated. We push through.
We don’t only strengthen ourselves as athletes, we strengthen our selves as people.
We suffer as a team, we grow as a team, we improve as team.
We make friends and experiences that will last a life time.
We have a second family.
We strive for that amazing feeling after working so, so hard. After giving a workout all you have, we strive for that feeling of accomplishment, achievement, effort, proudness, fulfillment.
We may forget it at times, but we love the sport.
We are swimmers.
A couple days in the past couple weeks, I have been in a slump when I go to practice. I am slower than my teammates who go and qualify for the Olympic trials. I feel slow. I push myself, yet still am slower than my teammates, I get discouraged. I feel like a failure, so I don’t work as hard as I should. I regret my performance in practice. I cry on the drive home.
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Today, I acknowledged the fact that I am on a fast team; my teammates are some of the best in the nation. I acknowledged the fact that I can be like them if I do what I do best: work hard. I acknowledged that I’m on this team for a reason.
Today, I worked so hard that my legs stung, my arms numb, my lungs burned, I got dizzy, my heart beat at what felt like a million miles an hour. At times, I was practically hyperventilating. At points, I wanted to give up, but I didn’t. I pushed as hard as I could. I missed a couple intervals, but I didn’t give up. At the end of the set, my body still ached and burned, but I felt amazing. A feeling of happiness almost beyond words. A feeling that any true athlete understands. At the end of the set, I felt the feeling that makes me remember why I love the sport. Remember why I do all of the things listed above. Remember why I’m so deeply in love with this sport.
I am an incredibly superstitious person. I freak out whenever I see a black cat, I refuse to walk under ladders, I don’t break mirrors and I hold salt shakers hostage during dinner so that no one spills it.
Therefore, I also believe in certain “signs” if you will, meaning that since one thing occurred, it must mean that I need to do something.
In this instance, I got sick this morning because I was meant to watch the Pro Bowl, even after swearing I wouldn’t.
So here I am, laying in my bed, meds taken, tissue box in hand, watching the Pro Bowl on NBC.com. I’m probably in for a garbage, throw away game full of blown tackles and crappy effort.
Um, what is this I’m watching? Is this…a good game?!
I have actually enjoyed watching the Pro Bowl this year. Watching some of my favorite players in the league just explode for yardage play after player. Yes, the defense is still a little bit lax but I am enjoying myself right now.
Of course, a game including the best in the business usually has a few highlights.
For starters, Russell Wilson looks like the second coming of Jesus.
For the religious nuts out there, get over it. I’m not insulting religion. I’m a proud Roman Catholic, but I’m not about to get insulted by this nonsense. Jesus was a perfect being, so say the teachings. Today, Wilson was quite perfect indeed.
He threw some great passes, ran a few times, commanded an offense and made me wish he was the QB for the Eagles. I’ve said it countless times. I believe in the mobile quarterback. I don’t mean the running back that can throw like Mike Vick. I mean the quarterback that can run, like RG3 and Wilson.
Another highlight was seeing Jeff Saturday, the center for the NFC, come over to the AFC side and snap the ball to Peyton Manning. For those that live under a rock, Manning and Saturday were teammates in Indianapolis a few years back for a long time. They built a chemistry that was unmatched in the modern day NFL. Jeff has decided to retire following the now concluded Pro Bowl game.
There were a ton of highlights, and I encourage any of you guys to check out some clips. However, my personal favorite highlight from the day was when Ed Hochuli, the referee for the game, dished out the first flag of the day. The game had gone almost a full half before a penalty was called. So, he took that fact and decided to make some comedy out of it. He turned on his mic and said the following to the crowd,
I don’t even know what to say anymore. I’m at a loss for words at this point. Always tryin’ to keep up with everyone else just gets so tiring now and I’m just sick and tired of everything. I don’t care about them anymore since it seems that they don’t really care about me. I’m not sure how much it really matters.
I try to channel the belief of the Honey Badger. The belief that nothing affects me is a lot to take. It’s a huge responsibility.
I’m up to it. I want to not care anymore. But not caring is different than being ignorant. It’s just what I do. It’s me.
I want to be able to persevere through anything that may stand in my way. Any obstacle must become invisible. Nothing can stop me. Yet, emotion always seems to drive me backwards. I don’t understand the struggle of keeping momentum going.
It sucks to lose people because of who you are. It’s inevitable but it sucks. My mentality suits me. It doesn’t always suit those around me. Unfortunately, I can’t change what I know to be me.
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