Tenacity & Paying It Forward

Being that this is a subject that is very important to me, I am going to be very real with everyone.

When it comes down to it, a lot of times I struggle to be tenacious. I get distracted very easily, have trouble maintaining motivation, and have in the past indulged in bad health habits because it felt easy to destroy myself. Because I have resorted to these bad habits several times, at times I feel it is hard to be hungry.

In order to keep up with the requirements of this course, I had to change my routine. I had to make time in my day to write about whatever subject Chris Pryor thinks is important. This meant trying to enjoy whatever it was that I was writing. Because writing takes time and I needed to make this something that I could use therapeutically. After having a long week, I would just write about whatever was on my mind, in a way that it matched the criteria of the assignment.

There have been several experiences that have tested my tenacity. Not getting into the honors program, not getting into several student organizations, breaking up with girlfriends, and losing friends are all experiences that have tested me. But something that tests me daily is an inability to get up from my bed. People call it depression, but I don't think it is. There is a mental block. It makes me sad and it makes me not want to get up. But it also feels like something I can get past without taking any sort of medication. I call it a barrier. A barrier that has been very hard to conquer. And although I haven't conquered it completely, I have been able to rise above it several times. And I believe I will rise above it sometime in the future. 



The following are very simple behaviors that have helped me not fall off the wagon completely any time I feel myself wanting to retreat to old ways:


#1 - Be present 
I must emphasize that these are very simple behaviors to not fall down completely. All of times you just need to be present. If you care a lot about an organization, go to ALL the meetings. Even the ones that don't matter too much. You never know what will happen at these meetings. If people see you a recognize you, they will remember you. You will find yourself being involved in even greater activities that you wouldn't have known about if you had stayed in. DON'T stay in. Every once and a while, it is necessary.
But I constantly need to remind myself to go outside, even if I don't feel comfortable going outside.

#2 - Have at least ONE method of organization
I understand that everyone highlights the importance of planners, without also talking about how most people aren't able to keep planners. If you are anything like me, you will stop writing in a planner after a few days. This is why I have a dry erase calendar on my wall. The calendar constantly reminds me that I need to update it, or amend it.
Simply looking at the calendar motivates me to stop sitting around. Simply looking at the calendar motivates me to be tenacious.

#3 - Understand your values 
This year, I am a member of the Heavener Leadership Challenge. This is an organization associated with the business school that teaches you how to become a leader. This organization constantly reminds me to assess my values. It has given me an opportunity to stare closely at these values and gave me a chance to rate them in terms of importance.
The qualities I value most in a person are Honesty, Altruism, Humor, Respect, and Wisdom. What are yours?

These three things keep me tenacious. You are probably not exactly like me, so the things that keep you tenacious will probably be different, and you probably have a good idea of what those things are. But at least consider these points.