Skill #50: Stick With It

We were sitting around a large dining room table, stuffing envelopes with invitations to a charity event. Another “stuffer” broke through the idle talk with a tangential comment: “So, Amy and Rhea, I read all your posts every week and I think to myself, ‘Yup, they are right on,’ and then I go back to my work, doing exactly the same things I always do that don’t work. How do you get this stuff to stick?

Joining Romano-British potsherds 334

How do you get this stuff to stick?

Great question, Stuffer Extraordinaire. How do you get this stuff to stick?

“Sticktoittiveness” is a true virtue. But it is an umbrella virtue, an overarching virtue that has a few other virtues underneath it. Here are a few that make up sticktoittiveness.

Sticktoittiveness is a true virtue–an overarching virtue that has a few other virtues underneath it.

Passion/Zeal: When we are passionate about something, we have positive energy around it. We give our all and we believe in what we are doing. We are FOR something and we move toward that goal with fire in our bellies.

Commitment/Devotion: When we devote ourselves to our passion, then we have a focus and that focus gives us boundaries within which to work. We know what to say yes to, and when to say no, because our commitment to our passion is the discerning factor, the litmus test.

Accountability: When we are accountable, we act with integrity and face both the good we have done and also the things which didn’t end up so good. Often, unless you are one of a very low percentage of people, we need someone to be accountable to. We need a coach or a trainer or a walking partner or a prayer partner or a 12-Step Group or a mentor or a confessor or…..Most people do better if they are accountable to someone or something bigger than their own will.

Support: Sometimes we need people in our lives to give us a high five, or tell us we are doing a great job, or to just smile at us and tell us how proud they are of us. Support is the flip side of accountability.

Self-Discipline: Do you have the self-control to do only what you truly choose to do? When you have self-discipline you are vigilant about your boundaries. You do not take on anything that will interfere with your passion, with your purpose, with your commitments.

Sticktoittiveness is a true virtue--LiM2 Click To Tweet

So, Stuffer Extraordinaire, here are some questions we have for you:

  • Do you really want to change? Is it really important or is it just a nice idea?
  • Are you uncomfortable enough to need to do something different?
  • How passionate are you about this change?
  • Are you too buried in what you are doing to lift your head up, look around, and put some real effort into making a change? Change is hard. Are you willing to do the work?
  • Who are the cheerleaders in your life?
  • Who is your accountability partner?
  • What would you have to let go of in order to make space for this change?
What's around the next corner?
What’s around the next corner?

Friends, we are just two weeks away from our One Year Anniversary. We are still very excited and proud of our LiM2 blog. When we started this, we knew it would be hard, very hard, to stick with it. We knew we were making a commitment to each other and to ourselves. We were passionate, and still are, about our mission: to teach skills that make this messy life marvelous. We used each other for accountability and other friends for support. There were times when it didn’t seem possible to write a good blog, a blog worthy of your reading. And yet we insisted, we persisted, and here we are–one year later with what we believe is a different kind of blog; one that helps and heals and offers hope to the world. We hope you agree. We hope you will continue to invite your friends to join the LiM2 family.

So, Stick With It Friends, because Life is Messy and Life is Marvelous.

Amy & Rhea
LiM2: a different kind of blog; one that helps and heals and offers hope to the world. Click To Tweet

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