Keep on keeping on

“I can, therefore I am.” Simone Weil

Are you seeing all your hard work and efforts starting to pay off this year? I am. Both personally, for my family and my business.

None more so than for my eldest son this weekend. It was his national championships for his sport. He’s 16 years old and after some wobbles at the end of last year when he was working out if he even liked the sport any more, (as he’s been doing it for about 8 years now), he’s been focused on doing as well as he could in these championships.

He’s worked hard, and has stuck to his goal, through injury and recovery. Through his school work, which he put time and effort into as well. And he’s always listened to the advice his coaches have given him. He’s learnt, he’s tweaked, he’s put time in to his personal and physical development. The mantra “Keep on keeping on” has been very much in my mind watching and supporting him this year, with all the ups and downs.

His performance this weekend is what some may talk about as “solid”. There was nothing spectacular. Yes, he got some personal bests in a few of his 10 events (he does Decathlon), and he was close to his others. He had his highlights and some disappointments over the weekend. But he kept going. He focused on his own game rather than that of those he was competing against. We didn’t know it, but at the end of the 9th event he’d jumped from 7th to 4th, heading into the final 1500m. He didn’t know it either. That was interesting to me. He was so focused on his own personal performance that he didn’t need to know where he was or what others were doing around him. He concentrated on running his own race (the best he’s ever run it, not in time, just in technique), and finished the end of the weekend 4th in the UK. Wow. Just saying that makes me have goose bumps! Yes, I’m blown away by his talent.

But more importantly, what it showed was that his steady weekly tasks and progress all add up to something very special in the end. Yes, the other 19 boys who completed the event are all amazing. They have to learn and commit to practising 10 different events, whilst they do their school work, and have friends and other interests. But they focus on the end goal. And stick to it. They don’t let a little wobble in one event affect them overall (OK, some do, but that’s where those who get to the top manage this much better).

Just like our businesses are made up of many different moving parts, so a decathlete needs to manage their training, nutrition, rest, recovery, mental strength to get the result they want. If one part isn’t quite right it affects the rest of our business. If you’re not happy, or committed to what you’re doing it affects the whole thing!

Keep on keeping on – what does that mean for you?

Do you have one part of your business which isn’t working for you right now? Something which doesn’t feel quite right? What is it? Just be honest and say, “OK, this isn’t working right now, what are my options?” Do you feel that you’ve been keeping on yet nothing is working for you? Are you being consistent with your work, or are you jumping around all over the place trying different things out, and you’re not ready to keep on keeping on just yet?

If you’d like help exploring your options, feel free to book a 20 minute free Explore Call, or join the Business Cheerleading Club and get the help of other business owners to explore with you.

I’d love to hear how you Keep on Keeping on and what results you’ve seen personally, or professionally. Leave a comment below.

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