What I Do When I Feel Like Giving Up
I don’t remember all the motivational articles I’ve read by the way
Sometimes reading inspirational articles stresses me, not to talk of writing them. We all have different situations and moods to deal with, so these motivational speeches may not be useful sometimes.
I’m not disputing motivational or self-help writers because doing so means contradicting myself. Because most of what I write here is focused on helping the next person. Whether we see it or not, we’re someone’s motivation. People look at all you do and find inspiration to keep going.
At the same time, you can also get fed up of seeing motivational articles. It happens to me a lot. Some days when my energy level is low, and I don’t feel like hearing and reading anybody’s content — I just want to lie down and do nothing.
It happened to me some days back. I didn’t feel like writing. I got tired of the whole concept of writing. I was feeling restless and just wasn’t in the mood.
You might think, how can this happen to me — the same person that preaches about writing every day. It just shows how human I am. We are not robots. We are humans with varying moods. Some days, we feel down, on other days, we’re energetic and can do anything.
It happens to everyone. You come on Medium and just browse through the headlines, and you wouldn’t be able to deal with it because it feels like everybody is saying the same things.
So you would instead not take any action and stay idle.
But in times like these, is when you need yourself the most. You need to find inspiration from within because you’re the only one that can save yourself.
Since you seem to be tired of what you do, and won’t listen to what anyone has to say, you’re the only one responsible for bringing yourself back to regular terms.
Questions I ask myself when I feel like giving up.
When I feel this way, different thoughts start to pop up in my head. I begin to wonder if this is all there is to this writing thing. I would feel like doing quitting, but I’d give you a list of questions that usually bring me back to my senses.
I remind myself why I started?
Reminding yourself why you started is the key to understanding if what you feel is real or you’re just venting.
It is justifiable to quit if you started for the wrong reasons, but if what drove you to start is healthy, you should hold it firm. Because these bouts of confusion, show up from time to time. You would be faced with challenges or things that look like better options compared to what you do that would tempt you into doing something else. But you stick with what you do long enough; it would become more attractive.
You should always keep the reason for starting in your mind.
How would you feel when you’re no longer doing it?
Sometimes I would complain to myself and everyone ready to listen that writing is killing me, and I need to take time off. Then after about 6 hours of “taking time off,” I start to feel restless again and wonder why I’m not writing.
It would feel like I’m missing something — like something is not right. This has happened to me countless times. This is because writing has become a habit for me, and it’s now second nature.
If you decide to quit a project because you’re not in the mood, would you start to regret it later? If you think you would start asking yourself the “what ifs” then you should think again.
What’s your end goal?
What’s your end goal for your writing career or the project you’re considering quitting.
You started because you wanted to achieve something, right? So quitting would mean you’re no longer interested in achieving it. If you feel you’re okay with forfeiting the end goal, then you can go ahead.
Why do you want to quit
Yes, you still have to ask yourself this. It’s all about you. You’re the only one that understands how you feel.
Are you quitting for a reasonable reason? Are you quitting because you’re not in the right mood or who you are doesn’t align with the end goal anymore?
You must feel some type of way to start considering all these things. I understand because I’ve been there too, and I know how it feels. Whatever reminds you of what you do seems frustrating. You don’t want to get involved with it anymore.
But these things happen to the best of us. It’s part of the process. Sometimes the persistence that you hear about entails the battles you fight in your head.
You’re your best motivator. You know how to calm yourself down best. You know how to get inspired. Use it.
Thank you for reading
