New Post has been published on Lisa Ballinger
New Post has been published on http://www.lisaballinger.com/2016/01/why-you-should-keep-going-even-if-you-really-dont-want-to/
Why You Should Keep Going Even If You Really Don't Want To
It’s January and typically the month for new year’s resolutions and all the rest of it but too many of them never get done because it’s so difficult to follow through to the end.
I myself have been doing a Masters in Business Administration and a lot of time over the past two years I have just wanted to give up. Â I have had so much trouble getting motivated at some points in the degree and it is has been so unlike when I did my Bachelor degree.
For starters, I did my Bachelors so I could get a job, start working in the profession and get qualified.  I don’t have that motivation this time.  I am simply learning because I want to learn and I want to add business skills to my accounting skill set.
The other thing is is that I am doing it all online or external. Â Now I may have disliked those 8am Monday morning classes but I got to connect with my lecturers and other students. Â Studying externally can be very alienating at times.
Finally, a lot of stuff that is part of the degree I have done either in my own personal learning or from when I did a Certificate IV in Frontline Management or just something I picked up from someone else.  It’s really hard to get motivated when you have those three things against you.
However, this year will be final year.  I have five subject to go and two of those I am halfway through already.  Looking back I am so glad that I didn’t give up.  There were five things that stopped me giving up now that I look back.  These were:
that I really want to go back and get a postgraduate degree. Â This was and is still is important to me.
that I really wanted to improve my business skills. Â Working in the commerce sector I wanted to add basic business skills to the mix so I could have more effective input into business and strategic discussions.
that I really wanted to do better than I did first time around.  I didn’t achieve too well at university first time around.  I made up for it when I did my CPA qualifications but I wanted to go back and prove I could do well at University and
I didn’t want to waste what I’d already done and waste that money I’d already invested in myself and finally
I like to follow things through to the end.  Even in the difficulty of doing my CPA qualifications I followed it through to the end and I’m glad I did.  I would have been extremely disappointed in myself if I’d given up halfway through.
Although all those things were important what kept me going was looking at the end goal and reminding myself of what I was working towards and secondly, was breaking it down into steps and then rewarding myself.
I’d tell myself just finish this assignment and then go away for the weekend which worked for me because it was a short term goal I could achieve and I could get rewarded for.  I don’t think I would have ever gotten this far without doing that.
Now when I’m tempted to give up something I remind myself what I started for.  If it’s no longer relevant then maybe it is time to give up, but if it’s still relevant, remember why you started in the first place.
