You can’t give up. On your dream, on your passion, on this vision for your life that extends farther and further than your current reality.
You can’t pull an Elsa and just let it go — shooting shards of ice at anyone who brings up those dreams you used to talk about.
No matter how distant your dreams feel right now. No matter how hard the path. No matter how unrealistic it feels right now.
You can’t give up.
Here’s why:
Who will you not be able to help if you give up now?
There’s people out there. You might not even know they exist. And they need you. They need your voice, your creativity, your talent, your insight, your encouragement, your hand up from out of the mud.
And if you quit now, you won’t be there when they need you the most.
Your moment is waiting for you. If you stop looking, how will you ever find it?
I know, because a few years ago I was a week away from quitting. After years of failing to get a book published, of spending hours and hours growing a small blog, of wondering if my email was broken because I couldn’t get anyone to reply back to me.
I felt like a failure.
I had enough.
It was too much work, too painful, and all the writing on the wall was smacking me in the face and screaming at me to stop this silly dream.
And yet, something told me to hold on.
All the facts were telling me that quitting was the smart, reasonable choice. Yet, deep in my spirit I knew that the ripples of quitting now was going to extend further than I could see. I was writing to give truth, hope, and hilarity to others and if I stopped putting words down, no matter if people were reading it or not, then all my ripples would be non-existent.
Quitting creates the De-Ripple effect.
Sometimes the most valiant act you can make in achieving your goals is to cling to them as if it’s a death or life experience. Because that’s exactly what it is. Like a mountain climber with one hand on the ledge, I knew if I let go now, I was going to kill everything that was important to me.
Now years later, the emails and stories I receive from people all over the world who have been touched by something I’ve written completely astounds and amazes me every time. It’s all much bigger than me. Much larger than even the dreams I used to have that once felt so big and unrealistic.
You see, you can’t quit. You just can’t. If you’ve been wavering back and forth – consider this your sign to keep going.
The world needs your passion, dreams, vision, and values. The world needs you to be fully you.
Someone out there right now needs your dream and neither of you know it.
Keep chipping away. It might be 11:59pm for you right now. You never know what stroke is going to lead to your break out and your breakthrough.
I’d love to hear from you in the comments on this article:
What are you not going to give up on?
I will not give up on getting THE job for me..not just ANOTHER job for me.
Right on Dani! Love it
You’re so right, Paul. This past year has flown by and its left me wondering,’What have I accomplished? Have I grown as a person? Am I anywhere down the path I’ve tried to create for myself?’ But then I catch myself.. You see it’s not so important to have these answers. It’s literally impossible to NOT grow as person with a little time. Our perceptions, our realities are constantly changing. I’ve recently gone through something in my life and instead of just simply dealing with, I’m participating in NaNoWriMo and making it a screenplay. On top of all my other projects, this is the one I am most proud of. And even though I don’t know all the logistics of bringing it to life yet (I plan on filming it when it’s finished), I know it’s going to be great. A beta reader has already told me “it’s relatable and it gave me a lot of feelings. You’re on to something.” Having heard that, I know what I’m doing is what I was meant to do.
Yes ChelsieJo! Really well said. Hold tight to that truth that this is something you need to do…no matter the obstacles that come your way.
This is absolutely beautiful. This came at just the right time for me – though what I’m working on is a surprise so I don’t want to reveal it if it doesn’t work out.
Anyway, there’s also the regret factor – it’s one thing if you take that leap of faith and it doesn’t work, but if you hesitate because you’re afraid it won’t work, and you never do it, you’ll miss that window of opportunity and you’ll probably never be able to do it with the same impact you would have had before. You’ll go all your life from then on looking back at this one moment and wonder, “What if I actually did it?” And you’ll regret that you never even tried, so you’ll never know.
Well said! I’ve always loved this quote from Sydney Harris: “Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.”
I love this. A message that I definitely needed to hear. I feel the same about something telling you to hold on, even when nothing seems to be happening. The reminder that people will miss out on what you have to offer if you give up is a great one. And what a shame that would be. Everyone has something to offer that could help another person, and if you stop you’d be robbing someone of that. Thanks for also being honest about the beginning for you as well. It’s easy to look at people who are already succeeding and wonder if it was ever hard for them. Love your stuff.
Thanks Christel! There’s definitely been many checkpoints along my path where I’ve wondered if I was crazy and just needed to give up on the whole thing. But it’s typically been at the most intense moments where the biggest breakthroughs have happened for me.
Thank you so much for this.I’m struggling to see with eyes of faith. Your post came at the right time. Love from London.
Amazing Zaneta! Thank you
Your message could come at no better time. I recently ‘threw in the towel’ on a dream of going back to school after two failed attempts…the stress of my current job makes it very difficult to work and attend class at the same time. My dream is to go into the medical field and serve others. This was sign to me to get back on the horse and try again.
Awesome! Really glad to hear it. Thank you
WOW!! This was written for me today! Amazing how I came to your website and found this article, this is so true: “sometimes the most valiant act you can make in achieving your goals is to cling to them as if this a life or death experience.”
Amazing Katie! Yes and yes!
Great insights Paul. What would have happened if Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Thomas Edison, Elon Musk, etc, gave up early? We wouldn’t even know who they were and benefit from their incredible innovations. This article shows the important of having a definite purpose with a clear vision. Those two things are essential to motivation to push thru and perservere. Thanks for sharing and talk soon Paul.
-Matt Kohn
Wow, this is great and I found it just at the right time. I’ve had a rough week of wondering what I’m doing with my life and I’ve even told myself to give up (but not seriously). This article is really encouraging. Thank you.
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