HOW TO STAY POSITIVE WHEN YOU’RE NOT GETTING THE SUCCESS YOU WANT

“The temptation to quit is greatest just before you’re about to succeed”

Sometimes in life, and especially in your career, you can feel as though you’re pouring everything you have into something, working as hard as possible, and giving everything you have to something, but just not seeing the return or success you desire for your hard work. It’s such a disheartening feeling, but it’s something I’m sure we all feel at some point in our lives. For me, this feeling couldn’t be more pertinent than when it comes to blogging. In all other areas of my life I feel proud of my achievements, I feel optimistic about what I can achieve next and I feel that finally my hard work has paid off. But when it comes to my blog and the blogging world, I couldn’t feel further from this.

When it comes to my blog, I love to be a shining beacon of hope, inspiration and motivation for you guys, but ultimately my tips, advice and motivational content is for me too. To keep me going, to keep me inspired and to keep me driven and hopeful that I can achieve the successes I want to. But a friend mentioned recently that I could be a little more personal on here, maybe more like how I used to be, sharing with you the highs and lows and even my personal experiences, without it needing to be informative … maybe relatable is enough? And it got me thinking about how I was feeling right this minute. Motivated and determined mixed with so disappointed and disheartened.

The reality is I’m an exceptionally driven person, I have a career and I have a blog, and I want both to achieve the success and goals I’ve given myself. Yes my career is on track and in honest exceeding where I thought, but my blog, well my blog I feel so far behind, I feel like I missed an opportunity, I feel like I fell behind, and I feel disheartened that my hard work isn’t reaping the same rewards I see and no other digital content producers have. I feel pessimistic because I can see clearly the glass ceiling above me, and I know from both sides of the fence that someone needs to open that door for you if you truly want to reap the business available & experience the opportunity out there … It’s like a hamster wheel, if you’re on the wheel then you’re full speed ahead, but jumping on late, well it’s just near impossible. I feel like I work my ass off to make this blog something I want it to become, and sometimes I just wish I saw a little more as a result …  that someone would offer me that ‘lucky break’ I’ve talked about before…

But this disheartened, self depreciating, pessimistic and depressing mentality isn’t me. It never has been and I doubt it will ever be again. These days I’m a ‘CAN DO’ person and it’s important I channel this positive attitude towards my blog too, because I know too well how optimism can get you ahead in your blog & career. As they say, “The temptation to quit is greatest just before you’re about to succeed”, which means I could be on the cusp of something here …

HOW TO STAY POSITIVE WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR NOT ACHIEVING THE SUCCESS YOU WANT

Change The Goal

If you’re feeling disheartened and disappointed by your achievements, then perhaps you’re measuring your success against the wrong thing? Is your goal genuinely achievable, is it relevant to you (and not someone else’s successes as your benchmark), have you put everything in place to help you achieve it, are you hoping for results too soon? Sometimes the reason we find ourselves feeling disappointed or disheartened by our success, or equally pessimistic about what we can achieve in the future, is because we’ve set ourselves the wrong goal. If you find yourself feeling this way, change the goal, break it down, make it challenging but achievable. There’s no point setting yourself up to fail, the process of defining your goals is critical in achieving success.

“Pull over to the side of your journey & look how far you’ve come”

Re-Strategise & Be Proactive

Much like changing the goal, perhaps you need to change the strategy that’s helping you get there, to stay relevant in the industry, to truly ladder up to your overall ambition, to adapt based on performance & learning from your failures. Are you expecting the moon and the stars but not really doing the things you need to do to get yourself there? A good, clear and actionable strategy is just as important as a defined goal and ambition … ultimately the strategy is what is going to help you achieve those goals, so you need to break them down, make them timely, ensure the’re achievable, and most of all, pro-actively action them.

Being proactive is something I’ve forgotten to do when it comes to my blogging business. The industry 5 years ago is far from what it is today, back then i would never dream of contacting a brand for business, these days that’s the norm, and as a result I’ve fallen behind on opportunities, because I’ve not been proactive enough in putting myself, my blog and my business out there.

“Do something everyday that will inch you to a better tomorrow!

Go the extra mile

And finally, don’t give up, don’t let the pessimism stop you, don’t hold back from opportunities, don’t give up trying, you need to do the absolute opposite, keep going, keep pouring more effort and energy in, work harder, be optimistic, be positive, take every opportunity offered to you, go that extra mile, every-time and before you know it, things might just start to happen, small things, slowly, but overtime the bigger picture will start to become a reality, you’ll readjust your goals, push for more, push for the next thing, and your definition of success will evolve, as you achieve those successes you had set out to … and the journey will start all over again.

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”

And don’t forget on this crazy old journey to success, that it’s not just about blog or career success and achievements, remember to always be working toward your life goals too. The things that make you happy, of which I’m sure your career is just one part. Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life. And always remain focussed on your goals, your journey, your achievements, your benchmarks,“Admire someone else’s beauty without wanting to change your own”.

Do you suffer from moments of self doubt when you’re not achieving the success you set out to? How do you cope in these situations and stay positive? I hope you found these tips helpful? And perhaps you relate yo my own experiences too?