On any project you endeavor, there will be a point when things get hard and you’ll consider quitting. At that point you have two options: quit the project or persevere through to the end. We visualize this reality through a mental model called the Project Mood Curve. The decision point is known as The Pit. It is a necessary stage to go through before you can get to the Norming and Performing stages of the curve and reach your There.
There are valid reasons for picking either option depending on the circumstances, so we will spend the next two articles exploring both outcomes. First, why should we choose to persevere and what does it look like to do that well?
Why Persevere?
Before we explore how we can persevere through, let’s think about why we might want to do that in the first place? If we look at the facts, we see that we have to go through The Pit on every project. So, if we never persevere through it, we will never reach our There.
Perseverance is a muscle we can strengthen. If you always let yourself back out of hard things, then you never develop the skill needed to get through to the other side. Practice perseverance every day so that you know how to when it matters.
How to Persevere?
So you’ve decided that you want to see this project through to the end. How then can you do that?
At the end of the Project Mood Curve is your There. Have clarity about what your There is and a commitment to reach it to increase your chances of getting through The Pit. If you don’t know where you’re going, then you’ll be a lot less likely to want to get There. Having a Transcendent There with Strategic Theres, Milestones, and Goals along the way will give you a bigger mission to aim towards. When the individual task at the moment feels too big, you can remember what it’s all for.
Here at The Crossroad, we often say that “structure demands behavior.” So, if you’re trying to elicit a certain behavior, in yourself and in others, then you need to put structures in place towards that end. Set up your workspace and organize your time into a way that is conducive to accomplishing the task that is before you.
Finally, seek out accountability in another person. We are more likely to finish something if we’ve told someone else to check in about it. We are still always accountable to ourselves, to our goals, and to God. But having another person on the journey with you–for encouragement, exhortation, and to celebrate with after a job well done–makes it a more enjoyable experience.
Gracie McBride is the Content and Systems Development Coordinator at The Crossroad.
