How to follow-through

Hello! Seiiti Arata. Do you remember our first video, in which we spoke about how to get started? Today, we’re going to talk about how to follow through, and how to persevere.

YouTube video: How to follow-through | Hello Seiiti Arata 02

How to follow through: avoid lazy busy-ness

This doesn’t mean that you have to be stubborn or work under the false illusion that something big is going to happen, just because you’re trying. We don’t want to work as inefficient methodologists, nor work just for the sake of working. This is called ‘lazy busy-ness’.

Achievement = capability x effort

Let’s think of achievement as a product of ability and effort. What does this mean?

To have an ability is amazing, but it’s not enough.

Having an ability means being talented, having skills, having your own resources, knowing the right people.. but having these abilities means nothing if we don’t put in the effort to use them.

In the same way, it’s not enough to put in a large amount of effort, consistently, and with direction, if we don’t have ability.

So in this way, we see how ability and effort are just as important as each other. Perseverance is one of the key ingredients of success.

But what if I don’t enjoy practicing?

Some people say that they don’t like to practice certain skills. Because they’re not very good at them, and it’s annoying to not be very good.

They say that they would persevere if they were already good enough. If they were good at something, they would practice it all the time. It’s just that when they give a poor performance, it’s not fun to practice anymore. It’s embarrassing, it’s a massive annoyance.. It’s scary! Therefore it’s tempting to put it off and find other things to do.

Right, now guess what? Perseverance isn’t something that we need after we start doing well at something. Perserverance is the ingredient that allows us to do well in the first place. When we research successful people in any given area, their biographies show us how they use perseverance to overcome difficulties.

If you want to really know how to follow through, how to move forward, you have to be persistent in doing things. But, you see, you need to be persistent in an intelligent way. To guarantee continuity, it’s important to be able to adjust the plan when necessary. Along the way, you’ll become stronger, you’ll learn how to take criticism and failures better, as well as how to handle difficulties and unexpected obstacles.

There should be no unexpected obstacles

Moreover, ‘unexpected obstacles’ shouldn’t exist in the first place, because the people who overcome obstacles are the ones that already EXPECT obstacles from the beginning!

Let’s interpret obstacles, then, as challenges to be solved as puzzles, like a game. Accordingly, we’ll surpass every challenge, we’ll grow and be ready to confront even bigger obstacles. If we’re confronting something that’s beyond our abilities, we’ll also understand that we can change course if needed, to make the obstacles easier to overcome.

So do you see how creativity and flexibility are needed to balance the stubborn side of determination?

Too easy?

Now, if you’re feeling that everything is too easy, that life’s becoming really boring and you don’t have enough challenges, well yes, it’s going to make sense to go a little beyond, maybe even be a little unrealistic, courageous! Use your creativity to explore what you previously thought of as impossible.

I’ve met so many people who still haven’t explored their potential, because they stay in their comfort zones, which is a safe but very boring choice.

And now for a personal story: as you know, for years I’ve kept my video channels Arata Academy and natugood only in Portuguese, which is my mother tongue. It’s already a large challenge to run a channel, and above this I have also begun to make some videos in English and Spanish in a very modest way – which is a crazy experience. So, today I have no idea if I’m going to continue this format in various languages, or if I’ll abandon this idea after a while if it’s something unviable. But I like a challenge, and that’s why I’m doing it.

What if it is too difficult?

And if it ends up being too demanding? How to follow through? If I were to have to give priority to other things in my life and stay concentrated on one channel? Well, I’d definitely be upset, but it sincerely would not be the first time I’ve come across an obstacle. No problem. Life goes on.

This is what I want for you, my friend. Don’t worry. Make the most of the attitude that this freedom gives us. Don’t try to be perfect, because no one is. If you fail (and it’s normal to), ask yourself: is this objective is still important to you? If it is, then it’s worth persevering.

Don’t keep thinking only in terms of that long-term goal, because the shorter victories along the way are also valuable. Those who only see value in the final result can lose out on all the beauty of the journey.

Take a moment to remember that life is full of surprises. The context can change. Maybe you change. A more mature version of yourself can realise that there are other things in life that deserve more of your attention. And how about now, huh? How are you going to reconcile your maturity with that immovable persistence? In my opinion, you shouldn’t allow determination to do you more harm than good. There’s no shame in stopping once the context changes. You don’t need to be too harsh on yourself, or criticise yourself. You are a whole person. You are totally OK.

How to persevere

How to follow through? So you see how persevering isn’t always easy, but it can be fun. We only need to look at challenges with the right mentality.

A lot of people aren’t able to maintain continuity because the goal wasn’t attractive enough, or because they didn’t invest enough into their skills or effort.

I now invite you to have a think about our conversation. What is the most profound meaning in the goal that you have chosen? The more valuable the objective is, the more you’ll feel as though the obstacles and sacrifices lessen. What are the skills that you need? How can you improve your efforts?

You may discover that what is missing to know how to follow through is the skill to be concentrated and persevere – if this is the case, then I invite you to take a look at what we prepared for you in the FOCUS course – click here to watch the videos.