Summary

The article encourages perseverance, emphasizing that one hasn't reached their full potential and that the regret of quitting outweighs the discomfort of pushing forward.

Abstract

The article titled "Don’t Quit Because The Good News Is You Haven’t Reached Your Full Potential Yet" conveys a motivational message about the importance of persistence in the face of adversity. It suggests that the pain of regret from not trying is greater than the discomfort of continuing to strive for one's goals. The author argues that listening to one's gut and engaging in positive self-talk can provide the courage needed to persevere. Drawing parallels from personal experiences, such as pushing past a set rep count in exercise, the article highlights the value of self-confidence and internal support when external encouragement is lacking. It also posits that failure does not define one's social image and that setbacks are opportunities for growth and learning. The author emphasizes the brain's adaptability and the importance of perspective in overcoming challenges, urging readers to view obstacles as temporary and part of the learning process.

Opinions

The author believes that the regret of quitting is more intense than the pain of continuing to try and move forward.
Listening to one's intuition and engaging in positive self-talk are seen as acts of courage that can help overcome the desire to give up.
The article suggests that personal growth and learning come from pushing beyond comfort zones, even when external support is not present.
It is expressed that societal perceptions of failure are temporary and should not deter one from pursuing their goals.
The author advocates for the power of perspective, proposing that re-framing problems can lead to creative solutions and personal development.
The concept of neuroplasticity is introduced to illustrate that the brain can adapt to challenges if given enough exposure and effort.
The article encourages viewing failures and setbacks as transient and part of the journey towards reaching one's full potential.

Don’t Quit Because The Good News Is You Haven’t Reached Your Full Potential Yet

The regret of quitting is stronger than that of not trying

We already know the pain when we are unable to move forward in our journey. If we aren’t going forward, then we are moving backwards because time is progressing irrespective of our movement.

Listening to the gut is courageous.

We don’t even want to quit, but all the signs are telling us to do that. And the serendipity is, we often listen to the signs that tell us to stop. Why? Because it is more comfortable and doesn’t require effort.

Here is a thought. What hurts most: inability to move forward or the regret in blowing the chance you could seize?

You already know your potential if you have come this far. You just need a little more push. Listen to the positive imaginary friend of yours that trusts you and wants you to push further before analysing the process.

Positive self-talk has power. It is only a matter of how frequently we do it.

Learn from other areas where you didn’t quit

Sure, I have also faced many situations where I almost felt like giving up. I did give up several times. But one time, I took a chance to push even more. I learned this habit from exercising.

If you have completed a preset rep count, your trainer will tell you to push even more. A person is supporting you every moment while you are sweating like crazy. If you stop, you feel like betraying someone’s trust.

But when it comes to personal goals, we quit because no one is there to support us every time we fall. Even if someone is there; they have their own busy life. We can’t expect continuous feedback from them. That is where we have to build support from inside.

You haven’t reached your full potential ( yet )

Remember, when you started and had an entire plan to walk your journey? You must have planned for the adversities too. But when the external situations are out of control, the best we can do is test our self-confidence or do whatever we can do best: accept the truth and move on.

At the end of the journey, you will have a lot of knowledge, even to teach others about your lessons. Just think about how much you will learn at the end of the path.

When you decide to quit, you are robbing yourself of all the lessons about to come. Your mind is hungry for knowledge, feed it, and your brain will thank you for it.

Failure has nothing to do with your social image.

You have heard this phrase often, “Do one negative action, and people forget all the positive things you did so far.” Here is an extension of this thought, “after some time they forget the negatives too.”

There are two reasons why we don’t need to worry about the image just because of a single setback:

People are busy with their problems. They will forget what happened to you.
As long as you are not affecting someone’s life, no one cares how soon you make it because it has nothing to do with their progress.

Failure is thinking about how the social image will change your course of action and letting it decide your journey.

When I started studying an online course instead of traditional education in college days, I also faced many backlashes. I had to cut-off social interaction with a lot of people because I am doing the work for me first, not for them.

You can’t escape negative feedback. But you can create a situation where you don’t have to face it.

You’re gaining perspective.

Perspective is key. Looking at the same problem from a different angle can provide a creative solution, you may never have thought it existed in the first place.

What if I tell you can trick your brain into overcoming the quitting barrier. Our mind does not have so many colours to decide how good or bad things are. It only knows familiarity of the experience based on your past interactions.

And when you think of quitting, this is what your brain is doing:

When it is the first time, you left because your mind is trying to make connections and it failed because we haven’t exposed it long enough. For me, it always works to look at the flaws in the process itself instead of judging solely based on the outcomes.
When you are quitting after trying multiple times, you need a broad perspective of what’s possible and what new you can try the next time. Seeing every situation as a learning process is working like a life hack for me. Treat it the same way, and you will know what things you shouldn’t waste time on when you are attempting again.

Final words

I try to solve every situation by analysing how the brain sees it. Since I came around the topic neuroplasticity, I learned the human brain is capable of adapting to anything in this world if we expose it long enough.

For the brain, quitting is a situation when our path doesn’t traverse as expected.

What is the best way to overcome this problem? Realising the situation as temporary, seeing it as a learning process and trying new things to gain a little perspective goes a long way because you haven’t reached your full potential yet. The best is about to come. It is not the time to judge. It is time to act!

This blog belongs to a series of posts I am publishing in this 100-days streak. Today is day 70. Navigate to the end of article 22, for the references from day 23 onwards. If you would like to read the ones before day 22, here is the first one that documents them in the end.

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