Perseverance = Inspiration

Inspiration is something I value and something that I sometimes struggle with. Not only to be an inspiration, especially to my boys and to others when I can, but to be inspired myself. I find myself challenged everyday with trying to achieve my goals; pushing myself, and always looking for ways to improve, versus just being in the moment and being inspired by it. 


Often, we create goals with the best of intentions. At first, we’re super motivated, then unfortunately, somewhere along the way, our shiny inspiration and tasks to achieve our goals become a little overwhelming or difficult to manage. We may falter, stall, fall flat or completely give up.


Sound familiar?

What I am learning is that inspiration can’t be something that we plan. Why? Because when we set goals it may become hard to achieve them, no matter how much we plan for them, what the execution is and especially if those goals rely on the help of others. We need to rely on our own healthy dose of perseverance. Goals can seem daunting and even unattainable without it.


It is our perseverance that becomes the inspiration.


So, if as adults we have difficulty persevering, how do we inspire our kids to stick through it when the going gets tough? How can I make sure I do my part to teach my boys not to give up during trying times?


First we need to make sure we have their full attention. We need to teach our children to persevere when it comes to their goals. Teach them what perseverance means.

This is what I believe it means:

Persevering means we don’t give up even when it’s hard.

We do not let obstacles get in the way of our goal.

We enjoy the journey and do not get discouraged even if it does not go the way we hoped it would.

We need to lead by example. If they see us working hard towards our goals, it will be easier for them to model it themselves one day, or even take our motivating advice when they need it most. As long as they can see that we are learning something new while persevering in a positive way, modeling is a great way to reinforce our message.


We also need to sit back and let ourselves be inspired by our kids.


The young and inspirational minds of our children can spark something inside our adult minds that reminds us to be a little more creative, (just like when we were kids) and take life a little lighter. Parenthood can be tricky but as much as we’re here to teach them, they’re also here to teach us. As parents, we could even say that we persevere through parenthood. Let’s face it, it’s not always easy and it can be really trying at times, but at the end of the day we all have the same goal of raising our children to be the best they can be.


Let’s hope that they keep the cycle going, crush their goals, adapt and adjust where they need to, persevere and inspire others along the way. Applaud themselves and their accomplishments and as always...#justkeepclapping

xo

Gina