What to do When You Feel Like Giving Up (Part 3): Be Prepared

If you’ve been following this series, you know I’ve already suggested making a decision to keep going, even if it feels like you need a miracle, and remembering to breathe to dispel tension and center yourself.

This week, I suggest that you consciously open your eyes and your mind and look for opportunities.

It can be a bit unnerving to set your mind on a goal when you have no idea how you’ll attain it. The good news is, you don’t have to know how! Once you set your intention on the “what,” the brain has a marvelous way of figuring out the “how.” I’ve experience this first-hand many times in my life. I’ve also read about it and seen a lot of research on it. There are two schools of thought:

1. From a “woo woo” perspective, once you set your intention, God, Spirit, The Universe (or whatever you call some higher power) provides what you need to achieve your intention.

2. From a logical perspective, once you set your intention, your brain starts looking for and noticing the things you need to achieve it. Oftentimes, those things have been right in front of you for a long time, but you never noticed them because you didn’t need them in that moment.

It doesn’t really matter which perspective is right or even if they both are. We can know that once we make up our minds to do something (or not to give up), then opportunities will appear. All we have to do is be on the lookout for those opportunities and be ready to take advantage of them. Sometimes the solution may just “drop into your lap.” Other times, we need to be creative, look at “what if” scenarios, and be prepared for them.

The following video from the 2013 Auburn-Alabama game is a great example of being ready for an opportunity. With one second left and the score tied, Alabama attempted a 56 yard field goal.  Now, this was a very long field goal attempt. I’ve been watching football since I was in elementary school, and the longest I’ve ever seen made is 53 yards—and I’ve only seen that a couple of times. But this field goal wasn’t out of the question: my Auburn contacts tell me that during the pre-game warmups that day, the field goal kicker made one from almost the same spot on the field as this game-winning attempt.

The Auburn coaching staff knew that if he made this kick, Alabama would win. If the kick was long enough but missed to the left or right, the game would remain tied and would go into overtime. But they also realized that if the kick was short, Auburn could return it. So they put in their punt return unit and designed a play to set up a return.

They didn’t give up. And they won.

This week, I’d like to try an experiment. What can you do that requires you to think big and set an intention that is so big you have no idea how you will accomplish it? Don’t just pay lip service to it; actually set the intention. Decide you are going for it and that you will get it. Then start thinking about how you might achieve it. Be prepared for any opportunities that show up. Please post back and share how it went.