"Good ideas are common - what's uncommon are people who will work hard enough to bring them about."
Ashleigh Brilliant
"It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It's what we do consistently."
Tony Robbins
I've written a lot about following through over the years and cannot think of a more relevant rule for living than knowing how to do it. A lack of follow-through is one of the biggest culprits in people's unhappiness with their lives. I especially see this in young men.
You will recognize a lack of follow-through in people with a dozen good ideas but zero execution, in people with every intention of making a positive change in their lives, and, very often, as the reason why people do not trust their partners. It is a deep and insidious problem.
The reasons for a lack of follow-through seem to cluster around a few common themes:
Lack of discipline. Coming up with ideas is the fun part, so we drop the ball when it's time to do the work.
Distractions. Yes, there are more distractions now than in the past. Video games, unlimited streaming movies, internet pornography, and social media trigger our biological reward centers in ways we haven't learned how to cope with yet.
A lack of faith in your idea or in the change you want to make. Not trying in the first place is the best way to avoid failure.
The need for immediate gratification is intense and limits our ability to think long-term.
So, how do we learn how to follow through?
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