Keep Going: The Underrated Secret to a Wonderful Life

Unless you’re completely deluded or hiding under a rock, you know that life is hard. On the whole, it’s a series of challenges, crises, and steep learning curves punctuated by brief periods of relative peace and ease. That’s why all of us need to hear the very simple, highly-underrated, and completely unsexy message I’m offering you today. Unglamorous though it may be, it’s a key to living a life we’ll be outrageously proud of when we die. 

 

The Message

Keep going. 

That’s my message for you today. Profound and sexy, right? 

When work is kicking your butt…Keep Going. 

When you’re passed over for a promotion…Keep Going.

When your New Year’s resolve is running out…Keep Going. 

When things at home are stressful…Keep Going.

When your kids are choosing destructive paths…Keep Going. 

When your relationship with your grown son or daughter is distant and cold…Keep Going.

When your desire for a significant other remains unfulfilled…Keep Going. 

When your new business venture is on the rocks…Keep Going. 

When your health begins to fail you…Keep Going. 

When you get a terminal diagnosis…Keep Going. 

When a loved one dies…Keep Going. 

When others say it can’t be done…Keep Going. 

When the odds seem insurmountable…Keep Going. 

When life throws you a curveball…Keep Going. 

When your friends desert you…Keep Going.

When your spouse betrays you…Keep Going. 

When you betray your spouse…Keep Going. 

When you make a mistake…Keep Going. 

When the news is filled with gloom and doom…Keep Going. 

When the economy is tanking…Keep Going. 

If you’re going through Hell…Keep Going, to quote the inimitable Winston Churchill. 

If you’re going through heaven, enjoy it…and Keep Going. 

Whatever life is like for you right now…Keep Going.

Don’t stop. Keep Going. 

 

The Real Road to Victory 

Keep Going. Stay in the game. Find a way forward. Do not give in and do not give up. You might have to find a different way forward than you anticipated. So be it. Adjust and keep going. Your original dream may have crumbled. Very well. Grieve the loss, learn the lessons, and keep going. 

When all of our strategies, tactics, and lifehacks aren’t making a dent, “keep going” is all that remains. We too often look for the silver bullet and the shortcut, the smooth path to victory. But the road to victory is paved with grit, perseverance, determination, and a dogged insistence to simply keep going, no matter what. It’s paved with courage, humility, and radical responsibility. 

Too many of us have forgotten that. 

Chop the wood, and carry the water. Chop the wood, and carry the water. 

It’s not pretty. It’s not how we might like it to be. But it is Reality. Better to align with Reality than deny it and compound our misery. 

 

Keep Going…with Purpose and Flexibility

“Keep Going” isn’t a call to purposeless, directionless movement without reflection, intention, or forethought. Sometimes, “keep going” can mean pausing to refresh, reflect, and regroup. But don’t stay there, get stuck there, or get lulled into complacency. Rouse yourself to action again based upon the Insights gained during your pause to refresh, reflect, and regroup, and keep going. Insight + Action = Transformation. Wash, rinse, repeat. It’s simple, but it ain’t easy. So shoulders back, head up, eyes open, and with a heart full of courage and humility, take your next step forward. 

“Keep Going” also isn’t encouragement to keep doing self-destructive things or keep doing the same thing expecting different results. 

When going in one direction isn’t getting the results you want, keep going, but try a different direction. No matter what, though, keep going, and don’t stop.

 

Get the Help You Need to Keep Going

If you need help to keep going, practice radical self-responsibility and get the help you need. Maybe you need help getting going in the first place, much less keeping going. Fret not: It’s part of the human condition to find ourselves completely stuck sometimes. Even better, stuckness is a necessary and sacred place full of potential energy and learning just waiting to be realized. Tune in to episodes 27 and 28, a two-part series on Breaking the Stuckness Stalemate, to begin getting unstuck and moving forward again today. 

 

Some Good News!

Here’s some really good news: We only ever have to keep going for one day. Today is all we’ve got. Tomorrow never comes. Jesus said not to worry about tomorrow. Today has enough troubles of its own. And none of us by worrying can add a day to our lives. Whatever you may think of Jesus, that’s some solid advice. 

Here’s more good news: Bottomless reservoirs of motivation to keep going are available to all of us all the time. Simply remember that you are going to die. One day–maybe even one day soon–you will draw your last breath. But you’re not dead yet. In that light, nothing is more precious than this very moment. Tune in to episode 73 to learn how to cultivate this Mortality Mindset. 

Keep going.

 

These APiD Episodes Will Help You Keep Going, Too

Get the antidote to fear, dread, and timid living in episode 50. In episode 57, learn what to do when life throws you a curveball. Learn how to make the most of today in episode 58. 

Remember: You ARE going to die. But you’re not dead yet. So get after it!

 

The Graveyard Group: Get Going and Keep Going

None of us, no matter how strong or how extraordinary, can keep going all the time on our own. Nor would that be ideal even if we could. We need help from others.

The Graveyard Group gives you your own personal, confidential board of advisors with whom to consult and collaborate on a weekly basis. The Mortality Mindset energizes your work together. Together, you keep going, step by step, week by week, giving the things that matter most the attention they deserve in pursuit of a life you’ll be outrageously proud of when you die. 

Break free from the status quo, become the person you were made to be, and live the life you were made to live. 

New groups for men and women are forming now. To learn more, visit my website to schedule a free session with me, find me on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn, or email me.

I’m so glad you tuned in today. Don’t forget to follow this show, and I’ll see you next time on Andrew Petty is Dying.

 

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If You Liked This Episode, I Think You’ll Like These, Too

• Ep. 027 | Breaking the Stuckness Stalemate: A Path to Transformation
• Ep. 028 | Breaking the Stuckness Stalemate (Part 2): The 5 Ingredients in the Recipe for Using Stuckness to Our Benefit, with Chad James
• Ep. 050 | Seize the Offensive: An Antidote to Fear, Dread, and Timid Living
• Ep. 057 | What to Do When Life Throws You a Curveball: Notes from the Field
• Ep. 058 | How to Make the Most of Today: A Simple Framework
• Ep. 073 | The Mortality Mindset: A New Way in the New Year to Make New Things a Reality