Two months back, my cousin, LA, graduated from that other state institution in Tallahassee (FSU). As a graduation gift to my mom, LA fancied up the canvas you see above. I've always been a sucker for mixed media, but more importantly --
You see, my mom is a math tutor. She has been since I was a little kid. Growing up, it was normal to have a classmate, teammate, or neighborhood friend sitting at the dining room table with my mom after school. Papers would be spread out all over the tabletop and I could see calculus, algebra, trig, or geometry being explained page by page as I came home from practice and put away my lunch bag. Up to my room I'd scurry and contemplate my own assignments.
My mom would help a student understand math. She didn't seem focused on the final result. She really focused on comprehension of the subject matter. I know that students she tutored got to points in exams where they could do more than 'plug and chug' and they could actually problem solve. For many years I relied on doing example after example after example (much like mile after mile after mile) so that when I saw a math problem in an exam, I would substitute new numbers and values for ones just like I had practiced. I got the answers right and I got As in math, but I didn't quite understand the math aspect. I was really good at patterns and getting a result. I trusted my mom and the patterns got harder.
I knew my mom was good at what she did and I relied on that sometimes a bit too much. It would be late the night before my own math exam and I'd rundown the steps and plea for immediate help. Some reason I wasn't getting the right results when I'd compare my answers to the back of the book. She'd want to explain the process to me and give me analogies of how math was like cats and dogs. I'd get so aggravated! "Mom, I need the answer. That's all. The test is tomorrow and I need to know how to spit out the answer."
She wasn't a fan of this and I took it ALL wrong. For awhile there, I thought my mom didn't too much care about results. I thought she was solely focused on the process. She'd look at the problems I needed to complete and understand them in the big world of mathematics. I needed the immediate outcome. I needed the result.
My mom also tutored my cousin, LA - the girl that painted the "Results Matter" canvas above. LA got it ALL right. My mom focused on the process and fully understood it to get the result. Every time. LA, thanks for really understanding and expressing it so vividly! You got it ALL right (well, maybe except for that FSU decision, haha!)
At the start of the year, my mom sent me an article via text. I'd say I read 99% of the articles she sends. It's a way we communicate. She sends me the article and I read it. When I'm in a really bad mood or when I'm really tired I usually misinterpret the reason she sent it and think, 'golly, she's being so pushy." When all is normal, we talk about it.
I was a little confused why she sent this particular one to me, and I rolled my eyes thinking "What the heck is she thinking that I've quit on here?"
The article was written by Amy Sullivan, PsyD, and it was published in the Cleveland Clinic/ Consult QD. She titled it, "What keeps you going when you want to quit?"
Like I said, I was immediately unsure of why I was reading the article. What was my mom trying to tell me through this article? I looked on the right side of my phone and that the scroll bar was big. Ok - I could get through this pretty easily, it was short. The article talked about Amy, the author herself, her sister, and running.
You know how it is - if you're into elephants and your mom sees an article about elephants, she lets you know about it. Or maybe you're into motorcycles and so anyone that knows you and is having a motorcycle issue always asks you about their bike's engine or fuel pump. Maybe you're state patrol and so at every party someone tells you about the last time they got pulled over.
So yes, this article now was about running. Easy read for me. I moved onto the next paragraph and where Amy asks this question: "What keeps an individual engaged and moving forward during times that we want to quit?"
What's your answer?
Hers is...resiliency.
My mind was wrapped around the idea of running because that's the context in which the article is written. When I was really focused on running and being diligent about it, I never wanted to quit. I can't think of ONE time that I wanted to quit when I was training hard and racing. I am incredibly grateful for that. I realize that's why I didn't care to read this article = it didn't really apply deeply. Although the context of running applied to me, the idea of wanting to quit never applied. I was resilient then. I never wanted to quit. In fact, I recall how much I wanted to run. I recall how I wanted to be so ready to go hard. Each time I went hard, I grew more resilient.
What do you call the opposite of a snowball effect (that term has a negative connotation)? Whatever the answer, I had that. I believe many of us have that. The harder you work consistently, the easier it is to continue working hard.
...as long as you get enough sleep!
...and good results help, too!
Yes, her article was short.
= Resiliency helps you not quit. Got it.
I had a few minutes to keep reading and I read another article. "What keeps you going when you want to quit?" This one is by a guy that has a pretty good blog. His name is Michael Hyatt and I like that he writes very clearly. His answer is a bit different. You can see the link below for his take.
Links =
https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org
https://michaelhyatt.com/what-keeps-you-going-when-you-want-to-quit/
3 questions above:
1) "What keeps an individual engaged and moving forward during times that we want to quit?"
2) What is the opposite of a snowball effect?
3) "What keeps you going when you want to quit?"
