Give yourself the push you need to get over the hump | March 31, 2009

All you can do is all you can do.

That's part of the title of a book by A. L. Williams, founder of a company that later became Primerica. (The full title is All You Can Do Is All You Can Do But All You Can Do Is Enough.)

I wanted to focus on those words today. All you can do is all you can do. That's because it's easy to become full of despair and desperation when we feel that we've been spinning our wheels and nothing is coming of it. We can be tempted to give up. That's the place where too many people end up -- disappointed, discouraged and disillusioned, giving up just before their big victory.

This is the thing: All you can do really is all you can do. And that will be enough. But you've got to make sure that you really are doing all you can do. Often, when we are overwhelmed by a certain process, if we take the time to step back and evaluate it, what we will find is that we really aren't doing all we can do.

For instance, let's say you've been struggling to lose 20 pounds. You've been cutting out the fast food. You've been eating more of the stuff you believe is healthy. But that scale just won't budge.

Well, if you were to look at everything you're doing, you may discover that you're not working out the way you need, or that while you're making healthier eating choices you're not making the best choices overall. Or you may find that you're not sleeping enough or eating too late in the day or any number of other things.

But at first glance, you were convinced you were doing all you could do because you were cutting out fast food and making better food choices.

And with the evaluation of your process, you now see that there is more you can do. So you do it. And it works! The scale moves. You lose the weight.

If you're frustrated with a particular situation in your life right now, honestly ask yourself if you are doing all you can do. If you're broke and unhappy with the level of income you are producing, for instance, is there something else you can do? Is there more training or certification you can get that will make you more valuable in the marketplace? If your business seems stuck at one level and you think you're doing all you can just to maintain, is there one tweak you can make that will produce a difference?

Don't beat yourself up when things truly are out of your control and you have done all you can do. That's all you can do. But if there is something else you can do, then do it. And watch for the result.

Cut yourself slack when you need, but push yourself a bit harder when you must.