Finish what you Start

Yesterday, we ran another 5K in Mount Poconos, PA.  From the town's name, it was full of hills and to top it of, it was raining. As we started on the race, I cruised to the first mile at 6:55 min/mile. As I ran to the second mile, the hills started to slow me down, my shins started to hurt, my breathing was difficult . As I reached the second mile, I began to wonder if I can be able to make it the finish line. All I could see was trees and hills and no one in sight either when I looked forward or backwards.  I wondered if I can just walk the rest of it. I thought to myself how hard I have trained for this moment and how I will be cheating myself if I quit almost at the end. So I started to sing myself and as I saw the finish point, I gave it everything I got to the end.  Time? 22:30 minutes for a 5K. My own personal record! Was it easy? NO! Do I still hurt? Yes!

It is the same with any craft or hobby. You are so enthused about starting a new hobby or taking your hobby to another level and  you need to take some action to follow through. It may start so easy that you think it will be a breeze and then bam! you hit a road block or stumbling block. My craft is Crocheting and I will be one of the first that will tell you that I have hit so many road blocks either when trying out a new pattern or creating a new pattern.

What's next?
1. Picture, Picture, Picture : When I run or working on a crochet project, I try as hard as I can to picture myself at the end of the run or the final crochet product. Visualize perfecting or training in your craft. Cut out images of things to remind you of your goal. When it gets tough, pull the pictures out or sit quietly and visualize  it. Write down what your thoughts are and where you are going with this.

2. No more Procrastination - When I think about early morning runs, I just want to slip back into bed and sleep for another hour.  If I do that and tell myself  I will do it later, I will never run that day. So I get up and do it whether it was a great run or not, I just do it. Same has to go for your craft. You will need to push through whether the project is coming along as you planned or not. You may not where you want to be or complete the project as scheduled but as you do it a little bit at a time, you will learn about your craft and when you do the next project, you will use what you learned from the past project to perfect your techniques.

3. Seek and You Will Find: At some point, you may have hit a road block and really have no idea what to do next. Seek advice from people who can help you either through the Internet or ask someone you know. You may need to take a class or buy additional books to help you to keep moving in the right direction.

What am I telling you?

Just do not stop.  Do not Quit. You will not know what great things are lying ahead if you quit at this point. Pick up that project, hobby, goal and try to do the best that you can. You will surprise yourself.

Enjoy!