Follow Through Inc. was the name on the client’s credit card I was processing. It was one of those heavy hard plastic cards where the weight makes you feel important. I had to do a double-take and re-read the name. “Follow Through Inc.” The name made me think of my basketball coach. He always yelled at every player on the court. Blowing his whistle, cheeks compiled of hot angry air. “Follow Through after you shoot the ball!”

In golf, baseball, and other sports the act of following through is simple. You continue your movement until the ball has been hit or thrown. If you don’t follow through you could miss a beautiful rebound or alter the shot.

In real life, the act of following through is nerve-racking, time-consuming, and depressing. Follow through with every single business lead and you will never want to cold call again. Follow through with a project, see it to the very end and the fear of failure will soak into your skin. Follow through with your workout routine and you will miss social events on the weekend.

Brave thoughts, but am I ready to follow through on them? -Marie Lu

How do we make following through less stressful?

For years I tried to write this blog. My inconsistent posting along with sloppy writing won me over. Plus my follow-through was non-existent. Then one day a performance coach made this comment. “To get good at following through one must make a sacrifice.”

Sacrifice??

In my case, I thought sacrificing was leaving the last cheese piazza for someone else to eat.

But it’s more than that. You have to give up something important or valued. For the sake of other considerations. I thought I could take on projects and these creations would shine on their own. My thought process was way off.

To reach personal milestones you have to bypass the goal and ask this question.

What am I willing to sacrifice?

Here is what I asked myself. Would I be willing to give up binge-watching Netflix? Could I set aside my outdoor adventures? Could I slim down on fun projects? Can I stop scrolling?

The goal is only as good as the sacrifice.

If you are not willing to put off activities and bad habits… then the goal becomes obsolete.
Before you decide to follow through with a project or a goal, ask yourself this.

Are you willing to sacrifice your free time? How bad do you want this?

“If you don’t sacrifice what you want, what you want will be the sacrifice.”

In next week’s blog, we are going to rap about systems and how to create a system that will help you reach your goals.