How to Keep Moving Forward

When you stumble, and you will, keep going. It is important in life to realize one is on a journey that is imperfect. There will be times when one stumbles and even times when one falls. But what can you do when that happens? Just lie there, defeated? No! One has to find the strength to get back up and to keep moving.

Giving up will not get you where you want to go. It will only get you feeling defeated and dejected. It takes fight just to get up every day out of bed and start the day. We need to nurture our inner fight mechanism, that inner strength we have that we can pull out in times of need. That inner fight helps us to keep moving forward, even when things do not go our way.

Sometimes, when we face a setback, the inclination is to stop in our tracks. We then take time to think about what has happened. But sometimes we can think too much about that. Our thinking can become negative and defeatist. We can also end up ruminating about what has gone wrong. This rumination can paralyze us.

It is important to interrupt the rumination as soon as it starts. It can be helpful to take an action when you catch yourself. This serves as a reminder that what you are doing is wrong. Replace thoughts about the past with thoughts about the present or future. What can you do now to help your situation? What plans do you want to put in place for the future?

In order to get moving again, it is also important to curb the feeling of aloneness. It is hard to focus on moving forward when one is caught up in feeling alone in their trials and tribulations. Remind yourself that everyone has problems to deal with. Life is like a roller coaster, full of ups and downs. We all face challenges and hurdles. It is important to hold on until tomorrow, because we do not know what tomorrow will bring.

In order to keep moving forward, we need to set goals for ourselves. Without a goal, we will lack direction and focus. Our goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. We do not want to set goals that are unrealistic, because that will just cause us frustration and even sadness when we cannot attain them. We should focus on realistic goals. These will spur our motivation. 

A goal gives you a reason to get out of bed in the morning. It adds purpose and a sense of challenge to your days. It can add an element of fun for you too. Having goals helps to nurture our passions. Living life without goals and challenging oneself is less purpose-driven. Being more purpose-driven in our lives by setting goals for ourselves can be a catalyst that increases our zest for living.

Practicing proper self-care is important to enable one to keep moving forward. Sometimes life gets so busy that our self-care routine suffers. But it is important for us to focus on self-care. How can we expect to be there for others if we do not care for ourselves? Self-care includes things like getting enough sleep, eating nutritious food, and taking time to relax and partake in activities we enjoy. Self-care is something that easily falls to the wayside in the busy shuffle of our lives. But that should not be. Without proper self-care, we will not feel good and may even fall ill. It is impossible to keep moving forward without taking the time to focus on self-care to ensure one is feeling up to living fully.

Practicing gratitude will help to buoy our spirits up, better enabling us to move forward, especially in times of challenge and stress. Taking the time to think about the things that are good in our lives, big and small, brings a healthy mental reset. It is easy to get caught up in complaints about things going on in our lives. Those jump out at us. But those things that are good in our lives may not jump out at us, and we may start to take them for granted. That is why consciously directing our thoughts to things we are grateful for is important. We can have a mental list, or write a list down. We can take the time to think of just one thing every day that we are grateful for, or more. This thinking lends perspective to our mental state, leading us to feel more optimistic. Optimism makes it easier for us to keep it moving in our lives, especially in times of difficulty.

Comparing ourselves to others is something that can deflate us and end up stymieing our progress. It is best to compare yourself to yourself at another time, but not to others, who have a different set of circumstances from you. Comparing oneself to others can leave you feeling defeated. This can discourage you from moving forward making your best effort. You may begin to feel that your realistic goals are not enough. But the person to compare yourself to really is just yourself, at a different time. That is the only fair comparison. It is unfair to compare yourself to others, who have a different set of circumstances than you do. But comparing yourself to yourself helps you to gauge your progress as you move along toward attaining your goals. It is a healthy form of comparison.

Taking time to destress and relax helps us to have the resiliency to keep moving forward. It replenishes us when we get depleted. If we are constantly on the go, then we will eventually get run down. When that happens, we can easily lose our motivation to press onward. It is best to prevent this from happening in the first place. One factor that will help to prevent this from happening is taking time out of one's schedule regularly to just destress. During this time, do whatever helps you to relax and unwind. It could be a hobby you enjoy, watching TV, listening to music, exercising, or simply getting more sleep. The idea is to counterbalance the stress in your life by working in times for destressing. In the long run, taking time to destress will help to keep you going. It will give you the momentum you need to go after your goals.

Conclusion:

So follow these tips and keep it moving! That is the best way to be able to attain your goals. It also keeps you feeling good along the way. It is all about the journey, and to just keep moving along on it. You have the ability to never stop and stagnate, and instead keep moving forward. It is within you!