Never Giving Up

How many times have you seen athletes, players, or an overall team literally give up when the match, the game, or the competition started to get tough? This scenery is never something a coach nor a fan likes to see. It brings you to wonder what happened and why is the energy is shifting?

Let’s bring the above back to you. When was the last time you saw yourself give up? Depending how your reality looks like, things may have not been the easiest recently. Maybe what you’re doing or what you’re thinking about is not considered as a giving up attitude or mentality. Maybe you find yourself having every emotion within you telling you to stop. Or maybe, your emotions are attempting to fight a little more, but your mind keeps thinking about the “what if I stop it all?”

If your emotions have been all over the place and/or your mind has been telling you all sort of things, it is sure not a pleasant place to be in. You want to succeed. However, continual success happens when you keep believing in yourself and do what is necessary for your vision to prosper.

You are going to like this week article. It will help you answer two important questions:

• Is quitting truly inside of me?
• What can I do to build a stronger resilience pattern?

From the look of it, you may be like “I don’t like to give up” or “I am not someone who gives up”. You know what, maybe you are right. It may not be something that is part of your DNA, lol!! However, it does not mean you are not able to get even better at persevering through difficulties.

The goal is by the end of today’s read, you

• are able to identify what brings you to think less of yourself
• find out you are even more resilient than what you thought you were

Let’s get to it shall we!!!

Quincy Hall is an American runner who specializes in the 400 meters. When you look at Quincy’s track evolution, he really grew gradually within the sports. Although a 400m hurdler initially, Quincy decided to solely focus on the 400m.

The strength of your emotional foundation is consistently tested. It is up to you to show up and make it count

Grit is one of the best word to describe Quincy. Let’s rewind to the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 400m final. Quincy ran in lane 8 and appeared to be out of it by the time he had reached 300m (**side not**e: he was fourth at that time). However, the legendary sport commentator Leigh Diffey, who is also a Nascar commentator, said it best: “Quincy Hall is coming back! Quincy Hall is digging deep! Quincy Hall is running pass all of them! Can he get there? He does. That’s goal for USA!!!”

Grit may not be an emotion; however, it requires you to have your emotions on check to develop such character. If you are someone who gets bother every time that something is not going the way you want it to go; then, grit is not natural to you. If you are someone who always find something to complain about because situations are not leaning towards what you had envisioned, then grit is still not a natural part of you.

When you are put in the most challenging situations, your emotions will tell you a lot about how you handle and manage yourself and the situations you are involved in. In Quincy’s story, most would have never done what he has done. Right now, you are reading about it, but for you to visualize even more, you have to watch it on YouTube. Trust, you won’t be disappointed (side note: Quincy Hall finds another gear to come back and win men’s 400m/Paris Olympics/ NBC Sports).

You may not have a sport commentator do play-by-play for you, but you still have to call your own plays. When you call them, you want to ensure your emotions are controlled and that you are not all over the place. You know more than anyone what can happen if you start “losing it”. The pressure is not going to get easier. It continues to increase as your life keeps developing. Which means your emotions also have to evolve.

It may not happen all at the same time. Sometimes, it’s day-by-day, if so, it is totally ok. What matters is that you understand each emotion and work on having more and more grit and resilience. The grit and resilience you learn to work on are going to help you push further than what you initially thought possible. When walls are closing up, your grit and your resilience allow you to level up to new heights.

Quincy is not worried about what others say about his form. Yes, it is unorthodox when you look at his biomechanics, form, and overall quality of his race. But, there is one thing no one can complain about when they watch Quincy race — his psychological strength.

The strength of your psychological foundation is consistently tested. It is up to you to show up and make it count

Quincy is someone who unlike many other track and field athletes trains on his own. When I say on his own, I mean it. No training partner, him and his phone or him and his watch. His coach is not located in the same city as him which means he is coached via phone and emails. His coach believes Quincy will do what he is told — which he does. I don’t know how familiar you are with track and field, but the 400m is one, if not, the most excruciating event of them all. Why? Because it does not only requires speed, but also a high level of speed endurance.

The 400m hurts beyond measures yet Quincy does all that 400m training on his own. It is truly remarkable, inspirational, and insane all at once, lol!!!

What about you? Do you have what it takes to be the creator of your own life? What I mean by that is do you consistently put yourself in situations where you have to grow otherwise you drown.

Sometimes, you don’t have second and third chances. Your mind has to think and think quick. If not, you find yourself into another complicated situation. Giving up may be appealing at times, but do you know what it really entails? When you give up there is a lot of things that is going to change.

One of the most important change is mental. You start to train your mind that given up is an actual option. The more your mind believes as such, the easier it becomes to stop when challenges arise. It gradually creates a chain of circumstances that only gets you deeper and deeper. Which means, it becomes more and more challenging for you to see your reality logically. Your life becomes a ball of emotional chaos.

By now, these two questions should have been answered:

• Is quitting truly inside of me?
• What can I do to build a stronger resilience pattern?

Was it challenging for you to admit the truth or were you able to leave some of your emotions out and rely on how you’ve been handling everything lately?

If you were able to answer them, it is a great start for your emotional and psychological reprogramming. You can now

• identify what brings you to think less of yourself
• find out that you were more resilient than what you thought you were

Quincy’s story is the posterboard of what being emotionally and psychologically strong means. His Olympic final race, but also other races he has been part of show his willingness to push himself beyond what appears possible. It truth, his grit and resilience are both something that is part of him.

For you, it may also been something you were born with. But, if not, then it is something you have to work on so it can become more natural to you. Your weaknesses can often become your strengths when you choose to consistently work on them.

Yes, life can be extremely challenging at times yet it still have great lessons to learn from. Grit and resilience are only some of them.

*** You like this article, don’t hesitate to look at other articles where I break down the emotional and psychological connection between track and the restaurant industry. Both fields are fueled by pressure, performances, and emotional and psychological toughness.

** You liked the inspiration behind Quincy Hall’s story, don’t hesitate to support Quincy by following him on IG @dogg8bg

Is it time for your Emotional and Psychological Reprogramming?

If so, I’ll gladly bring all the great energy and expertise to help you be different in 2025. If 2024 and before were emotionally and psychologically challenging for you, it may be time for a switch of perspective.

• My National and International experience as a Track and Field athlete helps me understand the fast pace and the pressure that you’re experiencing
• My bachelor in Psychology and Master in Counseling helps me understand human emotions and psychology throughout lenses that are often different from what you’re used to
• My 10+ years as a Weight Loss Transformation Specialist and having helped thousands of people with their weight loss and fitness journey allows me to understand the emotional and psychological challenges that life has to offer

It is a blessing to be able to help you through my writings. Imagine how much more could be done once we connect and start working together :)

I’m only one click away!!

Martine