Don't Give Up: The Best are Like Trees; They take a Lot of Time

I've got one pleasant weakness -- I hardly give up on anything. And it's a weakness because it's almost involuntary. Once I hold on to a notion or goal, it ends up the other way round: The goal or notion begins to hold on to me, and I become helpless. My mum has stopped trying to influence my decisions only my dad still tries, and it's not because he really expects me to change but as a Medical Lab Scientist he's used to giving advice.

Luckily, it's a weakness with a good side. That's why I call it a pleasant weakness. I have stayed till past 8pm at work and come on weekends on several occasions just because I was working on a problem with no deadline. Yeah, it had no deadline. There was almost zero pressure on me. Yet I couldn't sleep well or spend my Saturdays peacefully without fixing the problem. Why? I somehow made a goal out of fixing it, and then it became on obsession. I'm the computer fix-it guy, Excel guru and a daily blogger because of that weakness. And all the things that are going great in my life benefited immensely from that weakness. 

Through that weakness I stumbled on the reality that to build the best out of anything, give it a lot of time and dedication. Treat it like the seed of a tree; plant it, water it regularly and give it lots of time.

image: jacktoon.blogspot.com

I've got a few friends who take advantage of that weakness of mine. "Michael is going to work himself to death to get it resolved for you. He's just like that."

Though you shouldn't be at the extreme end like me, but once you've found a goal worth pursuing, give it your all.

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts." -- Calvin Coolidge 

"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." -- Thomas A. Edison 

"To see things in the seed, that is genius." Lao Tzu 

Regardless of what trouble and roadblocks you encounter, never give up. Don't just give your best, keep giving it.