This is the secret to my success as CEO

It takes more muscles to frown than to smile. I’m sure you’ve heard that before. What you won’t have heard is that it takes more effort to give up than to keep going, but it’s true.

Christmas and New Year happened, then it was back to business as usual. This is the time of year for giving up. The news is full of reasons to give up. The people around you are giving up.

There are loads of different ways to keep yourself going. Read any self-help blog and there will be a whole host of different opinions on the topic. But they all boil down to one simple concept.

Just. Don’t. Give. Up.

Why is Giving Up Harder than Perseverance?

Sometimes things feel impossible. It’s like using Landlord Vision, you log in for the first time and you’ve no idea where to put anything or which button does what. At that point you become one of two people. You persevere and reap the reward, or you give up. You tell yourself it’s too hard, too complicated, you don’t have time, you can’t see how it will help.

It takes less effort to take a break and try again than to build a whole narrative of reasons as to why you’re giving up. It takes less effort to keep trying than to go through the whole process of researching landlord software all over again.

Most of the people we know and regard as thought leaders didn’t get where they are by giving up. They didn’t get where they are by always being right or by being lucky either. They worked at it.

I didn’t get to be the CEO of Landlord Vision because of luck or connections, it was sheer determination. It was trying again and again, and failing sometimes, but learning from those failures and not giving up when they occurred.

It was by re-framing what I thought of as failure.

Holding myself accountable for things that weren’t easy or straightforward.

Not being too harsh on myself if it didn’t quite work or I needed more time to understand it.

A series of decisions that took me from an employee to landlord, author and entrepreneur.

It didn’t come to me naturally.

There were times I felt like giving up.

But I didn’t.

I still haven’t.

So, my message for February is this.

Don’t give up.

It doesn’t matter what you’re working towards, weight loss, higher rental yields, better record keeping, whatever it is, don’t give up.

Giving up is not what made you come this far.