My Mama Told Me, “We. Don’t. Quit.”

Ever notice you barrel through the meat of an assignment, but when it comes to putting on the finishing touches – BAM! Life gets in the way. To achieve most things in life, you must have commitment and discipline. Commitment is the will to see your objective realistically and dedicate your time and energy to it. Discipline is the act of carrying this out over time. It means finishing what you started. And you do not quit.

My mother taught me this lesson when I was 17. It was the Illinois High School State Speech Tournament. It was my senior year and my school, Richwoods High School of Peoria, was in the Finals at the University of Illinois campus. I was in the middle of my Comedy Reading event in a very hot, packed classroom, when I went blank. The silence scared me; I felt faint. I stumbled towards the door of the classroom, opened it, felt a whoosh of cool air, and kept walking. My mother had followed me out the door, and was right behind me. She said, “Miriam (my ‘serious’ name), get back in there and finish!”

“No, Mom. I can’t,” I whined, “I’m too embarrassed.”

Mom said, “We. Don’t. Quit. Get back in there right now and finish.” I flashed her a look; she was being rough on me, but the roughness was necessary. I said, “Where was I?” Mom recited the last line I said of my routine. I went back in, fought through the waves of pity I felt from the audience, and made them laugh once more. The judges didn’t know what to do with me. I had placed First in Regionals. But there is a category called “Poise,” and they had to mark me down for that. They gave me fifth place which counted for one point for my team. That year, my school won its first State Championship by – wait for it — one point. Really. If I had quit, I would not have been awarded that one point, and we would not have won. That’s how important it was for me not to quit.

So when “life” gets in the way, thank life for sharing and trying to distract you, and channel my mother, whom I honor this Mother’s Day as I do every day. Use your serious name, and say to yourself, “We. Don’t. Quit.”

And don’t quit on opportunities to speak to grow your career. Please schedule a 30-minute complimentary clarity call with me. You get value and we discover if we are a match to work together.