Tom Petty reminded me of this today on the way to work. There’s something in his song, though, that doesn’t quite come through. I’ll cover that for you.
January 28
Go down swinging.
That sounds great, and makes me feel grit in my teeth. I picture someone pretty much doomed who refuses to go down without a fight.
I think the advice is to never give up, no matter what. I know of a couple problems with that, though.
Sometimes you need to give up
The phrase “don’t put good money after bad” comes to mind.
If you act on things instead of just talking about them, if you take risks often, then you’ll find yourself “going down” quite often. There’s nothing wrong with that! We need more action in this world, quite frankly. However, it doesn’t do anyone any good for you to “go down swinging” if the swinging won’t make a bit of difference.
Another phrase for you: “cut your losses.”
Sometimes people think if they give up, they are worthless losers. Hmm. You can read any number of stories of famous and not-so-famous rich people who have made many more huge mistakes than you’ll ever think of making. Part of the reason they’re still on top (or “back on top” sometimes) is because they new when to quit and shift their focus.
What are you swinging at?
For your efforts to succeed, you have to keep your eye on the ball. To do that, you need to know what the ball is in your case. What target are you swinging at? What is it you want?
If you go down swinging at nothing, you just look like someone thrashing about, throwing a fit. When the going gets tough, you certainly should show tenacity. Before you buckle down, though, you need to make sure you know what you’re aiming for.
.” I just liked the way it was worded.)