How To Stop Giving Up So Easily: 10 Tips That Actually Work

Do You Lose Interest Too Quickly?

A woman with curly hair sits at a table, focused on her laptop. She wears a mustard yellow shirt and rests her head on her hand. A cup and an open notebook are on the table, and the background is bright and minimalistic.

Do you find yourself starting projects with enthusiasm, only to lose interest quickly? You’re not alone. Many people struggle to maintain focus and motivation when pursuing their goals. Luckily, there are effective strategies to help you stay committed and see things through. Here are 10 practical tips to stop losing interest in things so quickly.

1. Be sure you really want it.

A man in a blue tank top and white shorts, wearing sunglasses and earphones, looks back while running on a sandy beach under a clear sky. The beach has scattered rocks, footprints, and cliffs in the background.

It might be nice to run a marathon. It takes a lot of mental and physical stamina to finish it. Some people spend months preparing for it. They change their eating habits and wake up early, all to run 3 to 5 hours at the end of their training. It’s a commendable undertaking.

But that doesn’t mean you have to run a marathon. Just because something seems nice doesn’t mean you have to do it. Review your goals and/or hobbies. Ask yourself if you are really interested in completing them.

Maybe you’ve been struggling to lose weight for years. Initially, you go all out and overhaul your eating habits and exercise routine only to eventually give up. Since this pattern has been on repeat for a long time, you need to examine why you want to lose weight in the first place. Do you truly want to lose weight, or do you feel pressure from others to lose weight?

Examine the ‘why’ behind your goal. If your ‘why’ is strong enough, it won’t be difficult for you to maintain interest and motivation.

2. Break big goals into smaller goals.

A man with glasses and a beard sits at a table in a cozy cafe, writing in a notebook. He is wearing an orange sweater. A smartphone and a cup of coffee are placed on the table. Natural light filters through large windows.

Big goals are overwhelming, especially if it’s something you’ve never done before.

Let’s say you want to travel to Puerto Rico but have lived in the same small town all of your life. The thought of traveling outside of your small town will be scary.

Instead of letting a trip to Puerto Rico intimidate you, break the big goal into smaller ones that you can more easily accomplish. For example:

– Find a travel agent

– Get a price estimate for the trip

– Book your vacation days

– Plan how you’ll save for the trip

– Get your passport

– Get a visa

Tackle your bigger goal by breaking it down into one step at a time. If possible, break the small goals into even smaller goals that you can work on daily. By working on your goal every day, you keep your mind focused on it, and it helps you to stay motivated.

As you cross each small goal off your list, remember to celebrate. Hitting small goals may not seem like much to someone else, but you’re changing your life one step at a time. You’re much closer than you were before you started.

3. Focus on the end goal.

A woman standing and smiling as she arranges colorful sticky notes on a glass wall. She is wearing a light-colored blouse and appears engaged in a creative or planning activity. The background is slightly blurred, showing an office setting.

Write your goals down and put them where you can see them every day. Put together a vision board of your goals. Focus on the emotional reward you’ll get from achieving your goal. Think about how happy you’ll be when you finally do what you’ve been wanting to do all this time.

If your goal is to finish your undergraduate degree, think about how proud you (and your loved ones) will be when you walk across the stage for graduation. Your name will be called out, the audience will clap as you walk across the stage, you’ll shake hands with the college president (or the designated official), and you will collect your degree cover in your cap and gown.

When you face an obstacle to your goal and want to give up, focus on the reward. Think about what you’ll get by overcoming all the challenges and ultimately achieving your goal.

4. Schedule it.

A woman is sitting at a desk, facing a computer displaying a digital calendar with colorful events scheduled. The desk has office supplies, plants, and sticky notes. A lamp is turned on, illuminating the work area. The background features a brick wall.

If you’ve broken your big goal into smaller, daily goals, schedule it into your day. Luckily, most goals don’t require more than a few minutes of work every day. For people with really busy schedules, squeezing just 15 – 30 minutes out shouldn’t be too much of a struggle.

Put that small chunk of time into your calendar and set reminders.

Make sure you treat it as a sacred time for you to focus on your goal. So the phones are off, no meetings scheduled during that period, no distractions, nothing. That time is set aside for you to work on your goal/hobbies.

5. Get support.

A group of four young friends stand closely together outdoors, smiling and laughing under a clear blue sky. They have their arms around each other’s shoulders, exuding happiness and camaraderie. The setting appears to be a sunny day at the beach.

Let’s face it, life is just easier when you have some sort of support. Humans are not very good at working in isolation. We’re better in a group.

For whatever you’re trying to achieve, find an accountability group, a workout buddy, or a mentor. Find somebody that will keep you accountable and focused on your goal.

A support system will help you see the big picture when you’ve lost sight of it amidst the daily grind. They’ll remind you of the reason you’re doing what you’re doing. When you are ready to give up, they can be a source of motivation.

You can get a friend to act as your support. Or better yet, join a free or a paid group. Maybe the fear of disappointing a complete stranger will help you stay motivated.

6. Take an intro class.

A group of five people gathered around a kitchen island, attentively listening to a man in an apron demonstrating how to prepare salmon. Ingredients such as tomatoes, lemons, and leafy greens, along with a bottle of oil, are spread out on the table.

An intro class will not only teach you the fundamentals of the craft or activity you are delving into, but it will also introduce you to people who have similar interests. With a short class, you have a new network of people that you can rely on to act as your support group.

If your goal is to pivot into an alternative career path, an intro class or certification course could introduce you to people who could be instrumental to you finding a new job.

If your goal is to travel to Spain, for example, taking an intro Spanish class could introduce you to some people who would be interested in joining you for your solo trip.

One of the best things about in-person training programs or classes is the networking opportunities.

7. Force yourself to do the work.

An older man with gray hair and beard performs a plank exercise on a gray yoga mat in a living room. He wears a black shirt and gray pants. Nearby are a water bottle and dumbbells. A gray couch is in the background.

We’re generally too hard on ourselves. But every once in awhile, we’re entirely too quick to let ourselves off the hook. When it comes to doing hard work, especially work we don’t want to do, we’re often too quick to avoid it and let ourselves off the hook.

Sometimes you’ve got to put on your ‘big boy pants’ and just do it. You have to force yourself to wake up early, practice, go running, or do what scares you. There’s no hack or shortcut to doing the hard work required.

So, stop making excuses. Don’t accept any excuse for avoiding hard work. Force yourself to do the work you don’t feel like doing but know you should be doing.

8. Seek inspiration.

Two individuals stand back-to-back in a gym, each holding red dumbbells and wearing athletic clothing. They perform shoulder exercises in a brightly lit space with large windows revealing an outside view of a street and parked cars. Fitness equipment is visible nearby.

Inspiration and motivation are not bottomless pits. They need to be replenished regularly. Find sources of inspiration when your motivation is high, so you can refer to them when you’re feeling lazy.

A source of inspiration could be motivational speeches by prominent figures who have accomplished a lot in their lives. It could be a playlist that gets you revved up and excited. It could be having a discussion with someone who has done what you’re looking to do.

Your source of inspiration could be literally anything.

If you’ve lost motivation with exercising, trying a new fitness class or a boot camp, watching fitness videos, or getting a personal trainer could be the breath of fresh air you need to stay committed.

If you’ve lost motivation at work, doing more challenging tasks, reading industry-specific articles, and watching videos that inspire your creative spark could regenerate interest in your field.

The key is remembering that inspiration needs to be replenished. If you’re lacking motivation or interest, look for ways to seek inspiration.

9. Check your progress regularly.

A hand holding a red pen marks a colorful tracker grid in a notebook. The notebook displays the word "TRACKER" at the top and has multiple columns and rows filled with different colored squares, indicating tracked activities or habits. The notebook rests on a wooden surface.

Failing to track your goals is the easiest way to fall off track. With regular progress checks, you can monitor your improvement.

When you have a long-term goal, maintaining interest throughout the entire process is difficult. But when you do regular progress checks, you can see how far you’ve come in relation to where you started. Once you see genuine progress, it’ll be easier to maintain interest and focus.

Have you ever lost a ton of weight before? Getting started is often the hardest part. But once you see some actual weight loss, exercising and staying on your diet becomes infinitely easier.

10. Set up a punishment and reward system.

A woman with long brown hair is sitting at a wooden counter in a cozy café, holding a cup of coffee and smiling. In front of her is a plate with a slice of layered cake topped with berries. A colorful vase of flowers is in the background.

Who enjoys waking up early, say at 5 AM, to get ready for work? Almost no one. If you don’t have a reason to wake up early, why do it? But if we have to go to work and need to wake up at 5 AM to get there on time, we’ll wake up. It boils down to a simple punishment and reward system.

If you don’t go to work on time, you get fired. If you go to work on time, you get to keep your job and continue getting paid. So when your alarm goes off at 5 AM, though you may grumble and complain, you get out of bed and start getting ready.

To help you reach your goals, set up a punishment and reward system. Decide the punishment/reward ahead of time and make sure they are effective enough to encourage you to do what is needed.

Plan for the failures and the successes. When you know what is at stake, day by day, you’ll be more likely to stay the course.

Zig Ziglar once said, “People often say motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

Human beings, as creatures of habit, need a huge amount of motivation to change their routines and patterns. When it comes down to it, what you’re trying to do is change your routine. You need a lot of motivation, inspiration, and tenacity to change and focus on staying motivated daily.