Make friends with grit, persistence and determination.
There is great joy in starting a project. You are filled with energy and excitement about the possibilities, motivation oozing out of every part of your being.
And then after awhile the sheen wears off a little. It can feel harder to get yourself out of bed early to exercise (especially when the weather turns cooler), you don't want to read back over yet another draft of a report, you feel like you are coming up against obstacles wherever you turn, and what once gave you such joy to work on starts to feel like a chore.
This is the time when you are deep into the middle 'work' part of the project.
There is a whole lot of energy at the start, and a whole lot of energy at the end when the finish line is in sight. But the middle—the middle is where you need a whole lot of grit, persistence and determination to get you up that hill.
The middle is where your mind likes to get in the way and whisper to you how good it will feel to watch another episode of that show you love, and tomorrow you can dedicate twice as much time to your project ... only when tomorrow comes your friend invites you out, and so you push out your timetable once again.
The middle is where you wonder why you ever decided to tackle this in the first place, what the whole point of it is, and where you feel a sense that it is taking forever.
The middle is where you are asked to truly show your dedication to what you have committed to.
And while the middle may feel like the hardest and least exciting part while you are in it, when you look back you realise that that was actually the best part.
The middle is where you learn the most. The middle is where the magic happens.
So let's give the middle the love and attention it deserves. If you have a project that has fallen by the wayside, dust it off and give it some love. It doesn't matter how long it has been, the important thing is picking it back up again.