People say - often very successful people, especially - never give up. And I've always thought that was particularly delusional advice, or at least incomplete. Everyone gives up on things, and everyone has to, and no one benefits from refusing to give up on even a single thing. On the contrary, the only way you can pursue a big goal well is by giving up much else.
So I adapted that to "Never give up - if it's really important." And how do you know? There isn't a clear criterion. You have to figure that out for yourself. And if someone else is involved, you have to respect their freedom.
Also, you can understand "never give up" less as general life advice than as how to succeed at a particular dream. While it's possible to give up or put aside dreams temporarily, they may not survive that. For me, I've found they can. I give up on things I then continue. It's almost as if these ideas follow me around. But we have to accept that putting something aside may be the end. So, you definitely don't want it to get away from you? Don't put it aside. Don't let it get lost where you might forget it. People lose sight of their dreams for the last time every day, around the world.
You can waste a lot of time losing steam questioning this, that, and the other thing. If and when you get discouraged - yet from experience you already know that, at the end of the day, or the week, or the month, you will be back at this, not having given up, whatever you say to yourself now - you might as well save the energy and the emotional pain, a little, and refuse to waste time on questions about giving up. Ultimately, the wrong kind of "giving up" is a waste of time, and you'll start to notice if you watch out for that.
It's one thing to be unrealistic. It's another to get demotivated and start believing this isn't possible yet come back around, having lost time and opportunities. You can be realistic and dogged as well. You have to be selective. You can't be that way about everything, no matter what they tell you. But you can pick one or two things to be this way about. Maybe a few more. Not many.
