Almost every sporting activity has built into it the principle of follow-through. In baseball, batters are repeatedly told to follow through on every swing and to run on every hit. If the hit is a foul ball, the runner is called back, but the impulse to run until specifically instructed to stop becomes automatic in baseball players who develop real skills as players. On defense, players are taught to run each play through to completion. The training to follow through on every play is drilled until it becomes automatic.

Football is another sport where following through is essential. Once a play is begun, both the offense and defense perform their assigned tasks until the play is complete. Many times, a majority of the players on either team have no idea how the play is going. They simply complete their responsibilities fully and completely. If any player does not follow through completely on their assigned responsibility, they are taken to task for the failure.

In school, homework is an essential part of following through. Reading and writing assignments are a regular part of learning, as essential as whatever takes place in class. Successful students tend to be the ones who follow through completely with all aspects of the process. Even high intelligence can not take the place of thorough following through.

Any creative activity like singing or playing an instrument, dancing, acting and artistic achievement to name just a few are based on the idea that to successfully accomplish any of these will require being totally committed to following through. When we watch any performance, we should be aware of the dedication and commitment to following through being demonstrated by those participating in the activity.

Following through is important in all our relationships. The total devotion parents experience the first time they hold their newborn needs to be paired with a commitment to that child during their teen years. The vows a couple makes to each other on their wedding day must be coupled with the following through required as the relationship grows over the years.

It is exciting to experience your first day on a new job. It takes following through to do that same well day after day, year after year. Sometimes it appears following through is not always the norm in our lives and in our relationships. Think about sometimes when you have followed through. How did that affect things in your life? How about times someone has not followed through when you needed and expected it.

As we move forward, it might be helpful to remember times when people have followed through in dealing with us. What difference did that make in our lives? We may want to make a determined effort to follow through in everything we do in life. Think about how much better that will make our lives and the lives of others.

If you would like to receive new As We Move Forward posts, please subscribe to the As We Move Forward mailing list by clicking here. I release entries on a bi-weekly basis.

We have a podcast containing the As We Move Forward articles read by Jae Bloom.