In the middle of March, my LinkedIn account began notifying me about messages congratulating me on my work anniversary. When you work for yourself, you forget to celebrate those monumental occasions.. This year it caused me to reflect on the last several years and what I have gained since I started consulting. I hope I am able to help one person with this information.
Take risk and know you may fail
Winston Churchill shared that “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Babe Ruth is famous for saying, “Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” Stepping out on your own is a roller coaster of emotions and can be as scary as it is rewarding. As much as you plan and try to prepare, things will go differently. Control what you can and be open to where the journey takes you. If you have a support system, a clear focus, and a reason that is greater than yourself, you can succeed.
Have a support system
No person is an island. Starting a business is scary and you need people to believe in you when you are challenged. Not people who are only interested in your success, but people interested in helping you through the challenges. Loved ones who will understand and are willing to forgive a missed celebration or two (three may push it). It takes the right people to counsel you: people who will not judge you; people who will remind you to celebrate the little wins as well as the big ones; people who can challenge you to walk away from bad experiences, projects, or clients and encourage you to listen to your gut. Any good business plan requires a good set of advisors.
It has to be about more than money
We all know that we need money to pay bills and to live. If you go into business for yourself to make a million dollars, you most likely will be challenged. If you go into business because you love what you do, you feel you can make a difference by doing what you love the way you love to do it, then you can know success. Combine passion with a great daily motivation, and you can be a fireball. For me, my daily motivation is named Jacob. I want to be his hero.
Have clear goals and be honest with yourself
You know I believe in goals. Each day I answer 10 questions in relation to my goals. Each day I evaluate myself. Each day I am my toughest critic. Thanks to my good advisors, my criticism is constructive.
I am blessed to say that I love what I do, and am fortunate to work with great people. Each month I find more success. I have also have faced my share of failure and with each failure, I have learned. Thanks to my support system and my daily motivation, I have been able to apply what I have learned. I pray I will be able to continue to grow and discover success for a long time.
This is a great. Reading it helped to keep me focused on doing what I love to do. All other things will be added as long as I continue to focus on my goals. I have learned over the years that each failure is an opportunity to learn something new. A “no” or a failed project does not mean the end… it means what do I need to learn to make it a success. Thank you for sharing.
Very insightful as many of us have taken the same journey with different outcomes.
Thanks for sharing your experience . Their is something here for me.
Ed