How I Motivate Myself to Keep Trying
I know you heard the same motivational speeches over and over again, but sometimes repetition is needed. Repetition in many perspectives can build character. Many people are starting businesses and as soon as things go sour, they quit. Many people who panic end up losing in the long run. They don’t seem to want to have a vision for where they want the long term to be. I know it sounds like I am insinuating, but there is a quote I want you to hear.
If having a business is so easy, why doesn’t everybody do it?
How often do you think that quote gets searched? How popular is a quote like this in history? The answer is that having a business isn’t easy. Being an entrepreneur takes a whole bunch of confidence. It takes guts. It takes guts because the world isn’t easy. Sometimes you can be doing everything right, and people push you down. People may use unfair tactics. You may see alot of unfair dealings in business. The easiest road out is to just quit and sit in a cubicle. However, you want that creative freedom.
Many people think that harsh words doesn’t get to you. However, there are types of words that destroy relationships, friendships, businesses, reputation, and sometimes even careers. There are always going to be greedy people ontop. Don’t expect yourself to build something disruptive and not be chased down by the people making money off what you are replacing. In a capitalistic market, you can’t have a victim mentality or a flight response.
You have to learn to ignore the haters. There are a surprisingly high amount of fake people out there. If you don’t fail from the people, there may be other roadblocks in which you fail. One of your biggest enemies wanting you to fail, may be your inner self. Some people are subconsciously telling themselves to fail or they are meant to fail. They feel like this whole entrepreneurial experience is just so they can tell themselves they tried.
If you haven’t failed and embraced failing, more than likely you are either the luckiest person on earth or not an entrepreneur. The whole mentality is strategizing and you are always at a game of multidimensional chess. You need to know how get back up quickly. You need to know how to settle and fix roadblocks. You need to know how to make yourself unique and different. Some call it moxie, others call it luck, I call it gut instinct and character.
Every single time you fail and get back up, you build character. Every single time that people laugh at you and you ignore them, you build character. When you face rejection, mockery, and absolute injustice in the face, you build character. The more you fail, get up, and learn from it, the closer you are to success. It is a constant battle in which you are battling yourself, others, and sometimes even uncontrollable variables like timing. The people who are self made didn’t get lucky, they had it ingrained in them.
If people ask what motivates me to keep trying, I tell them I am relentless. I have experienced both the 125+ hour work week and the 50 hour work week but focusing on a single project, and both are tiring. I have experienced what it is like for almost a year to have 125 hours a week of mental focus. I experienced it all, and I don’t recommend for people to have that unhealthy of a lifestyle. However, what I do recommend is that people who want to be a successful entrepreneur constantly learn and build character.
Lots of naysayers ask people how they can build a business without experience? Many people think you need to get a fancy MBA or work your way up from entry level jobs and spend three or four decades moving up the ladder to be ontop. They can’t fathom the possibility of a young person starting an enterprise. These are the same people who would tell a person near retirement age that they are too old. In both cases, they can’t fathom the innovators. If people listened to naysayers all the time throughout history, not much would be done.
You need to know what it is like to have a vision and be hungry for it. That sense of having zeal, being eager to learn, that type of hustle is what this generation needs. If you remove some of the self doubt and just go for it, yet have that self awareness to know how lucky you are just for being here, that drive can push you higher.
I used to list out some of my biggest fails, worst times I looked like a fool, biggest regrets and mistakes, and I would come back and always look at that every time I have an ego. It is a never forget, but keep pushing mentality. I also in business look at my competition and see a certain metric whether downloads or users I want to beat, and every time I beat said metric, I move one competitor up higher. You need to both set goals for yourself but also put yourself in check. These are the skills that make an effective entrepreneur.
The final point I want to fully reiterate outside of creative freedom, is passion. Entrepreneurship cuts off the middleman. It allows you to better explore what you are passionate about and build something great out of it. If you are trying to start a business and are in it for the money, you likely want get as far as the person wanting to make a difference. You need to really believe in what you are doing. It isn’t some cut corners metric, or hey I’m going to make a bunch of money. It also isn’t just do it for you or do it for yourself, but do it for the people who miss out your gift if you don’t release it unto the world. Pure passion is a huge driving force that can release the other important traits of pushing oneself further and being edified.
