Not giving up

“Growth can only occur where there is strain or damage”.

I don’t know who said it, but at the moment, it resonates. It’s as true within physiology as it is within business.

Being candid and honest about the start-up journey; it’s like a f*****g rollercoaster. Some of the highest highs, when you’ve just had a great meeting or made a sale etc. and some of the lowest, most rock-bottom lows, like when you’re so tired from working and nothing seems to be moving or progressing.

The inspiration for this blog comes from a discussion about patience and how little of it we typically all have. By nature people that start a business tend to be motivated and driven to see success, however it’s often this drive that leads us to get frustrated when nothing seems to be moving. It’s led all of us, at one time or another, to consider giving up on SYZO’s mission. That of creating better places for young people to live in the private rented sector and starting genuine communities to help bridge the gap technology and social media seems to be creating.

When you take a step back and look from a broader perspective, our mission is huge and one with a lot of moving parts. It could, to most sane and logical people, seem like too bigger task for 4 under 30’s to accomplish. But, to paraphrase some philosopher “you don’t eat a cow in one bite”. Meaning you break it down into sections, then to flanks, then to cuts, then to steaks, then to…ah you get the picture. And the same principles can be applied to our mission.

A lot of startup founders get bogged down in the ‘how’, but the key is to keep taking small steps every day towards your end goal. After all, everything seems impossible until it’s done, right? But sometimes it’s easy to think negatively and consider throwing the towel in.

However lets face it, that isn’t an option. That would be bonkers! But we’ve all thought it one time or another. So, what can we do to try and get over it?

Well personally, putting things in perspective helps hugely. As I write this I strongly believe we are in the greatest era for entrepreneurship that humanity has been through. There are so many tools at our fingertips. If you think how easy it is to connect with your target audience and market your product to someone wherever they are in the world, you should feel incredibly lucky. No generation in history has had so much opportunity to succeed.

Every time I feel low, or down, I try and reset my thoughts. I think about how many things are going my way. Even if it seems ridiculous, like having access to clean drinking water or not having grown up in a war zone like so much of the world’s population. It kind of helps to put my petty little problems in their place. Spending some time to reflect and understand this can be really refreshing and motivating in times of trouble.

I am going to make the assumption that, like us, you love a challenge. You are probably the sort of person who likes the grind if you an entrepreneur so you appreciate the saying “giving up is the easy option”. And it is. You never know how close you are to succeeding, it could be just around the corner. In a sick way, you can never stop once you have started.

“What have you learned?” is such an important question when you have hit a roadblock or are experiencing a dip. What can you do to stop this happening again? How can you go on the offensive to bounce back?

These questions will help with your reframing of any problem. Think of it as an opportunity to learn and grow. I personally like to think of life as a long road with a lot of speed bumps along its course (basically the road I live on!), but it’s a good metaphor. You need the speed bumps to appreciate how good it is just to drive.

So, there you have it. Some tools for your failure arsenal. Here at SYZO we just try to take each day at a time and if you can do one task toward your end goal you have accomplished something.

I will leave you with this; sometimes you have to look back to realise how far you have come.

This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by 314,551+ people.

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