For most people, true success at anything is the result of diligence and investment of time, combined with a healthy dose of perseverance and persistence.
Now, I’m not so naive as to think that none of this is real news to you, since anything worth doing well requires effort and, in most cases, time and emotion as well.
However, I want to expand on this very important topic of perseverance, from the point of view of a self-employed person. This information can still be applied to other areas of your life, but I think the specific challenges faced by self-employed people provide a great platform for learning to ‘hang in there’ and not give up. I would like to point out that it is not the same to not give up as to make an educated change, regarding a better and more viable technique as an example.
I say this, like I’ve been doing something specific for an extended period of time, and it hasn’t worked, it’s not going to change, and all of a sudden it works. However, that doesn’t mean that as soon as the going gets tough, you should quit either. For any serious and determined person, the word ‘resign’ falls into the category of obscene language. However, changing your specific address is not always the same as giving up. An example could be if you are developing a website and building traffic. If you’ve used a specific method to generate traffic for 3 months and no traffic has emerged, it could be argued that you need to modify your traffic-gathering strategy. That doesn’t mean you quit. It just means you weren’t going to do the same thing, over and over again, expecting a different result.
I think you can see my point here.
The next point is that even if those around you do not believe in you or your dream, you should never give anyone permission to take away your wishes or dreams.
Your dreams and desires are your business and do not belong to anyone else. So, you need to light the fire of faith and determination under your belt, and go for it. You may need to periodically look for ways to improve throughout the journey, but as long as you have a determined and applied action plan, where you regularly do the things you need to do, instead of losing focus.
We can all experience a temporary loss of concentration, but make sure you save your desire and focus, like the golden goose you represent, as your determination and desire are the courage that will see you through when the going gets tough.
In my reading, and for that matter, in my personal experience, there are few occasions where I have not experienced moments of doubt or questioned the validity of my dreams. It was through continued action, and sheer determination that I wanted my goals so badly, that I continued. I know you can do this too, as long as your desire is strong enough.
That’s why I recommend you have a goal sheet, as well as what I call a dream chart. This is your personal pictorial representation of your wishes, and it only needs to be for you. I found that looking at that painting, of my dreams in it, every morning, for just a minute or so, was a starting point for appreciating the value of desire and action.
Over the last twenty years, almost everything on those charts has come true for me, and I know it can be true for you, too, provided you persist, with desire and determination, along a planned path.