Every entrepreneur alive is all too familiar with the challenges and struggles that come with trying to bring a business to life.  While new ideas and opportunities help keep the juices flowing, business owners must concurrently battle the relentless problems of their existing operations.  It is safe to say that owning a company is not for those timid souls with a fear of failing.  In fact, I would venture to say that one’s attitude about the inevitable struggles is one of the largest determining factors of whether or not success is achieved.  The path to greatness can be a bumpy one and unfortunately there is not a magic pill that will make it any easier for us than the great people that have come before us.

I can testify first hand that overnight success doesn’t happen overnight.  Despite working in an industry that sees 17 year olds striking it rich, it took me two and a half years to create any serious traction in the internet field.  When we started I didn’t know my butt from my elbow when it came to the web and technology.  As you would expect, everything we did failed.  We hired three separate web development companies who built us three different websites, not one of which worked.     We were constantly forced to change our strategy and business model, but we kept moving forward.   To keep the dream alive I took out two large signature loans, maxed out six (high interest) credit cards and at times went months without a paycheck.  Nearly everyone I know thought I was crazy but we knew that we were learning and we adopted an attitude of enjoying the hard times.

The struggles of business are much more bearable when you adopt the simple philosophy that YOU CANNOT FAIL.  I say this for a couple reasons.  First, a failure is a learning experience, and in my opinion if you are not learning then you is dying.  More times than not in life you get what you deserve and if you have not yet reached a goal than you likely have not gone through enough to deserve it.  Second, if you search your soul and make a concrete decision that there is absolutely no way you are going to give up until you are successful, then there will never be a point when you could be considered a failure since you are always moving toward your goal.  Read that sentence again, think about it and then say it out loud.  “I am not going to stop until I am successful; therefore it is impossible for me to fail.”  I still to this day have never met anyone who has truly given it all they got for 20 years and not achieved results.  It is just not possible, so therefore if you simply decide you are going to be successful and follow through on your decision, you are as good as gold.

Making a real decision leaves no room for any alternative.  Now all that is left to do is to make a plan, execute the plan and adjust as needed.  Adopt an obsessive attitude about bringing your dream to life and knock down any obstacle that gets in your way by putting in as much time as it takes.  A wise man once told me that a 40 hour work week will allow you to make a living, but it is the hours that come after the first 40 that can build you a fortune.  Don’t get me wrong, balance is a good thing and I always prefer working smart to working hard, but if you could achieve everything you want in your life between the hours of 9-5 than you would have done it already.   The good thing about working like a maniac is that it is contagious.  John Maxwell wrote that the “speed of the leader is the speed of the team” and he is absolutely right.  When you truly are willing to do whatever it takes then you will see those around you will also be willing to go the extra mile.  It is helpful to know that every ounce of energy you put into your business may pay back pounds when you take into account the influence it has on those around you. 

Whether you are trying to motivate yourself or others, the key is finding the hot buttons.  Everyone is different, but it is important to acknowledge that “motion follows emotion”.  I am personally driven by two emotions that are constantly present: excitement and fear.  I am always excited because I spend significant time painting the vision of what “will be” to myself and others.   At the same time I am constantly driven by the fear of potentially failing and letting down all the people that depend on me.  Sometimes I am more excited and sometimes I am more fearful, but they are both powerful emotions and they are both effective at getting me moving.  I find that I am at my best when the two are in an equal balance as too much of either can lead to poor decision making and to unneeded stress.  

If you are the type of person who does want to make a difference and enjoy the benefits that come with that than it can all be boiled down to adopting the “whatever it takes” attitude.  If you want it bad enough then you cannot be stopped, no matter what gets in your way.  I take pride in knowing that nobody works harder than I do and everyone I know understands the fact that reaching my goals are of high priority in my life.  When your competition sleeps, you plot and plan.  When you have a choice between buying a car and hiring another staff member, you break out your tennis shoes.  If you feel strong enough about succeeding you will pay the price needed to make it a reality.  There is no replacing hard work and preparation; so brew a pot of coffee, put on the Rocky theme and start burning that midnight oil.