Business is Hard, and Personal Growth is Painful

Today is another emotionally draining day in my life and business. Things haven’t been going the way I want them to for a long, long time now. It’s one of those moments when others around you remind you that there must be other ways (get a 9 to 5, move back to your cheap home country, or pick any other conventional path in life that requires less risk and uncertainty). That’s when on top of your negative emotions, you gotta handle theirs and the way their feedback makes you feel. Of course, there’s also the possibility of not sharing your problems or vision with others, so you have less disbelief to deal with. The reality of business is that you wake up every day and you find hope again, you try again, you throw spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks. You remind yourself why you’re in this, you ignore the naysayers, you let go of how long this path is gonna take and when you’ll reach your goals, and once again – you choose to focus on the bigger impact. On your content, your mission, the people you get to connect with through your work, the lives you get to touch, the encouraging emails and messages you get from readers or listeners or students. And that keeps you going. There are a million reasons why people don’t make it in the online business world, or why they don’t stay in it long enough. For each, you gotta turn the negative self-talk around and choose to stay in it for the long haul. Trust Now that I’ve been self-employed for almost a decade, I’ve created the level of trust that seems ridiculous to others, but which I understand on a deeper level. It’s the kind of trust that makes you calm in the most unstable situation, when things aren’t going well financially, and emotionally, and with others aspects of your life. But you’ve been through unpleasant situations before, they’ve lasted longer, and yet, here you are. Not just this, but each was an absolutely necessary step so you could leave behind an old business strategy that doesn’t work. Or so you could take bigger action online, embrace the next level of your identity, improve your content, release better offers, make big decisions, lifestyle changes, or anything else. When I look back, I know that the negative moments, no matter how long they lasted, were the most empowering times in my business and I can’t describe how deeply grateful I am for them. The most important skill of all Thanks to them, I develop the most important skill of all – adaptability. The ability to adapt to change, to be okay with it, and to even make the most of it. The knowing that change is the only constant, and you either go with it or get out of the race. The knowing that no matter what, you will still be here tomorrow and so can your business. And at the same time – to understand the mortality of things and not let it stop you.