Adversity in Entrepreneurship

Hi everyone! Welcome back to my blog! Today I want to share a couple of tips and life lessons with you all that I’ve personally dealt with and surpassed on my own; in hopes to shed some light to current situations you might be experiencing when launching a new business.

In all reality, you can say my life has changed drastically since my last blog post or you can say I’ve changed my life drastically. That depends on your perspective. Either way, it changed drastically. I would also go with the latter. If you've been with me since my first couple of blog posts, you definitely know.

Personally, one year could be extremely long for one person dreading what they’re doing and extremely short to the other who is passionately living out their dreams. Which one are you?  I’ve been on both sides of that sentence and I can tell you that dreading what you do is not a way to live this life we have been gifted.

In my case, the last year FLEW yet provided me with the most any other year has given me. Not only literally flew because I was on a different plane every single month but I also had the biggest advances in my business happen in the last 12 months. Solid focus, effort and relentless amounts of work put me about 20 years ahead if I ever saw myself there in this lifetime.

Coming into an entrepreneur life with no prior experience was not necessarily a walk in the park. I come from a college background and didn’t know anything outside a job in the health care field.

When I decided to jump on my business venture a light switch turned on for me that has never dimmed since. With all the odds against me, I remained focused because I knew what I wanted; financial freedom, time to enjoy it (important), travel (often), and work on my own terms while I found my purpose.

As a young single mom, I also had a lot of adversity against me. As an only child to my mother who raised me working 2-3 jobs, I also had a lot of adversity against me. As a daughter of immigrants who came from a broken family…first college graduate... no help.. The list goes on and on. Ive been trying to make extra money since I can remember having rational thoughts. "Was I going to struggle like they did?" " Was I going to have to limit my options?" " Was I going to just have to take the left overs of what was in my reach?" " Would I have to watch everyone else live their dreams life from the bleachers?" "Would I be the one calling them “lucky”." " Why didn't I have an advantage?" Most people spend their whole lives contemplating what could've been "IF". Most people continue the path they THINK they were meant to walk but I turned mine to the direction I wanted it to be. It was an empty road for a while but it took me somewhere id never been before. I realized you create your own luck with a lot of hard work. I wasn’t stopping until I hit the final destination that not only made me comfortable, but provided my son and my mom with the same comfort, if not better.

A lot of people can say being a young mom puts you at a disadvantage, but for those who use their struggles to build character, that is simply not the case. A lot of “disadvantages" in my life made me hungrier for success and put me at a bracket of “whatever it takes” to make sure I made my life one worth living.

Here’s a couple of tips on overcoming adversity as a new entrepreneur with responsibilities to hold a household on your own and make it happen:

1. Accept that you are now doing something different. Understand that everything you knew before doesn’t apply. You are walking a different path you know nothing about and you need to become a student on your own time. This requires you to look into strategies that will make you the best you can be as a new business owner. Research the most successful entrepreneurs and look at their daily habits and lessons. Get inspired by those doing what you want to do and aim to do it better than them. "Its not about who does it first, its about who does it best."  Everyone started with the same decision, will you be the one who outworks them all? Don’t ever ask someone whos never been where you’re going for directions. Be proud when nobody understands where you're going. If being the top 2% was for everyone. It wouldn't be as magical.

2. Expect people to judge, but don’t accept it. Dont let it shake you. New things take multiple exposures. One of the biggest hits I took when I decided to venture into my own business was the support I lacked from others. I expected everyone to congratulate me on this journey to time freedom and I hit a brick wall. Instead, I built most of my business thanks to the support from strangers on the internet. The people we are always taught to walk away from were the people rooting to see me win. I quickly understood that this is normal for most new business ventures and people don’t support you until you’re already successful; then they proceed to follow. Always keep that in the back of your mind, and when you feel like giving up the most, remember who will congratulate you in the end. The ones who pretend to not even see you at the beginning will be the ones saying “I knew you could do it” at the finish line. The quicker you learn that, the happier you’ll be. Get to the finish line.

3. Do better. Dive into personal development. That’s something most people don’t have “time” for in the real world. In return, they don’t know how to control their perspective, energy, emotions, and so much goes sideways so quickly for them. Once you’ve tasted a small hint of success let it make you hungry for more. You are the ultimate project to work on. There is always something bigger, better, and new to learn in the venture of bettering yourself. Most people will tell you to focus on your wins, focus on your positives. While that is true, it is your losses that build character. It is where you lack discipline that you need to correct. If you know you are amazing at one thing why not be the whole package and also grow the rest? When we go to the gym we don’t just work out one muscle, right? So why only grow a part of yourself that’s already doing “great” when so many others need development. Do all of the work, dont skip a section. Accept your flaws, now work to perfect them.

4. Work now, rewards later or you can reward (barely) now and work hard later. but thats just not the smartest idea. Right? So sacrifice! I know one of the things that has made me remain focused throughout my journey has been wanting more. Not only more for myself but more for those around me. Whenever I think ive done enough I realize in the big scale of life im only getting started. If you’ve heard about delayed gratification, implement it. If you haven’t, look it up. Yes, reward yourself reasonably after small wins but what is it that you truly want out of life? If its not big and scary and seems unattainable you are not dreaming big enough. if not in this lifetime then when? Don’t get caught up in your successes for so long that you forget how to duplicate it to paint the big picture.

5. Remain inspired, let your business be a steppingstone to what you enjoy doing. Stop putting off what you could do today. Take full charge of your decisions and just get it done! Re light the fire in you every time you feel it dimming. Never forget why you decided to venture on your business journey in the first place. Re shift and re focus into what you truly enjoy doing and feed that instead of your insecurities. If you could have a perfect day doing something you love, monetize it. Yes even if it seems far fetched. Take it from me! Even if you'd do it differently. 10/10 chances there is someone out there doing what you love to do for a living while you’re still thinking about starting. You cant get anywhere if you don’t start. Even the people you look up to the most started with no experience, true story, look it up. Thats part of your story, enjoy it!

Throughout the course of your journey of not only entrepreneurship but personal development will come a lot of eye opening moments. Make sure you take them in, noted, and you pass them on to those in need of the same insight you were looking for. In this journey you will find sides of you that you didn’t know existed. You will have to let a couple of people go and you will have to adjust your circle if it doesn't align with who you're trying to be. You will shed light on the person you’ve always wanted to become and when you look back a year from now you will thank yourself for doing the work it took every single day.

You are in charge of your daily actions. Nobody else but YOU. Don’t give yourself excuses, stop putting it off. If its your passion, follow it at all costs. Stay true to yourself and go build that business! We all start at ground 0. Where will you be a year from now?