How comfortable are you with your current professional position? Whether you already have a large company, a solid small business, or are only aspiring to start a business—it’s imperative that you ask yourself this question because if your answer is that you are not satisfied with the level you’re at, then you are doing yourself a huge disservice if you’re not pushing hard for the next level and beyond.
If you’re happy where you’re at, have no desire to break into a higher echelon, and are truly fulfilled in your present state, then you’re good! Honestly, you are lucky because most people are not able to find that balance of contentment in their lives; but, if you’re reading this post, it’s probably safe to say that you have a strong desire to grow.
It’s Not a Secret
Yes, there are some people who naturally have certain traits and talents that give them an edge as an entrepreneur, but no matter who you are, it will take thousands of hours and probably years of patient, consistent work to reach a high level of success in your business.
Pretty much any successful entrepreneur will tell you that the only way you can reach your summit, or even a subsummit of the goal you’ve set, is to put your head down and commit to wading through the muck for as long as you have to. Streamline and perfect your product, do all the market research, figure out how & where to sell it… and all the rest. It is thankless, disorienting, and seemingly unproductive work at times, but there really is no shortcut to building a truly successful business… unless you’re a Kardashian.
Why Do We Avoid the Work?
Surely, many business owners reading this are thinking, “Yes, I know it takes a lot of hard work..” —so why do so many of us tend to avoid the hike up the mountain?
1. Laziness
The first thing is simply laziness. We will tell ourselves every excuse in the book, while most of the time, we are just desperately trying to avoid, at all costs, what we know will be an uphill battle.
2. Fear
The second and more important reason is fear. There are so many different kinds of fear from which we have to fight to free ourselves: Such as the fear that we will invest years of our lives in a venture that we truly believe in, and fail; the fear that we will actually succeed in reaching our lofty goal and then not be able to handle the pressure of it; fear of running out of money; fear of the unknown.
If you devote yourself completely to your goal, everything really does tend to right itself in the end; however, there are no guarantees. But even if you fail many times—what else are you going to do with your life? The good news is that once you finally reach the summit, you deserve every ounce of it.
You chose this occupation for your life, and if you still have a passion for it, then the battles are worth it, if for no other reason than the joy of the journey. If you don’t enjoy the extreme level of work it requires to bring your business, or whatever venture you’re pursuing, to a level of massive success, then you should probably pursue another line of work that really makes you happy. There is no reason to punish yourself for something you’re just not into.
Stephanie
Stephanie is the Marketing Director at Talkroute and has been featured in Forbes, Inc, and Entrepreneur as a leading authority on business and telecommunications.
Stephanie is also the chief editor and contributing author for the Talkroute blog helping more than 100k entrepreneurs to start, run, and grow their businesses.