Learn to Persevere

The most difficult growth stage that all truly successful people must face squarely and master is that time which inevitably separates the here-and-now uncomfortable place of interminable struggle from the then-and-there elative state that is what you believe to be a success. This is the period—often long and disappointing—when nothing seems to be happening and you feel stuck in a quagmire that borders on hopelessness.

This is the stage when self-doubt and the doubt of others around you very nearly cause you to give up. Most people who have gained success will not talk much—if at all—about this period of the dark night of the soul.

Everyone who achieves personal success has had to pay their club membership dues in this very difficult, and yet defining place. No one has arrived at the successful destination without having collected some scars (and been part of the collateral damage) along the way. So, to expect to be successful without incurring some suffering—whether at the physical, mental, psychological, or emotional level—is to expect to build muscle mass without painful daily exercise; play the piano as a virtuoso without perfect practice over long periods; or win a world boxing title without having to train relentlessly and take some knock-out hard punches without succumbing to them.

In fact, the role of suffering in your life is the discipline that makes you strong and prepares you to manage the wealth that will ultimately be yours. This is the growth stage where you must use the period of personal suffering as your rehearsal and perfect practice space for behaving as the successful person you aspire to become while in the throes of personal pain.

This is the place where, despite the pain of adversity, hardship, and extreme difficulty, you begin to take on the behaviors and attitudes associated with living the life you have focused on since the beginning of your quest for success. It is here that you learn that you are, in this pain-filled moment, what you have always determined, aspired, and struggled to become. You have so envisioned yourself from an Entrepreneurial Mindset of success that you are successful long before it is apparent to you or anyone else!

What you will learn in this very tight, uncomfortable place is that success and acclaim are not one and the same. If you are not lauded for the depth and breadth of your accomplishments and the value you have already created for others, then that failure of others to recognize what you have done is completely unrelated to your personal success. You are what you think, believe, and behave that you are, regardless of your present circumstances.

Your challenge as an entrepreneur is to live as if the future were in the present, without regard for the physical and visible impediments that currently belie your future status. To reach the threshold of the series of events that will catapult you into the manifestation of all that you have worked for, you must manage well the most difficult and discouraging period of deep suffering that comes inevitably at the crossroads of your present situation and your future goal. And it is at this precise moment that you need to learn that perseverance is your best—and oftentimes only—friend. This is not the time to give in, give out, or give up.

This is the time to persevere!