This past weekend, I decided to lay low. By lay low, I mean I took a two-day power nap and watch a few Walking Dead episodes in between. #PartyAnimal over here.
The truth is that last week was really tough for me. I had three major setbacks in my business and a few personal things thrown into the mix too.
So if you thought that I was one of those entrepreneurs who talks to my community about “the hustle” nonstop while sipping on champagne from my Rolls Royce and Gramming a photo while doing it, you thought wrong. Why? Because I’m a real person who goes through real shit! Yes, I am 10% unicorn, but for the most part I’m just like you.
And any real entrepreneur will tell you that success in your business isn’t always linear. Sometimes you’ll go weeks or months without ever seeing your hard work pay off. And that can be discouraging, frustrating, and worrisome.
Think about it: in every other aspect of our lives, we can predict an end result, right? You turn in a homework assignment and know you’ll get a grade. You show up to work for 8 hours a day and know that you’ll receive a pay check. You sign a lease on an apartment knowing that rent is due on the same day every month. A lot of things in life are predictable.
But building your own business isn’t like that. There is no way to accurately calculate the amount of risk you’re taking on or predict a timeline for your milestones.
Sure, at some point there’s a certain amount of predictability. But some things are just out of your hands.
If you’re in one of those moments (or months) where you’re asking yourself:
- What am I doing wrong here?
- Why aren’t I seeing progress?
- Why are so many shitty things happening at once?
- Why aren’t I seeing the results I expected?
Here is what I want you to tell yourself:
1. Something f**king HUGE is about to happen.
Whenever things are at a standstill in my business or I feel like I’m taking two steps back, I realize why this is happening. It’s not because I’m supposed to stop or become doubtful or redo my entire strategy. In fact, most of the time, it means that something HUGELY positive is about to happen. Like, mind-blowingly massive. And what I need to do is keep pushing through it until I uncover what it is.
For example, a few weeks ago I had a client back out last minute. I was super bummed. The next day? I was invited on an all-expenses-paid international trip to be a speaker at a conference. I cannot make this shit up. (More details on this soon!)
The point is, when something is tough in your life, don’t freak out or assume everything doomed. Take a deep breath and realize that this is a sign that something really amazing is about to happen. So get excited!
2. Whatever you’re going through is NOT a reflection of your abilities,
If you have a setback or mess something up, don’t be so hard on yourself. Seriously! If you had a friend who came to you upset that they didn’t succeed at something, what would you tell them? That he sucks and he’s a failure and isn’t good at anything? Hell no! You’d tell him to keep going, to believe in himself, to never forget how amazing he is. You should be telling yourself the same thing that you would tell a friend. Because ultimately, when you’re starting your own business, you HAVE to be your own number one fan! You can’t depend on anyone else to be.
3. Ask someone for help.
Sometimes, all you need is a fresh pair of eyes to look at the situation. Most likely, they’ll notice something new and can offer you a new perspective. Maybe you’ve used the same image in your landing page for so many months that it never even occurred to you that the image is what’s preventing you from getting conversions. Maybe you’re frustrated that no one is buying your online course, when all it would really take were some tweaks to your sales page copy that someone else would notice. So remember that you are not alone in your business — there are always other people going through the exact same thing as you and people who are willing and ready to help you. So head over to Millennial Go-Getters and make yourself a biz bestie. Reach out to someone who’s a few steps ahead of you and ask for their thoughts. Hit reply to this email and speak to me about it. I’m so here for you!
4. Remember that you’ve GOT THIS
I promise that no matter what you’re going through, this will pass. The world doesn’t throw anything at you that you cannot handle. So get up, turn up the positivity and open-mindedness, and get excited for a NEW WEEK. A new week of new opportunities, new surprises, new connections, new successes. Nothing can stop you other than yourself, so keep on going.
Originally published at medium.com