I have been made aware of late by studies done by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and a few U.S. business organizations, all highlighting how entrepreneurs do flourish in tough economic times.
Adversity is undoubtedly another means to discover an entrepreneur’s capabilities to seek solutions to problems in the world around them.
Adversity serves as a barometer to measure the greatness in an individual.
Problems are the price of progress and the obstacles of life. When seeking entrepreneurial success, these problems before us are intended to make us better, not bitter.
Adversity can help us to unleash our “potential within,” a phrase my son Craig offered to me to describe the passionate emotions that stir our entrepreneurial spirit.
We can’t avoid some form of adversity in our daily lives, let alone the creation of our beginnings of the entrepreneurial dream. Adversity is part of life.
The adversity itself is really not the problem, for how we deal with it what really matters.
Adversity can make or break an entrepreneurial venture—poor business planning, poorly thought out financial requirements, inadequate analysis of the perceived opportunity and need to the marketplace to highlight a few key benchmarks.
But facing a temporary crisis enables you to try out your entrepreneurial wings.
Those who know me well know I love the illustration of an eagle, a special creature that can look at the sun and fly towards it without blinking an eye.
The best of an eagle is demonstrated in adverse situations. The mother eagle, as her young eaglets begin their growth, commences to destroy their nest, making it very uncomfortable for the tiny birds and forcing them to fly forth.
One way you will discover your purpose and discover your entrepreneurial wings is through adversity. We will find no real satisfaction in our daily life nor our entrepreneurial dream life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve.
I draw for you a quote from a management text in my library that goes like this: “He who knows no hardship will know no power of endurance; he who faces no calamity will need no courage; mysterious though it is, the characteristics in human nature which we all love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles.”
Let this be our number one entrepreneurial rule—can you stick it out when the going gets tough? When those obstacles appear before us, the same message comes out: “Don’t give up the ship.”
Please remember, adversity is different for each of us. For some, it means not meeting the entrepreneurial goals we have set out, for others it’s running out of money and not being able to make the new venture launch occur.
So when faced with adversity, your first step might be to summon forth the courage and inspiration that came from your original vision.
You came to this place for personal change and challenge because of something you wanted to achieve in your life, an achievement that is about more than just money or fame.
You embraced your perception of the entrepreneurial dream out of a true passion, so reach inside your heart and remember what got you going down your entrepreneurial path in the first place.
I’m certain you will discover more about yourself than you could have possibly imagined.
