I knew one of the self-made millionaire- entrepreneurs in my study for a long time. Several years before he became rich, he and I took a Saturday to play golf. Throughout our round he must have said to me a dozen times that he was a pathetic loser. I told him he wasn’t a loser. He was smart, a hard worker and incredibly focused. He told me all of that didn’t matter because no matter what he did, he could not turn the corner on the dream he was working so hard to realize; he could not break through and succeed.
Eventually, after many years of struggle, he did succeed. He went on to earn millions pursuing his dream. But I never forgot that golf day. I never forgot how down my future millionaire friend was that day.
There are far more bad days than good days for the intrepid entrepreneur. In fact, given all of the research data I have on entrepreneurs, I’d bet that the bad days outnumber the good days 100 to 1 during the journey to success.
Being an entrepreneur, pursuing a dream, requires broad shoulders, relentless determination, facing adversity on an almost daily basis and fighting to maintain a positive mental outlook even when nothing is going your way. It’s hard and emotionally draining, being an entrepreneur in pursuit of a dream.
If you are one of those pursuing a dream, feeling down, feeling like a loser, find solace in the fact that your negative state is part and parcel of the success journey. Those who become successful entrepreneurs are not some aberrant breed of perpetually upbeat, enthusiastic stock. They are human just like everyone else, who often fall victim to the uncertainty, worries and stress swarming all around them as they battle to realize their dream.
It’s easy to get down on yourself, to feel like a loser, when nothing is going your way. But I’ve learned from studying millionaires that the only real losers are the ones who quit on their dream. So long as you keep trying, so long as you keep pushing the ball up the hill, so long as you never quit, you are not a loser. Your persistence, in the face of adversity, will one day be rewarded. And then you will have the rest of your life living it like a winner.
Never quit on your dreams!
About Thomas C. Corley
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