Persevering through struggles

Daymond John’s “The Power of Broke” isn’t necessarily a collection of new advice but rather common sense offered in an authentic, easy to read book that also adds his own SHARK Point Basics. The book tells the stories of a variety of entrepreneurs, as well as offering up John’s entrepreneurial story. It also preaches that being broke should make us hungrier for success. When we are handed something without struggling for it, we waste those resources.

I found several favorite stories in the book, including the story about about professional skateboarder and entrepreneur Rob Dyrdek. Johns says Dyrdek ultimately found success by “being real, being genuine, and being relentless in pursuit of what he wanted.” “Relentless in pursuit..."  Isn’t that what perseverance is? As business owners and entrepreneurs, there are always going to be times when we want to give up. No matter how hard we work, how much we try, where we advertise or how we market, we meet with resistance of some sort. It’s those times when we need to persevere… be relentless in pursuit of what we want. It is the same when training for a race, no matter the distance. We have to be relentless in every detail, from nutrition to training, from rest to mindset. If we want to PR or get on the age group podium, we need to persevere through the crappy runs, bad weather and time management issues that crop up.

​This doesn’t mean we overtrain or run through injuries—it means we persevere through those difficulties. It is the same in entrepreneurship. Do you know what you want? Do you know your purpose? If you want it bad enough, you need to persevere. As Monday’s quote said, “Perseverance is not all one race; it is many short races one after the other.” In training for a race, you have many short “races” you do before your actual race:  speed work, easy runs, nutrition, adequate rest… all of the things you need to work toward a PR. As a business owner, you are going to have short races every day as well:  finances, marketing, getting your product out the door, paying your employees. You keep working toward what you want. You persevere. You relentlessly pursue your goal. 

Are you a small business owner without a marketing department? Are you frustrated or confused about marketing your business? Contact me to develop a marketing plan, marketing budget, or marketing content calendar that will help make your life a little easier!

---