You Gotta Have Faith
Building a business requires logic, dedication, and the ability to implement ideas. Besides these practical characteristics, you’ll need the assistance of something a little less tangible; a hearty dose of faith.
Without faith in your ideas and yourself, you won’t have the drive to actualize your vision. Your faith is the catalyst that ignites your passion.
Excuses, Excuses
It’s incredibly simple to talk yourself out of attempting something difficult. This holds true in all aspects of life, not only business. If you’ve ever tried to stick to a regular fitness routine, you know the power of excuses. It’s raining, the gym is too crowded at this hour, you worked out yesterday so you can skip today, and so on ad infinitum. The truth is, you’ve made your decision not to go to the gym before you start making excuses. The excuses are simply a form of backward-rationalization; an attempt to make yourself feel better about a decision you realize is inadequate.
Surround Yourself With Positivity
Negativity can be a powerful force if you let it be. Plenty of people are unsatisfied with their positions in life. They live lives full of regret; regret about missing opportunities, regret about not taking risks. If you’re not careful, or you surround yourself by these kinds of people, this negative thinking can infiltrate your thoughts and send you down an excuse-filled path that ends in regret. You’ve made a promise to your vision plan. You have a responsibility to nurture it.
Surround yourself with successful people that you’d like to emulate. They don’t have to be rich. Success means a lot more than having a large bankroll or attractive portfolio. Successful people are full of movement. They don’t wait around for the right time to take action. They create the right time through their actions. Even if they fail, they can look back on their lives without the burden of regret.
Perpetual Motion Machines
The search for free energy has captivated the minds of inventors since the beginning of history. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and energy must come from somewhere. But you do have access to one source of nearly limitless energy. The fire within you will fuel your actions until you reach your dying day. This fire, this reason, is what separates you from people looking for the easy road. This burning desire to realize your dreams will last you a lifetime as long as you keep it lit.
Unreasonable Reasoning
So how do you keep your fire burning? How do you nurture your one reason that will overpower the thousands of excuses that are jockeying for position? By being unreasonable. By rejecting logic and pragmatism and focusing instead on a little bit of faith.
You don’t need to be religious to have faith. Have faith in your ideas, your vision, and your ability. But the elusive nature of faith, an indefinable quality that can’t be pinned down by words or thoughts, will provide you with an unstoppable reason to keep on going.
Matthew Toren is an Award Winning Author, Serial Entrepreneur, and Investor. He Co-Founded YoungEntrepreneur.com along with his brother Adam. Matthew is co-author of the newly released book: Small Business, Big Vision: “Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right” and also co-author of Kidpreneurs.
“Small Business, Big Vision provides a framework for you to unleash your driven and relentless passion to achieve unprecedented growth.”
Matthew,
Well said! I especially liked the part “By rejecting logic and pragmatism and focusing instead on a little bit of faith”.
When the outcome is way below expectations, it is very easy to lose faith but that is when an overdose of faith is needed.
Keep writing
Badri
@Badri Thank you for the excellent comments. Much appreciated! Cheers!
You are absolutely right, Matthew. The last thing we all need is excuses, and people who make us feel negative. The right type of people can be a huge help in succeeding in anything we do.
Well said.and its very much inspiring.
Wonderful tips. I like the one about making excuses because I used to be like that.
“I went jogging yesterday so I will relax for the 5 days” “It’s too hot.” “It’s too cold.” “It’s too difficult to understand.” etc..
When comes to making excuses. I’m the number one:) Well, used to be number one.
Sometimes, we make excuse even without knowing. Excuses can become our habit if we are not careful with it.
Thanks for the wonderful tip. I’m sure this post will help a lot of people.
With regards,
Jeremiah
Great post. I think that self doubt is one of the deepest underlying obstacles to success, and these tips address self doubt directly.