For the majority of people, true success at something is the result of application, and time investment, mixed in with a healthy dose of perseverance, and persistence.
Now, I am not naive enough to think that any of this is real news to you, as anything worth doing well, takes effort and more often than not, time, and emotion as well.
However, I want to expand on this very important issue of perseverance, from the point of view of a self employed person. This information may still be applied in other areas of your life, but I feel the specific challenges that self employed people deal with provide an excellent platform for learning about 'hanging in there', and not giving up. I would like to point out, that not giving up is not the same as making an educated change, with respect to a better, and more workable technique as an example.
I say this, as if you have been doing something specific for an extended period of time, and it hasn't worked, it won't change, and suddenly work. However, that does not mean that as soon as the going gets tough, you should quit either. For any serious and determined person, the word 'quit' falls under the dirty language category. However, changing your specific direction is not always the same as quitting. An example might be if you are developing a website, and creating traffic. If you have used a specific method to generate traffic for 3 months, and no traffic has emerged, it could be argued that you need to modify your traffic getting strategy. That does not mean you quit. It simply means you were not going to do the same thing, over and over again, expecting a different result.
I think you can see my point here.
The next point is that even though others around you may not believe in you, or your dream, you need never give anyone permission to take away your desires or dreams.
Your dreams and desires are your business, and belong to no one else. Hence, you need to light the fire of faith, and determination under your belt, and go for it. You may well need to periodically look at ways you can improve, along the journey, but as long as you have a determined and applied action plan, where you are regularly doing the things you need to do, rather than losing focus.
We all can suffer from temporary loss of focus, but make sure you guard your desire, and focus, like the golden goose that it represents, as your determination and desire are the mettle that will see you through when the going gets tough.
In my reading, and for that matter, personal experience, there are few times when I have not experienced times of doubt, or questioned the validity of my dreams. It was through continuous action, and the sheer determination that I wanted my goals so much, that I continued. I know you can do this as well, as long as your desire is strong enough.
This is why I recommend you have a goal sheet, as well as what I call a dream chart. This is your personal, pictorial representation of your desires, and need only be for you. I found that looking at that chart, of my dreams on it, every morning, for only a minute or so, was a starting point for me to appreciate the value of desire, and action.
Over the last twenty years, nearly everything on those charts has come true for me, and I know that it can for you as well, as long as you persist, with desire, and determination, along a planned route.
