4 Ways to Stay Confident and Committed as an Entrepreneur Even When You’re Not Seeing Growth
When you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve overcome one of the biggest challenges that people face in the beginning: and that is just getting started in the first place.
You’ve stepped into the unknown, not knowing exactly how your journey will pan out, but you have a vision and you want to make it a reality. You put in the work, day in and day out… but then you realise that despite all the effort that’s going in, you’re not really seeing much coming out the other end.
When you’re not seeing the fruits of your labour, this can become really disheartening. So in times like these, how do you actually maintain confidence in your venture and stay committed to seeing the manifestations of the success you desire?
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Jim Mathers, CEO of the North American Energy Advisory Inc. once said,
“In my first business, it took me three months of getting kicked in the teeth every day to land my first paying client. In my latest venture, it took nine months to get my first signed contract. I always look to the backstories of successful entrepreneurs. I study their successful actions, but I get really motivated by the massive barriers they had to overcome. There are hundreds of examples of wildly successful people who had to go through worse problems than I have. This reminds me that I can do it, too.”
This quote really motivates and inspires me as an entrepreneur, reminding me that even the most successful of people have had to overcome the most difficult of obstacles, too. I’ve experienced my fair share of them as well and learned some much-needed lessons through these experiences.
Here I share my top four pieces of advice to keep you confident and committed to your end goal… 
1. Make your goal powerful enough to wake you up every morning, despite the weather
What is your goal? What is your ‘why’?
Are you searching for freedom? Are you sick of your current situation and ready to change? Do you crave financial stability on your own terms? Do you want to change your life for the better? Do you want to give your family the things you never had growing up?
You need to get really clear about why you’re pursuing this path, and your goal needs to be so personal and powerful, that every time you think about achieving it you’re overcome with emotion. You need to be connected to your goal with your heart, your mind and your soul; the more emotionally connected you are, the more invested you will be to seeing it through and making it materialise.
If your goal and the reasons behind it are powerful and compelling enough, even when the hard times come, giving up won’t even be an option.
Make your goal so strong that it drives you and pulls you into the future, no matter what is going on around you.
2. Make a plan and take the necessary action required every single day
When you want to see something grow, you have to plant seeds. This is especially true in business.
Know your end goal and figure out what you need to know and what you need to do to get there. Then start planting your seeds.
Just like an oak tree starting from the smallest of acorns, you may not see any growth for weeks, months or even years. But it’s important that you water your seeds every single day and with patience, give them time to grow before they physically break through into your reality.
If you go in with an understanding of this, you’ll know that even if you’re not seeing results immediately, that the results you desire are most certainly on the way.
When you reach a plateau…
More often than not in business, when you start seeing your success materialise, after some time you may also begin to see it levelling off, and start wondering what it is that you’re doing wrong. This is what I call ‘hitting a plateau’.
When this happens, it’s important to evaluate the tasks that you’re working on. Are they mainly maintenance tasks which are just keeping your business ticking over day by day? Or are you pursuing growth tasks to help grow your business and take it to the next level, too?
Whenever you’re not seeing growth, it’s probably because you’re spending more time maintaining your business rather than growing it. Step back, re-align with your goal and figure out what you need to do to take your business up a notch.
For example, when I first started my Amazon journey in 2015, I was sourcing products day in and day out. After 6 weeks of doing this, however, I hit a plateau; I was just maintaining my business, I didn’t have any time or energy to grow it.
It was at this point that I started hiring virtual assistants who could take over maintenance tasks such as sourcing, freeing me up to focus on other aspects of the business that could help us grow. We then began to experience a growth spurt again.
And the cycle continues. Whenever you feel like you’re not growing, take a step back and re-evaluate.
3. Create your massive action eco-system
Your eco-system plays a HUGE role in your commitment to your success.
Does your work-space inspire and motivate you? Who are you surrounding yourself? What kind of content are you consuming? What are you spending your time doing?
What you see, hear, consume and learn all play a massive part in this. Everything around you that you allow into your energy field should be inspiring, positive, and should fuel you with determination and desire to reach your goal.
Make your massive action eco-system one that makes you want to continue taking massive action, even when you’re not seeing growth. Make your massive action eco-system a place that you may enter feeling like a 3 or a 4, but always leave feeling like a 10 or more!
Your environment is key. So make it the right one for you.
4. Use KPIs to track your progress and manoeuvre accordingly
In each area of your business, you’ll need to come up with as many Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as possible so you can measure and track your progress along the way.
Rather than scratching your head dumbfounded and frustrated, setting KPIs means that when you do stop seeing growth at any stage, you can step back, look at the numbers and easily see the areas of your business that need your attention.
When you have clarity around how different areas of your business are performing, it will be much easier to find solutions and make it through those difficult times, taking the massive action that is needed to propel you forward.
Also, don’t forget to celebrate your wins along the way – no matter how big or small!
Finally…
During the uphill climb to success, it all comes down to commitment and consistency. Most people will easily give up when the going gets tough; only some will keep going.
No matter how difficult the journey, if you have a clear vision and a powerful goal in mind, you have to keep going. You either find the way or you make your own – but you never, ever give up.
And you will get there, in the end. If you take massive action every single day and stay confident and committed, you WILL get there in the end.
Keep going.
Here’s to your massive success!
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ABOUT KEV BLACKBURN
#1 Best Selling Author, Speaker & Business Systemisation Strategist
Kevin Blackburn is an entrepreneur, success coach and a leading business strategist in business automation and systemisation. Having built his business to over 7 figures in under 18 months, he now serves other business owners creating freedom in life and scale in business.
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