One of the Biggest Emotional Setbacks an Entrepreneur Will Face (And How to Deal With It)
Human nature suggests that when you want to accomplish something, you need to be moving forward to get there. If you want to travel from Point A to Point B, you need to actual move in the direction of Point B. When it comes to life, however, it doesn’t always work that way. You may be moving, but it may not always feel like you’re moving the right direction.
This can be one of the biggest emotional setbacks an entrepreneur will face. When you do something and you don’t see growth where you expected it, you may think you’re doing something wrong. The thing is, this couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s important to realize that any action at all is positive action. If you do nothing, you’re just standing still and not moving in any direction at all. However, even the simplest action will be moving you forward. The fact that it may not be moving you in the direction that you want isn’t always that important.
Let’s take for example my process of writing. Frequently, when it’s time for me to write an article, I’ll sit down and dump all of my ideas out. It’s quite akin to journal writing. I try to make some logical sense out if, but mostly it’s about getting out everything I’m thinking about the topic.
During this process, I’ll write at least three to four paragraphs before going back and reading it through. When I read it over, I look to see if this is what I was really trying to communicate. Now here comes the interesting part. Frequently, it’s not what I was trying to say at all. What do I do? Erase it and start again. The average person who might observe this practice would think that I was a fool and was wasting my time.
The thing is, sometimes actions we take aren’t the end goal, but still get us where we are going. They serve as what I like to call “bridges.” Let’s go back to the writing example. Now that I’ve gotten the thoughts that were cluttering up my thinking out of the way, I can focus on what I really want to write. Sometimes you have to see something through to realize it wasn’t actually what you wanted.
In business, there are plenty of directions we can take to move forward. Not all of them are going to be the final piece to the puzzle, but many of them will serve as bridges to getting you there. When you find yourself unmotivated and frustrated at the lack of momentum you’re facing, take a step back and really evaluate what it is you’re doing.
Is it possible this is a “bridge” action? Even if you realize the direction that you took was a complete disaster, you are still better off than having taken no action at all. Now you are armed with even more information and knowledge to get you where you really want to be. Remember, no path is a straight road and you can’t cross a stream without a bridge. Sometimes the route from Point A to Point B needs a little misdirection.
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