Lady Gaga began singing and playing the piano at age 4. She worked 3 part-time jobs to make ends meet, played bars she didn’t want to get by, and even a record label dropped her.

Steven Spielberg was rejected by the University of Southern California three times. Then he went somewhere else, which he later left because he started creating some of the movies he’s so famous for now.

Oprah was fired from her job as a television reporter when she was told she was “out of shape” for television. Then they hired her for a failed morning show!

JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series when she was a single mother on welfare. 12 publishers rejected it.

ALL persevered. They did not give up. They kept going even when they were told no. You have exactly this same quality because you are still pursuing your entrepreneurial dreams. You can do it.

As of now, 90% of small businesses fail after 10 years. Let’s change this trajectory.

This involves having a passion and a dream burning so deep within you that you are willing to do anything to make it happen. Where you will not stop until you achieve it. And even then, you keep growing and expanding to new depths and heights! What does that say?

You will never work a day in your life, if you do what you love.

When I hear people say that dreams require hard work, I see this as a different kind of hard work than the traditional way of thinking around it.

Of course, you have to dedicate the hours to everything you want to happen. BUT that doesn’t mean you have to strain or have no life while doing it. That is a complete BS. You can absolutely work smarter and not harder, which is what we teach here at Decisions-by-Design.

However, what it does mean is that you don’t give up no matter what.

You are willing to learn AND be uncomfortable. You are willing to do whatever it takes to make this happen. You will push yourself when your subconscious wants you to stop. You will learn what triggers it. You will become aware of the beliefs you have around success, sales, and money, that get in your way. You are willing to look closely in the mirror at what needs to change.

This is the “hard work” part.

You persevere and build resilience.

I love when someone asked Oprah years ago, “What if this doesn’t work?” To which she replied, “it will.” “What if it isn’t,” they asked? “If not, I will.”

Deep.

Too often I see business owners taking their business personally and defining its value around it. Your idea may not be the best, but you are. You have to be open to modifying and exploring yourself as you go. Basically getting out of your own way.

I always say that being in business for yourself is the best personal development course you can take. If you want to be successful, you must be willing to look beyond the surface.

That is hard. It is uncomfortable, but so necessary.

You must persevere. Because on the other side of those no’s and those annoyances, is your success. Whatever it looks like to you.