Chapter 3
I truly hate to reveal this bitter truth but it is important for entrepreneurs to understand that at some point in your entrepreneurial journey, you will feel like you are alone or worse still, you will literally be alone and that is all by yourself.
Never always expect people to agree with you and say YES at all times!
It is however, most difficult, to learn that even family and the closest of friends will say NO to you; people you probably trust the most.
The consoling part of this revelation is that the sole decision to persist on your pursuit all lies with you and not on ‘THEM’.
The probability of you achieving success in your entrepreneurial journey is not and never dependent on how many ‘NOs’ you get on the entrepreneurial terrain but on how many times you reaffirm within yourself that you will achieve success no matter what.
There has never been better motivational words than the Chinese proverb, which says that when you are knocked down seven times, you should get up eight times. Always learn to reaffirm to yourself one more extra time, your potential to succeed at every NO.
Always remember that a way will always be made if only you stay focused and not get swayed when people say NO to you on your entrepreneurial journey.
To help you understand why it is important people say NO to you in your entrepreneurial journey, I will use a simple illustration of a tailor.
When a tailor wants to make a suit or an overcoat, he gets a full fabric and then he cuts off some parts in order to get the perfect fabric shapes to give him his desired outcome. Notice that the tailor does not use every piece of the initial fabric and some parts must as a matter of necessity be let to go unused; because if the whole piece of fabric of the initial fabric were to be used, what you might see would be a shabby looking product that is unfit and never desired by any customer.
This illustration is exactly what goes on when people say NO at every point in your entrepreneurial journey, because as a matter of necessity, they must be let to go with their NOs so you can find that perfect shape of fabrics to give you the desired outcome as a successful and a well-grounded entrepreneur.
When you come to terms with this truth, it will be very easy for you as an entrepreneur to creatively and quickly move on when people say NO to you, to create your own possibilities because you will not have the luxury of time to indulge in self-pity and regrets.
As an entrepreneur, it is paramount you understand ahead of time that the world owes you nothing but you owe the world everything.
Never blame anyone for saying NO to you even when you feel you needed a YES so desperately.
Some of the NOs I am writing about with regards to your entrepreneurial journey may come in the form of the following:
No one owes you these but you must seek them out with great persistence and patience and eventually you will get your YES, which will enable you get the right and desired shape of your entrepreneurial journey leading you to your desired success.