When Life Hands You Lemons…

Have you ever had a great idea, an awesome concept, something great that you know you want to do. You are so excited, you can’t wait, it sounds great! People even seem to be behind you, and then something happens, or you get to this phase only to get your heart broken when you hear a no thank you, not right now, or a let me think about it.

In the movies or on television things happen overnight. You talk to one person and whoa your life changes. You are a television star, your non profit gets a million dollar donation, almost over night, you get that picture perfect job, and it just lands in your lap. This is not how things normally work, I am not going to say it never happens because it does and I believe that it can even happen to you……

I also know from talking to countless dreams, artists, authors, publishers, event planners, and entrepreneurs that normally the true story looks very different. The story that most successful people have somewhere in their history that looks a lot like this hard work, hard work, rejection, perseverance, more hard work, connection, rejection, hard work, encouragement, hard work, more hard work, a little more hard work, and then success. If you have just fallen down for the 25 time, and you just got another rejection letter, you are in good company, it happens to the best of us.

Oprah Winfrey was told she wouldn’t make it, they were sure that her size would be an issue, they didn’t like her style and thought she should be more like some of those other talk show host. After 25 years on the air, she is still one of the most successful talk show hosts that has ever lived. Sylvester Stallone wrote Rocky in 3 days. He knew he wanted to be an actor. Broke, sleeping in a bus station for 3 weeks, he only had 4 things his dream, his screenplay, faith, and a dog. He was offered 325,000 by the studios to buy his movie outright, the only catch, he couldn’t play in the movie, he passed. He was so poor he ended up selling his dog for $25. When the studio finally agreed to let him play Rocky, they only paid him $35,000, how is that for a risk – Rocky made 200 million, and Sylvester Stalone is a multi-million dollar actor. Lisa Price took her recipes and developed tons of facial, hair, and body products in her home, now she has a multi-million dollar business. Did she have tough times, absolutely? That is a part of life!

If you are building a business, have an idea that you are sure is a winner, or you are nursing your dream back to life because you had a setback. I wanted to share these stories with you, just in case you might be on the brink of walking away and never coming back. Every successful person in the world has setbacks and your experience won’t be any different.

The important part is not the set back, but instead what you decide to do next. If you throw in the towel, walk away, start slacking or second guessing yourself, you won’t be any closer to your dream, and that is not what you want.

1. Be strong enough to surround yourself with others who are building to, there is nothing like being able to share the challenges and successes of others as you build yourself.

2. Be relentless in your pursuit of your dreams. What gets people over when they are working on their next big thing is the reality that just because you are right here now, it doesn’t mean that things will be here forever.

3. Take a good hard look at the facts and do it often, and make sure that you are only looking at, and considering the facts. Your opinions and your emotions are not important, and they can also get you sidetracked quickly if you focus on them.

4. Don’t allow yourself to get sidetracked by things that don’t matter and things that are not important. Make sure you are clear about what you want and remember what is really important, and then make sure that the you are following your plan. Successful people are serious about what they are doing, and they don’t let things that don’t matter and that aren’t important get in their way.

Lastly, think long and hard about your why. Know what is at stake if you walk away from it all, and ask yourself if someone else accomplished what you started, or if someone came up to you and said they were looking for exactly what you do, how would you feel. There are times when the sheer idea that you have in your mind may be the only thing that keeps your dream alive, so don’t give up!