Want Business Success? Paying Your Dues is Part of Making Your Moves

Photo by Damir Spanic on Unsplash

So often we see entrepreneurs at the pinnacle of their success. They make it look so easy, glamorous, appealing- sipping wine on their yachts, posing on a beach somewhere with their family, or attending high-profile events. But there is nothing easy about entrepreneurship. What those Instagram pictures don’t show are the years of heartache, rejection and failure that went into it before they had their big triumphs. Overnight success stories are typically anything but- it takes years to get to the top of an industry, and it calls for lots of tenacity, patience and failure to get there.

So, if you are an entrepreneur, you must buckle in for the long haul it will take to pay your dues on the way to the top. Success in entrepreneurship is very much like a game- part chess match, part poker tournament, and part schoolyard soccer competition. You’ve got to make decisive moves in a really strategic way, bluff on occasion when you want others to think you have a better hand, and pass the ball to and from teammates to hit your goals. Sometimes, it will be a straight line to a quick score, and other times, you will have to double back, up the ante and formulate a new game plan.

Tackling business in this gamelike manner is important. So is getting prepared for the numerous setbacks that you’ll encounter. Falling down, being rejected and making mistakes are all part of the price that you’ll pay along the way. Nothing worth having is quick and easy. It will take a lot of grit and patience to reach your end goal but you will get there if you develop the right mindset. Just ask Jeff Bezos, Vera Wang and Arianna Huffington who faced some setbacks on their way to the top.

What does developing this right mindset involve? Getting more comfortable with risk-taking, overcoming impostor syndrome (that feeling that you don’t really belong or have only gotten lucky so far), cultivating financial confidence, becoming more resilient, organizing your time, building your visibility and taking action. Put this together with paying your dues and learning to overcome obstacles and you will put yourself squarely on the path to success.

Always remember that it is never a straight line to victory in business. You will have a lot of zigs and zags in order to get to where you want to be. Remind yourself that if it were easy, there would be a lot more entrepreneurs out there.

If you want to achieve success (and I’m sure that you do), come up with your strategic objectives, your game plan for overcoming obstacles and setbacks, and then outline the microsteps that you will use to take action towards your goals. In combination, these activities will enable you to achieve what you set out to do. Paying your dues is just a part of the process- you need to be able to stick with it for the long haul that it will take for your business to be a success. I know that you can do it so buckle up and pay those dues!

Charlene Walters, is a business and branding mentor and the author of Launch Your Inner Entrepreneur.