Have you ever reached the end of your week and thought, “what the hell am I doing with my life?”

Any person who has ventured down the path of entrepreneurial careers has been in this place. You pour your sweat, blood, and soul into your dream business only to come up short on bills and exhausted from 80 hours of work in a week. It’s exhausting and taxes your mental, emotional and physical health.

For better or worse, when you dive into the world of self-employment you get to see a rare glimpse of what you are truly made of. From the outside, it may appear like many successful entrepreneurs go about it alone, like they were born to run a business, but even the best and most successful people in any industry use coaching and tools to create success in their lives and businesses.

Here are 5 things I’ve learned from experience and coaches that has led to my success in business and personal life. 

1. Stamina

Upon deciding to be your own boss you will quickly learn an unwavering lesson about self-employment. It can be painful, and life does not slow down or show any mercy because of your new work-life definition. 

Problems will arise like; sickness, kids being late to school, broken down cars, divorce, lost merchandise, scams, poor marketing, websites getting hacked, the list of daily variables can be endless. Being able to endure these frequent growing pains is crucial. Regardless of how challenging your day may begin, you still need to show up and put in the work. 

The unfortunate thing is that the original motivation for building a business is often blunted by these daily setbacks. This drive can become watered down over time because entrepreneurs get enveloped in the small things and subsequently lose sight of their bigger vision. Reminding yourself why you are enduring these tribulations and the greater vision, will help you build stamina. Being able to be consistent on your journey is key for a better life a bigger business, this is achieved through developing stamina. 

2. Execution

The one driving force that holds everyone back from their true potential is lack of execution. Things rarely turn out how you envisioned them no matter how much you prepare and plan. So you must start first by executing and adjust by pivot along the way. Set sail and learn to navigate to the best outcome along the way.

Small wins will add up to big wins, and steady growth builds a better foundation than rapid growth. Patience is a bedrock skill because it’s not so easy to settle on 1 or 2 new clients a day when you want 1000. This is why you must first execute and then maintain the stamina and consistency that will lead you to your end goal. 

Plain and simple, you won’t get to 1,000 customers without first getting 1 or 2. Be fully committed to building that strong foundation, and do not entertain half measures. There is no easy path to running a strong and successful business, but it can be simple… as a famous footwear brand like’s to say, “just do it.”

3. Resilience

When you’re an Entrepreneur everything stacks up on your shoulders, or at least it can often feel that way. Learning how to deal with these challenges with resilience will be one of the most important tools that you can employ to see success. 

Take a personal inventory and be honest with yourself;

• Are you letting other colleagues’ or family members’ feelings of doubt get to you?
• Are external circumstances holding you back, or are you getting in the way of yourself?
• Are you letting small bumps derail the entire train because it’s easier than facing the larger issues at hand?

Now ask yourself these questions;

• Can I leverage those negative thoughts from others or myself to create execution?
• Can I create systems to avoid focusing on the external and focus on the factors that I can control? If so, what are the exact rules that will allow me to do this?
• Am I focused on drama or my end goal?

Life doesn’t stop when you become a business owner. Learning how to leverage your self-doubts and turn them into motivation will be a key ingredient to your success. In order to do this, you’ll need to set rules of engagement for the small things that take a majority of your time. Take an inventory of your biggest problems and set rules for how to avoid them at all costs.

You’ll have to face challenges no matter what you go through as an entrepreneur and resiliency will help. Remember that resilience isn’t about how many times you can get punched in the face, it’s about being able to bounce back when you do. Figuring out how to dodge those blows in the first place will allow you to create capacity for resilience when the odd one lands and you’ll be able to regain your balance more quickly.

“It’s your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop.” ― Dieter F. Uchtdorf

4. Context

Why do we bother with it in the first place? When you’re a few weeks, months, or years into business this question can rear its nasty head.

The abstract, top-down, macro view is that all of us are only here for a short time. You realistically have 20 to 30 years in your life to really push yourself, and many people get a small taste of success and become complacent in their vision.

Remembering why you started in the first place and the difference that you make for your clients, employees and the world around you are all important to be reminded of. A daily practice I use is to look at client testimonials in those moments when I’m losing my way. They help me find my true north again.

5. Continual Growth

In order to see success year after year and not fall into that complacency that I talked about, you have to embrace continual growth. As you reach milestones that your past self has set for yourself, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment that’s necessary for continual growth. 

Certainly, you can take time to celebrate reaching your goals, and you should, but it’s important to be able to experience those moments year after year and the only way to do that is through setting new goals as you accomplish the old ones. 

That means taking time to look at what will push you and your business to higher heights and continually being willing to embrace new and different levels of discomfort.

Growth promotes growth unless you allow yourself to become complacent. Stand by your choices, and be willing to step into the unknown. Jump off the cliff and figure out how to build your parachute on the way down. These risks will take you to the places you’ve dreamed about, and that is the journey with the best rewards.

Lastly, find the love in the journey

With all of this said, you won’t see success unless you learn to love the journey. The ups and the downs. Embracing and celebrating the successes and the newfound ability to accomplish the things you’ve wanted to must be embraced as much as the miserable parts. You can look at your shortcomings as failures or as opportunities to grow. And if you don’t fall in love with growth, you won’t fall in love with the journey. 

When you show up every day to put in the work, you are stepping into discomfort. So if stick to your toolset and remind yourself why you are suffering every day by clearly seeing your bigger vision, and you will achieve the success you dream of. You can find a lot out about yourself through misery, and you have the chance to find something amazing.  

Stamina, execution of business strategy, resiliency, accepting and enduring temporary pain… these will all lead you to question “why am I doing this?” That is often the toughest part, and if you can find the answer and execute on actionable steps that move you forward, you will move on to bigger challenges. With bigger challenges, comes more success and the cycle repeats so long as you remember why you chose this path in the first place.