Giving up is so easy, isn’t it? It does not take much time. Only fools keep wasting time and energy on something that is not materializing, right. If that is so, then, all successful people in this world are fools. Every successful businessman is insane. Gates, Steinbrenner, Disney, and even Steve Jobs, all were crazy heads. Every known innovator is stupid enough to ruin his entire life in a closed laboratory. Edison, Einstein, Curie, all were insane.
Each one of these people failed at least once in their attempts. Some failed 100 times or even 1000 times. But can we deny that their names remain etched in our minds when we talk of success and successful people in the world? What if they had given up on their dream projects? What if, they did not show the tenacity to continue their passion in spite of failure and ridicule? It’s scary even to think that we would not have electric bulbs, Microsoft, Disney, Apple then.
You know, why did all these people succeed in spite of failures and their part of struggles? It’s because they did not give up. It’s because their visualization was so strong that others could not see what they saw. It’s because they knew they can; it's due to their tenacity to keep on doing things, though small, with dedication and belief. It’s because they were true innovators and entrepreneurs who could think much ahead of their times. It’s because of the attitude of people like Edison, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. I found 1000 ways of how not to make a light bulb”.
How many of us have succeeded in what we tried in the first attempt? Not many, right. This proves that success is not an easy sweet. It cannot be attained in one day. There are exceptions where people become successful easily. But when it comes to running a business or any other tough task, it takes a lot of patience and needs many attempts. And to remain glued to the task, one requires the attitude to never give up. Now, this is called tenacity. When it comes to business, tenacity is very important. It is not a skill but a trait and it goes hand in hand with various other traits in successful people. Not to mistake it, tenacity is not burning out oneself completely. It simply means the quality or fact of being very determined. That is persistence.
The Tenacious e-commerce seller
It’s not about raising your hands to give up. It’s about remaining unfazed during each episode of failure. This is usually among people who are focussed on their major goal, and who love what they do. Let’s understand it with an example. So here there is a new seller on those eCommerce sites. He opened his account, completed all the business-related formalities, and listed all his products very well. Now he is waiting for his orders online with the hope that he will sell all his inventories within a week or so. One week goes by, the second week goes by, the third, fourth, and even the fifth has gone. Still, he did not receive a single order. He started with the incredible hope that he will see great profit in a week. He had heard people saying so about eCommerce. In reality, this happens to a few.
So what most entrepreneurs would do? They would rather give up saying, eCommerce is not for them. But our hero did not. He decided to stick with it. He tried to understand why did not receive any orders. What does he need to do now to drive traffic to his listing? He tried reaching the root cause of the issue. He found out that his sales did not materialize because his products did not rise up in the customers’ search results. That he needs to find out great keywords to describe his products and that he needs to do some search engine optimization now. He is not a computer engineer of course. But he did not give up. He hired somebody who would help him in this task while he did the rest of the things. He is enjoying the process and he is optimistic that the issues will get resolved. So it did in a few days’ time.
So what did we learn from this? That tenacity is about telling oneself that you are in love with your work. You are passionate about your job and that you will overcome all obstacles. Our hero did not leave his night’s sleep or become frustrated. But he dealt with every issue with patience and sense. It did not matter to him that he did not sell any product for weeks. He knew that if he resolves the issues, things may work out. He remained optimistic.
How to keep your tenacity levels high
Tenacity revolves around your love for something. So it is important to find out what you love. Remember, anything you are curious about or you love doing becomes an enjoyable process. You do not have to struggle to keep yourself going!
When one thing does not work, keep looking out for an alternative way of doing it. If you are serious about something, you will always find a way. That is why it is being said, ‘where there is a will, there is a way!’. If your goals are too big, break them and set micro tasks where you might only need some micro-level tenacity. Soon micro-level tenacity will turn into macro one. So if you want to know you are tenacious enough to build a business, ask yourself whether you are passionate about the idea you have picked up. Let the world discourage you, and be against you. If you believe in your idea, give a huge smile and say, I can. Just keep visualizing your final goal and keep working. You will succeed.
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entrepreneurial spirit