Why perseverance will save your business

The one thing you really need for an online business is perseverance. Whatever you want to get done;  building a blog, a business or becoming a successful artist there is one thing we all need to do. That is to persevere. Perseverance will save your business!

Lots of times there is no easy route. There are things like self-doubt, criticism and motivational issues in our way every single day.

And outside of yourself, life keeps throwing new difficulties at you. Things that you can’t control and might change your entire life.

I think perseverance often gets overlooked because it isn’t as exciting as instant success stories or endless creativity. But I still think that it is something really important.  Because when it gets tough I think it really helps to think about ways to get through it anyway.  

Perseverance = Discipline

A lot comes down to discipline. To get up every morning and get things done and do steps in the right direction. I know this can be super hard. 

Especially when it seems like things aren’t going as good as you had hoped.

(Or things don’t seem to have much of an effect.)

You need to be able to turn up every morning every day to just do it all again.

A great way to become more disciplined is to build those habits. A habit makes it much easier to do the work every day. If you are still working a full-time job; doing 1-2 hours every evening can be a great way to start building a habit. While it might take some time to build a habit it will have a huge improvement in the way you get up to do the things you do every day.

Read more on one of my favourite habit builders here; Habitica The site that makes being productive easy & fun

How long it takes to build a habit has been hugely debated over time. Personally, I feel that it is a great way to start with a tracker for a time period of 100 days. You are sure to have built some habits in that time. And 100 days is a lot of work done!

If you work from home you are probably the only one who will keep you going. Or you can set actual office hours for yourself to help you manage your time and be disciplined about getting the work done.

Perseverance = Self-care

You are your own greatest asset!

If you are not taking care of yourself then how will you be able to do what needs to be done. Often this moves to the back of your mind. It becomes less important than meeting deadlines or doing chores. But one cannot pour from an empty cup.

Taking breaks from your business is a great way to start caring more about yourself.

But self-care also includes making sure you are not working towards burnout, taking care of your mental health and prioritizing your physical well being.

Make sure your workspace, for example, is healthy! A chair that is comfortable, good air circulation and lights that help you avoid staring or scrunching your eyes are examples of that.

If you don’t take care of yourself it is so much easier to end up in a situation that prevents you from working for weeks or even months.

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Perseverance is to keep moving

A lot can go wrong when you are dealing with so many different elements like in an online business.

Whatever happens there is only one way and that is forward. I am very familiar with feeling stuck or worrying about the past. But the truth is – what do is, is done.

Try letting go of past mistakes instead of mulling them over again and again. Mistakes can be learning opportunities. Make a note of what you might have learned from this experience and then move on.

When you have a problem that is really bothering you, focus on finding a solution or work around it. It is all about not getting stuck and keeping going.

There is no use in staying in the past or getting stuck on issues that won’t matter in a month or year. Time is so relative that it is sometimes hard to recognise that things that seem to be a huge problem now, might not even matter in a few days.

Instead, I try to always find a moment to feel my feelings, look for a solution and then move away from it!

Stay flexible

In business, there are a lot of elements that can change at a moment’s notice. Laws, algorithms, trends and platforms change constantly. Because you don’t own these platforms you most likely won’t always be prepared.

Sometimes these changes will work against you. Things like this can mess up working systems that are in place right now. But they can also mess with future plans you might have for these platforms.

Therefore it is important to look at your business plan as something moving and flexible.

“Never have all your eggs in one basket.” This phrase is something you hear a lot and it is definitely good advice. You need to make sure you have a variety of income sources. But also flexible plans for future income.

But more importantly, you need to have a flexible mindset. When we get stuck in preconceived plans and notions on how things are going to go down we can find ourselves much more demotivated when they don’t happen. Instead of thinking about “the ideal” situation, we should also think of backup plans that will help you keep yourself going!

When you are not seeing instant success this post hopefully helps you keep going anyway. Because building a business is a journey & perseverance will save your business.

There is so much to learn and figure out.

Don’t feel bad about what you have yet reached and instead feel inspired by what is possible!

I would love to hear if you have had any setbacks that you have overcome! Leave me a comment about your best stories.