Stubbornness. Perseverance. Tenacity.
Commitment.
And I mean the kind of commitment you’ve rarely made in your life.
Well – except for that moment you said “I do” to someone you wanted to keep forever, or perhaps the day you brought home your first born. :)
But there’s something about launching, running, building and sustaining a successful business that will test your commitment muscles like nothing else.
There will be easy days, of course, when you wake up amazed at how “lucky” you are.
“I can’t believe we’re together like this, after all these years!”
But there will also be days when you want to tell your business to pack it’s bags and go find a hotel for the night.
Hey, don’t feel bad. It happens.
I think about this from time to time when someone approaches me about coaching. They may be terrified (and often are), and that’s okay. But if they’re committed to their dreams, to their intentions, to their desires – that will pull them through that fear, and they’ll be alright.
If they’re not, it doesn’t take much to throw them off course.
I thought about this again yesterday, when a friend of mine remarked that she couldn’t believe how “committed” I was to writing you week after week.
“Well I made a commitment,” I said.
Which is true.
So if you’re thinking about starting a business, you need to know this. And if you’ve already started a business, but things are harder than you thought they’d be, getting a handle on this might help.
And if you’ve been at it a while, and you’re doing great – you already know this.
See, your business has a soul of it’s own, and the two of you? Well, you two are in a relationship.
And relationships take a lot of work, a lot of self awareness, and a lot of – yes – commitment to make them work.
Here are three areas where real commitment will carry you through to the success I know is waiting for you.
Being committed to a relationship with your business.
This means showing up, learning the lessons and doing the work – whether you feel like it or not.
It means acting with integrity, and building a brand that stands for the things you believe in as a human being – even when it’s inconvenient. Or unexpected.
It means practicing imperfection, so that you continue to grow, grow and grow. That doesn’t mean you have to build a mega company. It does mean you must always be evolving and expanding in some way. Because if you’re not growing, you’re dying.
Being committed to your peeps.
This means keeping your promises, delivering your service, being there in whatever way you said you’d be, and doing what you said you’d do.
It means keeping your faith in them even when they’ve lost faith in themselves, especially if you’re a coach, healer, therapist or other helping professional.
And it means keeping your counsel, practicing what you preach, and leading by example.
It means being real.
Being committed to your Self.
And finally, if you are not equally committed to your Self, your success can’t last.
Because every stage of growth will bring new challenges, and you must be ready for what those require of you.
So being committed to your Self means protecting your energy, getting the rest and self care you need, and shielding your confidence from bumps and bruises along the way.
It means honoring your value, charging what you’re worth, and being at peace with that.
And it means seeking your joy – because without joy, you’ve just given yourself another job. And who wants that?
Commitment is what happens when you try again when a launch or program doesn’t work.
Commitment is what happens when you show up for your clients or write that post, whether you’ve had any sleep or not.
Commitment is what happens when you take that quarterly retreat you told yourself you’d take.
If you’ve got it, you know it.
And sooner or later, your success will show it.
So here’s my question for you: Are you committed to your business?
Photo Credit: Alex Indigo on Flickr