You Are More Resilient Than You Know

If I could share one insight with entrepreneurs, it would be this:

You are more resilient than you know.

Even on the darkest days, during the hardest times, you have a track record of getting through it.

I've heard a lot of great resiliency stories, and there are a few survive and thrive secrets I've found common in most of them.

Secret #1: The Importance of Freak-Out Time

Bad, frustrating, and sometimes avalanches of crap fall onto entrepreneurs and business owners.

When this happens, give yourself permission to have initial freak-out time.

I don't mean "thinking about how you're going to handle it" or "creating your picking up the pieces" plan.

I mean you stop working and have an honest-to-God freak-out.

Cry, throw a tantrum, talk to your best friend, pray, meditate, yell, cuss, binge watch Game of Thrones (or Mad Men, or Golden Girls, whatevs), eat a gallon of ice cream, whatever it is you do to freak the f* out.

No judging here....you do you.

Phew, feel a little better? Great!

It's important to have this freak-out time because you need to let all the frustration, anger, and resentment GO.

Once you let those things go, you can start fixing the problem.

Secret #2:  Past Resiliency Proof

When something bad happens, your may feel like you'll never get past it.

But you will. I know this because you've done it before.

When you have doubts about surviving tough times, ask yourself the following questions:

• When, in the past, did you go through a tough time and make it?

• How is this time the same?

• How is this time different?
• What did you do to get through that tough time?

Asking yourself these questions fuels your resiliency because you remember you're quite capable of "getting through it."

Those questions may also help you identify tactics you used before, and can use now, to get past a bump in the road (or gigantic pot hole).

Secret #3: Better For It

Life is funny sometimes. So is business.

Many challenges feel like the worst thing ever when you're dealing with them.

But how often do those problems turn into an amazing opportunity?

I can look back at almost every major challenge I have faced in business and say,

Those challenges were exactly what my business needed at the time.

Most were blessings in disguise.

Would I want to go through them again? No.

If I could rewrite the story, would I? No.

They have made me a better business person, AND a better person.

You may say, "Sure, Julie, but have you ever REALLY been challenged?"

Yes, yes I have.

My Personal Resiliency

What do you do when your business loses 85% of its revenue in one day?

It happened to my business in December of 2014.

When it happened, I almost closed my business.

I didn't, though, because I decided to be a business owner instead.

I worked hard, I asked for help, I kept going, I won some, and I lost some.

But by December 2015, I was able to look back and say,

That was my best year ever in business.

Fast forward to a few days ago, and my business lost one client that made up 20% of our revenue.

I was frustrated for about 3 hours,  and then I got over it.

You know why? Because a year ago I survived losing 85% of our revenue.

I can totally handle this little speed-bump.

My dear entrepreneurs, please remember this:

You are more resilient than you know.

You can do this, a lot of people believe in you, and your resiliency will help you when things get tough.

Keep going - it's worth it!