Thinking About Giving Up as an Entrepreneur? Read this.
Updated: Dec 30, 2020
There are a few times in my life where a single sentence has changed me forever.
For example, in marriage, I read “Marriage isn’t meant to make you happy, it’s meant to make you holy.” Wow! This rocked my universe. I was looking at marriage the wrong way for 5 years. It’s no wonder we struggled!
Paralleling this with business, I now realize that business isn’t meant to make us happy, it’s meant to make us holy!
You see, it’s through the fighting of the battle that we grow closest to God to be at the center of everything, even my business. It’s through the storm that we recognize our need to stay under God’s shelter our entire lives.
I look at it this way: I have a huge calling over my life to help God in his mission to redeem the identity of entrepreneurs back to himself. I thought that since I was doing God’s work, this would be easy. NO WAY! Since I have so much baggage and sin of my own, God continues to uses my business to refine me so I become a better soldier for his calling over my life.
Furthermore, the enemy wants you to NOT be in your calling. He doesn’t want you to succeed and will do everything to stop you at your tracks – in your business failings.
The key here is perspective. In marriage, I could see my problems and complain, or I can see my problems and change. So I can see my problems as God working to concentrate me (perfect me, cleanse me), or I can see my problems as an excuse to quit.
The enemy wants me to take the latter bait. No way, not today, not ever!
So how do I fight through the pain?
When I find myself struggling, wanting to quit, and at the end of the last dollar, I remember my purpose in business and that I always have the opportunity to overcome by resisting the enemy and continue pushing forward.
The bible says
"So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up". Galatians 6:9 NLT
We must paralyze resistance in our business with persistence of our calling.
The leadership of the great entrepreneurs I admire always inspires me because they knew how to overcome great obstacles through steady persistence. I love stories of entrepreneurs overcoming bankruptcy and lost fortunes. I like them because they inspire me to be persistent in the face of adversity. They never gave up!
I’ve almost given up on the branding world many times. Money was tight and I was lacking direction. Why should I try so hard when a job seems so much easier. I’ve thought about a corporate job more times than I’d like to admit. I could easily be paid so much more in relation to the stresses of entrepreneurship.
But God spoke to my heart each time, and I became convinced that if I overcame, He would give me the big break I needed. I thought my success might come in building a big traditional agency but it didn’t. And as I battled two consecutive failures at attempting to build a large-scale agency, I finally gave up on that dream and began to despair.
Has that ever happened to you?
Proverbs says
"The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again". Proverbs 24:16 NLT
Slowly God began to build me back up after I lost my hope. He reminded me that my life was never really about building a big agency —that was just an avenue to build my character—He had bigger plans for me. So with His help, I started over and regained my confidence to move ahead by faith.
At the time that I’m writing this, I’ve created Launch in 2 Days, a methodology for branding what you were Born to do. I’m teaching this methodology to other branding guys like me, and they love it!
Owning a big agency was not my long-term place of service, but my attempts were an important schoolroom for me. The lessons I learned have served me well.
God may change your direction but He will not abandon you. If you persist, you will discover the entrepreneurial purpose He has designed for your life and that will bring you more satisfaction than you can possibly imagine. Never give up!
Godpreneurs never give up, no matter how dark the clouds over our business. God has a plan for me that will bring unsurpassed joy to my life.