I arrived this afternoon to pick up my 2-year old from preschool. As I generally do – I hung back in the doorway so I could observe him for a while before he spotted me. He was sitting at a table with a small group of children doing a craft. A little girl next to him was using what seemed to be the only glitter stick and it was obvious that my son was practically desperate to get his hands on it. Like all parents – we’ve tried to encourage the idea of “waiting your turn” and I’m certain his teachers work on this as well. It was incredibly funny and precious to watch as he valiantly struggled to exercise patience. Picture him – eyes glued to the glitter as though willing it to come to him – while sitting on his hands, literally trying to force himself not to reach out and snatch it right out of the fingers of his classmate.

It was wonderful watching him try so hard and as I stood there, I realized that even 35 years later in life, I too struggle to wait – and to let things happen in their own time. As I speak with entrepreneurs, I find that a common ailment amongst us, is patience. We want our efforts to pay off now! We want to see our labor unfold into immediate success. Small business owners often must work months and even years at a time before achieving the goals we’ve set for ourselves. And while it’s not quite as simple as sitting on our hands, we too must find a way to stay the course, even when things take longer than we would like.

A related lesson for entrepreneurs – one that  we also work to teach our children – is Persistence. It’s not just a question of waiting for the things we want. We must also persist in whatever work it takes to achieve our goals. And of course the work isn’t always fun and inspiring. Sometimes it’s tedious and challenging and just plain hard. And yet, if we give up when it gets rough, in all odds we won’t be long in business. Ultimately, persistence pays off. And if I can just be terribly annoying and use a favorite bedtime story as an analogy: Are you going to be the little engine who could, OR the entrepreneur who can’t?

Especially when it comes to financial education, persistence and patience are qualities an entrepreneur simply cannot do without. While effectively dealing with money is rarely something that comes naturally, it is like learning to ride a bike or anything else that’s new. If you stick with it, you will ultimately master money management and the tools you put in place to stay on top of your business financials will become like second nature.

Success rarely happens overnight. And yet, of those business owners willing and able to stay the course, most look back with gratitude for the patience and persistence that brought them across the finish line. At Abundance Bound we believe that these two virtues come significantly easier to those entrepreneurs who surround themselves with support systems.  To learn more about the ways we can support you in the patient but persistent growth of your business, visit http://www.AbundanceBoundSystem.com.

1 Comment

• 

  By Pharmacy Technician, December 4, 2009 @ 11:34 am

  Keep posting stuff like this i really like it.

Other Links to this Post

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment