Still waiting for ideal conditions?
So, today, I went for a jog…. preparing to FINALLY run that 1/2 marathon I’ve been talking about for way too long….
But as I ran – my favorite motivational music pounding in my ear – I stumbled across something FAR more motivational just under my feet: A little piece of grass – piercing through asphalt that was just laid about 3 weeks ago.
Immediately, I thought about the most common questions I hear from would -be entrepreneurs as I travel across the country… the questions I’m sure to hear again this month as I visit four more cities – speaking on whether or not starting your own business is still “RISKY” in this economy… and how to start making money on your own terms.
I’ll list the questions here… but the answers I’ll leave to this little blade of grass in this picture… because sometimes the answers we are looking for are far too simple to complicate with too many words.
COMMON QUESTION NUMBER ONE: When is the BEST time to start my business?
Grass: There is no BEST time. The only time you have is NOW. I did not know that as a seedling, I would be covered with inches of solid asphalt, but I was. So, I just started to PUSH. Right away. There is no BEST time.
COMMON QUESTION NUMBER TWO: I’ve got so many ideas… Where is the best place to start?
Grass: There is only ONE place to start EVER. That place is right where you are right now. Where else could you start? I sometimes wish I had been planted just four inches to the left of where I am now. My growth would have been far easier. The only place you CAN start, though, is right where you are right NOW.
COMMON QUESTION NUMBER THREE: What do you think every business owner needs to have in order to “really make it”?
Grass: The desire to break through and a willingness to keep pushing until you do. That’s it.
Thanks, Mr. Grass that Could. Your growth inspired me today! Science says that you need sunlight to grow. Water. Space. Yet, you somehow pushed through the inches of asphalt holding you down. To everyone reading this post: I want to quote Rihanna – =) – in one of my favorite songs:
Victory’s within the mile… Almost there, don’t give up now.
Keep on pushing. I’m cheering for you… rooting for your success!
Michelle,
Thanks for the inspiration and sharing “lessons learned” from the blade of grass. I am truly trying to take my business to another level and your words of encouragement and business calls are helping me. Thanks again!
Great, Michelle 🙂
WOW – I don’t know what else to say. Pretty amazing stuff here.
Start where you are, with what you have – then work a little harder and do a little more than you think you can (or than others think is realistic) and pretty soon you have more than you did, are making a real difference in a lot of lives, and are being more than you ever thought you might be.
That’s what the reader who couldn’t find motivation in this blade of grass missed out on.
Keep it growing up!
Diane
There is a small prayer that I posted on my computer many years ago and it says “Lord, please give me the tenacity of a weed”. Love that….