Success Comes With Struggles

Guest Post by Kate Powers

Success comes with struggles – new struggles, unknown struggles, struggles with which you have no prior experience. Through those struggles are opportunities to grow in faith, love and trust, to come to know yourself fully, and to embrace who you are and own your power! Is it an easy journey? No, but it is worth every second of the faith walk.

Recently, a small success brought about a strong reaction from someone in my inner circle. This person has been a huge support to my growing business, so it was not the reaction I expected.

Instead of focusing on my disappointment or allowing myself to be angry, I stepped back and I looked at the situation from this person’s perspective. This allowed me to let go of my disappointment before resentment and my attachment to the reaction. I focused on the lessons to be learned and the opportunities for personal growth for both of us.

Quickly it became obvious that this situation was necessary to bring a new level of faith and understanding on both sides. Sometimes a struggle or a success in our life is needed to help another person along in his or her personal journey.

The situation has been resolved for both of us, and here are some tips I learned along this journey!

Not everyone in your personal circle with be excited or supportive of your business and may be outright unsupportive or sabotaging. Well-meaning as they may be, your family and friends are probably in the traditional thought of, “Get a job, get a paycheck.” Not everyone understands utilizing their God-given talents through serving others or through entrepreneurship.

Protect yourself from the negativity by only sharing with those who are supportive and with creating your support circles in business elsewhere. This is one of the things I love about NACWE – it’s a safe space to share ideas and struggles and to get the support I need to stay energized about my business, despite what others are saying. I have like-minded friends who are entrepreneurs, moms, and God-loving.

I am in daily contact with at least one of these incredible women to share my successes and struggles with someone who understands and supports my growth in all of these areas. I call them my “Success Sisters.” They are my mastermind team who love me and my dream. Together, we are growing in faith and success.

When you find yourself defending your business, be prepared! Do you know you are serving as God intends? If you answered “YES,” you have God-confidence in your business. You don’t need to bother explaining your choices to people who won’t understand. Just smile (or not) and reply with, “You might be right,” “I’ll take that into consideration,” or “Thank you for sharing your concern.”

Remember, you shouldn’t take business advice from anyone unless it is coming from someone who has achieved business success. Someone who has always been an employee doesn’t understand the 2-5 process of building a business, and they are NOT who you should seek counsel from in your business.

Finally, remember WHY you are in business. Understanding your WHY will be your anchor in times of turmoil. Being clear on your WHY will keep you focused on moving forward, instead of being derailed by someone’s opinion. Your WHY is from your heart. It is the place, I believe, where God speaks to us, and “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:32)

Kate Powers is a published author, speaker, consultant and coach. Kate has been helping women in business achieve greater success while achieving live balance for over 10 years.

Visit Kate at http://KFPowers.com.