You can't succeed without difficulty

The human brain is amazing, and also extremely flawed. We can come up with the most amazing tools and inventions, innovations and creations. The human brain is able to accept data, process and store it, and use the information gathered to navigate the world in new ways.

Yes, it is an amazing thing.

One of the big flaws my brain has is how it deals with difficulty. How it navigates hardships and negative experiences. When the going gets tough, the first response my brain shouts out is "Quit!"

So I tell my brain "No! I want to win! I want to succeed!"

The immediate response: "You're not going to succeed. You're not good at this. You're not good at anything."

Maybe taking to a certain extreme to paint a picture, my brain is inherently negative, especially when trying new things, or navigating the real world.

Another example I can give is on that day where I had one customer that clearly did not like me. She was just a negative person who wasn't going to be pleased no matter what I did. It doesn't matter that the previous 99 customers were elated, happy or just indifferent about our interaction; I'm not going to remember any of them. I'm going to dwell on the nasty lady that didn't like me.

It is inevitable that we will experience difficulty, negativity, people who don't like us, obstacles that seem impossible to overcome, and any other experience that can be the thing to stop us dead in our tracks. One of my favorite quotes from Jim Rohn is "You can't succeed without difficulty. You can't fly without gravity." There is always a force pushing you down, but it's your job to push back and overcome those forces.

I'm going to talk about my experiences with DS Domination, and my ebay store to provide examples of the difficulty I've experienced so far in my recent venture. After talking with my sponsors, I've gathered from their experiences that my troubles are rather concentrated, but here we go.

I want to start by saying I am very intentional about this business, following the training provided, implementing tracking tools and spreadsheets, and a variety of other safeguards to ensure success.

Anyway, I found this company and got excited about it right away. After starting it, I knew there would be a learning curve, and my mantra from the start was "Don't Quit! Don't Quit!" Another quote I really like is "People often overestimate what they can do in one year, and underestimate what they can do in 10 years." The trick is "Don't Quit!" I want to succeed in the long run!

It took me a few days to finally make my first sale; it was at a $10 loss. Ouch. That's okay. In the next week, I'd made three sales that brought me into the black. I was feeling pretty good. My fifth sale, the item was out of stock. My sixth and seventh sale generated customers who demanded returns, sale eight went unpaid, and my 10th sale would have been a $25 profit, until I had to pay $24 in sales tax.

On one day, I sold two items that were out of stock; different stores, different items. I also sold one of my most expensive items (about $600), but turned out to profit about $5 after taxes and fees gobbled up any extra money. I was grateful I came out ahead actually.

I say all of this because I've had a pretty high concentration of bad experiences with this business, but the truth is my bottom line keeps gradually going up. There is a learning curve, and with every bad experience I have, I try to learn how to not make that mistake again. Instead of throwing up my hands and quitting, I keep chanting my simple mantra: "Don't quit! Don't Quit!"

No matter what kind of success you wish to seek, no matter what venture you want to take, business you want to start, ladder you want to climb, there are going to be obstacles. Always. Our biggest obstacles are not the little thorns that stick us on the journey though; the biggest obstacle is to not quit. You just have to want to get to your destination so badly that you're willing to take the hard road.


... and that is my lecture for the day.