At some point in life, you will want to start a side hustle. You will want to have some control over your finance, and the leisure of spending your time the way you want to.

You need to consider becoming an entrepreneur or be your own boss no matter how secure your present job. If not for anything but for the flexibility it offers. Including

- the freedom of doing stuff your way;
- the sense of control; and
- the ease to make decisions and manage the consequences, among others.

All these will help you develop the capacity and stamina you need to thrive in business. Thereafter, you can transfer the lessons and experiences you’ve gathered into other areas of life to achieve success in those areas.

Even though becoming an entrepreneur comes with mouthwatering benefits, you may taste none of them except you become a successful entrepreneur. A task that’s as difficult as the benefits that come with it.

Because the path to success is rough and sturdy, life allows everyone to quit and relax to a more comfortable existence. Because not everyone who feels he can do actually have what it takes to pay the price.

You need more than motivation to succeed.

It’s easy to give up when external motivation is what keeps you going. You need staying power to be successful in business.

In life and business, success belongs to those who can outlast tough times and seasons.

Had I not stayed even without pay for 5 months, I wouldn’t have had the success and benefits that came my way during the last few months of writing on Medium.

Just two months ago I got a request from a publication outside Medium to feature some of my articles. And that is aside from the success I’ve recorded directly from this platform.

All because I stayed, even when I had to finance my stay on Medium without earning a dime.

One truth stood out for me from that experience:

Mental resilience is the secret to success both in life and business.

The race is not to the swift nor victory to the strongest. Those who succeed are the ones that outlast the competition and the harsh climate in the business world.

In other words,

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” — Charles Darwin.

3 Hard Choices to Inevitable Success

Photo by The Lazy Artist Gallery from Pexels

Successful people make hard choices that enabled them to outlast the harsh climate of business and emerge a success. If you can make those choices, you too can live the life you had always wanted to live.

Here they are:

1. Take your eyes off the gain (for a while).

Even if you aim to get some profit, don’t let it come first. Those who make a profit a top priority don’t do well in the long run. Most of those businesses end up losing their customers and left with no option than to fold up.

The foundation of any enterprise is to meet the needs of people. And money is the byproduct of living up to that aim.

Meeting customers’ needs is the bedrock behind any profitable enterprise.

Putting money first is like putting the cart before the horse. You won’t have a smooth ride and may have to quit, eventually.

Instead, focus on providing value by meeting the need of our target customers. All you have to do is this: find out what their problems and their dreams could be. Be empathic as you share your findings both from your life and what you’ve read and tried.

Money-first mindset is a terrible omen to any enterprise. Get rid of it as quickly as possible.

2. Focus on your audience

I have come to observe that businesses that care more about their customers excel the most.

Many people go with the wrong notion that the way to make money is to look for a clever way to the customer’s pocket. On the contrary, the money you want is not in their pockets but their problem and concerns.

The 21st-century customers are wiser and more informed. You can’t get too far with their money and time if you’re not effectively solving a problem or adding some form of value to their lives.

Sugar-coated adverts will no longer cut it.

If you want to reap the rewards of your enterprise, you must provide tangible value or provide potent solutions to relevant problems or concerns.

And the way to do that is to take the pain to know them and understand their situations. Then, serve them the very best way you can and naturally, the rewards will follow.

3. Be a Long-term Guy

The road to success is one of the most unpredictable. Nobody can tell how long it will take to hit the jackpot. Success in life varies widely among people. And timing, talent, and opportunities are huge influencing factors.

However, there’s just one guarantee to become successful irrespective of person, opportunities, timing, and whatever else :

Be a long-term guy.

Don’t just be a visitor; become an intern.

Many business people lose out on major opportunities because they come into the business world with a short-term mindset. They expect success to hit them in the first year. And then double that level of success in two years.

That might have been someone else’s story. But the truth is, it will be different for you. Two individuals will never have the same experience. Each one thread on unique paths and so can have the same pattern of experiences.

The only way to be sure of success come hell or deep waters is to stay in the game and do it long term.

All out have to do is get rid of the profit-first mindset as discussed in the first two points above.

Conclusion

Things are not as easy as they seem. The only thing we can be sure of about life is this: uncertainties.

That’s why my people give up after a scant distance into their pursuit of success. However, to succeed, you must learn to outlasts the uncertainties of life and business by:

• taking your eyes off the gain (for a while);
• focusing on your customer, and
• deciding to be a long-term guy.

This article was originally published by Joshua idegbere on medium.