Like anything else in life, your online business isn’t always going to perfect.  No matter how much you might hope it will be. Things will go wrong. It’s how you decide to react to trials and issues that arise that will determine if you will succeed or maintain success in your business.

Depending on the type of business you are in or have will determine the type of problems that can arise for you, so we may all be going through different types of stresses and problems but the fact remains that any problem can throw a monkey wrench into your business if you let it.

How do you react when things aren’t going the way you’d like them to? Does it force you to keep going or do you just give in and give up. Think about you and your business being like a boxer and the stress and problems that arise are your opponent. When the other fighter swings and connects with a really good hit, are you going to let them take you down or keep you down? Will you be knocked down for the count?

With my own businesses I have certainly experienced ups and downs.

My natural response to stress is to want to shut down and just say, forget it all. It puts me in a bad mood when things go wrong, but then my “Why” and my craving for my business to be a success kicks in. It helps me to keep going when I really don’t feel like turning the computer on, let alone doing any type of work, and I’d much rather curl up in bed with my Kindle and disappear into a good book or watch my favorite movies and television shows all day long.  I now can recognize while I’m in that type of mood as opposed to realizing it later and it helps me to get through it much quicker.

There is nothing wrong with either of those activities but it is wrong if it’s stopping me from being productive, if I’m using those activities to avoid dealing with my business. Quickly one day of neglect can turn into days, weeks and months and before you know it your business can be completely at a standstill. In the past it didn’t used to take much to get me to the point of wanting to give up. I wanted success but I obviously didn’t want it bad enough. I had to learn how to manage my stress when problems would arise. I had to stop feeling inadequate and that I couldn’t be successful because … the reasons were numerous:

• I didn’t know how to blog or what to say.
• I had problems with the technical aspects of an online business.
• I couldn’t possibly sell anything to anyone.
• No one will care about what I have to say or what I can offer.

Any time I have ever gave in to the stress instead of sticking it out, the results were never good because giving up got me no where. Giving up didn’t erase any of my problems, I had to eventually find solutions.

It doesn’t mean that nothing ever goes wrong for me now and things will never be perfect. If you wait for perfection you might as well give up forever because it’s not going to happen. Unforeseen problems happen to all of us, even though we may try our best to have a back up plan or two.

My goal is to take it to the next level. Whatever success I have, I want to multiply that and help others to do the same. While our businesses may be different the first part of the solution is the same, we can’t give up.

If you are struggling with feelings of wanting to give up, you should take a little time to brainstorm and think about the things that attracted you to the particular business that you chose.

Do you still believe in it and want to make it work? If the answer to both of those questions are yes than you need to work through whatever the problem is. Your business will not become successful without you putting work into it. The level of success you see in your business is not an accident but rather a result of your past actions.

You can’t blame anyone for your problems either. We all make choices in our business and we choose whether we will allow a person to do this or that. One person shouldn’t make or break our business and neither should one problem or ten problems for that matter.

For example if you didn’t get that client you thought you were going to get, if that person who said they would join your MLM team or purchase from your business didn’t, should you give up? If you want it bad enough you have to keep going and not give up. Find a new client, a new team member or new customers. Never stop learning because that helps you to be come more efficient in your business. It can be done and it all depends on you and how you treat your business.

It’s okay if things make you upset, give yourself a few minutes to let it out and then move on to doing what you can. The quicker you jump back up and the harder you strive the faster you will get to where you want to be with your business.

So what can you do if you’re stuck in rut and can’t seem to get motivated? First you want to make sure that you are surrounding yourself with positive people and things. This will be upbuilding and uplifting to you. Positivity will help to motivate you and negativity will only pull you down even more. You want to march towards and not away from your success.

Keep in mind that success means different things to different people. For some it may mean enough income to replace  or even double your current income, while for others it may simply mean having enough extra money to take a trip or pay a few bills. Never compare your business to someone else’s, that right there can be a source of stress. All the factors aren’t the same so why compare.

They might have started their business sooner than you did, they may have had more start up money or they might have put more time in than you did. The truth is that it really doesn’t matter. Your business is yours and theirs is theirs. Focus on your own business.

One book that I  found very helpful and motivating is Grant Cardone’s “The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success And Failure.” In the book Grant talks about how there isn’t a shortage of success and I truly believe that. What does this  mean for you? Even though someone else may be successful or even super successful doing the same exact thing as you, it does not mean that you can’t be successful at it too.

There can be more than one person who is successful at the same thing. Online is the same as the “real world”, there isn’t just one good doctor, lawyer, contractor or singer. There are many who are successful and the same applies online. Sometimes jealousies and feeling inadequate with yourself as a business person can be the very thing that will knock you down.

I bought my copy as an unabridged audio because sometimes I like to listen to books while I’m doing other activities. This is a book that I have listened to more than once and I know I will again because I find it so motivational. I also read and listen to other things that motivate and sharpen me. You have to find what works for you. Stay motivated and keep working at your business.

Tweak and change and switch it up until your business is just the way you want it to be.  Your success may not be a straight line, your end result may not be exactly as how you started out. Be prepared to go as many rounds as it takes, come out swinging and roll with the punches. Your problems A. K. A. your opponent, may be bigger than you are, might dance around the ring, annoy you or  may even hurt you a little bit, but you can show them who’s tougher and who has the most stamina as you fight back and stick it out. You are not a failure just because they things you may have tried has failed. Use it as a learning experience.

You will see that things actually start to fall in place when you take the appropriate actions as problems arise and when it seems like everything is going wrong. When your business begins to show you some success you’ll be so glad that you didn’t give up and it will motivate you to take it to the next level.

To Your Success,

Alice Coaxum