A friend texted me a few months ago. She was right on the brink of hiring her first full-time employee—literally, about to email the official job offer, had the draft saved in her inbox—and she was having last-minute waves of doubt.
“What if I hire this employee—but then my business goes through a rough patch and I can’t pay her?” She wondered anxiously.
“What if I have to fire her because I can’t afford to keep her on the payroll? She is a single mom. She has a kid. That would be awful. I couldn’t bear to let that happen.”
I told my friend:
“Then don’t.”
I also told her:
“You are a go-getter and pretty much every goal you set, you achieve or exceed. This will be no different. You can afford to pay this person. Even if something difficult happens in the future, you will find a way to pay her salary.
You will rustle up a new idea, you will launch a new service to bring in some extra cash, you will get a loan, you will win a grant, you will do whatever you gotta do. You will figure it out.
You are resourceful and you will always figure it out.”
She took my advice. She hired the employee. Within a few weeks, her life and business vastly improved and she wondered, “Why didn’t I do this way sooner?”
Being a successful entrepreneur doesn’t mean that you make smart decisions 100% of the time. It doesn’t mean you have all the answers locked in. It definitely doesn’t mean that you have perfect branding, a perfect website, or perfect pricing and services.
The hallmark of a successful entrepreneur is having faith that no matter what happens next, you will figure it out.
This belief in yourself, this trust, this self-assurance, is what separates the thriving business owners from the ones who remain stuck and don’t move forward.
Your business goes through a dry spell and revenue is lower than usual? You will figure it out.
A troll attacks you online, posts awful things, and tries to degrade your reputation, and you have no idea how to respond or what to do next? You will figure it out.
There’s a pandemic and you have to cancel events and refund $100K in ticket sales and somehow replace that lost income? You will figure it out.
You unexpectedly get pregnant or get injured or go through a divorce or have to pivot your business model in a way you never expected? You will figure it out.
Repeat to yourself 100 times a day until it sinks into your bones:
I can figure it out.
I can figure it out.
I can figure it out.
You have solved problems before. You can do it again.
You are far more creative, scrappy, inventive, and resourceful than you give yourself credit for.
The average adult human brain has about 100 billion cells, and the human spirit is astonishingly resilient.
You can figure this out.
PS. Trying to figure things out in your business? Get the my 8-week Mastermind Intensive, Quick Start, and gain the support of expert coaches. We’ll help you stay focused, erase resistance and overwhelm, and take action to earn more money. Get in here!
