One of the challenges of trying to do something you have never done before is dealing with a lack of results.
While I am not religious, this is the one area of life where I think faith becomes critically important.
If you don’t believe you can achieve something then how are you going to continue striving for it?
Faith can be a precarious thing. The longer you go without results, the harder it is to keep the faith.
This is especially true if you are mixing in a good dosage of rational thinking too.
As a rational person you won’t keep doing the same thing forever just because you believe one day it will finally deliver a result.
I mix my faith in a process towards a result with rational awareness of reality.
If something doesn’t work for long enough then there comes a time to change.
This is when things can be challenging because you will feel the emotions of “failure” (or lack of results so far…) fighting against the belief that if you keep trying things something will eventually work.
Improvement Feeds Belief
Signs of improvement are vital, even if they are only the tiniest little changes.
If you believe in climbing the success ladder and Kaizen (gradual systemic improvement), then any sign of progression is a big deal.
It shows that you are doing something right and if you keep doing it, more good things will happen.
This is the jolt you need to keep the faith strong. It boosts your motivation and can carry you for weeks and months.
I don’t believe in blind faith when it comes to business results. You need to see progress. If you don’t, there comes a time to change.
Yaro
Yaro,
I just finished listing to your podcast with Navid, which was awesome btw.
You bring up an interesting topic, like Kenny Rodgers of old would say, “You gotta know when to hold em & know when to fold em…” But the little encouragments along the way (and our ability to see them) can be the catalyst to keep us going. Just like reading a post like this.
Thx Yaro //
Robb
Thanks Robb, I’m glad you enjoyed my interview with Navid, he definitely took us down a long journey!
Yaro
Yes, and that’s what made it so intriguing— to really hear your entrepreneurial journey.
RG
Faith brings about reality if channeled appropriately. Blind faith would surely be misleading if not missed with rationality. Somethings would work for rationality. I think I tilt towards your argument Yaro. Business results answers to practical faith!
In kingged.com,the content marketing and syndication website, this post was shared. More so, I left the above comment.
Sunday – kingged.com contributor
http://kingged.com/blind-faith-does-not-apply-to-business/
Another perspective is to think of building a company as a series of experiments. Good design and effective feedback are important
This is a great article. I’m no entrepreneur but I still like the way you put it.
Interesting thoughts. As you mentioned, progress is the biggest motivator of all.
I still remember when I got my first sale. I thought to myself “wow, this actually works!”
At the same time, I also know when to quit. If I am running a PPC campaign and I don’t see the results I am looking for I definitely know when to either stop or make adjustments.
I think that knowing when to move on can be the most difficult part. It’s easy to fall in love with a business idea and not want to let it go.
Sometimes we just have to separate logic from emotion.
Separating logic from emotion is possibly one of the most important skills any person can develop.
It’s also possibly one of the hardest skills to master, especially in the heat of the moment!
Thanks for your input Randy.
Yaro
I think progress is critical particularly before you make your first dollar. I find outlining what steps lead to a sale (first like on Facebook, first website opt-in) are good markers you’re on the right track.
Great post. Work without faith almost always leads to failure. After all, nothing great was ever accomplished without belief.
Great post, that is such a wonderful perspective. I had never thought about mixing faith and rational thought like this but I definitely believe that I do this in my business. Thanks for sharing!