It’s So Easy to Give Up
Last night I went to see the widely acclaimed movie, The Pursuit of Happyness. Staring Will Smith as Chris Gardner, the movie showed one man’s determination and devotion to succeed by any means necessary.
I won’t go into a detailed explanation of the movie, let’s save that for when you go and see the movie. But one thing that I really learned from the movie was that “it’s so easy to give up.”
It’s easy for you to give up and stop trying to pursue your dreams, we see that happening everyday with our friends who talk about business but never start one, we see it with our business partners who quit after 2 months into the venture, and we see it with ourselves when we give up on our ideas and return to a 9 to 5 job for “safety and comfort.”
But you want to know what’s hard? It’s hard to push through the obstacles. It’s hard to stay focused and determined when it feels like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. It’s hard investing so much time and energy into a venture when you aren’t being financially compensated, especially when you have bills to pay.
The Pursuit of Happyness underscores the fundamental difference between the entrepreneur who has what it takes to make it and the one who simply can’t cut it. That difference is called: Determination.
If there’s one thing that I learned about entrepreneurship is that if you aren’t hungry enough, then you better pack up and go home. You guys know what I’m talking about when I say hunger, right? You know, that type of hunger that makes you want to succeed no matter what, the type of hunger that makes you go on even when the world below you seems to be falling apart, and the type of hunger that allows you to dismiss all of the naysayers who try hold you back and keep you a part of the status-quo.
Chris Gardner used that sort of hunger to propel him out of a life of poverty and hardship. He never gave up. He did what he had to do to keep going and to keep the wheels rolling on his plans to become a successful entrepreneur. His unwavering motivation and determination paid off in dividends that changed the life of his family forever.
As young entrepreneurs, we each have to find the Chris Gardner within. There are going to be times when we’ll want to pack up and call it a day. Those will be the days that will define you as an entrepreneur. If you surrender to those obstacles, then you may not have the strength to pursue a life of entrepreneurship, but if you transcend over and over again in the face of stress, problems, and disarray, then you’re heading in the right direction to becoming a successful entrepreneur – someone who can change the world one day.
Fellow entrepreneurs, stay hungry, stay motivated, and keep your mind focused on your goals. Don’t let the obstacles slow you down, just jump over them.
5 Comments
Avi
December 27th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
Hey David,
Enjoyed your post again. To make it you have to be all the things you said and just to add another word to it, resilient. You have to be willing to fail and get back up again. To respond to changes.
Nick
December 27th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
Hey David -
Great post. I’m going through these same type of feelings right now with my current online endeavor. You have grandiose dreams going into it but when you see that the product isn’t an instant success, you start to have your doubts. Needless to say, I plan on making my service into a great success
-Nick
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William
December 27th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
Very true article David and I can’t wait to see “The Pursuit of Happyness.”
The rap group 3 Six Mafia said “it’s hard out here for a Pimp,” but I think it’s hard out here for a young entrepreneur!
You will have a whole host of encounters on the road of entrepreneurship; Heartaches, failures, set-backs, fakers, people who renigg on their words, crooked business partners with sneaky intentions, haters, family members who want you to take a different route, corporate recruiters and the list just goes on and on!
However despite all this you have to take a lickin’ and just keep on tickin’ like a Rolex.
Let no thing, situation, man or woman stand between you and greatness. You just got to believe in your heart that BETTER DAYS ARE COMING! Good job.
David Askaripour
December 27th, 2006 at 11:56 pm
Avi: Great advice. Yes, being resilient is definitely a factor of success. If you can’t continue on after a failure, then it’s going to be hard to find success.
Nick: That’s the attitude! No matter what, you just have to keep on moving along. If you stay focused and determined, you’re bound to see things starting to go your way.
William: Excellent advice! Yeah dude, like you said earlier today: being an entrepreneur is like being on a rollercoaster filled with ups and downs and I truly believe that if you stick with entrepreneurship and keep your head in the game long enough, that you’ll start to encounter a lot more ups than downs.
Thanks for your comments everyone!
Mind Petals: Young Entrepreneur Network » Blog Archive » Bring Out the Hustler from Within
December 29th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
[...] Going back to the great article that David wrote earlier this week on Wednesday entitled, “It’s So Easy to Give Up,” you better know that Chris Gardner was a hustler! [...]
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