If you\u2019ve met me or seen my picture, you may have noticed that I am blessed with hair that\u2019s straight as a ruler. Unfortunately, when I was a little girl, Toni home permanents came up with a solution\u2014Tonette for children.<\/p>\n
After it appeared on the market, my mother enthusiastically administered this smelly monstrosity to my hair at regular intervals. When I would protest, she\u2019d remind me, \u201cYou must suffer to be beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
It became one of my mother’s favorite mantras and I suspect the message spilled over into other areas of life. How dare I feel proud about any accomplishment that came easily?<\/p>\n
While I no longer believe that suffering is a necessity when it comes to personal achievement, I do know that worthwhile endeavors usually involve a challenge\u2014or several.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, I suspect that too many of us continue to make things harder than necessary when we\u2019re going for a dream. \u00a0I also suspect that we’re often unaware of those behaviors that slow us down and add drudgery.<\/p>\n
How can we be sure we\u2019re making it harder than it needs to be?\u00a0Here are five surefire ways that can burden the entrepreneur\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Avoid investing in ourselves.<\/strong> Anyone who starts a business signs up for a learning adventure, but those who never bother to attend a seminar or travel to a conference are making their own success a low budget priority.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just information that needs to be acquired. As author Earnie Larsen points out, \u201cYou can\u2019t outperform your own self-image.\u201d<\/p>\n For most of us, acquiring a healthy self-image requires an investment of time, money and assistance from pros.<\/p>\n 2. Pamper our excuses.<\/strong> We\u2019ve all got them and when we repeat them often enough, they begin to feel welcome.<\/p>\n That\u2019s only a short step away from believing them. The moment we do that, our excuses\u00a0assume a position of power.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to move ahead when our excuses have lodged themselves around our ankles.<\/p>\n 3. Never ask for help.<\/strong> In a recent post, Seth Godin said, \u201cToo often, businesses (and freelancers) focus on making it on their own. In fact, the secret of being indispensable is making it together<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Colorado Free University founder John Hand believed that for everyone who has a problem, someone in the community has the solution. Whether the community is geographic or virtual, we make it harder for ourselves if we fail to find those helpful resources and listen to their advice.<\/p>\n 4. Ignore the successful.<\/strong> The world is full of people who are willing to share their experiences, lessons and techniques.<\/p>\n The best way to keep from following in their footsteps is to avoid putting yourself in their presence to begin with, but should you find yourself in the same room, use it as an exercise to compare yourself to them rather than learn from them.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 5. Scorn inspiration.<\/strong> One of the best kept secrets around is that inspiration is available to all of us, but it needs to be cultivated. In order to do that, we need to know what inspires us\u2014and take ourselves to those people and places on a regular basis.<\/p>\n As Mary Pipher observes, “Inspiration is very polite. She knocks quietly and if \u00a0we don’t answer, goes elsewhere.”<\/p>\n Inspiration, even at its quietest, helps us to feel more brilliant, more creative, more capable. When we undervalue it, we rob ourselves of its gifts.<\/p>\n It\u2019s so much harder to succeed if we haven\u2019t invited inspiration along as a companion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019ve met me or seen my picture, you may have noticed that I am blessed with hair that\u2019s straight as a ruler. Unfortunately, when I was a little girl, Toni home permanents came up with a solution\u2014Tonette for children. After it appeared on the market, my mother enthusiastically administered this smelly monstrosity to my…<\/p>\n