The dangerous myth that keeps us playing small

There's a dangerous myth that says that ‘the harder the struggle the more glorious the triumph’

You know the story. The penniless woman scrapes together what she can. She rejects the easy choice of getting a job and goes through the trials and tribulations of setting up a business. After many long years of perseverance, she succeeds. Her story becomes a badge of honour.

But that doesn’t have to be the story.

Let's give up the idea that building a business must be a struggle. I think it does us all a disservice and some may get disheartened and give up before it starts to get good.

Yes, there will be hard times and times when you're busy getting your business up and running. There will likely be setbacks.

But we start a business to do what we enjoy and to build a life that we love. 

If we're forever looking at our business as a burden and a struggle we may never be satisfied, whatever we manage to achieve.

So let's give up the word struggle and find one that fits it better. 

Can we think of building a business as an adventure instead? Or is there a better word you could use?

We always need to be careful of the words we use to describe anything, even in our own heads, because psychological research shows that words have tremendous power over how we feel and act. When we think that everything will be a struggle, that is what we look for and that is what we find.

So let’s start looking for adventure and courage. Let’s focus on the solution and not the pain.

Why can’t we work hard and succeed with joy and fun and laughter? I for one will be endeavouring to do that. Join me.