Jenny and her Entrepreneurial Journey-Week 7

Readers, Hi.

It’s a race, isn’t it? A marathon. Even trying to get a business off the ground. Even trying to get it off the ground while maintaining balance within a family. Or off the ground while juggling the responsibilities of working it already. Or while struggling within oneself about any day to day trials that may be hitting you. It’s definitely a marathon.

In the past weeks we’ve been sprinting through the Entrepreneur Bootcamp. We’ve grabbed the flags of knowledge along the route like bottles of water and wet towels to cool the marathon runner in the heat of the run. We’ve found a pace and gotten our groove, getting back and forth to Bootcamp classes and meetings with mentors like pro athletes, pacing ourselves and clearing stumbles, even jumping a hurdle or two of unexpected obstacles in our path, in our case things like car issues and prior commitments and babies needing us or whatever it is.

But there comes a plateau and a rough patch in every marathon. Sometimes more than one. A moment or two when the runner thinks, “I am exhausted. Why am I doing this?” And these thoughts come while the legs keep pumping, while the heart rate is high and the breath comes labored but still paced.

This is where the Goal comes into play. This is when the Goal begins to speak louder in the consciousness: The Goal takes form, is remembered, appears even if it’s not in view and takes on color and shape and meaning, probably the same meaning that made the runner dream of it in the first place. Probably the same meaning that caused the runner to turn that dream into reality but taking the seemingly mundane steps of making a phone call, filling out an application, interviewing with organizers about passion and commitment, and finally signing up...to run towards that Goal.

It is the same thing here with this Entrepreneur Bootcamp. It’s a rough patch now, with lots of self-evaluation and a battle against exhaustion. And it is only the apparition of the Goal that will make each of us continue on until we reach it.

While our legs keep moving, our minds need to pause a second and allow the Goal to form: Is it financial independence? Is it the pride of ownership? Is it the proving to someone (yourself) that you can complete a process, that you won’t quit? Is it a promise you’ve made and you want to absolutely keep?

What is your Goal? Say it out loud if you need to, in order to give it shape and color and realness while you run this race towards it. It can be rough. But the end will be worth it, no matter what that end is.
AARP is proud to collaborate with Rocky Mountain MicroFinance to offer scholarships for those 50 plus to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities.