You Are The Solution – Stewart Hughes

“I am the only problem I will ever have and I am the only solution.”

 

I thought I would start with this video, which is made from a speech I gave back in 2006. I think the content is still relevant, and the ideas are made so much more vivid by the visual and sound elements that have been added.

This video addresses things we all come across, but I feel the message is particularly relevant for entrepreneurs. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an entrepreneur come up to me and tell me that they literally feel sick to their stomach. I usually just nod and say, “Yes, that’s part of it. But you can’t quit now.” I will often make a point of talking to the spouse of the person to help them understand the same message, so that they can support their partner through this challenging time. If you quit in the “feeling sick stage” you’ll never understand what you could have accomplished had you kept going.

Any difficult change that any of us make in our lives will require us to give up the old self and start something new. People forget this when they see the cars and the wealth that surrounds entrepreneurs. We see the trappings of wealth and assume that these things just happened for them. We assume it was easy. That’s usually not the case. It’s usually not easy or fun. Usually, no one else thinks it’s a good idea. (If they did…they would do it too.)

I’m inspired by the thought of the millions of people across the world who are starting their own businesses or getting through school or becoming a different kind of parent or making any other change in their lives. There is a lot of hope in the idea that you are your only problem. It also means that you are your only solution. You can make choices in a positive direction. Usually all of us know what those choices are. If we don’t, we at least know where to start to find them.

Keep climbing,

Stewart.