Secrets of World-Class Athletes and Entrepreneurs

Jan, a highly successful entrepreneur, endured tremendous hardships throughout life, including both of her parents dying before she was 6 years old. Later, in corporate America, she hit her head on the glass ceiling early — being a woman without a college degree. So Jan started her own business, building it to 40 employees. Things were going well until her company exposed a Fortune 500 company’s unethical business practice and wanting to cover it up. In their cover up this company attacked and destroyed Jan’s company.

Never the victim, Jan started over with a new idea and rebuilt her company to 70 employees, this time offering different services. But years later she again faced adversity — she caught her CFO embezzling and the police caught him flashing. Then her chief technology officer turned out to be a feared rapist. Regarding all her adversity, Jan said with a laugh: “TC, you can’t make this s*it up.”

When I asked Jan how she stayed positive and kept going forward, she told me this story: “When my parents died, I was adopted by my mother’s best friend and her husband, who were farmers. I remember standing with my adopted dad watching a hail storm completely destroy our corn crop, which was about 4 inches high. When the storm was over, my dad just walked along the rows of destroyed corn and said, ‘I guess we’ll have to replant.’ I just live my life the way I learned on the farm.”

Neither Jan nor her father ever felt victimized; they took responsibility for creating positive outcomes. They didn’t waste their energy blaming; they took positive action … and replanted when necessary.

“The evasion of responsibility is the major cause of most people’s frustrations and defeats.”

–Ayn Rand, author, philosopher

Please leave you thoughts and comments.  I look forward to them.

Dr. TC North