Here's a story for the entrepreneurs among us:

A man meets a guru in the road. The man asks the guru, "Which way is success?"

The bearded sage does not speak but points to a place off in the distance.

The man, thrilled by the prospect of quick and easy success, rushes off in the direction the sage has indicated. Suddenly, there comes a loud "Splat!!!"

Eventually, the man limps back, tattered and stunned, assuming he must have misinterpreted the message. He repeats his question to the guru, who again points silently in the same direction.

The man obediently walks off once more. This time the splat is deafening, and when the man crawls back, he is bloody, broken, tattered, and irate. "I asked you which way is success," he screams at the guru. "I followed the direction you indicated. And all I got was splatted! No more of this pointing! Talk!"

Only then does the guru speak, and what he says is this: "Success is that way. Just a little after the splat."

It is incredibly challenging to pursue an entrepreneurial dream until it becomes real. Almost everything appears to be working against us—the marketplace is not receptive, our emotional resources fall short of sustaining us, our pockets are empty long before we cross the finish line, someone beats us to the punch and knocks the wind right out of our sails.

Despite these odds, certain people are able to persist in the face of inordinate challenge to wrest success from the clutches of likely failure. What sets these people apart from the vast majority who nurture a dream but lack the fortitude to make it real?

I think you can boil the differences down to three key elements: passion, flexibility and tenacity.

Passion is the glowing coal in the fire that has been guided into a raging blaze. Every successful person I have ever met has a fire in his belly that cannot be extinguished. He taps into this intensity for energy, purpose, direction and confidence. You can't go to your local supermarket, shell out some money and load up on passion—that's the bad news, but we already knew that. The good news is that inside of each of us is a smoldering ember—we've just got to find it, tap into it and fan it into a blaze.

Where should you look to discover this ember? Look to what you love. Look to what you've tabled as the years have passed in the name of responsibility. Look at what you do effortlessly and with a smile. There may be a couple of glowing coals stored deep inside of you that need just a bit of oxygen to heat up.

If you're having trouble locking in on your own passion ember, you may need some help to shake you out of your doldrums. Invite friends to brainstorm with you, do something that scares you or that is out of character—public speaking, belly dancing just to get the energy moving! Whatever you do, don't give up until you've found a fire to fan. That spark of excitement and commitment lies in each of us waiting to be uncovered.

Flexibility ensures that our passion doesn't blind us to the need for improvements, alterations, even entire redesigns of our cherished ideas. Successful entrepreneurs, like great tennis players, recognize the ball isn't going to come to them. They keep their knees bent, their racquet centered and their eyes open—their movements are efficient and the odds of connecting with the ball are increased.

I can't say enough about the importance of flexibility and error correction. It is very easy for us to lose all perspective when we've got an idea and we're trying to turn it into a business. We can become so blinded or bull-headed that we'll go down with the ship before we even realize we're drowning. I have worked with many clients who need to step back from how they 'thought' their idea would work and go back to the drawing board.

If your idea isn't taking root, dig up the plant, check the soil, try different nutrients and fertilizers. Look carefully at what is growing—are all the branches healthy or is there some dead wood that needs to be cleared away? Maybe your energies are split between more than one idea that you are trying to grow? If this is the case, it is almost always a sure fire recipe for disappointment: choose one dream to follow and give it all you've got.

Tenacity is what turns dreams into reality. Most of us can commit to a project when we see consistent progress and when the challenge is manageable. The problem is most entrepreneurial dreams run into BIG obstacles that stop most of us completely. If you find your focus and commitment slacking in the face of difficulty, you may be committed to something other than the success of your idea. Reexamine what you are truly committed to accomplishing and why.

Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, "All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing."

Edison replied very confidently, "Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We now that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb."

If you are struggling to grow a business and failure and challenge have become constant companions, ask yourself:

"What's beyond the splat?"

About My Coaching:
As a personal, professional and executive coach, it is my goal to bring dynamic leadership, a compassionate heart, and powerful insight to the lives of my coaching clients. I work to help clients identify and pursue what is deeply meaningful in their lives, and collaborate with them to transform vague yearnings or explicit goals into realities.

You can count on me to challenge you, inspire you and support you. I will be a relentless advocate of your dreams and ambitions and help you take bold steps with your life.

My Background:
I am an optimist with a penchant for finding solutions to complex problems in unexpected places. The daily opportunity to use my pragmatism, smarts, humor and heart to help people create lives they truly love gives me tremendous joy.

After graduating from Princeton University, I spent almost 20 years as a feature film, video and CD ROM producer guiding projects to success. By the late 1990's, I decided to channel my action-oriented approach to life into coaching, with the express goal of helping people live lives by design and not default. I completed my professional training at The Coaches Training Institute in San Rafael, California.

Call me at (310) 393-8082 for a free 1/2-hour coaching session to explore how coaching may benefit you.

Contact Information:
Dina Silver, CPCC
361 21st Street
Santa Monica, CA 90402
Phone: 310.393.8082
Fax: 310.395.7999
dinasil@earthlink.net