Learn from Rita

Rita has the secret to your business success.

Thousands of business books profess to have the secret. Workshops are built around that premise. And then there are business gurus. Lord, there are so many so-called gurus.

And then there is Rita.

• She has never been in business.
• She has never read a book on business.
• She never attended a business workshop and certainly has never listened to a guru.

But, if you're like Rita, you will succeed in business, and in life.

Rita personifies where there is a will, there is a way.

Six hours after hernia surgery, one dramatic fall to the pavement, one shaky walk with support on both sides, my 85-year-old mom had to go to the bathroom.

I helped her off the couch.nAmerica’s Got Talent applauded in the background.

She collapsed back on the couch, unable to support her own slight body weight.

She did not look upset. In fact, she looked puzzled. This is not how she did life.

I suggested I get an office chair and she could wheel herself to the bathroom.

Office chairs don’t have brakes and on a hard surface, a chair could go on a runaway. A chair could turn into a race car.

She sat quietly thinking.

“I could crawl.”

“Your knees will hurt.”

But, I thought, if you do fall, you are closer to the floor and won’t hurt yourself.

She lowered herself to the floor. Kneeling upright, she teeter-tottered toward her goal.

The area rug ended. She clutched the “wheelchair” and rolled, still on her knees, to the bathroom.

She grabbed the bathroom vanity and hoisted herself up onto her goal with a sigh of satisfaction.

Oh, my, she should have been an entrepreneur — that kind of determination would have really got her places.

That determination always got her where she wanted to go.

Still on her knees, she crawled back into the living room.

Self-reliant. Resourceful. Confident.

My mom.

America’s Got Talent gave her a standing O.

One of the challenges many entrepreneurs face is overcoming self-doubt. Lacking confidence in ourselves and our abilities can slow an entrepreneur, even to the point of wanting to give up. Being absolutely determined that I could succeed, I would succeed was critical to my success.

As a new entrepreneur, when I doubted myself, I called people who believed in me.

Suppliers, clients and even former staff would remind me that I was succeeding and I could go to greater heights.

Further along my entrepreneurship path, I connected with four other entrepreneurs and we met monthly to discuss our businesses. We set goals for the next month and held each accountable, And if something came up between our meetings, we could call and get advice.

These two systems gave me clarity and reminded me of the tasks I needed to complete and the bigger vision of why I was in business. And the self-doubt diminished; the determination strengthened.

Rita didn’t have self-doubt. When all else failed, she crawled. Will you?

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.