A few years ago, a Swiss skydiver, Felix Baumgartner, spent two hours being lofted up to 128,000 feet by a balloon and was standing in the doorway of his capsule about to jump ...
Do you follow your dreams like Felix did? He took a real leap of faith from 128,000 feet
Clad in only a next-generation spacesuit to protect him from a lack of pressure and to let him breathe, he let go of the handrails and plummeted toward earth, reaching supersonic speeds of over 800 miles per hour.
I held my breath as the long range cameras showed him spinning violently as he reached the speed of sound, but after 2,500 jumps, he was able to right himself, eventually opening his canopy and landed as delicately as a butterfly in the New Mexico desert.
"He fell to his knees and raised his hands in triumph. What an achievement!"
When Felix first said he wanted to set the highest jump record, people probably thought he was mad. Only the American military had done it before and it hadn't gone that well. But he believed it was possible and got the backing of a major global brand to help him, as well as the support of the guy who held the current record, retired Air Force Colonel Joe Kittinger.
The same can be said for budding entrepreneurs and business owners - you have to believe in yourself, don't you? You have to follow your dreams.
If you haven't started your business yet, then there's going to be a lot of doubters telling you that jumping out of the corporate world and free falling on your own is a stupid thing to do. Don't listen to them!
If you run your own business and are having a difficult time right now and need to make sacrifice after sacrifice to keep your business going ... then just keep going! Everyone is in the same boat in this economic climate and you need to surround yourself with people who can support and encourage you whilst times are hard.
"It'll all be ok in the end ... If it isn't ok then it isn't the end!"
Every business starts with a fantastic idea, a belief in yourself and your abilities, then a craving to do it better than your employers can. You feel like you're standing on the top of the world and then you take a leap of faith and set up on your own. That's the moment you follow your dreams and it's an exquisite feeling, isn't it? Do you remember?
But unless you have a lot of savings - or massive financial backing - then you are probably going to tumble out of control for a while as you grow your client base to the point of financially breaking even.
However, once you right yourself and are back in control then you can enjoy the ride until you reach the ground and have a firm footing to launch the next growth phase of your business. How high will you aim? For the stars hopefully!
the dream - looks amazing doesn't it?
the reality - not as easy as they thought!
Ask any entrepreneur or business owner and they will tell you that running your own business is a lonely and scary thing sometimes, and it takes a lot of time and effort to get anywhere.
However, if you have total belief in yourself and your abilities, know your stuff, have clearly defined goals and, of course, never, ever give up ... you can follow your dreams because you know you will be a success, yes?
Personally, since setting up my own business in 2011, I've had to deal with two brain aneurysms and a near-fatal run-in with Cancer followed by a massive depression. But I'm still here, my business is still growing and I will achieve the goals I set myself ... albeit a few years behind schedule.
Just like Felix, the brave man who jumped from the highest altitude ever and broke the speed of sound wearing nothing but a spacesuit, you too will land like a dainty butterfly and punch the air in victory! Felix had the courage to face his fears and stay true to his dream, so how about you?
Foodie, sci-fi nut, cat lover, brain aneurysm & cancer survivor, countryside dweller, SaaS entrepreneur, developer and networker.
Published my first website in 1993 for the Open University and am highly experienced with Windows Servers, SQL Server, HTML, Classic ASP, JavaScript, and CSS.
I've also worked as a professional photographer in Los Angeles, USA and been a vision mixer and producer for live television in my time.
I live in a village north of Milton Keynes with my two cats, Baggins and Gimley, and a large planted aquarium full of unruly tropical fish.
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