It’s not the least bit popular. No one wants to talk about it. Marketing coaches rarely mention it up front. Clients aren’t thrilled to hear about it. It’s not sexy, glamorous, or easy.

 It’s also one of the key principles that every successful coach embraces, every one. What is it?

More than any other key to success, the one that I’ve noticed separates the winners from those who give up, is that nothing comes without hard work.

Even if you’re talented, educated, and credentialed, even if you have a lot of contacts, and even if you’ve spent a ton of money on yourself and your business, none of it will fly without good ‘ole fashioned hard work.

There are several other keys that need to accompany hard work too, such as discipline, focus, and persistence. Funneled through those channels, your work will bear fruit and prosper.

When you’re launching or growing a business, it isn’t unreasonable to expect to spend 10-20 hours a week marketing, usually more if you’re launching a program or a product. It isn’t temporary, either. To continue to thrive, hard work always needs to be an essential principle for every entrepreneur.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! Some people equate hard work with drudgery, or doing something you hate. It doesn’t have to be that way at all. When you’re working hard for yourself, it’s a lot more fun than working hard for someone else!

In fact, there are a whole lot of things that make your hard work on your business fun. So while you’re getting used to the idea, here are five things to think about that will help you get excited about it:

1.    “Everything I’m doing benefits me and my own business, not someone else’s.”

2.    “I get to be creative and do whatever I want, not what someone else thinks I should do.”

3.    “I get to set my own hours (this is a biggie!!). I don’t have to ask anyone else for time off to do the things that are important to me. I get to decide when I want to put in my hard work.

4.    I can decide where I want to work. At home, or in my own office that I chose and decorated, or at the beach if I want! I can sit in front of the fireplace in my jammies if I feel like it. Yay! 

5.    I can choose who I want to work with. No more working with people who aren’t a fit for me, whether it’s clients or employees. I get to surround myself with people I resonate with!

It’s worth it. Just don’t forget–you don’t get that great stuff for free. You’ve got to put in the work 😉

“Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.”

-Sam Ewing