Stubborn, much?

I love this quote. I’ve always been told that I am stubborn as though it is a negative thing, but this Josh Shipp quote puts a positive light on that stubbornness. For entrepreneurs especially, stubbornness is necessary. Well, most of the time.

Stubbornness paid off when I insisted I was moving from the midwest to Boston after college, despite naysayers telling me I’d be a “little fish in a big pond.” Stubbornness paid off when I insisted there was a better way to run a marketing agency with senior talent and everyone said I didn’t have enough experience to make it happen (my agency is turning 21 this year, so…!). Stubbornness paid off when I fought a legal battle and insisted on taking it all the way to court because I knew in my heart that I was right. (I won, twice.) Stubbornness is paying off as I listen to my heart and my body to train again, instead of the doctor who told me I wouldn’t likely run another marathon after breaking my foot in three places last summer (three months into training for the Chicago Marathon – heartbreaking!).

Using stubbornness as a way to get where you need to be is a good thing. It takes chutzpa to get what you want in this world. No one is here to do you any favors. Without a stubborn will to make new things happen, we would never see change. Change and growth are what makes the world great. We need stubborn people.

Certainly, we have to know when to not be stubborn – like when the new startup isn’t working and it’s time to pack it up, when Mom and Dad tell us they’ve had enough of our ‘tude, or when we’re fighting with our spouse over something really not worth fighting over and we know we just want to be right. You learn to recognize when stubbornness will get you into more trouble than it’s worth. If it isn’t helping you persevere to something more positive, let it go.

Happy Monday – go forth and persevere, my stubborn friends!