It Ain't Over Till It's Over: This Is Not Your Rock Bottom Moment
No matter how devastating it feels like in the moment, and regardless of all the odds that seem to be stacked against you, none of it signifies that it's curtains for whatever you set out to do.
Ever felt like you've reached a dead end?
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Perhaps in your life, or maybe in your entrepreneurial dreams. Maybe it's because you have encountered what appears to be an insurmountable obstacle on the road to achieving your goals. Or perhaps it's because the powers that be have thrown a spanner into the works, and essentially put a halt to everything that you had going on. (Thanks for nothing, COVID-19.)
No matter what the reason may be, such situations can make us feel like we've succumbed to failure despite all of our best efforts and contingencies, and that we've reached the end of the road for our ambition.
But if you do find yourself in such a situation, at that seeming rock bottom of despair and darkness, hold on for a moment, and turn your attention to what Dubai-based serial entrepreneur Samer Hamadeh told me during an interview for this month's issue of Entrepreneur Middle East.
"Nothing is the end of the world, ever," Hamadeh said. "Even when it feels like it, it absolutely is not." I remember looking at Hamadeh quite quizzically when he said this- that doesn't make sense, I thought to myself then.
But after pondering on his words for a moment or two, I realized that Hamadeh had actually made a deeply profound point that all of us need to remember, especially when we feel like, well, it's the end of the world.
"Whatever wall you find yourself hitting, or whatever dire situation you think you're in, you might think that it's the worst thing ever," Hamadeh went on. "But know that it is not the worst thing ever."
Because, according to Hamadeh, if whatever stalemate you found yourself in was actually "the end of the world," well, then you wouldn't really be here worrying about it. And therefore, if you're still here, your story simply cannot be over.
Maybe you just need to look for a different way to go about it. Or perhaps it's a matter of just rejigging and rehashing the dreams you had for yourself in the first place.
But no matter how devastating it feels like in the moment, and regardless of all the odds that seem to be stacked against you, none of it signifies that it's curtains for whatever you set out to do.
On the contrary, it may just be heralding the start of something new.
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