 advice on the "backend"
Stealing web jargon for a minute, there are two pieces to a "dynamic" database driven website. The front end is what you see, the pages, links, etc. while the "backend" is the nuts and gears like the mysql database and scripts that make everything work.
Likewise, your life has a "front end" and "backend". Let's call the front end the "tasky stuff". The education, specific steps to take, advice to follow, people to call, etc. This is important stuff but overindulgence in this area can lead to the dreaded 'analysis paralysis'. So let's move onto the "backend". The backend in this case is YOU. what makes YOU tick, your values, style, tendencies, etc. My thoughts are that you look to this venture as something you're going to do, period. I read that you have become discouraged and quite in the past, so this time, simply eliminate the option of quitting from your "list of options". When you get discouraged just keep it on the burner, that's all. It's not about being "grit and determined", its simply about not actually throwing in the towel.
I am 41 now, and started one of my businesses when I was 22. I was working in a kitchen, cooking and found it so miserable, I started a lawncare business, as I'd dropped out of college, I knew that was the only thing I could succeed at without a degree (that was my thinking at the time)- It was horrible. Dirty, hot, 20 year old equipment, my $1,000 or so I'd saved up wiped out in 2 weeks, I just said, that's it, I'm quitting. And then I just "let it be", I didn't actually quit, I just felt the feeling of being done with it and knew I didn't want that. Then the phone rang, I got a good account that I HAD to service every week and the rest is history. Now it brings me in 50k a year and I work 20-25 hours a week during the summer and only when it snows during the winter and have one solid employee and 4 subs. It was really about being almost "dense" and not quitting when everything felt like it was time to quit!!
Hope this helps
Ken
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