#471: When Stars Stop Shining

Sometimes…you just have to BELIEVE extra hard.

It was July 6, 2009, and…

It was fifteen days before I was to start peddling a bike…yep, a bike… ocean-to-ocean across the United States on what I named the Extra Mile America Tour.

My vision was to create events in 21 cities along the Pacific to the Atlantic route where I would interview 200 inspiring people who had been identified as having gone the extra mile. Then at the end of the ride, the plan was to give $10,000 to the people whose stories gave my soul goosebumps.

BUT…

Fifteen days before putting my butt on the bike seat and getting those two tires rolling across America, things looked…extra bleak.

Below is a truth-revealing email I received from one of the KEY people working with me to get the scheduled TWO-month-long event off the ground.

The email:

“Listen, Shawn, I don’t want to deflate your bicycle tires, but I’ve got to say that I am very concerned about the viability of the Tour at this stage. The fact that you don’t have the sponsors you’d hoped for — and got so many NOs in a row — well, I think it’s something to look at.

Sometimes the universe gives you signs so that you can alter your course and take another road. This could mean postponing the tour and doing it when you have the support you really need/want. I know timing is a big piece of this, but I am seriously concerned about your well-being and ability to do this with so little support. I have no idea how much money you have spent thus far. And I know this is not your main motivator or concern. So, I am asking you to consider what I am saying before that press release goes out. No one would fault you for postponing and regrouping at this stage. And I would of course help you do it gracefully, leaving the possibilities open for another road. I am not abandoning you, Shawn. But my gut told me to address this with you before it’s too late. Please consider what I’ve said and let’s talk in the morning.”

My belief didn’t waver.
I went for it.

Success ripples from the event are still reverberating.

What I’ve learned over a lifetime of chasing entrepreneurial dreams is that achieving success is far LESS about whether the stars fall into perfect alignment…and far MORE about whether we have the courage to keep going when the sky turns dark and we can’t see the stars at all.

Believe.

Believe in you.
Believe in what you want to do.
Believe in where you want to go.

It’s that belief that has the power to carry you through the dark.