When You Want to Quit, Remember This

This concept is so critical I clawed my brain for a half-decent title for this post. How can I put into words the mixture of joy and suck every entrepreneur eats daily? And why on earth do entrepreneurs keep going even when having a 9 to 5 would be 10 times easier and more predicable.

Mission. That's why. Entrepreneurs have this ability to create a preferred future in their mind that does not exist in reality…yet. And that future is so undeniably real to them, that they endure unbelievable disappointment and exhaustion, even when everything is falling apart.

And they keep going. Where does this come from? A deep-hearted conviction that this was what they were called to do.

If you don't carry this conviction, you are going to struggle to hang on when sales slump. When a funnel doesn't work. When your best employee quits. When your video gets 13 views.

Every single challenge is a gift to you and your future. Without it, you would never become the kind of man who can handle extreme success. I started as a full time entrepreneur 10 years ago, made 10s of millions, and watched it all float away in Covid, only to get to start over again.

And I am fully convinced that every obstacle you and I suffer is a necessary blessing to chisel us into the kind of men who can run a fast-growing, successful business.

There is no skipping hell week when you build a business.

The only way you will succeed is if the conviction that you were meant for this runs so deep that instead of problems pushing you off the path, they just increase your devotion and you lock in deeper.

"Am I gonna make it or not?" This question is irrelevant. Your options are simple: win or die.

It's like the general who took his men overseas to fight a superior army. And when his men got out the boats, he burned them. "Men!" he said. "We have two options. We win. Or we die. And they won.

That is why even on days when it absolutely sucks, you're still going because this is who you are. You were meant for this.

Here is the key secret for me, and it comes from one 1 Thessalonians 5:18. What you are about to read is over 2,000 years old, yet as relevant as today's headlines.

"In everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess 5:18).

Really? Give thanks if my wife dies? Yes. Give thanks when I get diagnosed with a terminal disease? Yes. Give thanks when my uncle leaves his wife for another woman? Yes.

How does that make sense?

Paul isn’t telling the Thessalonians to pretend. He’s giving a command, but not a blind one. It’s based on a timeless promise. A promise that makes gratitude always the right response.

How is that possible? Because every single thing in your life does not happen to you but for you. Even though in the moment it can feel unfair, overwhelming, or purposeless, God sees the kind of man He is making of you. And the only way to grow is through the valley of the shadow of death. 

Why should we give thanks in everything, Paul? Paul answers, "For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

If you don’t believe that God is infinitely good—this makes zero sense. If you don’t believe that God is totally sovereign, it makes even less sense.

People ask, "If God is good and powerful, why do bad things happen to good people?"

Here’s a simple response: If God is not perfectly good then how do you decide what is good or evil? Their criticism presupposes an ultimate good standard that everyone is supposed to agree to. That is only possible if God exists. 

But, assuming that God is infinitely good and powerful, when things don’t go our way it would be wise to take on the heart of a child toward a loving and wise parent.  Kids hate timeouts, discipline, waiting. But the parent sees what’s coming. And knows that the pain today builds strength tomorrow.

God is building your character. Always.

Even when your heart is breaking on the surface, there’s a deeper peace underground. A river running strong beneath the pain.

I know because I had to live it. I experienced unbelievable tragedy in my family. It wrecked me. But Psalm 23 became real. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me."

He never said you wouldn’t walk through a valley. He said He’d be with you in it. Jesus promised suffering, persecution, tribulation. But He also promised: "I will be with you."

You might say, "But this doesn’t feel like love. This person hurt me. I lost everything."

Yes, I get it. I’ve been hurt terribly. At one point, I was selling furniture out of my house just to buy groceries. Not a sustainable financial plan.

But even then it was nothing less than the infinite goodness of God because he chiseling me. Freeing me from the inside out.

And when you have that—you become invincible. Because nothing external can touch your internal joy.

People won’t get it. They’ll think you’re faking it. That it’s just religious talk.

But you know if it’s real. When you know Christ, no one can take that from you.

That’s why Paul says: "In everything, give thanks." Even when it sucks.

When you want to quit and you feel like you’re drowning—remember: God is growing your character.

If He led you into this, He will lead you through this.

What about that valley? Might be the very thing that makes you the kind of man who can handle wealth, influence, and impact.

You can't become successful without becoming different. There is no success from A to B without character transformation. Period.

I hear entrepreneurs say, "Have a positive attitude." Okay, but why? What does that even mean if everything’s random and pointless? And who am I thanking? If I get a terminal disease and die a slow painful death and then it’s over, what is there to be thankful for? 

But if I know the gracious and almighty God who is working all things together for good, nothing is disqualified from gratitude. 

So whether things are going amazing or everything is falling apart: you can still say, Thank you.

Because God gets the glory. You get the growth. And that’s the best deal on earth.