One of the lessons almost all the entrepreneurs here have expressed is: it’s hard. People will tell you you’re not able to do it or think your idea to change the world is outrageous (it is – that’s the point). You’ll test your prototype and watch it fail. Your own creation – the product of your brain, heart, and soul – will crash and burn, just like the time before. You’ll pick yourself back up just to watch a train slam you back into the trenches once again. You’ll be dazzled into a dizziness by a doozy of a problem. Yet people do this… for a living… 24/7. Some may call it masochistic, others insanity. Entrepreneurs call it fun. But even they need some inspiration, so here’s some resilience-related quote-tastic inspiration from some people in the house (and why that individual chose that quote):

It always seems impossible until it's done.

- Mandela

“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again,” said Mandela. As an aspiring social entrepreneur, I should keep going and push the boundaries of what's possible.

There will be moments where you are in a deep rut. Things won't make sense, you won't know who are you and you won't know where you're going. You will be utterly lost. If you find yourself in one of those moments, roll around in it and let the moment consume you. That's when you will grow.

- Anonymous Personal Mentor

A personal mentor told me that quote when I was getting ready to go to college, and it's given me a way to be reflective about the situations I find myself in. It pushes me to use failure to learn, use sadness to be happier and use confusion to find a path.

So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Mark Twain

Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.

- Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

Both quotes really push me to move outside of my comfort zone in working on anything, whether that's a venture or another project. I think that the quotes definitely remind me of the possibilities with each project I undertake and keep me motivated to keep moving forward!