The achilles' heel of online success is the dangling carrot called breakthrough. Whether it is a light bulb idea of how to solve a seemingly unsurmountable problem, an exciting discovery, or a major shift in direction. The end result of a sweet breakthrough is success (I’ll let you fill in the blank for defining success on your terms...but you get the idea).

Truth be told...breakthroughs happen all the time, every day in various degrees on personal and business levels. The opposite side of the coin...and there is always another side to the same coin...is grit.

Some of the biggest victories are won by grit. By grit, I don’t mean hard work although hard work is a key component to success. True grit is a single-minded focus, desire, attitude manifested in the form of action that does not waiver even in the face of utter defeat. A prisoner who has no grit will create an escape plan, revise it and wait for the right opportunity. A prisoner with grit will use a spoon to create a tunnel through concrete one inch at a time.

The same is true for your online business.

You want your online business to be profitable. Profitable to you may mean ‘spending’ money, ‘pay your bill(s)’ money, ‘quit your job’ money or another definition. The lure of breakthroughs is the instant gratification and immediate confirmation that your actions create the outcome(s) you wanted. Grit is tougher because there is no mental/psychic or tangible payoff associated with a new discovery or solving a tough problem. Perhaps you're convinced that you are failing, that you will never succeed, that you will not reach your financial goal(s) of your online business.

How to win an inch at a time:
1. Set small goals. Break your big goal down into small goals. Don’t confuse setting small goals in pursuit of your big goal as aiming for mediocrity. The human spirit does not respond to mediocrity. Make sure your big goal(s) are big enough. Create a list of things you want to accomplish before you die. Let’s say your goal is to be your own boss and to have your own business. Now fast forward to the last day of your life. The two words you don’t want to utter on the last day of your life is “I regret...".

2. Don’t be desperate or stressed to see tangible results as soon as possible. You’ll be more likely swayed by the new shiny object coming into your inbox describing how you can have your big breakthrough in 3 simple steps. You’ve found WA. Stay, stick it out, leverage the resources available to you.

3. Use the power of delayed gratification, be positive, be self-motivated and never stop persisting even when you think you’ve lost and won’t achieve your goals.

As Henry David Thoreau said eloquently, “ If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”