“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you” (John 15:16).

Have you seen Sara Blakely’s sketch of the “daily, sometimes hourly ups and downs in an entrepreneur’s journey”? Along a zig-zag line of pinnacles and abysmal drops, she writes comments like, “I’m doing it!” followed by, “What have I done??!!” and “I’m on top of the world!”, plunging to (now I’m paraphrasing) “it stinks to be me.” But the whiplash journey ends with, “It’s going to be OK.”

Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, has been there, done that, and bought the underpants. She says that 23 years later, her business still rides the “Yay, a big sale!” to “What have I gotten myself into” roller coaster.

The self-made billionaire jotted down the sketch after things had become very OK in her business. But what about times when it doesn’t feel that way at all? When a huge client chooses another provider? When no one shows up for the webinar for which you gave up a vacation to create? When you edit for a living and discover a typo in the business card you’ve been handing out for three months?

Those crawl-under-a-rug times. Those “What made me think I could do this?” times.

Blakely says humor helps keep her afloat emotionally when everything seemed to be tanking. And, yes, after all these years, she can still feel like that. “For those days that positive mindset just isn’t cutting it … there’s always tequila,” she quips. Humor is great for helping get us across the free fall between one win and the next. But there’s a second thing that’s even more effective.

There’s a Virtue for That

Virtues are strengths of the soul that give us the “oomph” to do the right thing. The virtue of perseverance keeps us going toward a worthy goal when the little voices are screaming, “Who do you think you are? Why did you ever think you could make this work?”

The first step in perseverance is to remember that those voices are liars. (Have you noticed how they’re always focused on our power instead of God’s?) They’re either from our enemy or from our own nervous system, trying to protect us. Either way, Elizabeth Gilbert writes that fear “is not allowed under any circumstances to touch the steering wheel” on her creative journey.

Perseverance helps us look past the doubts and focus on the truth of our bold calling as daughters of God, to value the unique way we build up the Kingdom by fulfilling God’s purpose in our business.

Keep Going

It’s easier to practice perseverance, which is a kind of courage, if we remember the following reasons to stay the course:

1. The little voices of doubt and fear are lies.

They have no power to stop us unless we hand it over to them—which no one can make us do. Instead, flip the story to its opposite. When you hear, “You don’t know enough to succeed,” think, “I know enough to make my clients very happy they worked with me. I am, in fact, in the process of succeeding.”

2. What God has called you to do, He will make abundantly possible.

“You have not chosen me; I have chosen you,” says the Lord. Call to mind that whatever idea you had to start a business or work in one, it was God Almighty who called you to it. He is bringing more fruit from it than you know. The One who created everything out of nothing doesn’t do unimportant things.

3. Every entrepreneur has suffered big and small setbacks on the way to success.

Every. Single. One. The successful ones have two things in common: First, they were willing (after the tears subsided and the chocolate ice cream was gone) to analyze the reason for the setback and carry out a thoughtful course correction. Second, they practiced the virtue of perseverance—an abiding trust that what God has begun, he will see to completion in his time and in his way—if we just pray and take our next best step.

Oh, and a crucial fourth thing: My sister sent me a card as I was launching my membership group four years ago. It reads, “You have what it takes to do anything you want to do.” It’s still on my desk. We need to stay close to people who support our vision in good times and bad—who remind us that God is expanding his Kingdom on earth through our efforts. With friends like them, fear and doubt can never grab the wheel.

As St. Zélie Martin said about the virtue of perseverance, “The good Lord does not do things by halves; He always gives what we need. Let us then carry on bravely.”

Rose Folsom teaches people leadership skills that business schools don’t teach them. Virtues like patience, forgiveness, and courage are the foundation of good leadership and make us confident leaders that people trust, respect, and want to follow. Download Rose’s “Top 10 Tips for Patience.” Her experience as solopreneur and supervisor and her study of Thomistic theology have made her passionate about helping you live a virtuous life that gives you the peace and joy that support your mission and purpose.