You’ve heard the saying “its not the size of the Dog in the fight…”. Well, believe it or not, your business venture is a Heavy-Weight Bout. Just today, I received a Certified Letter from the company that hosts the software for my Title Insurance company. The letter explained that: due to the current mortgage crisis, they were going out of business and I need to find new software. I also got an email from a business site where I advertise, stating that: one of my top “pay per click” keywords was not relevant to my ad and they were rejecting it. These may seem like minor annoyances, and they are. But add that to the million and one issues that I have to troubleshoot today, and for a second I contemplated rescheduling all my appointments and setting the phone to Do Not Disturb.As a rule, I try not to let my mercury rise too much. Deep down, I just want everybody to get along and things to go smoothly. In business however, I’ve learned the hard way that there is always someone that wants to take my spot. There is always someone hungrier, meaner, with more drive, with more training, with less to lose. In business, I’ve had to learn to fight. Not that I have ever backed down from a fight, but in business, I’ve learned that issues come at me from unexpected sources at a moments notice and I refuse to be caught with my guard down… again.In business, I’ve learned to come out swinging when I am being attacked. I’ve learned to fight back former business partners who have wronged me and then badmouthed me all over town. I’ve learned to fight back unreasonable clients who want everything for next to nothing. I’ve learned to fight back employees with horrendous attitudes and entitlement issues. I’ve learned to fight back investors with unreasonable expectations and foul mouth. And the biggest monster I’ve had to fight back is the one inside of me who is dying to stop holding the world by a string and go surfing. It seems like every situation has to be managed, every potential monster needs its hand held.So why do I tell you all this? why do I paint this picture? it is to let you know that you are not alone. It is to let you know that the reward is in the fight itself. Every bruise and bump along the way is a medal of honor. It is a badge of courage. It is to let you know that no matter how bad things seem to get, working for yourself sure beats working for the man.