Sometimes the universe presents an unexpected detour. It takes us to places we never knew existed or invites us to explore the world with a new set of eyes.

No matter who I've worked for, the thought I wasn't living up to my potential rattled in my head like a caged animal. I'd read about people who love their careers, describing them as places filled with challenge, growth, purpose and even fun. I didn't get it. I felt like I was missing something. Huge parts of my day were spent in sheer boredom, "killing time." A sad reflection of how so many of us feel about work. I wanted a sense of purpose. I wanted a mission that fulfilled me. I wanted to not just wonder what my potential was, but to experience who I was capable of becoming. It came down to asking myself, what truly matters most to you and are you pursuing it every day?

I learned at a young age that I come from a long line of Wilsons who turn into the devil incarnate when hunger comes-a-knocking. It's a sobering reminder of how quickly our emotions can get away from us. And with entrepreneurship, you're exposed to a full rainbow of emotions that kick you into reaction mode. I knew I needed a better plan than sweeping them under the rug. I didn't want that same knee-jerk reaction of primal instinct to guide my business decisions. I wanted at the very least to have an awareness when my buttons were being pushed, so I could navigate situations with a little more tact than an unruly six year old throwing a tantrum in Walmart.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." These words gave me the satisfying clunk of dropping a square peg into a square hole. But as I read those words, immortalized in Henry David Thoreau's book Walden, I understood this was a sentiment shared since the dawn of man. It's all relative.

Resistance is the enemy of every creative entrepreneur. It lurks undetected in the blackness of the ocean. We know it waits, hoping we set sail on a  journey into the unknown. For those that leave the comfort of the shore, it rears its ugly head like a serpent from the sea. The emotional scars of past attempts pulse with a sobering reminder that we may not have what it takes.

Who am I to be brilliant, talented, creative, or worthy of running my own business? These horrible beliefs haunt many of us. Mine stem from a whole whack of experiences, but none more formative than school. I got used to a whole lot of rejection (in the form of bad grades). I've come to learn that it's great to have schooling but it's better to have an education (experience). This perception shift changed my life and business. Your business only grows as much as you do. Being a successful creative entrepreneur comes from mastering your emotions.

For the last 146 days (but who's counting?) I've been getting up at an ungodly hour. A time reserved for paper boys, vampires and people who have yet to go to bed from a hard night of partying. My Fitbit vibrates at 4:38 a.m. My hands search the darkness for the headphones plugged into my phone. Two minutes later the sound of my alarm breaks the eerie silence. I hop out of bed, followed by a plump little Pug who seems lively but is only awake for a 47-second scarf down of kibble before crawling back into bed. For me, this is the start of my day. This feels like a problem without a solution.