So you want to be an entrepreneur, a BossBabe, a CEO of your own life, or run that successful online business from the comfort of your own home. It is the dream life after all – working the hours you want to work, taking holidays when you want to take holidays, not putting a cap on your earning potential, and creating more meaning in your life while following your passion. But do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?
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The hard-hitting truth about overnight success?
The entrepreneurial road is hard – trust me! It is not for the faint-hearted. The successful launches you see, the 6-figure months, and the lifestyle that is a pure dream are only the tips of the iceberg. Rarely do we see the years of work that went into building a business that is never visible to the naked eye.
According to sources such as Forbes and Huff Post – 90% of e-commerce start-up businesses end in failure within the first 120 days. Out of the whole world’s population of 7.98 billion, there are 582 million entrepreneurs in the world. That’s 0.073% of the population ONLY!
So why are there so few entrepreneurs?
Too many people fail along the way, and few actually make it but what is the key reason why?
Apart from having a solid business plan, understanding how you fit into the market, a great idea, providing a solution to a current problem, etc. one of the key reasons is a lack of mental preparedness!
What does that mean?
Few people are truly prepared mentally for the journey – because it is tough, and requires some grit. It is very easy to get distracted by the notion of what seems to be an overnight success in others’ journeys. There is no such thing as overnight success. However, when things get tough, people often think their idea is simply not working, when in fact it was just part of the journey to success.
This post will hopefully highlight some of the top skills, characteristics, and habits you need to make sure your mind does not sabotage your entrepreneurial journey
Hopefully, help is equipped with everything you need to be mentally prepared and successful.
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So… do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?
Here are the TOP skill, habits, and life hacks that you need in order to become a successful entrepreneur.
Open-mindedness.
It is very easy to get attached to ideas, especially after you have put a great deal of effort and emotion into executing them.
As an entrepreneur, there is little room for sentiment. You have to be willing to stay open-minded and understand that if something is not working, sometimes the best thing to do is close that chapter. You can take this as a learning experience to improve your tactics next time or remain adaptable and simply change how you go about executing your goal.
However, you have to be willing to stay open-minded and avoid a narrow vision. This will help you better see the opportunities and identify the aspects that could be detrimental to your success.
Strong self-discipline.
When you hit those business lows when your motivation is running low and you’re not seeing results as quickly as you would like – a disciple is what will get you through.
Discipline is all about the ability to control your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in the face of temptations, and impulses. It means avoiding the easy way out when faced with challenges.
Having discipline means you can push through difficulties despite them to achieve a specific goal.
Lifelong learning.
The most successful entrepreneurs invest in lifelong learning. They never allow themselves to reach a limit on what they know because they understand that there is always more to learn.
Things will change and shift in the years that you have your business. Many times it will be external factors that you have little control over.
If you switch to a mindset of a life-long learner, you will be able to quickly shift when the tides change, and you will be far ahead of others in the game.
No room for ego.
Ego, in simple terms, refers to your idea or opinion of yourself, especially your feeling of your own importance and ability. It is an inflated sense of confidence that is above that of what is fitting for a person.
Underneath someone with high ego, usually lies someone who is very insecure. The ego is a mask they project onto the world to hide their true not so confident self.
It is far different from true confidence because it is extremely fragile. People with large egos typically struggle with taking on criticism or having someone disagree with them. They always have to think they are better and above others. You can begin to see how ego can be detrimental to your entrepreneurial success.
Ego can get in the way of you learning new things and learning from others who are steps ahead of you. Ego can be what stops you from taking valuable advice from others and it can prevent you from making the right thought-through decisions.
The ego is driven by emotion and not the mind.
Self-belief.
On the flip side of the ego lies self-confidence and with it self-belief. Unlike ego, which is inflated, self-belief is modest, it is not selfish or self-serving.
Self-belief is about knowing that success is a reality for you if you are just willing to make the right decision, learn from past mistakes, persist and never give up.
Decisiveness.
Decisiveness is the ability to make decisions quickly but effectively. It is all about having confidence in the outcomes of your decision-making.
But how can you gain that kind of decision-making confidence, especially in the early stages of your business?
Well, that kind of confidence comes from knowing that even if you are sometimes wrong you will still come out on top. Even if things turn out differently from what you wanted, it was still a valuable lesson that you can apply in the future.
This helps you to efficiently make decisions because you switch off the fear that might otherwise hold you back and you don’t spend time overanalyzing your decisions.
Patience.
It will take time…….. a lot of it…….
Becoming a successful entrepreneur will take sweet time. I don’t think there is a way to get past this. Maybe very few people manage to get things off the ground in one year. For most, that’s just not a reality.
Staying motivated through that is a mental challenge, especially when the results are not clear. But having that kind of patience is a skill well worth learning as it will eventually get you to the finish line.
And oh my will you be happy that you waited because it will be so freaking worthwhile.
Perseverance.
Perseverance is the action side of patience. It means that rather than simply being a bystander and waiting for the time to pass, you increase your likelihood of achieving success by actively taking steps toward that goal.
It also means that any challenges you experience along the way will not throw you off your course. Instead, you persevere through them and overcome them to stay within the success lane.
Resilience.
Resilience in this sense refers to the ability to go through challenging times and not be deeply affected by them. In other words, not changing your goal, vision, or dreams just because it is tough, just because someone told you it’s impossible, or just because someone criticize you for it.
It means taking any negativity and criticism with a pinch of salt and not allowing it to crush you.
Instead, it is about quickly bouncing back after facing some adversity.
Resilience leaves room to learn but it never leads you to change your direction if it is the right direction for you.
Problem-solving.
The ability to stay level-headed and calm-minded when problems arise is what will allow you to effectively problem-solve as challenges come up.
It means you can focus on a solution rather than the problem. It means you take back control, because rather than getting crushed by the challenge you put your creative cap on to come up with ways to get the heck out of the pickle and get back on track toward your success.
Acceptance of failure.
You can only succeed if you are willing to step outside your boundaries. However, stepping outside your comfort boundaries, the likelihood of failure is higher.
But… the price of winning is also higher and therefore worth the shot.
People often miss out on amazing opportunities and learning experiences because they allow the fear of an unknown outcome to stop them from even trying.
Developing that certain degree of tolerance towards failure can help to elevate your success. You’ll put yourself in positions where supercharged success is actually possible, and any failures along the way will be invaluable lessons.
An opportunistic nature.
Having an opportunistic nature is the art of taking advantage of your circumstances whatever they may be. It is about making the most of every situation and experience you are going through.
It is about being continually on the lookout for things that could benefit your future success.
You can never be sure what information or skill or knowledge or person you meet will be a key piece in the puzzle of your future success. When you get into the habit of taking on those opportunities as they come you maximize experiences that could be essential down the line.
Willingness to execute ideas.
Ideas are great but an idea without the right action to support it is futile.
Entrepreneurs understand that which is why the moment an idea pops into their head they don’t sit on it or marvel at it, they straight away pick up pen and paper and start brainstorming how to execute it.
This will take conscious effort but it will help you bring the idea to life in your mind first. Then it will be as simple as following a set of instructions, to bring it to the physical world.
Here are some quick-fire tips to help you put ideas into action:
- Document your ideas.
- Break it down into small steps.
- Make it visual
- Prioritize each step.
- Test it out.
- Regularly review your ideas
Sacrifices.
The entrepreneurial road, especially in the early beginning takes some “sacrifices”. It does mean sometimes having to say no to events and the fun things in life to ensure you pull your business forward.
Hopefully, if you are truly passionate about what you are doing in business those sacrifices won’t feel too grueling. Maybe even filled with excitement.
However, you do have to be prepared to put the time and effort in again and again to see the success through.
Antagonism towards the status quo.
Ok if you are readying this then I imagine you already do this.
Entrepreneurs are those few in our society who question the status quo.
Most people are content with working for someone else, having a 9-5 with a steady income which is often capped based on industry standards, with a set limit of time off they can take. Doing this for 50 or so years is enough for most people. Or for those that haven’t realized there is another way.
Entrepreneurs notice the trap that many people fall into, believing that there is only one set way to live your life – through having a job.
However, entrepreneurs do not want to be part of this bandwagon, the opposite actually. They want to taste the freedom associated with running their own show and being their own boss.
So after reading this…
Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? How many out of the 15 apply to you?
Let me know in the comments below.