Being an entrepreneur sounds so exciting and tempting. No bosses anymore, no pressure from a job that is not satisfying you, and no limited paycheck. Sounds like a pretty cool deal, huh? Entrepreneurial life is definitely really exciting. But 9-5 will almost immediately turn to 24/7. Your customers become your new bosses and the size of your paycheck will vary from month to month. If you persist, work hard enough and innovate, you can join the “club” of successful entrepreneurs. How can you make your journey easier? Start thinking like the world’s top entrepreneurs.
Surround yourself with successful people
You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Do you want to be successful? Meet successful people and hang out with them. Create a small mastermind group. Learn from each other and share your ideas. Their support and positive example will motivate you to do more and make the right decisions.
Find your passion
Take a few minutes and think of what makes you feel great, what energizes you, and what you cannot imagine life without. Write it down. Then think of which activities can make you money and reduce your list to that which you are passionate about and can make you money. Passion is your fuel. Your business will have its ups and downs, but passion will make your stay in the game. Plus, it can be contagious. Your vision and energy will motivate people in your team. Steve Jobs once said, “People with passion can change the world.”
Brainstorm and create ideas
James Altucher suggests that you write down 10 creative ideas every day, so you will accumulate about 3500 ideas a year. Maybe 3-4 will work, but isn’t it worth it to do this small exercise every day? Look at Sir Richard Branson. He is an innovation machine. Virgin Records became successful brand, but he didn’t stop there. He decided to bring fresh air into the aviation industry, which was not in demand that time. The biggest businessmen of that time were running from the airline and aviation industry. Virgin Atlantic now has a stable position in industry and Branson’s Virgin Galactic is just about to expand the limits of human experience to outer space.
Make quick decisions
With entrepreneurship comes responsibility. You are the person who is making decisions. Over analyzing can cost you a lot of time and you can miss many opportunities. I am not saying that every decision is good and you shouldn’t ask more experienced people for advice. But when you have to make a decision, act quickly, but accordingly. Create more space for big decisions and reduce the small ones, which are not important. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, wears the same T-shirt every day, so he doesn’t expend time and energy on things which don’t matter.
Take risks
The road to success is not smooth and sometimes you need to take risks to gain more. But take the risks that might bring you much more than you invested. Bill Gates dropped out of school and started a business in a new industry. He had a vision that people will use computers for work and at home. His risk paid off and Microsoft now has a value of billions of dollars. Start by overcoming one little fear a day. You will gain self confidence and trust in yourself.
Do not take failure too seriously
Everyone fails from time to time. But it shouldn’t stop you from trying. Donald Trump could, probably, talk about that for hours. The man, who is now worth approximately 4 billion dollars, came through bankruptcy, huge personal debt and a few ideas which were total failures. He is not the only millionaire or, better said, billionaire, who experienced failure like this. The problem is giving up. Learn from failures and quickly get up. Failure is just opportunity for new beginnings. Whenever you fail at something, imagine it happened to one of your closest friends. What would you suggest to them? This little exercise will help you to see the situation from a better perspective.
Think big and do not limit yourself
Jordan Belford is not the type of businessman people adore for his innovation and creativity. He didn’t make his business 100% legally, and he cheated many people to get to the top. But he was damn right when he said, “The only thing standing between you and your goal is the BS story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.” Believe in yourself and dream big. You can achieve anything you can think of. Start writing down your goals and dreams. The probability that you achieve them will be much higher.
Stay focused
Without focus you are wasting time on unnecessary activities and slowing yourself down. Because of this, maybe you never reach a goal you set. The best entrepreneurs are focused; they see where they want to be and they do everything to get there. Every morning when you wake up, write down your main focus for that day. This exercise will help you to finish your stuff.
Stop worrying what other people think
Unless they are your customers. When you achieve some sort of success, people around you change. You will see who really matters and who doesn’t. There will be a lot of them who do not believe in you and your vision. They might think it is too unrealistic or you succeeded just because you were lucky. Ignore it. Successful entrepreneurs just do not waste their energy on something as insignificant as other people negative thoughts.
Learn to trust
You might believe that you can do this and that job better than anyone else. Instead of watching someone failing, you take the wheel and do the job instead. This behavior is not very beneficial in business. Even though we could have a discussion about Steve Jobs and his managerial style, learn to trust people and delegate. It will pay off. Richard Branson is a role model when it goes to trust and delegation.
Are you thinking like an entrepreneur? Whether you decide to be one or not, these ideas may help you to achieve more in any aspect of your life. Feel free to share in the comments your insights about entrepreneurial thinking.
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