Becoming an entrepreneur is not for everyone and there is a reason why. You have to possess some form of entrepreneurial mindset where you can thrive despite uncertainty while maintaining high levels of personal drive.
It just isn’t for everyone.
So before you jump into the solopreneur arena, it is important to conduct a personal entrepreneur mindset check and ensure that you are truly ready to jump ahead. Jumping too far and too fast can be the right recipe for broken dreams and withered optimism.
Here are a list of 5 attributes that support having a strong entrepreneurial mindset that can well-ready you on your path:
#1 Know Your Strengths…the Ones You Really Believe In
We all have a unique combination of skills and abilities that we possess. It is important to take inventory of what we believe these strengths to be particularly when starting on the entrepreneurial path.
When starting anything new you will be challenged with learning and adapting to things you have never seen before. But when you understand that you have an arsenal of talent already in your toolbox, it feels a lot less as if you are starting with nothing.
Entrepreneurship can test your resolve in the belief of your success over your failure. Particularly as, often times, it takes time for success to show itself and to stay. When you build upon your establish strengths then you know that you can never break down beyond your core foundation and you will always have a form of steady ground to stand on. Even if you have to start over.
That said, be ever-mindful of the big idea that inspired your entrepreneurial dream. But use your established strengths (as well as new ones you’ll gain along the way) to establish the foundation on which your dream will be built.
#2 Manage Your Entrepreneurial Mindset
You would think that self-sabotage would be the last thing you would face when you have consciously made a decision to become an entrepreneur. A negative state of mind is not where you might begin but after months or years of not quite making it, it can definitely become where you land.
Knowing yourself well and what, for you, triggers a slide backward can go a long way to being prepared for your entrepreneurial journey. Nurturing your mental drive and stability is a core skill that can make the difference between being strong in your business or having no business at all.
What motivates you when you hit roadblocks?
What processes get you back on track when you have fallen off?
How do you shift your focus when negative thoughts creep in and sandbag your momentum?
Who do you need to avoid because their negativity becomes contagious and kills your optimism?
No matter what role you play in your career, a negative mindset is the plight we all suffer at times. But as a new entrepreneur, you may be faced with an unusually high number of challenges that test your ability to stay positively focused.
Know that this is just part of the game. And focus your attention on how to navigate around these mental blocks when they arrive. The better you get at staying on course the less likely you will concern yourself when negativity comes knocking at your door.
#3 Know Your Work Ethic
You would not take a leap if you didn’t believe that you had the drive to do it. But in reality, different types of work require different types of drive.
No two entrepreneurial paths are the same but there is one thing that often is in common, you must possess an internal drive to get your tasks accomplished.
- Mom will not wake you up if you are late.
- Your boss will not remind you of your deadline if you are falling behind.
- Your professor will not sit down and cover the items you missed so you perform better next time.
You are not only the creator of the dream but all the parts and pieces that lead to making the dream possible. This includes organizing, motivating, reminding, and pushing yourself forward.
To be clear this is not a list of attributes you must have before establishing your entrepreneurial pursuits. But this is just a slice of the life changes that will come with stepping out on an independent endeavor.
Be aware of where you excel in getting things done. And note where you may need support to get better. Don’t shy away from putting time and study into building your soft skills and administrative skills along with your business skills.
And do not hide from utilizing support if you have family, friends, former co-workers or a coach that can help sharpen the shortcomings of your entrepreneurial mindset that you still need to develop.
Know what you are good at and exactly what you are not so that you do not permit your weaknesses to work against you on your progression forward.
#4 Reduce the Stresses That You Can Control
This will not be the first time you have heard to put 3 to 6 months of your salary aside to prepare for your future. But you will also learn of many entrepreneurs who never had such luxury and still moved forward and became successful in their endeavors.
There is no one right way. And there is no perfectly successful path. In all likelihood you are creating the perfect path specifically for you, even with a thousand mistakes along the way. That said, it can be of significant advantage for you to assess where your stress comes from and to head it off before it happens when possible.
If you simply cannot focus if money is too short, then you may need to retain steady employment while pursuing your entrepreneurial goals. Working isolation may actually make you severely unproductive. So you may need to kick off your pursuits by joining networks and participating regularly in entrepreneur group events.
Assess which concerns are most impactful to your productivity and create an action plan around them. Do not falsely convince yourself that your enthusiasm will outweigh your already established Achilles heel. If you know that certain obstacles are substantial enough to take you from your path, then plan accordingly to ensure your long-term fortified success.
#5 Be Your Biggest Supporter
In reality, while your path may be littered with obstacles you will also have an amazing number of micro-wins and milestones met that are worth celebrating.
It is here, in the small details, where you should stand with great commitment that you will leave no stone unturned. Fine-tuning your entrepreneurial mindset to success is crafted by acknowledging what success means to you and reinforcing its value.
This means that you define if it makes a difference when you pull together your first business plan. Or when you are able to gain your first investor or customer, no matter how small.
Because you have a first-hand view of your business, you need to be the first and potentially biggest supporter of everything you do. Do not wait for outside opinions to validate your worth or your work. You are validation enough.
Set time aside whether daily, weekly, monthly (or all three) to evaluate what you have accomplished and what it took to get it done. From the very beginning set a priority to acknowledge your wins and learn your lessons from your challenges.
All parts of your journey are worth their weight in gold. And when you reach the big milestones you will know what true gratitude and achievement feel like. Because you did it, you truly watched it happen, and you demonstrated proof to yourself that you were capable of getting it done.
Conclusion
Making the jump to become an entrepreneur can feel like a massive shift in your life and also a scary one. It may seem unavoidable to suffer bumps along the way and no one truly wants to intentionally pain themselves.
To ensure that you stand in strength with the right entrepreneurial mindset, it is important to evaluate your personal attributes as an entrepreneur as well as your personal obstacles.
Note your skills, fortify your work ethic, and remember to celebrate every win that you can.
You have been inspired to take this leap forward so it is the right move. Taking a solid self evaluation and building a toolbox of self-support can ensure that nothing will break your momentum forward.
What are your biggest hurdles to building a strong mindset for your entrepreneurial journey? What inspiration have you received that shifted your prospective? Leave your feedback in the Comments! And forward this post to anyone you know who may benefit from some big jump support!!
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