What Successful Entrepreneurs Share
Consistency is an important trait for an entrepreneur to have. It’s not mentioned much in mainstream media, because the ability to perform consistently is not only boring, but it’s hard to translate into books and film. However, it is something you need, and it’s something that is all encompassing as you grow.
The best way to develop consistency is by working certain things into your routine. Some of these involve your schedule. Others involve how you respond to varying situations and scenarios. Here are a few items you should strongly consider weaving into your life.
1. Embrace Harmless Distractions
An entrepreneur who’s always on point and never takes a break would be incredibly successful, if that person could exist. People are human, they err, and tire. You will need to take a break once in a while, and when that break is prompted by a harmless distraction, why say no?
You will run into difficult problems constantly. It’s tempting to bang your head against a wall until the problem cracks, but it’s not likely to work and cannot be all that good for your head.
Instead, take a break. Do something unrelated. Distract yourself with a quick game or a walk… hit the gym — sex even. When you come back to the problem, you’ll be fresher and you’ll likely have new ideas.
2. Compensate for Your Weaknesses
It is good to press on your advantages as an entrepreneur. Doing so advances your agenda and places you in a position to maximize your strengths. However, that doesn’t mean you can ignore your weaknesses. You could try to shore those up with training and learning, but it’ll take you years to catch up to professionals.
Instead of spending time getting rid of your weaknesses, compensate for them by hiring professionals strong in those areas. With this approach, you can spend more time honing your strengths and even further exceling in your area of expertise. Of course, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t learn about what these professionals are doing for you. It just means you don’t need to become an expert at everything.
Successful entrepreneurs are very confident in their skills because they constantly beat on their craft to hone them. However, what successful entrepreneurs never do is over value themselves or their companies.
3. Focus on Big Decisions
Decision fatigue is a real threat to many entrepreneurs. They make so many decisions that their brain gets tired. They start making poor choices simply because they process so much information and can’t effectively handle any more.
The solution here is simple — don’t waste time sweating the small stuff. Let other people handle the wallpaper and what everyone’s having for lunch at the office. Focus on where product development should go or on whether or not your start-up should pivot.
4. Have a Life Outside of the Start-up
You will make many sacrifices as an entrepreneur. You’ll miss movies, birthdays, and meet-ups, all in the name of building a successful start-up company. This does not mean you should cut everyone out and commit entirely to the business. In fact, doing so is emotionally draining and detrimental as a whole. In life we need balance in all we do.
Just because you miss a few events doesn’t mean you have to quit having friends or family. Don’t let your business rob you of the opportunity to interact with people you love and respect. This includes connecting on a personal level with people who work alongside you in business. Have coffee with a client. Mingle at parties with colleagues and associates. Not only will this help you relax, it may open up new opportunities for the start-up.
5. Your Competition is Not the Enemy
Though you and the guy across the street are competing for the same market, doesn’t make them the enemy. It’s hard to believe, but they’re just like you — they have an idea and they want to sell it to the world. You’ll need to strike a balance between welcoming the competition, forming healthy alliances, and figuring out ways to defeat them.
Having enemies is stressful and can distract the start-up. Instead of focusing on developing a product fit for the audience, you may end up instead focusing your efforts on beating the competition directly. This can result in someone more consumer-centric beating both of you. Talk to the competition. Ask a competing entrepreneur out to lunch sometime. Get to know them.
Play In the Zone
Developing these habits will take time. If you must, put up a list somewhere you can see it every day. It may seem silly, but it won’t seem that way if a simple list enables you to develop habits that make you a successful entrepreneur. You also don’t have to do all of it at once. These will be significant changes to your daily routine and mindset, and even the smallest change can throw off the game you already have.
However, the idea here is to play ‘in the zone’, which is the level most successful entrepreneurs play. So start with one item, check it off, work your way down the list. We will commit to doing this as well, and push each client at AJENE WATSON, LLC to do the same.
