Becoming an entrepreneur sounds a lot better than it actually is. Teachers are good at so many things, except entrepreneurship. As you probably already know, a huge percentage of teachers get low pay, while others simply spend everything by borrowing necessities and paying with their salary once it’s been wired to their accounts.
Entrepreneurship on the other hand, requires a lot of sacrifices and opportunity cost, that after lots of failures, most people give up and get back to living their comfortable lives.
If there’s one thing I know about entrepreneurship, it’s that it all starts up there, in your mind. Without an entrepreneurial mindset, it’ll be just a matter of time until you give up. Therefore, here are a couple of tips on how to develop that kind of mindset.
1. Prioritize learning and growth
No matter how much we love to think about entrepreneurs as people that have it all figured out and almost make no mistakes whatsoever, these people are in an area that constantly changes all the time.
To keep up with the trends and everything, they keep educating themselves with whatever resources they have access to, for example
- Buying books and related magazines
- Using the internet
- Attending seminars
With learning comes growth, and this is a perfect way to train your mind to think as an entrepreneur.
2. Set goals
Entrepreneurs are goal-oriented. This Is because;
- In this busy and chaotic world, it is easy to get distracted if you don’t set goals
- If there’s no benefit you expect from whatever you’re doing, it’s better if you don’t do it.
- Goals teach you how to prioritize, which is an important entrepreneurial trait
By setting goals, there is a lot that you can accomplish, and you get the chance to witness your growth process step by step
3. Push beyond your comfort zone.
Do you have a side business, a blog or a YouTube channel that you are considering to work on during your free time? If so, how often have you worked on it? Have you maintained a regular pace, or sometimes your laziness gets the best of you?
Lots of other business owners have this problem, and that’s why lots of businesses stagnate until they die.
Sometimes, all your job/ side hustle/ business needs is that extra, consistent work in form of;
- Late nights of work
- Waking up early in the morning
- Getting less sleep
- Missing out on parties
- Getting a little less or no entertainment sometimes.
Yes, making sacrifices and always having to choose between your body and your mind is a somewhat hard way to live, but it’s gonna reward you in the long run.
4. Embrace risk
When you look into the stories of different entrepreneurs, there’s lots of risks and uncertainty, to the point that some even thought they wouldn’t make it.
Sometimes, you just have to follow what’s in your gut, make appropriate planning and then embark on it, even though the odds aren’t in your favor. Here’s a few
- Investing in stocks
- Starting up small businesses
- Trading stocks
However, it’s silly for you to take a risk on something you haven’t thoroughly planned on, and it’s most likely you’ll fail and not learn from your failure.
5. Spend time with other entrepreneurs
Ever heard of the axiom that says, “if you hang around four fools, you become the fifth”? this is absolutely true even for smart people or entrepreneurs.
To be honest, it won’t be easy if you have a fragile ego, and are conceited. But if you hang around entrepreneurs with an open mind and positive attitude towards learning from them, you;ll learn a lot.
6. Harness your decision making skills
Serial entrepreneurs are serial decision makers. Sometimes, things can get a little emotional, and one might become too attached to a sinking ship. Sometimes it takes a brave heart to jump off.
Proper decisions are well thought out, and there’s no turning back once you’ve made them. This will make you a better entrepreneur.
7. Be accountable
Good entrepreneurs always make decision and hold themselves accountable for any outcome, good or bad. It is mentally taxing and requires a high level of humility to pull off.
But with this, you’ll be sure about all the steps you take and decisions you make, because you don’t want to accumulate a whole load of blame on your head.
8. Practice delayed gratification.
Delayed gratification is the habit of ignoring temporary and immediate pleasure for the long term. This can be achieved through mastering your mind and habits in the following ways;
- Saving money
- Meditation
- Physical exercises
- Resisting temptation of drugs and alcohol.
9. Bolster your creativity
Creativity is a very important skill as far as entrepreneurship is concerned.
With creativity, you are able to find solutions to problems that people face, and that’s the first principle of entrepreneurship.
10. Create a system.
Besides goal setting, a system is the best way to increase your productivity and efficiency, which is a necessity to all entrepreneurs.
Through designing a daily and weekly schedule, you are able to keep going even when you achieve your goals, while you’re also able to optimize your system in times that require intense productivity.
Conclusion;
Becoming an entrepreneur is a very hard thing, especially for people that are beyond their 20’s, have families and a lot to lose in case they take risks. However, resisting all these fears and doubts later makes sense, and there’s a lot of enviable lessons to be learnt from failure.