Entrepreneurs have a very unique way of thinking that can seem like a huge leap of faith to a full-time employee pursuing entrepreneurship, but nevertheless absolutely attainable. And if you ask any former full-time employee turned successful entrepreneur what were some of the challenges they had to overcome, many would say finding the time to run a side hustle with a full-time job would be high up on the list.
But I believe one of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs-in-the-making must overcome more importantly is how to think like an entrepreneur.
There are distinctive habits that set apart a successful entrepreneur from a full-time employee and transitioning to this new way of thinking is fundamental in order to be a success.
1. Entrepreneurs are Self-Motivated
Entrepreneurs don’t wait on anyone or anything to compel them to take action. They are driven by their purpose which keeps them focused and on track to achieving their goals. They have a clear vision of what they want their business to accomplish and the audience they want to add value to and that is a major driver in their determination. Working a full-time job and working a side hustle probably requires double the motivation! It doesn’t take much to feel drained after a full day’s work, add Mom life, daily work out routine and finding time to work on your business and you can feel pretty overwhelmed.
Here are some tips to stay or get motivated:
- Review your WHY– take time to focus on your goals, your audience, the life you want first thing in the morning. This helps to charge your perspective as soon as you wake up and it carries you throughout the day
- Visualize. Imagine yourself where you want to be having accomplished all of your goals. How does that feel? focus on these feelings daily and you’ll see how elaborate your imagination develops. Soon you will be experiencing this in real-time.
- Go easy on yourself. If you have a day that’s not as productive, take it easy and encourage yourself. What you’re doing is not easy pat yourself on the back and keep it moving. Tomorrow is a new day.
- Watch motivational videos daily. Hearing other entrepreneur success stories is a great way to stay motivated and grow in your journey. If you don’t have any friends that are entrepreneurs or at the level you are working towards, find a virtual mentor and watch all of their videos.
- Check your emotions, Positive emotions lead to positive results. If you find yourself feeling frustrated, refocus on your your WHY. If you feel discouraged visualize what you want and not what you don’t want. It’s that easy to get back on track
2. Entrepreneurs Don’t Make Excuses
Entrepreneurs are results-oriented and find solutions to problems not excuses. They know the buck stops with them and they take accountability for the level of success they are able to achieve.
The fixed mindset will find excuses and create obstacles to growth and success. If your time is limited, get up earlier, go to the library to eliminate distractions. If you run into a legit problem, troubleshoot after you take some downtime. Sometimes we need to separate ourselves from the problem, refocus on the solution in order to resolve it.
3. Entrepreneurs Always Have a Growth Plan
In order to grow, entrepreneurs know their businesses need a Growth Plan. They take the time to create a plan that’s going to implement daily tasks to move them towards their goals. They keep track of their results so they know what works and what doesn’t work.
Without a plan it’s impossible to track your progress. An entrepreneur is always making modifications to the plan in order to stay on track and prevent overwhelm.
4. Entrepreneurs Never Quit
The biggest difference between a successful entrepreneur and everyone else is they don’t quit. They keep going until they see the results they have spent countless hours visualizing, planning and executing. They know if they show up every day that momentum will help them perfect their daily work, improve their work flow and help them find better, faster more efficient ways of doing things.
5. Entrepreneurs Take Risks
Entrepreneurs know the far-reaching impact taking risks can have on the successful outcome of a business. They will weigh the pros and cons of risky decisions and if the payoff and value are worth the risk, then they jump.
Don’t be afraid to take a risk in your business. One of the rules I use before I make a major decision is the Impact Rule.
I ask myself:
- Will this decision have a positive impact on everyone affected by the decision?
- Does this decision provide the biggest way to impact everyone?
If the answer is Yes AND I have a peace about it, I move forward. If I don’t have a peace and I can’t say yes to both Impact questions, I don’t move forward.
6. Entrepreneurs Surround Themselves with Positive People
Every successful entrepreneur knows the importance of finding a mastermind group of fellow entrepreneurs that are on the same path or preferably much more accomplished than they are. You are influenced by the people you spend the most time with, so you might as well make sure they are on the same path you are.
7. Entrepreneurs Appreciate Small Beginnings
Comparing your Day 1 status to another entrepreneur’s year 3 is pretty common in this digital age but it can easily sabotage your focus. Successful entrepreneurs bide their time, put in the effort and know that small beginnings give birth to thriving, successful businesses.
When I had a fixed mindset with regard to starting a business I’d frustrate myself just thinking about where I could be if I’d started earlier or get down on myself when looking at someone else’s results. I no longer do that to myself. Comparison, any way you look at it hurts someone; it always lifts someone up at the expense of another.
8. Entrepreneurs are Resourceful
Most entrepreneurs have to wear multiple hats at the start of their businesses before they can scale up. For example digital content business owners have to be a webmaster, graphic artist, copywriter, social media strategist, course developer, consultant, accountant, sales and marketing. They’ll invest in the training required to get the skills needed to fulfill certain requirements and goals in their business.
Being resourceful is one of the biggest skills I learned in engineering and it’s helped me personally as well. There’s virtually no limit to our accessing knowledge and knowledge is power. Most people just need to learn something new to get them to the next level and it’s literally a Google search away in most cases.
Some easy resources to help you on your journey:
- Follow another entrepreneur’s journey
- Buy a course or ebook that can help you learn a skill
- Get a coach
- Join a mastermind group
9. Entrepreneurs Overcome Difficulties
Successful entrepreneurs the journey may have challenges but they will find a way around, through or above it. They know solutions and problems always come in pairs and it’s a matter of time when the solution is found. Difficulties are opportunities for learning and growing. The journey becomes ripe with lessons learned as each challenge is naturally part of the entrepreneurial learning curve.
If you run into an issue, learn to troubleshoot your problems. Expect to find the solution. Problems dissolve when you shift your focus to finding the solution.
“Problems cannot be solved with the same mind set that created them.”
Albert Einstein
10. Entrepreneurs have a Growth Mindset
Most importantly, successful entrepreneurs always look at the glass half full. If you look above at all of the ways entrepreneurs are successful you can see a common theme throughout- their mindset is bent on Growth.
Because they have a Growth Mindset they are able to show up daily with a plan, find solutions to problems, overcome difficulties, never make excuses or quit, take risks that optimize adding value, leverage a positive circle of peers to propel them forward and know that where they started is not where they will end up.
Developing a Growth Mindset has helped me immensely on my entrepreneur journey. As a matter of fact, it was this paradigm shift that pushed me over to finally being able to build a successful online business. Prior to that my results weren’t consistent. There have been many a long night working through squinty eyes in front of a computer screen building a business that would one day help thousands. Working full-time and building a business on the side isn’t easy but the payoff outweighs the sacrifices.
Are you working towards becoming a full-time entrepreneur? Which one of these resonate with you? If you need to reset your thinking to a Growth Mindset, download my free Growth Mind reSet to help you get on your way. If you need help putting together your business’s Growth Plan, drop me a line at hello@agracefuldesign.com
To Your Growth,
