In Celebration of Entrepreneurs Everywhere!

Key Takeaways

• Practical thoughts on being a successful entrepreneur
• Keep your goals near and dear
• Learn to trust your instincts

In honor of Entrepreneurs’ Day, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate, console and simply acknowledge those people who have had the nerve to make a go for it in the marketplace.

I must admit that there was a time in my life when I used to scratch my head when I would see small businesses who had a sign out front stating something like “Serving our community since 1937” or

“…established 1969,” etc. I literally used to think “So what’s the big deal? You’ve been around for 50 years, who cares?”

I must admit, however, that was before I had ever personally taken the plunge and learned firsthand how very difficult it is to start and sustain a business of any kind. My apologies, as well as a tip of the hat to all of you!

Throughout my experience with the entrepreneurial process I have learned that we can learn as much from our mistakes (maybe more) than we can from our successes. Also, there have certainly been times in my career where ignorance was truly bliss. There are times when it is a blessing not to know that something can’t be done. Many so-called impossible things have been achieved by people who were never told it was impossible. They simply didn’t know, so they went ahead and did it.

My ignorance of the “not knowing” stage of my professional development offers a great learning point: Most of what I have learned in my career came not from text books, well-meaning mentors or managers. The great lessons I have learned came from the experience of actually being in the game, of giving it my best and of paying attention to what did and what did not work. Life and all of its’ participants have been my greatest teachers.  As it applies to business, here is a short list of what I feel have been the most valuable lessons:

You never truly know where your greatest success will come from.

This is why it is so critically important to do your very best — all day, every day. The longer you are in the game, the greater the odds are that you will find your success.

Write your goals down, refer to them and refine them often (1).

There has been a huge amount of research that shows people who have clearly defined goals achieve much more than those who don’t. Furthermore, people who actually write down their goals and routinely review them tend to earn 10x as much over the course of their careers than those who don’t. If your goals are out of sight, and as a result out of mind, you are far less likely to achieve them.

Keep your goals to yourself (2).

There will be plenty of time to share them with the world after you have actually accomplished them.  My experience has been that other than your spouse or significant other, there is little value in sharing them with others. Many people will give you negative feedback, will tell you it is a waste of time or somehow try to belittle your attempt to succeed. It is not necessarily in their best interests to see you succeed, and they may try to discourage you from doing so. Others will try to take your ideas and run with them for themselves. My advice is keep your plans just that, your plans.  Again, the world will see them soon enough.

Personal trust is a critical element of success.

I cannot emphasize this enough. If you do not trust a subordinate, with good cause, you must let them go. The sooner, the better. Same goes for a superior. If you do not intuitively trust your boss or the higher-ups in the company, it is almost always in your best interests to find another job with another company.  This probably relates to trusting your gut, which leads us to my next point.

Learn to trust your instincts!

I have purposely saved this thought for last.  If you remember nothing else of what I have written here, please remember this point. I believe that we all have an innate intelligence that tries to move us in the right direction. You may feel this as your inner voice, your conscience or just some nagging feeling that you should or should not do something. Call it what you will, but learn to listen to it!  My greatest successes in business and in life have been the direct result of  listening to my inner voice. Conversely, my biggest mistakes have usually been the result of not going where my instincts were trying to lead me.

These are some of the lessons that life and experience have taught me that I feel have been the most valuable to remember and apply to my career. I hope you find them helpful as well. If you would like to hear some other perspectives on this topic, you may want to follow the link below.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikekappel/2017/07/12/10-tips-for-starting-a-small-business-that-you-havent-heard-a-thousand-times-already/#3b511596e19e

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References

• https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-power-of-writing-down_b_12002348
• https://www.success.com/ted-talks-keep-your-goals-to-yourself/