All quotes are taken from my podcast Inter:views, Cracking The Entrepreneurship Code.
“It’s not like a game where you get to level 10 and it’s over. It’s a life game, a mental thing, forever.” Ilya Brotzky, Founder, VanHack, Canada, ep. 44.
Every entrepreneur will tell you that entrepreneurship is a journey.
You usually begin from scratch with something that you’re passionate about but doesn’t exist, and patiently build it up piece by piece.
But the construction never ends. There’s always a new piece to add.
To make it more complicated, you have somewhat of a plan in mind, but there are no proper guidelines to execute it. So, you have to figure out which piece is going where, how to place it when as you walk the journey.
It’s a slow process, full of uncertainty.
Sometimes, you must destroy part of the construction and re-build. Sometimes, you must entirely give up and do something else.
That’s why being an entrepreneur is so addictive and difficult at the same time.
So how can you make it?
Brian McMahon, Founder, Expert Dojo, USA, ep. 28, suggests the following:
“Start from a place of humility. You know nothing. You have no clue. You have to start with the main criteria of your journey that everything possible will go wrong. The first thing you need to sort out is your fortitude. You have to make sure that your mindset is in a place where you’re ready.”
In other words, cultivate grit.
“It takes resilience, it takes dedication, it takes the ability to get exhausted and get back up again, you have to be able to hear the word no and keep getting back up again.” Kara Goldin, Founder & CEO, Hint Inc. Ep. 76.
Individuals with grit demonstrate passion and perseverance toward a goal despite being confronted by significant obstacles and distractions.
Doesn’t it sound like your job?
Imagine watering a plant. First, you don’t see too much progress, but if you persist, if you continue to do it properly, feed it, take proper measures to make sure it’s growing strong, eventually, the plant will blossom, and you will yield results.
Success doesn’t happen overnight; sometimes it never happens.
“You have to be very, very, very patient. These things take so much than what you think.” Nicholas Henrichsen, Founder, WitchClutch, USA, ep. 30.
Here’s something for you to consider. Since it never ends, entrepreneurship isn’t a race.
So, why don’t you slow down a little, and enjoy the view along the way?
Don’t worry, that opportunity, the one you’re afraid of missing out, will still be there tomorrow. Nothing will happen if you don’t reply to that email now.
On the contrary, it may well make you a more solid entrepreneur.
“Enjoy the journey, not the destination. The journey is much longer, the journey is much bigger, it’s much more important, it’s every day. A lot of entrepreneurs are so focused on got to get to there, got to get to that peak, when you get to that peak, you're naturally looking at the next peak. Sometimes, you don’t actually stop and look at the view.” Paul Baker, Founder, St Pierre Groupe, UK, ep. 46.
This is an extract from my eBook The Entrepreneur Mindset: 7 Tactics To Avoid Being The Bottleneck In Your Business.
Download the full eBook for free here.