“That which does 

 not cause my death,

    increases my strength!”

— Samuel Johnson or Frederich Nietzsche in the mid-late 1800’s

     It really doesn’t matter who said it or when. What matters is that entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial thinkers need to take heed now. Why? Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial thinkers are often thought to be over-acting “drama queens” because they rarely worry about hiding their emotions. They tend to become excited about anything and everything that leads to forward movement of their “burning desire” idea.

     And, yes, these same enthusiasts will also over-react to negative news about anything that impedes the progress of making their idea work.

     If you fit this description, or if you work or live with someone who does— lo and behold!– you can actually make a difference in the equation!

     It’s called REALITY. A good strong does of reality will take away any pain, any upset, and tendency to engage in analysis paralysis. Being realistic is, after all, the key ingredient of five essential criteria that define effective goal-setting and successful goal-pursuit.

     REALITY is a slippery piece of soap for many even thought they may honor its value. Reality has a way of turning quickly to fantasy whenever things don’t seem to be going right.

     It is, after all, much easier to get “lost” in fantasyland than it is to “shape up” mentally or physically or emotionally to the point of being able to most effectively deal with what’s right in front of your face.

     But, alas, this was why breathing was invented, don’t you think? Every breath– like every heartbeat and pulse throb– has the ability to put us in touch with reality . . . with what’s going on this very split second . . . vs. past (more than a few seconds old, over which we have no control and cannot change even if we want to), and future (more than a few seconds ahead of the air and space and mindset we are in at this exact split second, and which, of course, may never happen anyway).

     So, bottom line: no need to fret. Just pay attention to your SELF. When you begin to feel upset, choose to focus your attention on your heartbeat or pulse, pinch yourself, take a deep breath, then get back to dealing with the next incoming immediate split second of your life. Let go of what’s over and what hasn’t come. Stay with where you are this minute. It COULD make a difference for you between a headache or backache or an ulcer or or heart attack or stroke. And if it does, consider how much stronger it has made you, or makes you this very next breath and, hopefully, the many more to follow.

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Hal@Businessworks.US   931.854.0474

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

 Make today a GREAT day for someone!

RELENTLESS PURSUITS

Can They Sputter and Flip Into Reverse?

 

The crazier you become about an entrepreneurial venture, the better it is IF you are (actually, and against all odds) a true entrepreneur.

If, in other words, you  work yourself into a frenzy because you have what you think is a great idea, you start thinking about applying to “Shark Tank,” you’re ready to bet the farm on your brainstorm because friends and family encourage you, and you know in your heart you’ve got what it takes to revolutionize the marketplace.

But–in the end– you don’t have that magical,

mystical entrepreneurial INSTINCT:

Prepare to Crash!

“Entrepreneurship” is NOT what all the universities and

colleges and entrepreneur centers are actually teaching.

• Just because some disillusioned government leader rewards the dreams of an aspiring faculty member a wad of grant money, doesn’t mean you, the student, will learn how and be able to become an entrepreneur. 
• Just because some misguided instructor thinks that “teaching entrepreneurship” will generate increased personal income for her or his family vacations while simultaneously being able to ignite the community economy, doesn’t mean you, the student, will learn how and be able to become an entrepreneur.
• And just because campus administrators are dancing in the board room because one of their faculty has just generated grant money into their building fund, does not mean that you, as a student, will learn how and be able to become an entrepreneur. 

Neither does any of it mean that what you learn can be turned into a cash cow for you or your friends or family or community–all of whom, because of your genius and your wonderful entrepreneurial training will be able to live happily ever after.

B e c a u s e :

No one can TEACH you

how to become an entrepreneur!

 

You can learn about how an entrepreneur thinks and acts and makes things happen, and you can convince yourself that you can muster what it takes to follow these guidelines into Entrepreneurville.

You will hopefully discover in time to save your savings that entrepreneurs are NOT the risk-takers most of society would have us believe. Risk-taking is NOT a trait of entrepreneurs. Real entrepreneurs take only REASONABLE risks.

But you can’t and you won’t fit the elusive entrepreneurial “mold” (if there is such a thing) unless you were born with the instinct — the will to succeed at all costs and, the most crucial characteristic: the ability to take the intuitive steps necessary to make that happen.

Lectures and textbooks and “hands-on” activities can give you a sense of what it’s all about, but they cannot instill instinct. 

Does not having this deep-seated sense of intuition —the inherent ability to have innate, inherent, inbred, spontaneous, consistently productive hunches-– mean that you’ll fail?

No. It simply means you are not an entrepreneur. But not being the entrepreneur you thought you were doesn’t mean you are doomed to failure.

You may simply need to rise to the occasion of being contented with being the best you can be instead of trying to be something you’re not. You may need to settle with the notion that success translates to hard work that produces steady long-term business growth, and to having to struggle through setbacks you never saw coming. Above all, you need to accept and work within the framework of reality. Yes, reality!

As with the critical 5 criteria of effective goal-setting (being specific, flexible, realistic, due-dated, and in writing), true entrepreneurship is marked first and foremost by being realistic!

And just as not meeting all five goal-setting criteria produces nothing more than a wish-list ticket to Fantasyland, so too does a reckless charge at entrepreneurship end up producing failure by cultivating a business-life platform based on make-believe.

All the time? No. Nothing is always, including the word “nothing.”

 

So the bottom line IS:

If you’re entrepreneur material, you’ll know it and so will others (including savvy investors).

If you’re not a true entrepreneur, welcome to the vast majority of businesspeople and the reality that –even though you may have missed the “E” Ship– your odds for business startup and growth success are measured exclusively by: how hard you’re willing to work at making your venture productive for yourself, your family, for those who work with you, and for your community.

Your actions may need to be more calculated than spontaneous, but that doesn’t mean they will end up having any less impact. What’s important is that you start out by being realistic and by measuring the steps you take with a reality yardstick.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that some educational venue or individual can teach you how to launch your interests into outer space… to become another Steve Jobs, or Lori Greiner, or Mike Lindell, or Mark Zuckerberg, or Oprah Winfrey, or Donald Trump, or Beyonce, or Mark Cuban, or Frank Purdue.

Accept yourself for who you are,

but never settle for who you are

capable of becoming.

Courses on entrepreneurship may help shed some light on the directions and kinds of decisions that produce entrepreneurial success stories, but choosing those directions for yourself and making those kinds of decisions will not make you an entrepreneur anymore than a new car or suit of clothes will make you into another person. They may make you feel good, but they won’t change your skill set.

Work at and stick to

what you know best,

and what you do best,

and what you like most

. . . and you will succeed!

TRUST YOURSELF!

 

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Hal@Businessworks.US             931.854.0474

Guidance to Over 500 Successful Business Startups

ALL THERE IS

                   

FOR CERTAIN

                                

. . . IS YOU!

 

Becoming an entrepreneur is not like becoming a corporate guy or (thank heaven) a politician. In Entrepreneurville, there are no rules about how to think, or operate, or create, or market, or finance.

All there is for certain is you!  

Why is that different from corporate life? You may have your own team, but you’re not part of somebody else’s.

All there is for certain is you!

And surely you haven’t the time or inclination to indulge in the under-pinning of all corporate existence: analysis paralysis. By the time your corporate counterpart initiates some market study, you could introduce your product, service or idea, take it back, adjust it, re-introduce it and be making money!

What makes entrepreneurship different from politics? For openers, winning popularity contests seldom has any value. And, for closers, truly successful entrepreneurs only win by exercising consistent integrity. In between the openers and closers is a vast wasteland of propaganda, distortions and outright lies embedded in every election.

It’s making your ideas work that counts. It’s finding ways –channels, roads, avenues, strategies– to get from where your ideas are now, to where you want them to be.

Sometimes that “finding” process needs the help of others. But if you’re an entrepreneur with great ideas and no ability to engage and manage others to provide the help you need, you’re not likely to ever get where you want to be.

The number one reason for new business failure is “poor management.”

So start at the beginning. Realize that having great ideas, and being driven with burning desire to achieve results with them is paramount. But knowing how to manage things, people, systems, and operations to get your ideas on the launchpad is an equally critical challenge.

Spare yourself false starts.

When you jump the gun, rush to judgment, make assumptions, take shortcuts –even though these steps might be well within your comfort zone because you’re an action-oriented kind of person– you are setting yourself up to take huge (and probably expensive) unreasonable risks.

True entrepreneurs take only reasonable risks! 

It is the utmost and arguably most important of all reasonable risks for an entrepreneur to take: to expend the time and energy to gobble up every available shred of information about how to communicate clearly with and motivate others . . . how to be a leader and exercise productive leadership that’s followed eagerly.

Of course there are many behavioral and personality traits associated with entrepreneurial instincts, and those are not to be underestimated for the values they bring to the table, but genuinely successful entrepreneurs are historically those who cut out and apply big chunks of management expertise and leadership know-how.

If this subject matter gives you queasy feelings, or you start to hear your knees knocking when someone suggests that a management psychology or professional growth and development or therapeutic group experience might serve your entrepreneurial pursuits big time, take that road less traveled. It pays the biggest dividends.

All there is for certain, you know? 

 

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 931.854.0474

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!