Every entrepreneur needs to remember these 7 simple things.
They are the same principles faced in adversity as they are the triumph. But none the less, I wish someone told me these from the beginning.
An insight into our chat with Griffith University on business, entrepreneurship and everything that needs to be managed in between.
Right now, there is a version of you that is defined by:
- Who you are
- What you wear
- The people you play with
- And your definition of love, life, home and the precise plan you mapped out to what ‘success’ means. You have this preconceived idea as to where this road is going.
The truth?
You will throw this out! Not once, but over and over again as you are forced to reinvent yourself time and time again. And as such, it’s important that you incorporate both traditional and non-traditional learning. Stop relying on the hierarchy to feed you, to fill the gaps you find in your knowledge! This is your responsibility and the one trait that will both separate you from the pack in your success and help you dig your way out from the inevitable adversity you will face. Your capacity to learn and continue to learn will not only be your survival tools in business, but this trait will also give you the gears to manage the most important thing of all – your mind!
- Mindset – You’re going to need to learn bounce. Think of yourself as a basketball! You will be thrown into the concrete (quite frankly) many of times, however, the harder you hit the floor, the higher you bounce back up. And you want to get out of the road of a ball that’s been thrown that hard to the floor because when it’s coming back, it’s coming back harder and faster than before!
- People will want you to give up, people will expect you to – don’t! This is your journey, you owe it to yourself to live your life to the fullest. So, whatever happens, the night before, the morning of, show up anyway! A lot of my career has been attributed to being the most determined person in the room! When I began, I never had much, and truth is, there was no one behind me. But the graceful thing about entrepreneurship is that whether you succeed, or you don’t, it’s entirely up to you! So whatever hand you’re holding, play anyway. You will get another hand soon after you fold.
- It’s going to suck at times! Everything you now know will be challenged, pushed and tested! Adapt, and adapt again. When life has just thrown you a left punch to the chin, use the right side, duck, weave and see it coming to next time. Stand back up anyway.
- The Victory you now seek will come, but not like you now envisage. Victory, you will learn is the moments which occur every day. If you wait for that ONE moment, you will be wildly disappointed when you realised you wasted your whole life in between. Instead, notice the 5 things that make you happy each and every day. Sure, there will be moments of greater significance than others, but don’t delay your happiness merely waiting for a box to be ticked. You will have the pinnacle of your career in the same week as a relationship might fall apart. You will have one business taking off, whilst there is an explosion on your left. And amongst the chaos, don’t forget to notice all the things that went right.
- Don’t be afraid of everything fantastic when it comes your way. Because when it does, in this revised, reassessed dream you will dream up, know that you have worked incredibly hard for this moment. And you too, are deserving of all the good things. Often we start our careers with a point to prove – attached to that is ego (although very few will admit it), questions of self-worth and some very big shoes you have set out to fill. But when the time comes – if you work hard enough it will come – ask yourself, not who do I think I am? But who am I not to be great?
- Don’t be deterred if you are different. Entrepreneurs can be a mix between a chameleon and a complete outcast! But that too is perfectly ok. If you’re taking the road less travelled you want to think outside the boxes, not be stuck within one! If your purpose truly is an entrepreneur, you will find yourself on more than one occasion thinking differently to most, often walking in a different direction. It will make sense one day, but for now, give up your need to understand everything. Life is messy, it’s not a perfectly orchestrated series of steps! It’s important that you don’t dull your sparkle to blend in.
- Your happiness belongs to you. Whether you are broke, flying high, succeeding, detouring, being nailed by your boss or feeling the pressures of day to day life, the one thing that forever belongs to you, is your decision to be happy. If you’re on the front line, it can feel like you are copping a lot of the punches. But no matter what life takes from you, it will always be replaced with something better. But in the interim, remember that no matter what storm you are presently weathering, you too, are allowed to be happy. It’s the one thing that will forever be yours alone to keep.
Written by Tamika Smith
Founding Director – TSR Property Solutions
Founder & Executive Chair – Top 100 Women
