An Entrepreneur’s Mindset: How to Think Like an Entrepreneur
Originally published by ENBIZ Magazine
Have you ever had the feeling there’s something more out there for you? That you’re meant to do something meaningful and impactful with your life? If you’ve had this feeling, then you’re an entrepreneur. It doesn’t matter whether you run a business, work a 9-to-5, or, like many of us, are struggling to balance both.
At its core, entrepreneurship is all about creating, launching, and running a business that creates value.
But for many of us, the closest we ever come to being an entrepreneur is pretending or daydreaming about what it would be like to finally be free to live our purpose.
So, what separates the entrepreneurs from the daydreamers or the pretenders? It’s this one thing: mindset.
We have many mindsets or core beliefs that shape how we respond to situations in life. In business, having an entrepreneurial mindset or a core set of beliefs that gives you the courage to face challenges and respond to opportunities is key to long-term success.
It doesn’t matter how many degrees or great ideas you have, a shaky mindset is a setup for failure every time.
I was reminded of this lesson the hard way in 2016 just before I made the decision to quit my job to start my business. As much as I loved my work, I knew I was being called to do something different. But a number of fears and doubts stood in the way of me taking the leap.
What if I fail? What will people say about me?
I don’t have enough experience or qualifications.
It’s too late for me. I should’ve done this much earlier in life.
The more I entertained these thoughts, the more unhappy I became. Things were so bad at one point that I was severely depressed, had gained a ton of weight, and didn’t have much of a social life outside of work.
I now realize that that low point in my life was actually a gift from the universe. As spiritual teacher Michael Bernard Beckwith puts it, “pain pushes until the vision pulls you.”
My wake up call came when I realized that I was putting my health at risk and that, in the words of Wayne Dyer, I didn’t want to die with my music still inside of me.
I came to understand there would never be a perfect time to step off the merry-go-round of life to start living my purpose. I began to understand that we all have a unique way in which we have been called to serve and to make a valuable contribution. Even more important, when our work is grounded in how we can be of sacred service to our clients and customers (as opposed to how much money we can make for ourselves), we will always have everything we need to fulfill our missions.
This shift in mindset helped me to learn that while fears and doubts are a natural part of the human experience, I have a choice in how I choose to respond to them. I can acknowledge them while also shifting my focus to solutions and opportunities.
What would I do if I knew I could not fail?
Someone somewhere is looking for exactly what I have to offer.
Now is the perfect time to start living on purpose.
Do you have an entrepreneurial mindset or are you simply playing small by pretending and daydreaming?
If you’re struggling with getting your business off the ground or taking it to the next level, chances are you need a mindset reset.
Meico Marquette Whitlock liberates changemakers from work-life imbalance and technology overload through speaking, training, and coaching. Meico is the founder and CEO of Mindful Techie, creator of the Intention Planner, and a trained mindfulness facilitator. He facilitates transformative experiences that foster wellbeing in a hyperconnected and distracted world, and has worked with organizations such as Cigna, Greenpeace, and the World Wildlife Fund. He has been a featured speaker on ABC News, Fox 5, Radio One, and on the main stage at events such as the Nonprofit Technology Conference.