ENTERPRENEURIAL MINDSET- SPRINGBOARD WEEKLY

ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET
The race of the entrepreneur compared to that of a businessperson are drastically different, while the business person seeks opportunities around them with a focus on their bottom line, the entrepreneur runs a longer race built around growing themselves first so that they may have the right faculties to achieve the burning desire and dream inside them. In short, one is a buyer and seller and the other is a builder.
Buying and selling do not entail much; when armed with little or very basic business knowledge, many of us can do it. However to be an entrepreneur takes much more in terms of resilience, patience, manoeuvring, and sticking to your vision, and these demand from the entrepreneur a very strong and can-do mentality.
To be an entrepreneur, the calling demands different of you; unlike the businessperson who grapples for opportunities thus spreading themselves thin, an entrepreneur is guided by a clear vision. Comparing the two, the opportunist latches on to everything that comes their way and thus they are constantly shifting focus and are unable to nurture or grow something. While the same opportunities may come to the entrepreneur, they choose what to focus on, as these bombardments of opportunities when looked at through a different lens become distractions from their long-term vision.
So why is this important?
A focus on the business and opportunities is very external and it involves putting energies into this external identity to you. However with the entrepreneurial approach, success is not built on focusing on the external- rather success begins with focusing internally and investing in yourself, you are your biggest investment and asset. To do this, each entrepreneur must have passion for their work and clarity of their end goal- two ingredients that will help them get to where they need to be.
This passion and clarity are critical as it allows the entrepreneur to stay focused on their vision thus begging the question, how do you develop your vision
This is a 4 step journey that asks questions whose answers dovetail with each other.
- See your vision
- Do you have a vision that defines your life? Asks the question- what is it you want to build/become or achieve in the long run?
- The step toward the vision
- The thought of following your vision as basic as it is is one of the hardest things to achieve. This step forces you to focus not on what you will accomplish, but rather on the person you must become first to accomplish what you have set out to do. Clarity here will dictate your circles, the conversations you will gravitate to and the things/baggage you will have to discard in this journey.
- Sacrifice for the vision
- Closely linked to your journey is letting go of things you WANT to do and embracing things you MUST/NEED to do that you may move closer to your vision. Sacrificing means distancing yourself from interests/distractions (soccer, social media, etc.) and edging towards values (hard work, self-discipline, professionalism, etc.) as they are the new building blocks in your development journey. This phase of the journey is anchored in three key things that as an entrepreneur you must master
- Time
- What things are you allocating your time to and where is your best time being spent? It asks questions like how much time have you accorded to personal growth, personal health, your ideas, etc.
- Energy
- What things are you putting your effort into, are they important, how are they helping in your journey towards your vision, etc?
- Attention
- The entrepreneur’s economy is the economy of attention- just like with the above two- the quality of attention you accord to what you do, your work, your ideas, your market development, etc. ultimately affects the outcome of your entrepreneurial journey.
- Time
- Closely linked to your journey is letting go of things you WANT to do and embracing things you MUST/NEED to do that you may move closer to your vision. Sacrificing means distancing yourself from interests/distractions (soccer, social media, etc.) and edging towards values (hard work, self-discipline, professionalism, etc.) as they are the new building blocks in your development journey. This phase of the journey is anchored in three key things that as an entrepreneur you must master
- Seeking help for the vision
- Finally, the entrepreneurial journey is not one for walking alone; too many times our ideas and vision blind us and we need external eyes and voices to point out our vision’s vulnerability so we can overcome these obstacles on our path. While navigating your entrepreneurial journey surround yourself with people who can see your vision, objective people that can see and point out mistakes or weaknesses in your plans and help you successfully navigate around potential obstacles. These people come in form of mentors, coaches, family, etc., and in your journey, you must identify these people early and allow them to walk with you.
All the above demand a lot from the aspiring entrepreneur and with all the changes required in your thoughts, conversations, circles, and habits, the entrepreneur’s mind must be strong-willed and ready to do what it takes to achieve their long-term vision.
To do this, we must understand and embrace the five pillars of mindset for internal growth.
5 pillars of mindset
- Mastery of meaning
- To be successful, the entrepreneur must be curious, constantly asking questions and looking for answers to what is happening around them. Why did this succeed, how can we improve, what needs to change, etc. every interaction we experience, every outcome, success or failure is an invaluable teachable moment of how to or not to do something.
- Thus, attaching meaning allows us to know what matters, informs us on changes to make, things not to do, etc. allowing us to focus our time, energy, and attention on that which matters.
- Personal development
- When facing the above scenarios, where does your responsibility lie? What did you do or not do when you got result x? What needs to change in you to better the outcomes? Indeed, giving your best as an entrepreneur is the quickest path to personal growth.
- Continuous learning
- Many of us stopped learning when we finished our schooling; however, the entrepreneurship journey is one of continuous learning. As an entrepreneur you must keep your eyes open, listen, think, learn, unlearn and relearn constantly as changes are happening all around you. We learn from our experiences, challenges, successes, failures, networks, trends, etc. and these allow us to be adaptive as what may have worked today could change with technology, trends, or legislation.
- Deliberate self-improvement
- This task asks the same questions stepping towards your vision and sacrificing for your vision asked- what do you need to change or start doing to improve yourself, what must you work towards, things you need to learn or unlearn as your business growth is limited by your personal growth.
- Commitment to the process
- We earlier said the entrepreneurial race is a marathon and one full of obstacles and distractions thus every successful step you take gets you closer to the finish line. Many of us fail to see this gradual progress by focusing on the end result, but it is through celebrating the small milestones that you will reach your end goal. These invisible steps we take that need to be celebrated include the number of pitches made, orders delivered, new connections made, etc.
Indeed, entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster for those who can hang on longest while staying focused on their vision and while many may see it as daunting, it is also a very fulfilling process, one built around bringing your vision to life despite all the obstacles in your path. Thus while the myopic seek opportunities, entrepreneurs look to solve problems and improve lives, open their eyes and ears around you and look for solutions to everyday challenges, and in your pursuit to provide the best solution you will grow yourself into an entrepreneur.
Should you wish to learn more about developing an entrepreneurial mindset, Contact Springboard Capital at 0700 944 444/WhatsApp Us through the button below or email us at info@springboardcapital.co.ke. Our team members are at hand to guide you on your entrepreneurial journey plus a host of other business tools that your business may need.
Click here to WhatsApp us 0700 094 444
Article based on Dr Job Mogire’s BizSmart Webinar Presentation– Dr Job Mogire is a multi-talented award-winning international speaker, author and leader with over 10 years of experience in coaching, training and speaking to audiences across 5 continents
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