My second strategy of becoming an Entrepreneur

 

Passion. Simple as that.

My second strategy to becoming an entrepreneur is to find your passion. You have already given yourself permission to chase your goals and you have defined those goals in my first strategy. The next thing to do is ensure that you are passionate about the goals you are planning to achieve. Think about tasks you have done already in your life and what each of the ones you wanted to do had in common: Passion.

I say passion is simple but in reality it’s not. The concept is simple and most people can understand what I’m looking for but actual discovery of your passion is extremely difficult. I struggled with finding my passion because I had too many hobbies and activities I enjoyed. I couldn’t choose which I was truly passionate about. Sure I love to snowboard and ride dirtbikes, but are these things something I’m so passionate about I will stop at nothing to make happen? No.

How do you find your passion? Honestly, there isn’t much direction I can give you to direct you toward your passion. So many people discover theirs in different ways and for different reasons. For instance, the passionate youngster who had a sick family member who meant the world to them found a passion in medicine to help others keep those important people in their lives longer. Sometimes there are life events that will point out your passion like a sore thumb but sometimes there aren’t and it requires more digging. I can tell you that it will take some deep thought and focus to find yours but the actual path to finding it is yours and yours alone.

I found my first passion by focusing on my goals and vision of my life in the future. I asked myself where I wanted to be and what I wanted that future to look like. I also expanded my focus from life passions to passions I could combine with entrepreneurship. In doing this exercise, I discovered my passion is aviation. I have loved it as a hobby, family connection, and even ended up working as a design engineer in the aerospace industry. Much of my life has revolved around aviation or the ability to be an aviator. This is my passion and it is evident in all aspects of my life. I find that I am extremely driven to design and provide products for the aerospace industry. I enjoy aircraft and find that I have that extra drive to make things happen when dealing in aerospace. This is the type of drive you need to find.

After reading about my second strategy, I invite you to find your passion and see if you can apply it to your entrepreneurial goals. Dig deep and evaluate these passions. Remember, this is not about anyone else but yourself because once you start down this path, no one is going to step in and do it for you. You must be able to rely on this passion to get the ball rolling and keep it rolling.

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So you’ve decided you ARE an entrepreneur! Now what?

Excuses aside, entrepreneurship defined, you have now decided that you are an entrepreneur. Now what? What do you do once you have decided this is you and you have identified with the entrepreneurship poster from what is an entrepreneur in the first place? The answer is: DO ANYTHING (or mostly anything).

You may be wondering why the answer to “Now what?” is anything. I say anything because I have seen so many people identify with entrepreneurship yet they continue to suffer and work for people they do not like, perform poorly in jobs they hate, and begin to have troubles in their lives because they have an identity crisis. The expectations these individuals have for themselves end up not matching with what they are doing in life. “Anything” allows you to literally go in any direction, as long as it is in some sort of direction.

I was one of these people – until I did something about it. I am still in the early stages of developing my strength as an entrepreneur however I have now given myself permission to do so by first stating “I am an entrepreneur”. Each person needs to find their match in identity and purpose through their efforts in entrepreneurship. The alignment of these two parts of your life will, in my opinion, result in tremendous improvements on your work effort, work life, social life, and overall well being.

I have a few strategies that I follow, and invite you follow as well. We’ll take things slow as this is not an overnight success to millions. This takes time, a lot of effort, dedication, and most of all some good ol’ fashioned elbow grease.

The first strategy: 

Give yourself permission to change and the permission to pursue your goals. In giving yourself permission you are allowing yourself to think differently and to begin down this new path. This may not be the first thing a textbook or world renowned article states in your generic 10 steps to be an entrepreneur and I would argue that these generic steps overlook many of the little achievable steps in between.

After giving yourself permission, decide exactly where it is you want to go and what you want to do. We are talking about finding your specific way to provide value to others and how you want to go about doing that. These are your goals. Your goals do not have to be ever defining or all encompassing. Your goals will likely change over time as you begin to find your own way and your own voice. I recommend starting with a small, achievable goal. I think one of the best tips I can provide is that these goals do not have to be revolutionary. These goals can be evolutionary in that you don’t have to be the next Apple or Uber. Find something of value to you and see if you can get it done for others.

Please feel free to leave comments about my blogging. Love it? Hate it? I’m happy to hear what you have to say as I am also learning from you. Remember, this is also a part of giving yourself permission – be engaged and you’ll start taking steps toward being your own entrepreneur. Follow my blog as we continue to explore what is its and how to be and entrepreneur.

 

What is an Entrepreneur in the first place?

What is an entrepreneur? Who is an entrepreneur? Can I even pronounce it properly?

If you’re like me, I didn’t know the real meaning behind what it means to be an entrepreneur and like most, I didn’t think the meaning of the word was all that important. I assumed an entrepreneur was just someone who started businesses. WRONG. Entrepreneur is actually defined as: a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.

Huh. Wait a second? I was actually pretty close to the definition in my assumption of what an entrepreneur was. The key point here is that this word, although defined rather shortly and focused on someone who organizes and operates a business, is under defined in my opinion.

Yes, entrepreneurs can be those who start another nail salon or restaurant, etc. (and absolutely nothing against those entrepreneurs!) and that is what most people think of when they think of entrepreneurship. However, I would argue that entrepreneurs are also people who innovate, challenge the status-quo, think outside the box, swim upstream, and test the un-tested. They are the people who don’t settle for what works until they have what works best. They don’t sit back and wait for someone else to make the change for them. They are driven, sometimes a little crazy, and focused on the goal in mind. I think these people are our leaders and it serves us well to seek them out, pick their brains, and follow their example. In doing so, I think you will start to find your own way since I believe we are all an entrepreneur in our own right but many of us just don’t know how to grasp that part of ourselves. Take a look at the image above. THIS is entrepreneurship.

Many of us find a way to make an excuse for why we shouldn’t be entrepreneurs. Sometimes the risks seem too high, sometimes the timing doesn’t seem right, and sometimes you think you don’t have the time. Believe me, we have all been here. BUT WAIT! – If you think you’re one of these people, start to look at your surroundings. Think about how you look at things and ask yourself if you’re always thinking there is a better way or thinking that you could do something no one else does. If you think, like I think, about these things, then you are an entrepreneur too. If you are, I want to help you find a way to harness that inner entrepreneur and hopefully provide a little insight that will get you moving.

 

 

Credit:

Google definitions – Entrepreneur; PhotoCredit: Next twentyeight