Building a Strong Entrepreneurial Mindset: Unleashing Your Potential

The Power of an Entrepreneurial Mindset

To put it simply, entrepreneurs need a strong mindset. There are far too many pitfalls in the entrepreneurial journey to survive without one. “But how do I acquire an entrepreneurial mindset, or just change my mindset in general?” I hear you ask. Don’t worry, we will be getting into that. But first, let’s dive into what an entrepreneurial mindset is.

What is an Entrepreneurial Mindset?

An entrepreneurial mindset is a growth mindset. That’s it. This means you have a strong belief that your abilities are not limited to your genes, heritage or past circumstances. In other words, you CAN improve. This type of mindset differs from a fixed mindset where you believe you CANNOT improve yourself.

As you can imagine this type of mindset can be very detrimental when trying to start a company or in life in general. I found a quote a while back which I believe sums up the difference between a growth and fixed mindset –

“The difference between a warrior and an ordinary man is that a warrior sees everything as a challenge while an ordinary man sees everything as either a blessing or a curse” – Don Juan

Embracing Challenges

Yes, it is not easy to have an entrepreneurial mindset. Your mind sees challenges everywhere. But as the quote suggests, every circumstance that comes your way is a chance to prove to yourself who you are and what you can withstand. Not just in business but in life also of course.

One of my most recent challenges was working with a funeral directors (whilst writing this article actually). I had to earn an income somehow and this was the only place hiring. In the night, I would get called out at God knows what time to drive an ambulance and pick up some poor sod who had passed away. I had three options to see this as – a blessing, a curse, or a challenge. I chose the third. Which would you choose?

Learning and Growing

I don’t know about you but this aspect of the entrepreneurial mindset excites me the most. You CAN learn whatever you want nowadays! Ask yourself a few of these questions. What are your interests? What would you do for free? Or what area of yourself needs improving?

Answering questions like these will prime your brain to come up with answers. You will then know where to start learning and growing. I started on Udemy personally. It was the best investment of my life. I figured out I liked Psychology, which then transformed into a passion for marketing, so I decided to learn more about digital marketing. It’s that simple.

Set Goals and Track Your Progress

Setting goals is another essential aspect of achieving a growth mindset. Whether it’s learning a new skill, improving your fitness, or advancing in your career, setting clear goals gives you something to strive for. Break your goals down into smaller, achievable steps, and track your progress along the way. Celebrate your successes and learn from any setbacks or obstacles you encounter.

You can start here by downloading our free goal setting template. Just take some time to fill it out and figure out what you need most.

Okay, but how do I acquire an Entrepreneurial Mindset?

I’m glad you asked. Firstly, start by changing your relationship to circumstances outside of your control. Yes, it’s easier said than done. For example, imagine you get stuck in traffic.

Instead of habitually getting angry and stressed, practise staying calm and realising the situation is out of your control. Instead of focussing on what you cannot control, focus on what you CAN.

Also, if you’re wondering why “can” is bolded in most sentences, it’s because-

“The man who says he can, and the man who says he cannot, are both correct.” – Confucius

Visualization

Visualization is powerful, it lets your mind know where you want to end up. Therefore, it will slowly start to carve out a path for you to get there. Visualizing yourself as the future person you want to become will give you something to aim at.

Try closing your eyes for just 5-10 minutes a day and visualize yourself solving problems, facing challenges head on, and formulating strategies for problems. This will prime your brain to thinking with an entrepreneurial mindset.

But what, why? Because your brain doesn’t know the difference between imagination and reality. How many times have you woken up in the middle of the night because you thought you were falling?

So if your brain sees you solving problems and facing challenges, it will amuse you are already doing all these things and then acting with an entrepreneurial mindset will naturally become part of your identity.

Breaking through Mental Blocks

Ever feel stuck and unsure of which way to go? Me too. In fact everyone has felt this way at some point. You are not alone. Here are some of the most common examples entrepreneurs struggle with and what to do about them-

1. Fear of Failure:

Ah yes, the dreaded fear of failure. The No.1 enemy of the entrepreneurial mindset. You worry that everything you are putting in will not pay off and you will be trapped in an empty void forever wishing you had never started. Or is that just me?

Improvement – I use a simple exercise when this feeling really starts to get a hold of me. I meditate. But not just any old sit there for 40 minutes and eventually fall asleep meditation, I think about my own death.

Weird, I know. The point of this exercise is to condition yourself into knowing that really, failure doesn’t exist. How can you fail? You’re condemned to die (the biggest failure of all) the second you were born!

Failure doesn’t exist. So stop worrying about something that isn’t real, and just hustle, regardless of fear (that’s called bravery by the way).

“We suffer more in imagination than we do in reality” – Seneca

2. Perfectionism:

I don’t know about you but I am guilty of this (with my website especially). But it is just an illusion. No matter how hard you try, you will never achieve your own impossible standards. Progress over perfection.

Every time you are obsessing over something tell yourself the following statement – “Good enough, move on.” Done is much better than perfect. Take imperfect action, learn from your mistakes, and move on.

Improvement – This exercise I learned from Tim Ferris, who possesses an unshakeable entrepreneurial mindset, and it sort of goes hand-in-hand with the fear of failure. Take imperfect action. Even if it is not the perfect time, or you believe you are going to fail, do it anyway. A good way to test yourself on this is the coffee challenge.

I nearly soiled my pants trying this but it helped me grow and it will help you grow too. Walk into any coffee shop and order a coffee. When you are about to purchase, ask for a 10% discount. The barrister will ask “why?”. And then you will just stand there staring intensely into their eyes not knowing what to say next.

You will probably not get a 10% discount, but that’s not the point of the exercise. The point is to make you comfortable being uncomfortable. Give it a try. You will feel good after it.

3. Imposter Syndrome:

Not being worthy. You don’t deserve success. I will find you out you phoney! All BS. You are not an imposter and anyone is capable of success if they simply allow themselves to be. Own your success, no matter where you are in your journey.

If you just did 5 minutes of an online course learning something new, congratulations, you just succeeded in taking your first step. I don’t mean that lightly, you really are a success.

Improvement – Try and notice when you are thinking in this manner, and reframe it. Instead of “I cannot do this, I am not ready” say back to yourself “I can do this and I am ready”. Overtime, your mind will begin to become habituated and you won’t even think of the first statement again.

Building Resilience in Business and Life

We all have different philosophies we abide by. Your philosophy will be different to my philosophy. A philosophy may be described as a set of beliefs moulded into us from childhood. As we grow older and experience, our philosophies will alter slightly. This is to allow us to adapt to our immediate external environment.

Little adjustments do not change the core of our philosophies. However, if you are truly shocked to your core by something, your entire philosophy will get rocked to the core, and you need to be prepared for when this happens as, basically, it happens to EVERYONE.

Man makes plans, God he laughs

A business venture gone wrong, the death of a loved one, serious illness, malevolent individuals, divorce, and fired from your job to name a few shocking circumstances. Yes, this has gone deep very fast. I am sorry. But I just want to reinforce the importance of having a flowing philosophy which can be easily changeable on a day to day basis.

In other words, don’t assign too much importance to trivial matters. For example, if you are having a debate with someone, and it is clearly pointed out that you are wrong, just accept it. Don’t waste your energy enforcing false beliefs – it will drain you.

This may be difficult as you must take your ego out of the equation, but with practice it will become natural, and you will become stronger than ever. This is essential in adopting an entrepreneurial mindset.

“Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup it becomes the cup. If you put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle. Now water can flow, or it can crash. Be water my friend.” – Bruce Lee

Embracing the Entrepreneurial Mindset

So, now you know what the entrepreneurial mindset is, how to acquire it, and why it is important. Congratulations to you! In entrepreneurship and life, challenges are inevitable, but if we learn to fight back and be brave, we will become stronger along the way and grow as a result.

I now ask you to embrace the entrepreneurial mindset and life itself – grab it by the balls! As always remember, your clock is ticking. Thank you for spending your time with me here. I have enjoyed it and I hope you have too. If you would like to chat more about the entrepreneurial mindset, please don’t hesitate to contact me!