5 Reasons You're Not An Entrepreneur

    Three years ago I decided to start my own company and operate as a private business owner. Since then I have been researching and studying the mindset of successful entrepreneurs, and what it takes to be one. I have also noticed a trend in the use of the word, often being used synonymously with business owner, or salesperson, neither of which apply. Most people who consider or call themselves entrepreneurs, are not.  And although I may fit some people's definition of an entrepreneur, I don’t consider or call myself one, not yet anyway. However, I do try to embody the traits and characteristics that seem to be present and required of entrepreneurs. Below are five factors I have found that prevent most people from ever becoming a successful entrepreneur, let alone attempting to be one in the first place.  ​

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1.  Excuses
As long as you are tied to your reasons for not being able to do something you will be shackled by the inability to make progress. How you identify yourself now is, and will be the most important factor in terms of the actions you take moving forward. As soon as you identify yourself and see yourself as an entrepreneur, as a risk taker, as an innovator, that's when your actions will be in line with, and become consistent with who you are. How you define yourself is a direct result of the story you tell yourself about who you are. You have two choices: you can tell an empowering story that puts you in the position to take the actions necessary to be an entrepreneur, or you can fall back on the identity of a victim who blames circumstances and relies on excuses not to take risks.  

2. Fear
Speaking of risks, one of the things that is central to being an entrepreneur is that the drive to accomplish and succeed is stronger than the drive to avoid pain. The gratification of accomplishment is stronger than the fear of loss. Because of this shift in perspective, a “risk” potentially has more upside than it does downside. Fear of failing or losing is naturally the strongest drive within most of us, and that fear will dictate your ability and decision to take risks, or not. This is because the need to avoid pain is prewired within all of us as a survival mechanism. Risk takers experience fear and pain, but they find a way to override that dominant hard wiring and recondition themselves by making the gratification of success the number one driving force and motivating factor.

3. Purpose & Meaning
One simple reason why most people will either fail at entrepreneurship or won't be able to successfully sustain it is because they are doing it for the wrong reasons. Many people go into business or look to be an entrepreneur because they see it as a way to make money, or as an opportunity to get rich. If your motivation is coming from your desire to gain wealth or achieve and attain something, then you are setting yourself up for failure and sabotaging yourself from the jump. It's ok to desire and gain wealth, but money or external rewards cannot be your primary source of drive and motivation to work hard and succeed. You have got be sure that your work and your mission is in line with your purpose and your passion, and is complementary to what is meaningful and important to you. Ultimately, fulfillment will come not from achievements, accomplishments, external rewards, or material things. True authentic happiness and gratification will come in the form of fulfillment that you are making a difference by contributing and giving back in a meaningful way.

4. Resiliency
We should all know by now or at least have heard that failure is a part of success. But your failures can only become part of your successful journey if you don't view them as failures in the first place. The difference between most entrepreneurs and most people has to do with how they frame or look at failure. As long as you view failure as a road block and an indicator that you can't or shouldn't do something, you will lose. Successful individuals view failure as feedback, not as a setback. You have to view all your experiences through the frame of reference based on one question, “What can I learn from this?” That is the approach that will cultivate the resiliency needed to push through and past inevitable roadblocks.

5. Comfort
Your comfort zone will kill all of your ambition. Your comfort zone consists of everything from your daily routine, to your current job and salary, to your friends and the people you consistently associate with. Your comfort zone also consists of your current mindset and the beliefs you have, that you may not even be aware of. Nobody likes change unless it's when they're getting money back. However, change is an absolute part of life, whether you like it or not. The only question is, are you going to passively settle for the changes around you that you can’t control, or are you going to take control of your life and play an active role in creating the changes that you desire? The choice is yours.