Posts Tagged ‘entrepreneurial thinking’

You want to be an entrepreneur?  Great.  As one who is and has been psychologically unemployable for over 30 years, I personify the entrepreneurial mindset.

Making money from home requires a committed entrepreneurial mindset.  The characteristics of the entrepreneurial mindset are as different as the behavior of a rhinoceros and a cow.  The rhinoceros charges through the jungle breaking through shrubbery barriers on a direct mission toward the goal.  The cow stands in the field eating grass and waiting for hay to be brought to them when the grass is unavailable.  A rhino will go after the food rather than sitting around passively waiting for it to come to them.

Compare the rhinoceros mindset to the entrepreneurial mindset. The rhinoceros goes after the goal as does the entrepreneur.  The cow performs the basic duties required of it at the will and direction of someone else and expects the hay or grass to be presented to them.  The employee performs the duties required of them by the boss and expects the pay check to be delivered to them.

The entrepreneurial mindset has an overwhelming desire to create their own duties on their own time schedule and reap the significantly higher rewards of that extra individual effort.  By the same token, the entrepreneurial mindset accepts the responsibility of their decisions, good or bad.  The employee expects to receive the pay check on a regular basis regardless of the consequences of each individual decision; after all, it was not entirely their decision, it was either the decision of the boss or with the approval of the boss.

The rhino and the entrepreneur effect to receive the rewards of their efforts and the consequences of their actions.  Making money working from home requires the entrepreneurial mindset.  You are your own boss when you are an entrepreneur.

Another aspect of the entrepreneurial mindset is the constant drive to do better, do more and be more creative.  In order to be making money working from home, you absolutely must focus your mind on the task at hand.  Be creating, be willing to take a risk on a new marketing campaign or new marketing method, and be decisive.  No boss will be making the decision for you, nor do you want them to make decisions for you.  Look carefully at each option and make a decision.  Analysis paralysis will not be tolerated.  Time becomes an important commodity; time must be focused and used wisely, not wasted.  Wise time management is critical to making money working from home.

If you desire to be making money working from home, develop your entrepreneurial mindset and put it into action with focused time and effort.  The rewards will thrill you.

For more in depth tips and techniques for making money working from home, join me at http://www.elaine4success.com/.

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In this world of few guarantees, rest assured that a successful entrepreneur is never ever lazy.  The entrepreneurial mindset seems to remain in motion.  One of the most difficult tasks for a successful entrepreneur is to turn off the flow of creative ideas.  There is always one more thing they want to do, one more advertising campaign to launch, and one more marketing strategy to explore.  If you were ever in their bedroom you would find a notepad on the night stand for those flashes of brilliance which awaken them in the middle of the night.

Another of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs is their constant quest to do just a little better or do just a little more.  They are always seeking perfection.  This tendency to constantly tweak a logo or a brochure or even an office procedure can drive those around them to reach for the chocolate or the tenth cup of coffee.  Entrepreneurs may not always be easy to live with because of this constant drive.  We have even been called such names as “workaholic.”  Imagine that.

Yes, we immerse ourselves so fully in the task at hand that we forget to bring home the milk; time just flies by and the focus is on the project of the moment.  Don’t be frustrated with the entrepreneurial mindset; it is simply one of the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.

Examine the entrepreneurial mindset and you will find a checkerboard.  Each task has its own individual square; however there is also the larger puzzle of making each square function to lead to the ultimate goal of becoming a king.  Strategic individual moves, awareness of the moves around them, and target focus on the ultimate goal are all working simultaneously.

The entrepreneurial mindset is complicated but invigorated at all times.  This moving, thriving energetic mind is one of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.

Another characteristic will be the ready smile and the excitement for life.  It is not uncommon to find another characteristic of successful entrepreneurs to be rising early and retiring to bed late.  It is that “one more thing to do” thought pattern.

So if you call your successful entrepreneur and ask him to stop at the store on his way home from the office and he forgets to do so, just smile.  It is just one of the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.  Bring them a cool beverage, a warm smile and forgiveness for the oversight.

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Success starts in my mind.  Until you see yourself as successful, you may have a temporary flash but you will never achieve long term results.

Compare your entrepreneurial success to weight loss.  Most of us can relate to that yo-yo battle.  If you see yourself with double or triple chins, excess hanging over your belt, or having to shop in the “plus size” section, you will have an uphill battle to lose weight.  You may go on a great diet and lose a few pounds, but unless you change your mental image of yourself, you will gain it all back and more.

Form a mental image of yourself as successful.  Know exactly how success will look to you.  Does it mean a specific car, a certain size home in a specific neighborhood, a minimum amount of money in your retirement account, the ability for your children to attend any university they choose, travel or the freedom to give generously to your church or charity?  Know exactly how success will look to you.  Unless your target is crystal clear in my mind, how can you possibly know when you achieve it?

Write a detailed description of your ideal day, ideal week and ideal month.  When you clarify in your mind the long term activities of entrepreneurial success and the ideal results of those activities, your target gains focus.

Would you go for a walk alone in unfamiliar woods without a trail to follow, a map, a compass or a specific destination?  That is a clear recipe for getting lost.  Even if your cell phone might work in the forest, which it probably will not capture a signal; you would not have any idea how to tell the rescue party where to locate you.  Expecting entrepreneurial success without a clear image in your mind of exactly what the desired outcome looks like is a train wreck waiting to happen.

The principles are universal.  Decide exactly what success looks like to you.  Picture it clearly in your mind in living color.  Invoke all 5 senses in your image.  Repeat the image frequently, especially the first thing in the morning and the last thing before going to sleep at night.  Your subconscious mind is most easily programmed just emerging from an alpha state (sleep) or entering an alpha state.

Just as the directions on the shampoo bottle, perform and repeat.  Repeating your image of entrepreneurial success over and over in my mind reinforces the goal and keeps you focused.

For more specific guidance on creating the success you desire and deserve, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com

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What you are thinking on the inside reflects in your attitude, words and results on the outside.

Guys, have you ever asked a female, “What’s wrong?”  You received the dreaded “nothing.”  You know better, she knows better.  Even worse, you are no closer to a solution.  Your thoughts, or at least the general tone of those thoughts, reflect to everyone around you.  I am just as guilty as other females of doing this “nothing” comment.

Have you ever asked your teenager “How was school today?”  Sometimes we receive a grunt and sometimes it is “fine” Have you ever asked your spouse “How was work today?”  That answer can either be a full dissertation on a word by word basis or that same “fine” which actually sounds like “I don’t want to talk about it.  Don’t ask.”

Locking emotions up inside prolongs the agony and stifles solutions.  Even more than avoiding any possible solutions to the issue, it makes everyone around you uncomfortable.  How do you feel when a boss, co-worker, family member or friend does that to you?

Entrepreneurial success depends on a positive attitude and open communication.  If you can not communicate with your employees, co-workers and clients, your business is doomed.  Equally critical is a positive attitude.  The more you lock off your communication, the more you chase away your entrepreneurial success.

A positive attitude and open communication are Siamese twins; it requires both to achieve entrepreneurial success.  Without a positive internal attitude, you will never project a positive external attitude.  The best actor or actress in the world can only sustain a role for a limited period of time.  Hiding your feelings or “fake it until you make it” has a limited shelf life.  Just as you see through the mood of others around you, they see through your mood as well.  Consider for a moment how you feel when you believe someone is either not telling you the entire truth or is intentionally misleading you.  You lose trust in them.  Without trust, you will never achieve entrepreneurial success.
Hiding or faking your thoughts and feelings equals deception.  Pretending to think, feel or speak something different than the truth, will come back to haunt you.  How do you snap out of a funk?  Think of something which makes you happy.  Take a walk to clear your head.  Yes, you could go eat chocolate but that would not be a wise long term solution. Movement and reflecting on positives always increases the positives.

Get your head back into a positive thought pattern.  Bring your feelings back to positive memories.  Focus on all of the good things in your life.

Once your thoughts and feelings are positive, you can openly communicate.  When you open up, the others around you will communicate more freely as well.  The major turning point in your entrepreneurial success is your internal thoughts and feelings.  As Jim Rohn, noted business philosopher said “Work harder on yourself than on your business.”

Positive thoughts and feelings coupled with open communication and you are on your way to entrepreneurial success.

For more helpful tips, techniques and mindset shifts join me at www.Elaine4Success.com.

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Dreams must be backed by action.  Until you back them with action, your dreams are nothing more than idle wishes and daydreams.  If you truly desire to implement a blueprint for success, your dreams must be transformed into goal directed action.

What is holding you back from achieving your dreams?  Are you living the life you truly thought you could be or would be living?  Remember when you were a child and all things were possible?  What happened to that magic and wonder?  You say life got in the way?  Work and responsibility took over and dreams were stuffed back on the shelf never to see the light of day again.  How could this happen?

In a small child’s imagination, all things are possible.  Anyone who has ever been a teenager or raised a teenager knows the “fearless factor” of youth.  We rationalize our decrease in imagination and willingness to reach above and beyond our comfort zone as maturity.  Let’s be honest.  Is it really maturity or is it more a matter of staying in our comfort zone?  Is it simply easier to stay with the status quo rather than reach out and be daring?  We get stuck in the familiar even if we do not like that set of circumstances.

The first step in any blueprint for success is willingness to leave your comfort zone.  Step two in the blueprint for success is to take positive action toward the achievement of the dream. Where would America be right now if Christopher Columbus had not gone exploring?  What if the Pilgrims had stayed in England?  What if you stayed in a job you hated just because it was easier to stay and complain than reach for your dreams?

Having a blueprint for success provides a pathway; however, you must take the action.   Columbus could dream about the voyage to America but without taking action to acquire the ships, crew and supplies, he was land locked.

A teenager can dream of attending college; however, in order for it to become reality there are a few practical steps.  Even college entrance has a specific blueprint for success.

1.  Good grades and good test scores which meet college entrance requirements.

2.  A plan to finance the endeavor: scholarship, job, parents, or a rich uncle.

3.  Apply to the desired colleges and receive acceptance.

Starting your own business also requires a blueprint for success.

1.  Determine what area creates a passion for you.  A florist shop may be wonderful for the area; however, if you are allergic to flowers or have a black thumb, it would not be recommended for you.  Find your passion and create your business accordingly.

2.  Determine what type of business – franchise, brick and mortar, or home based.

3.  Determine the initial investment you have available or can acquire.

4.  Determine your income needs and desires.  Will that business produce the income in sufficient time and quantity to sustain you both short term and long term?

Every endeavor of any significance requires a blueprint for success.  Amazing that most people spend more time planning their vacations than they do planning their financial future.

Starting a business without a blueprint for success is financial suicide.  The blueprint carefully details each and every intersection on the road to success.  Unless you have specific mile markers, how do you know you are making progress?  How close are you on your time target as well as your financial and business growth targets?  Your blueprint for success is the difference between being busy and being productive.

Without a blueprint for success, you could very easily be wandering around or even worse, going in circles.  A rocking chair can be in constant motion but it does not go forward.  A puppy dog can run in circles until he collapses in exhaustion, but he did not make any forward progress.

A blueprint for success is a methodical plan detailing specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely benchmarks on your road to success.  An ideal blueprint for success is personalized for you.  Some call it a goal setting worksheet.  Textbooks give excellent general guidelines but not specific personalized plans.  Designing a personalized blueprint insures your success.

Not certain how to design such a perfect plan for you?  Join me at http://www.elaine4success.com/.

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