“All humans are entrepreneurs, not because they should start companies but because the will to create is encoded in human DNA, and creation is the essence of entrepreneurship”, as quoted by Mr. Reid Hofffman is completely true.
“YOU” are the center of your business, as you created it with your visionary idea. You put all the time and energy into establishing your company and paved the way for others.
Sometimes, the term ‘entrepreneur’ is misunderstood by people. They think that a business owner justifies being an entrepreneur. But that’s not enough, it is actually about the perception, lifestyle, and the way one presents themselves.
“You” as an entrepreneur bear many responsibilities from conceiving the idea and turning it into an actual product or service. This entrepreneurial process requires constant effort and support. This support comes from external as well as from within yourself.
This entrepreneurial journey is full of challenges, struggles, and uncertainties. An entrepreneur is responsible for ensuring the smooth running of their business and fulfilling the vision by making various decisions and plans related to it.
While dealing with all these responsibilities, you should also take care of your health, inspiration source, surroundings, and various other aspects. All of these factors shape “YOU” and your business as they are connected. Therefore, it is vital to know these aspects and how they are affecting your success in the future.
Body
Each part of your body supports your overall system in fulfilling the dream of being an entrepreneur. Our anatomy is made in such a way that it goes hand in hand with each method of becoming a successful person.
1. Brain- “Complex yet simple”
Your brain absorbs, accumulates and process many ideas throughout your life. Few of them get replaced by valid ones. You should always be open to learning from everyone whether it is a kid who teaches to be carefree or a pet who portrays loyalty. Learning is a continuous process so adopt a new lesson in your practical life and set new goals.
2. Eyes- “Opportunities”
Always maintain good eyesight as whatever you see, the same you perceive. Keep your eyes open to grab all the opportunities that will make you succeed in life.
3. Ears- “Balance”
Always hear yourself when you speak and what your heart and mind are saying. Maintain a balance at the workplace by listening to your employees, clients, and even competitors to get feedback and appreciate their efforts. Listen carefully to sense negativity or positivity when others talk with you.
4. Nose- “Smell the success”
It helps you in breathing oxygen and release carbon dioxide. You should practice yoga breathing to keep yourself calm whenever any issue occurs. Smell the problems from distance and try to eliminate them.
5. Mouth- “Communication is the key”
You can share your vision with others by communicating effectively. Your tone, pitch, pace, warmth, everything contributes to making you a great speaker. Always smile to spread positivity and show confidence.
6. Heart- “Passionate”
Always be passionate about your work to deal with the ups and downs that come along with it. Never be afraid of failure and take it as a learning step. Never lose hope in yourself.
7. Arms- “Openness”
It displays strength and transparency to others. Maintain good ethics and legal approach while dealing with your sponsors, clients, or customers.
8. Fingers- “Point towards the right direction”
Let your finger point towards the right path that others can follow.
9. Legs- “Firm stand”
Strong legs make strong stands. Always be firm with your decisions and follow them with dedication. You should be mentally and physically healthy to lead others.
10. Feet- “Down to earth”
Never be so indulged in your victory that you forget your struggles and morals. Industrialists like Mr. Ratan Tata is the role model to everyone because of their humble nature and warmth in their speeches.
Success is the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves- their strengths, values and how they best perform
– Peter Drucker
Sleep
Sleep is essential to becoming successful, especially for entrepreneurs who are involved in building constructive ideas. Generally, it is ignored in this fast pacing world by people who hustle for their goals.
According to American Psychologist Abraham Maslow, sleep is included in the hierarchy of needs with food, shelter, water, and oxygen. As an entrepreneur, you should maintain a good sleeping habit to gain the following benefits:
- To maintain your memory so that you are aware of every specific detail.
- It resets your junk memory and helps in your concentration power.
- It promotes creativity and problem-solving skills.
- Develop your social interaction skills.
- Keeps your anxiety and depression away
- Supports your immune system and helps in gaining more innovative ideas.
Never take your nap time for granted as it leads to many health problems. And this will directly affect “you” as an entrepreneur.
Health
Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live in
– Jim Rohn
The best leaders are those who prioritize their health over everything. Taking care of your health makes you go strong for a longer time.
It is a known fact that entrepreneurs work for long hours and spend less time maintaining their health. Due to this, 72% of entrepreneurs are suffering from various mental issues.
So, take out some time from your hectic schedule to maintain good health as it can be a highly guaranteed investment that you should make.
“You” are the most powerful asset in your business
When you think about your asset, your company, equipment, customers, or patent designs come into your mind but all of these are replaceable. The only thing which is not is you.
Your health should not be compromised at any cost as it will decrease productivity. Maintaining good physical health also affects your mental health. You won’t feel lethargic and depressed.
Food
There is an old saying that says “what you eat is, what you become.” When you eat healthy food with lots of fiber, you stay energized and focused for a longer time.
Eating the right food at right time is one of the best habits that “You” as an entrepreneur should follow.
A well-balanced diet improves your mental health, productivity, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Your diet should include good carbs, proteins, fibers, vitamins, etc. to give you energy for fulfilling your responsibilities. Try to avoid fatty foods, deep-fried and extra sugary drinks as they will make you sleepy and tired all day.
As an entrepreneur, you should switch to a healthier diet at the earliest. Low blood sugar affects your willpower too which is why sometimes you feel overwhelmed and want to quit. Hence, fight your unhealthy cravings and improve your food habits.
Immunity
Building a strong immunity is directly linked with maintaining good physical health and eating the right food. Your immune system protects you from harmful substances and helps in recovery. Weak immunity acts as an obstacle to your efficiency as it disturbs the whole functioning of your body.
Good immunity acts as a barrier to bad antigens and virus infections. Develop a good immune system with adequate nutrition and exercise. It will help you in bouncing back by providing you with a speedy recovery.
Appearance
Appearance matters for making a first good impression”
As an entrepreneur, your looks are one of the most important traits that you should develop. By looks, it doesn’t mean to be handsome or beautiful but the ability to carry yourself properly in public. You should have a strong personality that helps you to “stand out” from others.
Proper attire, a positive attitude, a quality demeanor, and tidy looks create a positive image of yourself. As an entrepreneur, you have to be social to grow your network and people give attention and respect to how you present yourself.
Mindset
Developing an idea into a business is not making “you” as a successful entrepreneur. But, it is the mindset of an entrepreneur that sets you apart from others.
An entrepreneurial mindset is to have a different and unique approach to dealing with problems as compared to other people. This kind of mindset helps you to view the world differently and act accordingly.
A problem-solving mindset helps you to see challenges as an opportunity. It increases your ability to take risks, and initiatives. Build a growth mindset that allows you to focus on finding the solution to a problem by using creative methods. It also creates positive energy within yourself.
Emotion
An emotion is a feeling such as happiness, love, fear, anger, or hatred, which can be caused by the situation that you are in or the people you are with. Entrepreneurial emotion is also the same. The only difference is that entrepreneurs leverage these emotions to develop problem-solving and social skills.
You should be emotionally stable and not let your sudden emotions misguide you. Instead, try to boost your emotional intelligence and make better decisions. Being emotional is not a weakness but empowerment if one knows how to deal with it.
Your emotion is the skills that will guide you in connecting with your team members and even customers. As an entrepreneur, you will be able to relate to their issues and show “empathy.”
Intelligence
To be successful, an intelligent mind is required. By intelligent, it means that you should foster creative and analytical ability with some practical knowledge. Your intelligence will guide you in analyzing a situation or problem with practicality and accuracy.
Being intelligent also means tending to adapt to the changes made by this fact pacing technologies and trends.
Intelligence can be developed over time by learning continuously from yourself and others. After learning it, you will create interpersonal intelligence that will help you in planning and preparing strategies.
Attitude
Attitude is something that influences a person’s choice of action, response to challenges, incentives, and rewards. It is not wrong to say that attitude builds an entrepreneur. It is a psychological trait that will shape your behavior towards your life and goals.
A positive attitude helps you to cope with a problem easily by bringing optimism. Your attitude decides your success rate. A negative attitude will make you quit after encountering a failure, but a positive attitude will make you face the problem boldly and display resilience.
Ambition
It is an important part that drives results and takes you toward your goals. Being ambitious is essential to test your capabilities and limits. With ambition, you will see your vision more clearly and that motivates you to work hard with the determination to fulfilling your dreams.
Ambition portrays healthy self-esteem that “you” should have as an entrepreneur. A talented person may quit if things go wrong but an ambitious person will keep going until the problem is tackled.
Ideas
Without an idea, a business will not exist. An idea can be innovative or an existing one with some new features in it. It is a foundation of entrepreneurship. It creates a reason to invest and thus helps in accumulating sales and profit.
“You” as an entrepreneur must create ideas to increase your progress and human development in a society. The source of an idea can be from anywhere and can be cultivated anytime. Just keep a sharp mind to extract ideas that are worth building into reality.
Faith
According to Forbes, “Faith is the driving action in all that you do and plays a significant role in the development and sustaining of a business venture. “
Entrepreneurial faith is an inner determination, confidence, and a ray of hope that drives the courage to act and to set out on the journey of creating a new business.
You should always keep faith in yourself and your abilities. There will be various factors that will try to shake your belief but you have to be determined. Faith is one of the success factors that make you trust your instincts and take your business to a higher level.
Spirituality
Spirituality is composed of principles and ethics that motivate “you” not only to make a profit for your business but to serve others also.
It is connected to being involved in social work as successful people have a great power to change the world. Companies like TATA are well known for their charities and for working towards the betterment of society.
It also increases productivity and profitability at work by building a positive brand reputation, creating loyal customers, and encouraging employee retention.
Spirituality helps you from within and guides you to find the purpose of your living as a human being. It makes you feel contented and satisfied when you leave a legacy with your good work.
How to deal with failure?
As an entrepreneur, you cannot control failures. It is inevitable, whether it’s a small loss like losing a competitor or a huge loss by not getting enough funds to continue. However, you are not defined by your failures but by the ways you deal with them.
Take the following tips into consideration while battling with the failures:
- Be mentally prepared and turn failure into a life lesson.
- Evaluate your situation and options, do not make any decision in rush.
- Build a strong support system as a backup.
- Don’t take failures personally, treat them as part of your success.
- Take your responsibilities as an entrepreneur seriously and bounce back with all your energy.
Learn from your mistakes and be ready for all kinds of situations. Never give up because when something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor as said by Elon Musk.
Surrounding
An entrepreneur is associated with their surroundings and the environment. It affects and influences your behavior and attitude towards life. Family is the closest connection that shapes our personality and problem-solving skills. They also influence your career choices and life decisions.
Entrepreneurs live within an umbrella of the people and surroundings. Certain people like friends, teachers, or neighbors contribute to our thinking process. They can console or support us either by teaching or by providing a shoulder to rely on.
Our education system directly affects our learning process and skill development by imparting knowledge. We also learn from the successful people around us.
Nationality also affects an entrepreneur’s decision of building or growing their business. Different countries have different rules and supporting factors in terms of encouraging new businesses.