Are you attracted to entrepreneurship? Does the concept of being your own boss appeal to you? Have you always wanted to do a startup business of your own?
Entrepreneurship is not easy. It’s a long-term game. If you want to build something that is a valuable, appreciable asset that can sustain you, you’re not going to build it in a weekend. Moreover, your first venture will likely fail. And your second… I’m 15 years into my entrepreneurial journey and it’s still hard. The process of building something from nothing is as much of an entrepreneurial process as it is a self-discovery journey.
Entrepreneurship is rooted in self-discipline
Self-discipline is an exercise in consistency. This is put into practice in every aspect of our life. We spend time acquiring knowledge, developing skills, collecting experiences. But we must learn how to apply and effectively use what we’ve learned. We must also be deeply aware of our limitations and biases. By trying, iterating, refining, failing and trying again – the application of our knowledge may eventually produce the results we hope for.
“All success begins with self-discipline. It starts with you.”
Dwayne Johnson
Set a long-term goal and dedicate yourself to figuring it out.
There is nothing more rewarding and beautiful than progress. As an entrepreneur, time is your most scarce resource. It’s your antagonist. It takes persistent effort and self-awareness to effectively manage our valuable time.
When you start your journey building an early-stage company, you have a long way to go. It’s this uncertainty, the challenge and the willingness to put it all on the line that draws a lot of people to climb mountains. This also applies to a lot of other challenges in life, whether it’s trying to make it as a professional athlete, starting a family, going to grad school or taking all of your cash and assets and starting a business. The repetition of working on ideas will eventually pay off. Most people just need practice in bringing ideas to life.
It is tremendously tough building something from nothing, but with persistence and consistency comes a much greater reward. Personal growth. Self awareness gives you the capacity to learn from your mistakes as well as your successes. It enables you to keep growing.
The only thing worse than starting something and failing … is not starting something.
Seth Godin
Building a startup requires deep self-awareness
Self-awareness is the ability to take an honest look at your life without any attachment to it being right or wrong, good or bad. The more self-aware you are as an entrepreneur, the better chance you have to succeed during the early-stages. The entrepreneurial process will humble you – a lot. But always remember this… the best view always comes after the hardest climb.
