10 Irrational Traits Of Successful Entrepreneurs

Over the years I’ve discovered that you have to be a little nuts to start a business. Almost every successful entrepreneur I know got started by making a decision that most sane people would consider stupid or completely crazy.

It takes a very special blend of craziness and irrationality to succeed as an entrepreneur. I sit down with hundreds of entrepreneurs and nearly every single one has a few or all of the following traits.

10 Irrational traits of entrepreneurs…

1. Thinking that YOU can turn an entire industry upside-down or change the world
2. You’re O.K. with working without a paycheck for years and getting paid later
3. You LOVE working on the weekends
4. Vacations cause you anxiety and you can’t wait to get back to work
5. Your overly optimistic about your abilities and your ideas
6. Your willing to risk it all for the sake of your business
7. You keep getting up after repeated failures and beatings from the marketplace
8. You have an inability to compromise on your beliefs and ideas
9. You see things before the exist
10. Your willing to give up a “normal” life for your dream

Combine these traits with the right idea, team, and business sense and you’re on the right track.

Just remember, when the mixture of craziness and irrationally is too rich… your just plain CRAZY.

Here are the 3 categories of crazy people/entrepreneurs I meet on a weekly basis…

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

—Steve Jobs