The Eight Pillars of Entrepreneurship
Self-Discipline & Intensity
The Secret to Managing the Entrepreneurial Life
One of the most alluring aspects of the entrepreneurial life is the autonomy (read: freedom from your incompetent boss). However, it’s also one of the most trying aspects. You’re the one in charge now. And that comes with a heck of a lot of responsibility.
Defining Self-Discipline & Intensity
As mentioned in our first installment of the Eight Pillars of Entrepreneurship blog series, we will delve into high-performance in each of the pillars that form the foundation of performance in startups. Our last two blogs focused on the Vision & Strategy Pillar and Executions & Operations Pillar. Up next: Self-Discipline & Intensity.
The Self-Discipline & Intensity Pillar refers to a group of behaviors related to setting goals and performance standards, taking initiative, exerting effort, and focusing on goal attainment.
Self-Discipline & Intensity is critical for success in entrepreneurship. The ability to direct your own willpower and stay the course is difficult. Entrepreneurs manage a multitude of tasks and roles independently and need to be the ones to push themselves to maintain momentum. Some days you must gather the energy to ignore the voice in your head that says “I don’t feel like it” and get out of bed anyway. Other days you must ignore the urge to procrastinate. After all, you’re the one responsible for holding yourself accountable.
What does high Self-Discipline & Intensity performance look like?
Entrepreneurs who are skilled in this area devote themselves to their work and use their passion as an internal driving force to inspire action toward developing a prosperous business venture. They take the initiative to set high goals and design plans to help them reach those goals. Typically, they have extraordinarily high-performance standards to which they hold themselves and their co-entrepreneurs. Through extensive effort and volition to succeed, they attain the necessary knowledge and skills to build their business.
Here are some examples of core Self-Discipline & Intensity behaviors:
- Take initiative, work autonomously, and learn independently
- Set goals to manage and achieve progress
- Devise high-performance expectations and accountability standards
- Develop unwavering commitment and dedication to succeed
- Act with a results-oriented mentality
- Dedicate large amounts of time, effort, and energy to achieving goals
- Use passion as an internal driving force to inspire action
Real-Life examples of high-performance
One excellent example of skills in the Self-Discipline & Intensity Pillar comes from Henok Yeshanew, an award-winning entrepreneur. Yeshanew’s experience highlights the importance of having a strong self-awareness and a desire to learn. Introspection helps entrepreneurs identify areas that could be improved and the desire to learn knowledge and skills help design the right performance rhythm that enables one to live up to their potential. In an interview, Yeshanew shares, “The hardest part of this journey was being in control of everything in the business. I didn’t have a boss to manage me or tell me what to do, which was a scary situation for me initially. I reached out to other established people in the business. With their guidance and mentorship, I was able to manage myself well; growth and success followed,” he said. Henok’s mentors properly credit his success to his willingness to self-improve and dedication to his personal transformation into a business leader and entrepreneur.
In another very impressive example, serial entrepreneur Bun Bydaway explains that his self-discipline played a large role in his success in transitioning from being arrested seven times to making 7-figures. Bydaway knows the difficulty of being disciplined and shares his secret that keeps him from getting out of bed every morning: he thinks of his employees and reminds himself that he’s responsible for their careers and well-being. Acknowledging and respecting the enormous responsibility you have to yourself and others can help serve as a powerful motivator to developing discipline.
Another way to develop strong skills in the Self-Discipline and Intensity Pillar is to observe and learn from others about what’s worked. Baron Davis, Founder of the Black Santa Company, advises entrepreneurs to “admire people who are great in what they do in their respective talents, whether it’s business or in sports. And learn to appreciate them and learn what you can do to make them better because that’s how you become a sponge.” Good work ethic is not something people are born with, they need to develop the skillset in the same way one would strengthen their muscles. And that means you need to learn about the best practices and from others’ mistakes, so you don’t make the same ones.
Tips for improving Self-Discipline & Intensity performance
We’ve saved you some time and compiled several resources to help you learn about cultivating Self-Discipline & Intensity. But first, learn these science-based tips to help you develop your entrepreneurial skills:
- Stay Organized. Staying organized can help save you an immense amount of time from process loss, so be sure to create a structure and system that works for you.
- Develop a Routine. Getting into habits that enable unconscious behavior can free up some of your cognitive resources.
- Remove Distractions. Eliminate all temptations to stray off course. For instance, you can put your phone away, avoid social media, and say no to projects that are not in alignment with your goals.
Additional Resources
Articles
- 10 Powerful Ways to Master Self-Discipline, Entrepreneur
- 11 Ways to Stay Motivated, According to Highly Successful Business People, Money
- 6 Ways to Build Your Will, Psychology Today
- Where Does Self-Discipline Come From?, Association for Psychological Science
- 8 Powerful Ways of Cultivating Extreme Self-Discipline, Forbes
- Why Discipline Powerful Ways To Cultivate Extreme Self-Discipline and Self-Control are the True Path to Success, Forbes
Books
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey
- The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control, Walter Mischel
Videos
- 5 Important Keys to Developing Strong Willpower, Entrepreneur
- How Your Brain’s Executive Function Works, Sabine Doebel Ted Talk
- An ER Doctor on Triaging your “Crazy Busy” Life, Darria Long Ted Talk
About Blackhawke Behavior Science
Want to learn more about building a strong entrepreneurial team? Visit Blackhawke’s Medium publication, From I-O to IPO, or www.blackhawke.io and get social with us on Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter!
