How To Be a Successful Entrepreneur
By Danny Holtschke from StartupGeist
People always say you should live everyday as though it’s your last. I sort of have taken the opposite track, where I think you should live everyday as though it’s going to go on forever. You should treat people like you’re going to see them again in the future. You should start working on projects that may take a long time. And so I want to live everyday as though it’s going to go on forever.”
You might wonder how to be a successful entrepreneur?
The best way to be a successful entrepreneur is to develop yourself. Choose yourself. Don’t be chosen. It’s reinforcing. Being an entrepreneur is the best way to self-development.
As an entrepreneur, if you DON’T constantly grow personally, improve and learn, you will #fail.
That’s why decoding your personal values, identifying your talents and finding a personal mission that drives you crazy — positively speaking — is what makes most entrepreneurs and Startup Founders successful.
Develop the courage to go down your inner rabbit hole — but once you start, it’s easier than you think because it comes from your heart. I discovered seven reasons’ why being an entrepreneur is the BEST way to personally grow. Personal growth and self-development help you to be a successful entrepreneur.
A successful entrepreneur is successful because
- Learning
- People
- Mission
- Values
- Talent
- Goals
- Focus
- Freedom
- Financial independence
- Health
guide him. It provides a deeper sense of fulfillment, peace and challenge in his life.
Most successful startup founders don’t achieve or can’t enjoy the last three points because startups are extremely hard. As opposed to lifestyle entrepreneurs, most startup founders cannot travel the world, work 4 hours and freely decide where they want to work — except you’re one of the Buffer co-founders ;)
Actually — startup founders often don’t want to do this!
Startup founders want to leave a dent in the universe. They want to build Billion Dollar companies. They are not aiming for lifestyle per se. It’s not that they don’t like it — but they are ok to sacrifice most of their life to build this BIG GIGANTIC company. They are Emperors.
Let’s go through each of the points on how to be a successful entrepreneur.
80/20 Summary
#Learning
A successful entrepreneur is driven by passion and almost childish curiosity to learn every day. He is fond of constantly mastering new challenges. It’s not only about acquiring knowledge but more about mastering ‘soft skills’.
By working on himself, the most successful entrepreneur gets to know himself much better — his fears and worries, ambitions and cry for love and recognition.
The most successful entrepreneur develops a courage to face his fears and find successful ways overcome them.
Entrepreneurs openly discuss often overlooked or sensitive topics. They want to learn. They want to personally grow. Tabus mostly hinder you doing so.
Hence, there are hardly any tabus among entrepreneurs. Money, Religion, Politics — are all topics you’re trained not to touch upon at regular business meetings. Entrepreneurs … phew … if they want to talk about these topics, they simply will.
That doesn’t mean, however, that you have to become an entrepreneur before you can challenge social conventions. Everyone can and should do this.
Still, I found the courage to question life and to follow personal dreams almost exclusively among entrepreneurs, artists and other ‘creative’ professions. Other people love to talk about it, but they don’t act.
#EntrepreneurHack: A successful entrepreneur doesn’t prattle, but learns by doing.
#People
A successful entrepreneur searches for people that inspire him because he knows:
The beauty of life is often shown to him by others.
The great thing about being an entrepreneur is that you can choose the people you work with. You can develop unique friendships. You can develop new dreams together. You can pursue a common vision altogether — one that is far greater than any individual who is part of it.
Live a fulfilling life — full of fun and challenges — together, as a team.
#EntrepreneurHack: A successful entrepreneur doesn’t aim to be the smartest person in the room. He seeks to work with A players that move the commonly shared mission forward.
#Mission
A successful entrepreneur comes up with a mission and makes people believe in it.
Fame and money are great, but they won’t motivate you forever. A successful entrepreneur follows a personal mission. That’s one of many reasons they choose to start businesses in the first place. Some entrepreneurs prefer a long-term and ‘organic growth approach’ to life (hint: bootstrapping vs venture capital).
In our fast-paced lives, it is easy to lose yourself more each day — as it often happens to me. Follow, instead, a larger goal and find your own mission as a successful entrepreneur does. Don’t rattle. Stay on track. Amazing things will follow.
#EntrepreneurHack: A successful entrepreneur knows that motivation, drive, fulfillment, stamina and persistence come from his intrinsic pursuit to follow his mission.
If you want to be successful, you have to find a mission. Hence, discover what deeply drives you.
How? Start a side project.
If you found a mission, live each day as if it will never end as Peter Thiel pointed it out.
#Values
Being an entrepreneur helps you discover your true value’s — easier and quicker. Because as an entrepreneur, you are not relaxing in a jacuzzi but swimming in the wild ocean — facing your fears, discovering your passion, and embracing your true talents.
All of our actions as humans are based on our values and beliefs. Most people are not aware of them because they simply don’t think about them.
On the contrary, a successful entrepreneur knows his values.
#EntrepreneurHack: A successful entrepreneur knows that his values are ‘accelerators’ of his actions — tremendously important for daily progress.
What’s important to you? Is it honesty? Objectiveness? Bravery? Love? Trust? Fearlessness? Peace? Warmth? Wisdom? Confidence? Security? The list could go on forever!
Get an overview here and do the following five steps — NOW:
- Choose 20 values.
- Limit your selection to five values.
- Speak to friends about their values.
- Ask your friends and family what they value about you.
- Decide on five values and visualize your five values daily (Tip: Use your diary, desktop/smartphone background for visualizing).
Pro tip: If you don’t have time NOW, mark your calendar and commit to a time to identify your values. Don’t forget to link to this article to keep track of context. Write ‘done’ in the comment section and email me your values and you will get a little gift. Promised.
#Talents
Just like your values, you also want to discover your talents! A successful entrepreneur always focuses on his STRENGTHS. He knows what he is good at and what he is bad it. He selects business partners and team members accordingly to ALWAYS put his strengths to work and don’t be discouraged by his weaknesses.
Just face it! Everyone has weaknesses.
#EntrepreneurHack: A successful entrepreneur attributes his success to the attitude of improving his strengths — instead of making his weaknesses less weak.
What are your strengths? Presenting? Writing? Leading teams? Getting stuff done? Solving conflicts? Judging? Analysing? Visualizing? Executing? Structuring? Acting? Selecting? Prioritizing? Teaching? Researching?
Find an overview here and do the following five steps — NOW:
- Choose 20 strengths.
- Select five strengths.
- Speak to friends about their strengths.
- Ask your friends and family what strengths they think you have.
- Decide on five strengths and visualize your five strengths daily (tip: diary, desktop/smartphone background).
- Alternatively, you can also use the following two tests: Enneagram Institute or 16 Personalities.
- Book recommendation: StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath.
Pro tip: If you don’t have time now, mark your calendar and commit to a time to identify your talents. Don’t forget to link to this article to keep track of context.
#Goals
Like a pro athlete, a successful entrepreneur defines business and personal goals — daily, weekly, monthly and yearly — and goes after them each day. The most successful entrepreneurs visualize their goals and adjust them.
From my own experience, I know that setting goals is an art — not a science. That’s why I focus on process and routines instead of goals as successful entrepreneurs do.
I constantly set my goals too high and am then disappointed when I don’t manage to meet them. At the beginning, it pressured me a lot because I thought, “I am failure” (and who knows, maybe I am. But I personally don’t think so.)
While constantly chasing my to-dos, my life seemed to pass by… This chasing attitude is wrong. A successful entrepreneur knows that goals are important. But it really comes down to progress and the journey he faces — less about daily, little to-dos.
#EntrepreneurHack: It’s always about the journey — never the destination!
I’m working hard to internalize that. I find it very hard to be patient and persistent. A successful entrepreneur works hard every day to move his stuff forward. His actions are guided by his desire to make stuff happen must always be in line with his values, talents, and mission.
#Focus
A successful entrepreneur understands the difference between focus (effectiveness) and productivity (efficiency) and uses these concepts in his favor.
I am, however, struggling with this. It’s damn hard to always be focused and productive — but I am very sensitive to improving them. Because focus and productivity are skills to be mastered for life.
Timothy Ferriss describes them really well in his book ‘4-Hour Work Week’. He was the first one to open my eyes and show me that 14-hour workdays are stupid. Many people think that working long hours is the highest form of hard work! Tim, however, thinks that it is actually a form of laziness.
It’s lazy to avoid thinking about what tasks have the highest impact on your progress (read: being effective) and how to properly do your tasks (read: being efficient). Hence, he advocates the so-called Pareto Principle and Parkinson Principle. Great helpers for living a healthy and balanced (entrepreneurial) life.
#EntrepreneurHack: A successful entrepreneur internalizes the Pareto and Parkinson principles.
By the way, what do you think is more important? Being effective or being efficient? Always aim at … right … being effective.
Effectiveness is doing the things that get you closer to your goals. Efficiency is performing a given task (whether important or not) in the most economical manner possible. Being efficient without regard to effectiveness is the default mode of the universe.
This may sound counterproductive, but doing more hours doesn’t mean that you get better results. Many entrepreneurs don’t realize this. They sacrifice their own health.
#EntrepreneurHack: Work less and sleep more to be more focused (a.k.a. more effective).
Nevertheless, most of them strive to be productive as much as they strive to learn. Two traits that I didn’t find while working in corporations. I really enjoyed reading Tim’s post about ‘Productivity” Tricks for the Neurotic, Manic-Depressive, and Crazy (Like Me)’. Even Tim Ferriss doesn’t get up every morning when the alarm rings.
Of course NOT! But most of us think that highly successful people ALWAYS do EVERYTHING right. As if they are PERFECT. BUT where does this notion in society come from that super successful people always deliver? They don’t. They also allow slack.
Embrace that. Don’t be too harsh on yourself. Everyone is lazy and needs time off. That’s fine. My two cent — because I have a hard time accepting that I can’t outperform daily….what about you?
What are your experiences? Please share them in the comment section below.
Seven values that drive a successful entrepreneur
For a successful entrepreneur, learning, people, mission, values, talents, goals, and productivity are the main drivers of actions. It’s like cooking. If you want to cook and enjoy a great meal ( — hopefully not alone), you’ll need to choose the right ingredients in advance.
It is similar to starting your own project that might turn into a company. Your mission gives you a direction and helps you to make the right decisions. It is your Entrepreneurial Recipe. Your goals urge you not to get lazy. Your values and talents are the ingredients for your (entrepreneurial) actions.
— It’s your Entrepreneurial Action Guide.
If you constantly learn, you will grow and finally be successful — living a healthy, balanced and mindful life! I really believe in this because it’s cause and effect. The universal law of progress and therefore success.
Three more reasons why an entrepreneur is successful
Depending on the form of business, there are three more points you might on how to be a successful entrepreneur. BUT they depend on the type of business you build (lifestyle; offline; startup; software; social or corporate — to find a description of the six different kinds, click here).
In my experience, you won’t be able to leverage the three points as a startup (co)-founder. BUT more so as a successful freelancer (designer, software developer, consultant, coach etc.) or a ‘lifestyle entrepreneur’ who makes a ‘passive income’.
#Freedom
Freedom can mean many different things. It could mean choosing your place of living, your projects, the people you work with, the goals you work for.
Freelance work and small companies can offer you everything.
#Financial independence
In his book ‘4-Hour Workweek’, Tim Ferriss recommends defining exactly how much you need to live your perfect life (‘dreamlining‘).
Try it and you will see: You don’t need much money to live a great life. You’ll be surprised how little you need if you don’t strive to buy and own stuff.
Welcome, and embrace our sharing economy.
#EntrepreneurHack: A successful entrepreneur embraces a minimal lifestyle.
It can really be a great foundation to start offering services as a freelancer because it frees us from financial pressure. The need to make a lot. The need to show off. The need for approval.
The less we care about ownership, reputation, approval and money, the greater our lives become.
I know… I know… — This is general advice, but it does take us back to financial independence, I think.
#Health
Once I became a freelancer, I realized that freedom and financial independence go hand in hand for a healthy life. It helps a lot to follow a morning routine instead of racing into an office. It’s f*cking stupid to be driven by ‘face to face time’ leaving the office only after your boss does.
You simply can’t live a conscious life that way. It’s unhealthy and not fulfilling. Besides that, I had to learn that my health is MUCH more important than my entrepreneurial progress. Never ever sacrifice health over progress. For a few days when you have a pressing deadline, it’s O.K.
BUT don’t constantly push. Also, allow yourself to rest and relax. Allow time for yourself. Plenish your body — otherwise, your mind always takes over and occupies your life. That leads to disaster.
A little mind hack helped me to exercise more and generally put more emphasize on health.
#EntrepreneurHack: A successful entrepreneur considers exercising part of working — as an actual working hour.
Whenever I exercise, I think of it as work done. One hour running = one hour of work. One hour meditation = one hour work. You might think it’s cheating or lying to yourself. This might be true for you. It isn’t true for me. This hack helps me to exercise guilt free of losing time for work while exercising.
— Bottom line: Do whatever you want to make you more productive. Sometimes little things can have a great impact. Quick tip: Get Ramit Sethi’s life hacks here. And always remember: More hours working does not necessarily mean achieving more and getting better results. Unfortunately for some, fortunately for most — the opposite is mostly true. Which category do you fall into?
StartupGeist Knowledge Base
StartupGeist summarizes insights and experiences from startup experts and founders. This article is based on …
- Peter Thiel: You Are Not a Lottery Ticket | What Works at Work
- Tim Ferriss: The 4-Hour Work Week | “Productivity” Tricks for the Neurotic, Manic-Depressive, and Crazy (Like Me)
- Steve Jobs: ‘Stay Young. Stay Foolish.’ — Stanford commencement speech, 2005
- James Altucher: Choose Yourself!
- Paul Graham: What We Look For In FoundersLike what you read?
Share your ❤ below — and respond with your thoughts.
I am looking forward to hearing from you.
I am Danny and started StartupGeist to help students and recent graduates build a business — and have a good life. Why? To be free, financially independent and healthy. How? Build a growth mindset and deliberately practice skills that turn your ideas into something bigger.
Originally published at startupgeist.com on January 5, 2016.
