When you think of an entrepreneur, or entrepreneurship in general, you think of people like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates – people who appear to be more myths than mortals.
Not to trivialize the success of those previously mentioned – those folks have worked very hard to make themselves household names – but, these individuals are men who had an idea and went about realising them – like anyone else would. This is something that often eludes us.
While you might not necessarily think of yourself as an tech magnate (with the sole ambition of solving all of the world’s problems) the mindset of such tycoon can be cultivated – it requires a slight alteration in how we go about seeing the ideas that inspire such remarkable change.
Here are some suggestions to help kick start the brain rewiring of how one envisions entrepreneurship:
- Adopt the mindset of a traveller in a foreign land
When you travel to a new city, country or continent one tends to be incredibly alert and observant: soaking in every single thing, person and experience, which is then stored in the mental bank or documented.
You don’t necessarily have to travel to implement this suggestion. This can be done by allowing yourself to be observant and try seeing and doing things for the first time. What ends up happening is that you’re always on the look out and keen on what’s happening around you. Also, you’re strategically placing yourself in a receptive state to welcome new and odd things that would’ve otherwise have gone unnoticed. - Allow yourself to daydream
Daydreaming is often thought of to be something futile – a waste of time, which is a finite resource in this day and age. Contrary to such thinking, affording yourself the ability to let your mind wander and be in a state of state of relaxed attention is such a rewarding exercise.
With said, make time to unplug and disconnect from your screens. Schedule moments where you don’t wear your earphones on your way to work for instance. This way you don’t inhibit the creative process your mind would embark on.
- Don’t self censor
How many times have you uttered this phrase to yourself – “Oh, that’s a stupid idea!”
If you’re being honest, you’ve probably said so more times than most. A chief reason would be because we are sometimes our own toughest critics. We hold ourselves to such incredibly high standards (which by the way is a good thing in moderation) that we don’t give room for simple or ordinary thoughts.
- Write everything down
Following the trajectory of the aforementioned point, ensure that you scribble down any observation, epiphanies or thoughts – irrespective of how random or silly they may be. Having such an idea wallet is a great way to build up a repository that you can always refer back to at a later time, which can also be the impetus for something monumental down the line. - Fight fear with small steps
Without a shadow of doubt; fear is one of the main reasons why ideas are given the lifespan of an ice cube in the sun. The best way of combatting this hurdle is breaking your ideas into a series of small experiments. This way if you fail, the consequence wouldn’t be dire – and also, you’re motivated to try again and give it another go.
Here’s is a quote to leave you inspired…
“Great ideas don’t always feel like brilliant insights. They can easily feel like completely humdrum, low-status, trivial thoughts. Remember, don’t let the fear of being boring quash an enormous number of good ideas.”
