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You’ve been thinking about it for months. You want to ditch the “employee role” and go out on your own. You’ve dreamt about being your own boss and running your own show. You’ve made promises to your spouse or life partner that this is going to solve your career woes and make more sense to your wellbeing over time.
You’ve been bitten by the entrepreneurship bug, my dear, and if you do it right, it can bring you true happiness, fulfillment and wealth.
But before you make the leap, you must adopt the right mindset.
You can do everything brilliantly in setting up your business and running your show, but if you hold on to the employee mindset, you limit your vision and soon sabotage your success. (Click here to tweet this thought.)
The good news is that the right mindset is powerful, and if you stay with it, you’ll have the hardest part of the puzzle figured out. Here are 10 ways to drop the employee mindset and get inside the head of the successful entrepreneur you’re about to become:
1. Become Your Own Boss and Your Own Servant
It’s exciting to be your own boss, but it’s also a huge responsibility. You become your own boss, your own leader and your own servant.
Treat this change with care. Learn to be firm and gentle with yourself. Don’t let your ego get in the way. Being your own boss means a lot of hard work and difficult decisions, but it’s far more rewarding than any employee job you’ve ever held. The best entrepreneurs are their own bosses through responsibility and execution.
2. Create a Roadmap… But Adjust as Needed
The beauty of entrepreneurship is that you decide where to go. There’s no map to tell you the way. You can learn from the success of others, but your path is unique, so start out by creating the best guiding map with your current level of know-how — but don’t be married to it.
You evolve and grow with time, and so does your business. Be open to changing course if needed. Adjust the sail to the wind, because there are many ways to reach the same destination.
3. Get Comfortable with the Uncomfortable
The best entrepreneurs are constantly uncomfortable (and loving it!). Discomfort should become your new normal, as well as your fuel for creativity and productivity. You’ll do your best and discover your brilliance when you push way outside that comfort zone. That’s where the magic is. If it’s comfortable, change things up!
4. Don’t Get Too Attached to Failure or Success
Did you know that our attachment to both failure and success is ego-driven? Without the ego, you treat each as just another event and move on.
You’re not starting your own business to be a failure or a success; you’re starting it to make a difference — and as long as you’re doing that, you will have happiness and fulfilment (and, yes, income too). The best entrepreneurs don’t label their milestones as failures or successes, and this detachment keeps them focused on what’s really important: making a difference with your work.
5. Learn to Live with a Healthy Level of Paranoia
This is the voice of doubt and insecurity that says, “You can’t quit your job!” and the best way to deal with this employee mindset is by turning it into a healthy paranoia. That means you’re vigilant and far from complacent about your business.
You don’t wallow in worry, but instead you turn that paranoia into hustle energy and run your business with a beautiful sense of urgency.
6. Feed Your Creative Juices
One thing most employee mindsets do not feed is our creative juices, and this is the very core of your unique genius. Get really comfortable with your creativity. Don’t be ashamed of it, and don’t go looking for approval from everyone. Set regular time aside for creativity as you would for an important work meeting, and develop it through practice.
7. Allow Yourself to Make Mistakes
Mistakes are not the same as failures. Mistakes are when you forget to file an expense report or pay your contractor on time or show up for a meeting because you double-booked yourself. Mistakes happen as part of your learning curve when you switch to working for yourself. Make them, learn from them and never allow yourself to make the same mistake twice.
8. Understand Your Fear and Make Friends with It
Fear never goes away. There is no such thing as a fearless entrepreneur; they just learn to deal with it.
Fear is part of our human nature, but when it gets in your way of doing your work and running your business, it becomes a problem. Instead of trying to eradicate the fear, learn to recognize it and be okay with it. Do the thing you fear anyway. You’ll either win or learn better for next time, as opposed to never knowing.
9. Invest in Yourself and Treat Your Time as Money
As an employee, you may not be used to investing in yourself, especially if your company pays for your education or certifications. As an entrepreneur, you have to invest in yourself. Get a mentor, join a mastermind, hang out with like-minded people who are three steps ahead of you, hire a coach and take courses. Stay on top of your education. You are your own biggest investment!
10. Believe in Yourself, But Also Do Your Homework
Believe in yourself. That’s one thing we don’t hear enough as employees (or adults!). If you get this one, you’ll do just fine with the ups and downs of self-employment, but believing in yourself isn’t enough. Make sure to back it up with knowledge, information and massive action.
Don’t rely on hope to get customers and clients; do the work and learn how to market and sell your products and services. But when they don’t sell, remember not to stop believing in yourself. Just change the strategy until you find something that works. The best entrepreneurs are always testing and experimenting.
You’ve got it in you to be among the best entrepreneurs. It starts with the right mindset, and combined with hard work and perseverance, it will be the key that unlocks your success.
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