Today we are answering the question on every new entrepreneur’s mind: What are the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make, and how can I avoid them? In this blog post, I’m going to share number one, and it’s a doozy. I highly recommend that you watch the full episode to hear all of the Top 5 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make because they just keep getting bigger, and more important to avoid.
The product or service you are striving to bring into existence is going to make people’s lives better. You’ve identified a need within humanity, and you have a calling to meet that need. That’s pretty amazing. I want you to answer that call, so on that note, let’s just get right into it.
Okay, Number One is kind of a shocker!: Not Doing What You Love
And it’s number one on our list for a reason: IT’S A BIG ONE!
Look, when it comes to being an entrepreneur there really is no such thing as failure. There really isn’t, so you can just let that fear go now. As an entrepreneur, your path to success is largely unmapped, and trial and error is vital to your process. That’s just facts okay? Mistakes are not failures for a new entrepreneur because mistakes provide useful information that becomes stepping stones. I know you’ve heard Oprah say it or the Dalia Lama say it because it’s true for everyone. For the entrepreneur trial and error is your success path, ergo failing is vital for your success. Of course, whenever we can avoid mistakes, or better yet—learn from someone else’s mistakes—then it’s like, “Okay great, let’s do THAT! Instead of going through all of that messing up ourselves, right?” This is why I am putting this video together for you, so you can avoid some of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make. But there will still be mistakes! Don’t worry about it. In fact, look forward to it, because mistakes are part of the entrepreneurial process that will lead you to success.
In fact, there is only ONE way for an entrepreneur to truly fail—And that is to give up!
Winston Churchill once said, “Success consists of moving from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
And so, how do we sustain that level of enthusiasm, when the first few years of breaking into entrepreneurship so often feel like it’s mainly about overcoming obstacle after obstacle, one right after the next?
The answer is to: Love What You Do, and Love How You Do It.
Let’s talk about love. When a person we love needs our help, we will cross oceans. Move mountains. Scoff in the face of unimaginable odds, and believe fiercely and unwaveringly that things can and will get better. We don’t give up, and we don’t give in—Because LOVE is the most resilient force on Earth, love is indomitable, and love is the ultimate motivator.
I always tell my clients, “If it ain’t got heart, go back to the start.” Because without that love, you’ll end up back at square one anyway.
SO many entrepreneurs make the mistake of not doing what they love, and when the challenges of succeeding as an entrepreneur inevitably begin to crop up, they burn themselves out. They become discouraged. They lose heart and walk away. They quit before the miracle happens, and it’s so unfortunate to think of how many people’s lives could have been enhanced or improved by the entrepreneur’s original innovations if they’d only tapped into the tremendous staying power of love to keep them pushing onward.
When an entrepreneur gives up, the entire world misses out.
Actually, that reminds me of another Winston Churchill quote for you! “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
It takes courage to be an entrepreneur. It takes heart to be an expert in human happiness. So the first and most vital thing you can give yourself when daring to take an entrepreneurial journey is to name the higher purpose that you are striving towards. Create that clarity for yourself. Name your BIG why for taking this challenging but incredibly rewarding path, and give yourself permission to fall wildly, madly, unconditionally in love with what you do and how you do it. And then NEVER give up.
If you want a more in-depth masterclass on How to Love What You Do, and Love How You Do It— That is my gift to you and I’ll share it with you at the end of this episode.
Use it to Come Out of Nowhere, and Become an Inspiration to Millions.
The next Most Shocking Mistake Entrepreneurs Make is:
Number Two: Fearing the Uncontrollables
We all know the fear of failure can be majorly debilitating for many people, so allow me to just say this to you again: Failures are a NECESSARY component to an entrepreneur’s success because there is no one direct pathway to success. As an entrepreneur, you begin to forge the path yourself from the moment you have a new idea for a product or a service that is going to make people’s lives better. Every uncontrollable difficulty you encounter—everything from technicalities, to logistics, to the critical feedback of naysayers along the way…they are all part of the terrain every new entrepreneur must navigate as they blaze their own trail.
To learn more about why it’s basically impossible for an entrepreneur to really fail, and to learn more about all 5 of the Top Mistakes Entrepreneurs are Making, be sure to watch the full episode.
Thank you so much for joining me! If you enjoyed this blog post, I release new videos every Tuesday and Thursday on FB and IG, so follow me, or subscribe to my YouTube channel, and keep treating these episodes as a masterclass for becoming an Inspiration to Millions with Branding. And as always the way to becoming an Inspiration to Millions starts with our motto: Love What You Do and Love How You Do It.