Do you have what it takes?

This is an old magazine clipping I’d kept from the September ‘17 issue of Inc. Magazine.

Notice the top three attributes: Determination, Risk-Taking, and Vision. I believe that entrepreneurship is something we have in our blood lines…something we’re born with…and much less likely a “teachable” trait. Sure, people can work on having a greater growth mindset or seeing the big picture more. Sure, we can work on overcoming our fears to take greater risks. But at the end of the day, true, enduring, years-in-the-making, through-the-struggle entrepreneurship is something you either have or you don’t. Would you agree?

In one of my recent talks, I was presenting to a room full of very successful CEOs on the struggles of entrepreneurship, and I said one of the attributes of an entrepreneur is that you couldn’t stop if you wanted to. Many of them agreed…even if they wanted to quit, even if they tried to do something else…they just couldn’t. Is that where the determination comes in?

Also noteworthy to me is that several of the traits are about being “self-sustaining”…determination is to keep yourself going, confidence is to believe in yourself, positive thinking is about your own thought process..and the ones that are more external (salesmanship and likeability) are at the bottom of the list. What thoughts do you have about that?

In a time when entrepreneurship is so popular, we all might benefit from taking a moment to do an honest self-assessment of how we rank on these traits, and what insight that offers us.

ENGAGE: Have different markers for determining entrepreneurship? Click here to contact me and let’s chat. 

GO FURTHER:  I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to comment below or send me a message.

EMOTION DRIVES ACTION!   

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