36 FACTS About Being An Entrepreneur [REALITY CHECK]

Is Fear (False Expectations Appearing Real) Stopping You?

What are you afraid of? What's holding you back from trying new things? I read a story about a survey that was done at nursing homes with people in their 70's, 80's and 90's..their #1 answer was FEAR (False Expectations Appearing Real). If you're not an entrepreneur, chances are that you're living a very safe, predicted and undisturbed lifestyle. I've come to realize that as an entrepreneur, 99% of the things you master are usually the things you learn on your own...through the school of hard knocks. For every successful mission, you've had hundreds, if not thousands of unsuccessful attempts.

1. Being an entrepreneur means stepping out in faith and trying something new and hoping that it would work even though 99% of others who tried it failed.
2. Being an entrepreneur means staying up all night and trying to solve problems that you later on realized that the way to solve some problems is to learn from them and move on.
3. Being an entrepreneur means that getting a bigger office hoping that you'll make enough money to pay for it before the end of the month.
4. Being an entrepreneur means realizing that you as smart as you think you are, you don't know Jack!
5. Being an entrepreneur means waking up one morning, feeling like you can conquer the world, while other days, you feel conquered and don't want to leave your bed.
6. Being an entrepreneur means borrowing money from family, friends, the banks, etc with hope that you'll make enough profit someday to pay them back before someone sues you.
7. Being an entrepreneur means pursing a dream that is so big and outrageous that people mock you, laugh at you and call you names because they don't see the big picture the way that you do.
8. Being an entrepreneur means using different names to answer phone calls from creditors and then tell them that the person they're looking for is not available even though you're talking to them.
9. Being an entrepreneur means writing checks to pay off your bills hoping that by the time the check is cached, you'll have money in your account.
10. Being an entrepreneur means figuring things out as you go.
11. Being an entrepreneur means taking risks that would give the average person a heart attack because of the uncertainties of the outcome.
12. Being an entrepreneur means being Jack of all trades yet you still have no clue about what you're doing.
13. Being an entrepreneur means thinking outside the box when everyone else is comfortable thinking inside of it.
14. Being an entrepreneur means making mistakes, realizing that you made mistakes and then repeating those same mistakes over and over again until one day when you finally realized that you've been making mistake after mistake.
15. Being an entrepreneur means investing your life's savings or a ton of money in an idea has been proven over and over again to be very unsuccessful; yet, something inside of you keeps telling you move forward.
16. Being an entrepreneur means you get to a place in your business that you're stuck, confused, angry, frustrated and nothing seems to be going your way regardless of what you do, who you meet, or how much you spend until you realize that God is really who you need.
17. Being an entrepreneur means you get to a point in your business and your personal life that all you can do is wait on God to open up certain doors for you because everything you've tried has failed.
18. Being an entrepreneur means crying one day and smiling the next.
19. Being an entrepreneur means accepting that you're afraid and have no clue what in the world is going on in your life or business.
20. Being an entrepreneur means forgiving clients who took advantage of you that caused you to loose money or your business.
21. Being an entrepreneur means surrounding yourself with people who know more than you so you can leverage their skills, time and expertise to avoid making certain mistakes.
22. Being an entrepreneur means looking at yourself in the mirror and saying, "Why did you do that!"
23. Being an entrepreneur means living paycheck to paycheck.
24. Being an entrepreneur means sometimes, the best thing to do is to start over by going back to the drawing board because everything you've tried, tested has failed.
25. Being an entrepreneur means you're not afraid to try new things even if you're scared to death.
26. Being an entrepreneur means acting like you got it together when you have no clue what's going on.
27. Being an entrepreneur means pushing past your failures, fears, frustration, other people's limitations and whatever else life throws at you.
28. Being an entrepreneur means keeping your head above the water even though the rest of your body is already submerged.
29. Being an entrepreneur means using a different approach with the same idea and hoping that one day, you'll finally get results.
30. Being an entrepreneur means telling the customer that they're not always right because they don't know the hell you've been through to get to where you're at.
31. Being an entrepreneur means forcing yourself to learn about taxes and the legal stuff because you're afraid or being sued and can't afford to hire someone to do it for you.
32. Being an entrepreneur means calling the IRS to make a payment agreement because you owe too much in back taxes.
33. Being an entrepreneur means getting discouraged because after all the hard work you've put in your business, it seems like you'll never be successful.
34. Being an entrepreneur means accepting that you've failed, getting the help you need and moving on.
35. Being an entrepreneur means realizing that you can't succeed as an island, yet, you have to think like you're in an island.
36. Being an entrepreneur means realizing that getting a 9-5 job is not an option because you'll rather be broke an in control of your destiny, than allow someone else to dictate your every move.

The Mindset Of an Entrepreneur

Regardless of the uncertainties, frustration, failures, fears, aggravation, confusion, and doubt that comes with being an entrepreneur, there's no better feeling or satisfaction an entrepreneur the moment you realize that there's still a 1% chance that your dreams, business, and ideas could one day change the world.To all of my fellow entrepreneurs, I SALUTE YOU! Your business may not be what you know it could be, but one day, it will be everything you never thought it could be and more. There's a 1% chance that your business could revolutionize your industry and the world. While there may be a 99% chance that your business may not succeed, that 1% chance is all you need to keep going forward. One day, that 1% chance will have a 99% effect in your life, your business and your industry.