It's been my experience that successful entrepreneurs are great at overcoming challenges!
This is a core aspect to delivering results for goals associated with specific projects.
The world isn't perfect and you will ALWAYS have to deal with one challenge or another.
"Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better." - Jim Rohn
On the flip side, struggling entrepreneurs likely need improvement on a couple of these 7 common challenges.
Also, understand is it may not be immediately obvious that improvement is needed to the person themselves.
Most people don't have a full understanding of their weaknesses and development is difficult.
What To Expect
Today's article is meant to provide a conscious heads up to 7 common challenges successful entrepreneurs need to be aware of and prepared to handle at all times.
Think about each of these categories and rate yourself on a scale of 1-10. Try to identify the categories where you are most and least aware. The goal is to make conscious improvements in categories you are struggling with.
#1- Age
Age is just a number. When you're young, lack of experience is held against you. You may be extremely competent, but you may have to overcome massive levels of age discrimination as you rise through the ranks. The same can be said about older entrepreneurs, but for a different reason. When you're old, loss of touch gets held against you even though you may have the best sense of humor and judgement on the planet. If you're in the prime working years of your career 30-50, you may be under intense pressure to perform with excuses and miss this extremely special time in your life. Age discrimination is alive and well and it's a top common challenge entrepreneurs have to deal with along the way.
#2 - What Other People Think
When you sense of self worth is tied to what other people think, you are no longer the master of your own universe. Not to completely downplay other people's opinions, but you can always take what they say with a grain of salt. This assures whether positive or harsh feedback is received, your overall confidence isn't greatly shaken. This is a difficult task to balance when you income relies on people liking you enough to at least buy a product or service. You can't take what they say too literal, but you can't completely ignore it as well. Finding this balance between listening to others feedback and keep yourself confidently moving forward is a challenge no entrepreneur goes without facing.
"No matter what people think about you at a particular moment, you're never as good or as bad as they say."
#3 - Toxic Relationships
No matter who you are or what you do, you cannot escape the wildly negative gravitational force that is toxic relationships. We've all been there, slipped into a toxic relationship that started off with the best intentions or maybe not so good, and then your entire life or portions of become consumed with negativity. This destroys any and all successful paths if not dealt with. It's my opinion that most toxic relationships stem from poor or no communication, lack of clearly defined rolls, and vision for teams and individuals. The last resort and sometimes the appropriate one is to cut someone out completely. This may be one of the most difficult of the 7 challenges to overcome, but if handled well huge positive changes will become present realities.
#4 - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt
Even the best entrepreneurs struggle with fear, uncertainty and doubt. They just overcome it in much faster, and more productive ways. The goal isn't to get rid of fear. Don't get caught up in thinking this is even possible. Just focus on what it's all about for you and create a strong why. It's a strong why and core mission statement that get you over the fear and allow you rise up during the critical times. It's also a smart idea to be consistently pushing your comfort zone. This means consistently facing your fears. Don't go overboard with it, but make sure that you're doing this on a regular basis to keep sharp. If you get too comfortable for too long your edge will go away.
#5 - Negativity
The haters gonna hate! If you ain't getting hated on you're not making much of an impact. This is the cold hard truth of entrepreneurship. It's up to you to distinguish between haters and people who throw negativity at you like it's their sole purpose for life, and the negative emotions you may be feeling due to self doubt and your own insecurities. This is something most people cannot do. I encourage everyone to focus some quality time on dealing with negativity and turning it into a positive experience. This is where the law of attraction comes in. You get back what you put out. If you sense a lot of negativity in your life and business, then for sure focus on putting out more positivity in any way possible. This is the one thing you have control over!
#6 - Thinking Outside The Now
In sports there's a saying, "play in the now." What this means is you can't dwell on the last play when you're starting a new one. You have to take it one play at a time. This is much easier said than done. Entrepreneurs can get carried away thinking about all the different revenue streams their business can create, all the different types of clients they can serve, the different tax strategies and asset protection legalities and not be even aware that their real problem is marketing and customer acquisition. It's also easy to get weighed down about past failed ventures. It starts to feel like a habit of failure, and the odds continue to stack against you. It's during these times that focusing on the now becomes top priority. What is the most important task I can accomplish today the will move my business forward down the path of success? What is my top priority today? Go with your gut and get something moving! The key to happiness is progress. Play in the now.
#7 - The State Of The World
We tend to overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in a decade. The world is big and you're just one person. The world is a terrible place and not worth the effort. No one supports me and I don't want success because I don't want to share it with anyone. These are real thoughts that can creep up on entrepreneurs when going through tough times trying to find where they fit in to the ecosystem. It's easy to get depressed if you watch the news every day. My recommendation is to turn the tv off. Watch shows with a purpose and stop scanning and looking for the next shitty shiny object. Television and the news is here to disorient and confuse us into believing a false reality. The world can be a beautiful and fulfilling place to be. It's truly up the each individual to overcome the turbulent state of the world and strive for balance and quality life to optimize one's experiences.
Conclusion
There will be many challenges faced by entrepreneurs throughout the universe on a daily basis. Don't get caught up in wishing you didn't have "problems," instead focus on improving your process and developing great habits to overcome challenges quickly and effectively.
Entrepreneurs are a special breed and they're the ones who are typically willing to do this type of hard work to achieve the rewards. I wish you the best along your journey of success!
Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what challenges you've faced as a entrepreneur, employee or even just a plain ol human.
Thanks for reading!