A
CHALLENGE FOR YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT
YOU AND WHAT YOU CAN BE
THIS
IS THE THE
AGE OF THE ENTREPRENEUR WE
ARE LIVING IN “WOW!!!” TIMES
By
Fred
Kiesner
INTRODUCTION
The
purpose of this essay is to get you, as an entrepreneur, or as a
teacher of entrepreneurs, to think positively about the absolutely
wonderful ambiance in which entrepreneurs are operating, and
how you as a creator of entrepreneurs must think!
We
are living in an age of exceptional opportunity, for folks of all
ages, sizes, shapes, heritage, and personal persuasions. The game is
wide open for ANYBODY!!!!!!!!!
There are so few limits to finding their way to exceptional success
in life – if they TRULY want it.
The
key is, we are truly living in the AGE
OF THE ENTREPRENEUR!!!!!
No,
it is not because the economy is good, or bad (but in my opinion it
does not matter if times are good or bad, opportunity is always
knocking)!
Nope,
it is not because there are plenty of jobs available, (but even in
times of high unemployment, the future looks absolutely wonderful,
anyway)!
It
doesn’t matter how old you are, I have met young entrepreneurs who
have sold their businesses for millions of dollars while they are
still in High School, and for hundreds of millions of dollars just a
few years out of school. And, there are many wonderful entrepreneurs
who are staying young by fulfilling their dreams by starting their
businesses in their golden years – often finding the power they
never knew they had within them for the first 60 or 70 years of their
lives.
Color
does not matter, poverty doesn’t matter, in the entrepreneurship
game, nobody can blame their failure to thrive in life on anything at
all, except their own
failure to take control of their own life and destiny,
through entrepreneurship.
Education
is not the key, though often it does help a lot (but learning and
knowledge are).
It
doesn’t even matter if the world is at relative peace, or at
war!!!!
Without
question, more than at any other time in the history of mankind, EVERYBODY, IN ANYPLACE IN
THE WORLD, has a wonderful
chance to find their SUCCESSFUL NICHE IN THE WORLD through
entrepreneurship.
It
is an incredible time we live in, a time where even the poorest of
the poor, in the most inaccessible most remote location in the world,
can become successful by finding
a need, taking the first steps to starting their own business, and
solving the problems around them.
Entrepreneurship
allows the willing, the eager, the excited, the passionate, the
bright, the “believing” to FIND FULFILLMENT through earning their
living and impacting the world through their own WITS, and through the wonderful
powerful brains we each possess – if we stretch them.
Entrepreneurship
provides the VEHICLE, AND THE PROCESS for mankind to fully utilize
the power of our minds.
Cool,
Huh!!!!!
This
is a mega change in the power structure of the world – truly!
Anyone now can find success, and have the power to make an impact on
the world through entrepreneurship.
The
key is, they must take
action, they must choose to take the first step, and try their luck
at Entrepreneurship!!!!!
They
may fail, but so what,
entrepreneurship tolerates failure – and entrepreneurs learn so
very, very much from their failures.
IT
IS THE AGE OF THE QUICK, THE YOUNG ACTING AND THINKING,
THE
KNOWLEDGEABLE
In
the “good old days” of just a decade or two ago, young people
world wide had to spend decades learning the ropes and trudging up
the ladder before they got the power to control their own destiny –
if they ever reached that position!!!!! Their future was in the
hands of those above them. If they made a single mistake, or didn’t
play the game right, their future careers could be destroyed –
period!
Today,
as entrepreneurs, they create their own destiny!!! They
can’t wait!!! They
don’t have to wait!!!
We
are clearly in the age of knowledge, information, action. Things
change incredibly fast now. Those who know how to gain knowledge and
information, AND act upon
it have no limits!!!
If
you come up with a new idea that solves a problem, fills a need, and
has a niche that you can identify and target, you may have a real
shot at making it.
The winners of the future are those who create
their own future!
Those
who just keep doing things “as we always did them” are the losers
of the future.
Look
at everything you interact with today – and how fast it is
changing. I can clearly attest to that – I used outhouses and
crank telephones when I was a kid.
It
is estimated that knowledge (what we know) doubles every two years,
and with technology changes, this will soon happen every six months,
if it isn’t true already. This should remove any wonderment you
may have as to why the big old cumbersome companies of the past are
decaying, and many are dead, they just haven’t rolled over yet and
collapsed (hello GM, are you still awake?)
Don’t
fight it, enjoy it and join it! Join the Age of the Entrepreneur!
Be entrepreneurial in all you do. You must insure that you are the
one in charge of causing some of the exciting changes of the future,
not just a bystander wondering what happened!
THE
KEY IS IN YOUR MIND AND HEART
There
are several keys to making it in the future wonderful world of
Entrepreneurship.
-
Stop
worrying about bad times and troubles! Don’t read the fear mongering in the papers! Disruption, change,
churn, chaos are the breeding places of the future. That is where
the action and opportunities are. Embrace chaotic change, it is the
entrepreneur’s friend.
- Think
like an entrepreneur 24 hours a day,
in all you do, in everything you are involved in! Look for an
opportunity, a problem you can conquer, a path to something new, in
all you do - then act on
it.
- Do
not forget that even the biggest firms need entrepreneurial thinking
to survive! Save them by
your entrepreneurial thinking (but be aware of the fact that many
big firms fear entrepreneurial thinking, and want to protect their
past glories, fearing change). You may get fired for being
entrepreneurial, but then you will be free to chart your own course.
Many grand entrepreneurial success stories have been created by
folks who were fired from big firms for thinking entrepreneurial!
- Don’t
be negative – the
entrepreneurial mind is ALWAYS
positive. If you get
fired, remember, that losing your job provides a grand incentive to
take that first step on the business idea you have always had deep
within you.
- When
you catch yourself saying “they ought to do something about this”,
remember, I have never met “they”. You must be the “they”, be the entrepreneur who
recognizes opportunity in problems – so do something about it yourself.
- Constantly
thrive on and seek knowledge in life.
It is the life’s blood of the successful entrepreneur. But
then, it is critically important to act on it, and figure out how to
use it to fulfill a need or solve a problem.
- Be
thinking BIG, always!
- Seek
out challenge and risk (but be sure it is a risk you can impact and mitigate by your
ability, knowledge and leadership). Only a fool plays the lottery,
the successful entrepreneur only bets on a deal where they can
impact the outcome by their action, wits and knowledge!
- Action
is the key ingredient for entrepreneurial success.
There are millions of timid souls out there who had great ideas,
but never took the first step to pursue them and see if they really
were good enough to be born.
- You
must BELIEVE! You must BELIEVE in yourself! So very many opportunities go unfulfilled because people hesitate
and do not think they are “good enough” to do it. How the hell
can you possibly know that, if you don’t try it. And, if it
works, WOW!, what a grand ride you will
have. If you don’t
believe, and don’t at least take the first few steps, you are
guaranteeing that you are not good enough to be an entrepreneur. Now that is just plain
DUMB! Don’t fail by omission!
At least go down trying, and having fun, and learning. Then, if
you do fail, start another business and succeed. Most billionaires
I know have failed at least 2 or 3 times before winning.
Winning
comes from growing! Failure is a part of the
growth experience. I teach failure. Don’t be afraid of it, embrace it and learn from it. Certainly
you are good enough to test the waters and find out if you are
entrepreneurial, and if your idea flies. How can you doubt that.
- Stop
making excuses! “Just
do it” is the old adage that has heavy truth to it. If nothing
else, experiment with starting a business on the side. Don’t
invest the mortgage money, but pursue it with the play money you
have that you would have blown anyway on toys and trinkets and
Café-Latte-Frappe-Crape! If you make it, think of how many
much better toys and trinkets you can buy, and you can own a coffee
plantation of your own!
- If
you are a winner at entrepreneurship, you know inherently that you
just have to control your own destiny,
and you act. Losers spend their lives making excuses and blaming
others for what they didn’t do! Which
are you?
- Finally,
entrepreneurs, and winners, have fun in all they do. Find your passion in life that excites you, and be
sure it is something you really enjoy doing!
Now,
please say the following ten times, quietly, within your heart and
soul, and do this everyday until this medicine takes full effect on
your heart and soul, and you win:
I
AM A WINNER! I CAN ACHIEVE WHATEVER I WANT!!!!!!!!!!
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