Entrepreneurship - the Failure Myth

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful, than a life spent doing nothing.
George Bernard Shaw

According to Global Entrepreneurial Monitor (GEM) fear of failure is the top reason given in Ireland and worldwide by aspiring entrepreneurs for not starting their own businesses.

NESTA - the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts and the UK’s largest early stage investor in innovative and creative businesses – found that almost three quarters of people who said they had what they believed was a good business idea were not acting on it because they were afraid of not succeeding.

Ironically on further examination it is obvious that all would-be entrepreneurs are being paralyzed by something that doesn’t exist.
That’s right. Failure is a myth!

Entrepreneurial Development – Failure brings you Closer to Success!

Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb famously said “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

It took James Dyson, the engineer who reinvented the vacuum cleaner, four and a half years and 5,127 prototypes to refine his design.

“Each failure taught me so much,” he said. “Success teaches you nothing. Failures teach you everything. Making mistakes is the most important thing you can do.”

In an interview with Time Magazine, Larry Page, inventor of Google, said, “Invariably we try ten things that don’t quite work out in order to do one thing that is successful. And we learn a lot in doing the ten things that didn’t quite work.”

Thus every failure brings you a step closer to success and moves you further down the path of entrepreneurship.

Ironically by embracing this truism you mastered your first two major challenges in life – walking and talking.

Remember: As a child, ‘Never say die’, ‘Have no fear’, ‘Try and try again’, ‘Enjoy the moment’, were your working metaphors.

You fixed your eye on the goal, took your first step – wobbled a bit – steadied yourself. Then another step. Then landed on your backside!

What happens then? Did you give up? Did you say to yourself ‘I tried my best and I can’t do it. It hurts. I’m never doing that again!’? Did your ego kick in and start whispering ‘you’re making a fool of yourself. They’re all laughing at you! Better quit while you are ahead.’?

No indeed, as each one of us is born with an innate desire to reach our full potential, so you got up and tried again ultimately succeeding.

Model off your childlike strategies in the future and master the art of entrepreneurship.

About Kevin Kelly

Described as the "coach behind Ireland's Celtic Tiger," Kevin Kelly is one of Europe's and Asia’s leading authorities on motivation, entrepreneurship, leadership, communication, and personal excellence.

...more about Kevin Kelly

Copyright

© Copyright 2008, Kevin Kelly Unlimited. All rights reserved.


This Article is Copyright protected. Republishing & syndication of this article is granted only with permission and due credit, as mentioned, retained in the republished article. Permission to reprint or republish does not waive any copyright. The text, hyperlinks embedded on the article and headers should remain unaltered. This article must not be used in unsolicited mail.

Entrepreneurs go for gut

As they journey on the path of entrepreneurship, many successful businesspeople would identify their intuition or gut instincts as their compass and mentor. Without it, they wouldn’t have achieved the “unachievable.”

“Don’t let the noise of other people drown out your inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become,” advises Steve Jobs, Apple Computer CEO

So what is intuition or gut? For some it is a feeling in their stomach, for others, a compelling vision, and for more its an inner voice; all of which are promoting with conviction, a course of action.

It works best when there is no emotional connection to its finding.

Follow your Gut – Be an Entrepreneur!

Nurturing your intuition allows you to connect with intelligence far greater than what’s available through your conscious mind. Disregarding it is the equivalent of cutting off your blood supply i.e. cutting off life’s messages in the context of truly reaching your potential in life.
In 1996 with a poor academic record in English, no background in writing and told I would not succeed by two award winning journalists ( not best selling authors), I decided to honour my intuition and commit to writing a Best Selling Book. Similar to many potential entrepreneurs it felt right to follow my gut but it didn’t make much sense and I didn’t have the know how. A few years later, I had sold approximately 15,000 copies.

Recently while reflecting on my time as a marketing consultant, I realised that very few projects whose market feasibility I had to check got the green light. I always found enough reasons why the business shouldn’t start. If I had applied the same level of analysis to the feasibility of the book, I wouldn’t have pursued this avenue either.

In the context of entrepreneurship, too often people disregard their gut in favour of the “practical, left brained approach” more often than not to the detriment of their project.

I now know that there isn’t a dream in the world that you and I couldn’t conjure up enough reasons why we shouldn’t proceed with it. Knowledge always gives you enough reasons not to act which is why I advise at all times to honour your gut in the knowledge that you will always end up in a place you describe and recognize as better than your starting point.

Oftentimes people don’t choose to go for gut because quite simply it doesn’t come with a pension plan. In the context of you reaching your potential and achieving meaning and significance, pain/discomfort will be part of the package. However this is nothing compared to the pleasure you will have at living and working in your own dream business.

Enjoy the trip.

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.” Einstein


About Kevin Kelly

Described as the "coach behind Ireland's Celtic Tiger," Kevin Kelly is one of Europe's and Asia’s leading authorities on motivation, entrepreneurship, leadership, communication, and personal excellence.

...more about Kevin Kelly

Copyright

© Copyright 2007, Kevin Kelly Unlimited. All rights reserved.


This Article is Copyright protected. Republishing & syndication of this article is granted only with permission and due credit, as mentioned, retained in the republished article. Permission to reprint or republish does not waive any copyright. The text, hyperlinks embedded on the article and headers should remain unaltered. This article must not be used in unsolicited mail.

The Best Decision Makers in the World

Copyright 2006 Andy Warren

There’s a group of people who are at the pinnacle of decision making. They can make a snap decision in less that the blink of an eye. And those decisions can make the difference between absolute success and complete failure.

So who are these people?

They are the sportsmen and sportswomen at the top of their game. In any sport, especially those that require quick reflexes such as football, tennis, baseball or cricket the top players must be able to make important decisions quickly.

When a player is in the zone then everything is working in harmony. Their hand to eye coordination and their mind all work together in an instant to make powerful decisions. And once the decision is made and followed through, it projects that power into the game. The perfect return, the powerful shot, the exquisite pass.

And you’ll have seen the instances when the player hasn’t made a decision. You’ll hear the commentator say “he looked in two minds about that” and in the next second the shot is flunked. You can see it in missed penalties, sliced shots, weak returns and wobbly passes.

How do these people become so good at making their decisions?

They train, they practice and they seek out the best coaching. They keep on making the decisions, under pressure and over and over again. They create their decision making into a habit, even a reflex. They know that their decision making ability will make the difference between winning and losing. They know everyone on their team and everyone who supports them is depending on them to make the right decision. Every time.

How can you do the same?

Like anything in life, the way to emulate someone else’s success is to do what they do. If you want to become an excellent tennis player, you look for a role model and do what they do. If you want to become an excellent decision maker then do what these excellent decision makers do and train, practice and seek out the best coaching. Find ways that you can make more Powerful Decisions so that it becomes habit.

It’s said that “repetition is the mother of skill” and that’s just as true when it comes to decision making as it is to any other skill in life. The more you do it, the stronger it gets.

What Powerful Decision can you make right now? And then another. And then another.

Create Powerful Decisions From Your Vague Intentions

Copyright 2006 Andy Warren

What’s had the biggest impact on your life? Your parents, partner, career or education? Your health, social status or background? And what’s it been for the people around you? The people you work with, your friends, those you see in the media? What’s had the biggest influence in all their lives?

It all comes down to one thing. Powerful Decisions.

All great achievements can be traced back to a single Powerful Decision. When you make a decision it gives you power and control. It puts you in charge. It makes you responsible. And that’s why many people don’t like to make decisions. They want the control and power but they’re scared of the responsibility. They’re scared they may not make the right decisions and scared they might get blamed if things go wrong.

In reality, those who do make Powerful Decisions, and they are the true leaders in life, tend to get the greatest rewards. Rewards such as money, promotion, respect, admiration, personal satisfaction or some other compensation.

And those that don’t make decisions? Well they tend to get stuck in the middle management trap, where people simply stop making real decisions and their career, and their life, just grinds to a halt.

Which group feels better for you?

You’re where you are today because of the Powerful Decisions you’ve made. Each major milestone in your life has been accompanied by a Powerful Decision. As you look back, you’ll see how your Powerful Decisions stand out as markers in your life. They’re the points of change. The forks in the road that took you along the path to where you are today.

As we grow in our lives, relationships and careers, the decisions we have to make can get harder. They can have more impact and greater consequences. And some people find that hard to handle. So they stop making decisions. Can you see where that might have happened in your life? Think back to a time when you last made a really Powerful Decision. Remember how it felt. And consider how long it’s been since that last one.

Unfortunately, the more you delay a Powerful Decision the more chance it will get made for you. And it’s often not in your favour. That’s why you want to put yourself back in control and start making your own Powerful Decisions again.

Once you make a Powerful Decision you’ll find your awareness begins to open up and you start to see things that you’ve never noticed before. Opportunities and people that may have been there all along, now become apparent to you. That’s the strength of Powerful Decisions.

So is your life filled with Vague Intentions or are you making Powerful Decisions? What one Powerful Decision do you need to make today? It may be in your career, your relationship or somewhere else in your life? What Powerful Decision have you been putting off?

Make your own Powerful Decision today, and watch how your life immediately begins to change. And of course, once you’ve made your decision there’s just one more thing to do. Take Action.