As an entrepreneur, you are executing on a wonderful idea. You are building a team, developing a product, taking customer’s feedback, interacting with investor’s for funding your activities and keeping a positive outlook despite all the adversities. This is a typical story of every budding entrepreneur.
What I like to share with you are few intangibles. These are the secrets behind every entrepreneur. These are the drivers, which help him/her continue the journey against all odds. I have interacted with many entrepreneurs and have experienced myself in the past four years. I hope it will help you discover these traits in you and adopt it as a useful luggage during your journey.
Recipe-1: Tap your DNA
Entrepreneurs are very innovative by nature and have a keen desire to solve a problem or bring efficiency, which has an impact on a larger social landscape. This innate quality plays an important role in thinking positively and taking failures as a stepping stone for success. More importantly, entrepreneurs are living for a cause, a purpose in life which is beyond the selfish need for oneself.
This positivity and purpose causes the release of endorphins, which helps keep their internal body system very efficient. This feeling is similar when we do 30 minutes of intense exercise. Imagine if your body has to remain in that happiness state for 24x7x365!
Entrepreneurs have their moment of lows. However, a true entrepreneur is not driven by greed and instant fame. Hence, their ability to manage such state of mind is much better. For them, it is a journey, which he/she has chosen by free will. And it is their race against excellence, not anyone else. Tap this strength and keep miling & smiling :)
In the next episode, we will uncover another secret recipe, which allows entrepreneur to keep STRESS as a SPICE of life.
Recipe-2: Is stress boon or bane?
Today’s lifestyle is stressful! Every aspect of life is impacted by it. Be it childhood, professional career, family life or your sunset days. It is like entropy, the more we try to control it, more it is manifesting in different forms. Genesis of stress is assumed as overload of work. Can we have a stress free life? It is like eating rich food without the spices!
Let’s understand “What is stress?” Stress is a threat to life. Every living creature is DNA coded to fight stress in two ways - by physically fighting the threat or running away from it (literally). Both involve high intensity physical activity. This is the way you will react if left in a jungle. Body is designed to produce high level of steroids to help you fight such condition. However, definition of “stress” has changed in modern world. Threat can be of different types – good performance in school, growth in professional career, maintaining a standard of life or expectations from your dear ones. Today you may be stressed if car ahead of you is moving slowly or client is not satisfied with your work. None of them involve intense physical activity! But body continue to pump steroids, which impacts our organs and bless us with lifestyle diseases.
As an entrepreneur, you go through such conditions often. Hence, including a compulsory physical activity throughout a day (small spurts of walking) can help neutralize the steroids, keep you active and help you stay healthy.
In my next episode, we will talk about “hardiness”, a trait which most entrepreneurs are made of.
