Entrepreneurs
7 Bad Habits Every Entrepreneur Should Fix Right Now
You came here just to make sure you don’t have any of those bad habits. Didn’t you?
But, to be honest with you, it doesn’t matter whether you have them or not. Most entrepreneurs do have them. But the good news is they’re extremely easy to fix.
Here are 7 bad habits that need to be fixed if you’re an Entrepreneur:
1. Not being patient
A lot of bad things can happen from being impatient. Here are a few examples:
- Miss something important because you don’t have time to double check
- Make stupid mistakes because you’re always in a hurry
- Make bad decisions because you want to get it over with
- Ruin your relationships with people because you speak without thinking
Those are just a few consequences. Hopefully I won’t need to mention anymore to convince you being impatient is bad.
Solution: Slow down, take a deep breath, think, then act. Remember that working too fast is actually counterproductive and will waste more time in the long run.
“Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.” – Napoleon Hill
2. Not listening
You’ll get more value from listening than talking. If you want to stay on top of your game you need to keep learning. And a great way to keep learning is to start listening. Not listening to what others say can cause you to miss out on a lot of important ideas and lessons.
Another advantage of listening is being able to solve customers problems. You can’t solve customers problems and create good products if you don’t listen to what your customers are saying. Most of the time they won’t tell you what they want. You’ll have to figure that out based on their deeper desires. And you can’t figure out anything if you don’t listen.
Solution: Listen to what people have to say. You never know, the next big idea could come from an 8 year old kid.
3. Lack of sleep because you’re busy
Sleeping is one of those things that you have to have time for. You can’t choose not to sleep. Personally, whenever I get my 8 hours of sleep, I perform much better than a night I sleep 7 hours on. In reality, staying awake that extra hour is a total waste of time.
Solution: Go to sleep. Sleep 8 hours. Schedule an 8 hour sleep slot in your calendar.
4. Thinking short term
This one results from impatience too. You want to make a quick buck. You just can’t wait. You want everything to happen now. So you work for now and forget the future. Instead of investing into something that pays you x100 in 10 years. You’re satisfied with the quick x2 ROI.
But here’s the thing, if you think short term, you’ll be in business for a really short term. Because while your competitors are working towards the future and with a potential of making millions or even billions of dollars, you’re sitting there worrying about a few thousand dollars that won’t last you another year.
Solution: Always look at things in the long term. Look ahead. What would the future look like?
5. Working without a direction
Working without a goal and plan is like shooting then aiming. You need to know your target, aim, then shoot. That means you need to know your goal, have a plan, then execute. There’s no need to write a massive 30 page plan. 1 page is enough, sometimes even less. When you work with no direction, you get nowhere. Eventually you’ll run out of fuel because you ended up in the middle of the desert with no map.
Solution: Identify your goal, create a plan, execute the plan. What do you want to achieve in the next 3 months? What steps will you take to achieve your goal? Now go and execute your plan in that time frame.
6. Taking unnecessary risks
Taking risks is good. It’s essential. Starting a business is full of risks. So you have no choice but to go through risks. However, taking risks that you don’t need to at all is plain stupid. I remember back in the day when I thought taking crazy risks was cool and everybody else were just cowards. Result? I failed badly, they didn’t.
While they spent a few days on research and setting things up. I’d just jump right in. Is that really what successful entrepreneurs do? No, all of them launch an MVP, test the market, do their homework, and are careful. The “go and take risks” advice is for people who are really scared to take risks. People scared to leave the 5-9 job. Not for adrenaline junkies. Adrenaline junkies will just translate that advice into “go and make a few suicidal moves.”
Solution: Take calculated risks. Test the market bit by bit.
7. Not Creating a Scalable System
Are you really an entrepreneur or a freelancer?
The difference is, entrepreneurs build businesses that can thrive without them physically being present. On the other hand, freelancers build businesses that can’t survive without them. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being a freelancer. But, if you really want to call yourself an entrepreneur you need to build something that doesn’t need you.
Solution: Create a system that doesn’t depend on you. You can present yourself as the founder & CEO of a brand, but never become the brand itself. Unless you want to be a freelancer of course, then that’s fine. But, if you don’t then please separate your personal brand and your business brand – don’t mix them up.
“The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.” – Peter Drucker
Don’t just hit the back button now. It’s time to take action. You’ve already shown interest in improving yourself. Now go do it. Get your notepad out and create a plan for change. It’s either now or never.
Do you remember the blog post you read last week? Did you act upon what it taught you? If you’re going to do the same thing with this one, then don’t expect your life to change either.