Want to know if you are an entrepreneur? Here is a great article in Entrepreneur magazine written by Grant Cardone.
Cardone has studied entrepreneurs for decades in order to understand what contributes to their success, and he says it’s not what society typically considers assets. If you hang around with entrepreneurs long enough, you know that isn’t news!
Most articles about entrepreneurs say the attributes they possess are a strong work ethic, persistence, persuasiveness and discipline.
Cardone says the attributes of the entrepreneur might be ones that many people think of as a liability. He’s got 12 of them. Here they are.
1. Hate the Status Quo – It doesn’t make sense to you that something has been done the time-honored way with no explanation why. You don’t like to go through the motions or sit by idly. Nor do you like following the pack.
2. Easily Bored – You are easily bored, and others start viewing you as a problem. But nothing is wrong with you except that you are bored with activities that aren’t up to your abilities and aren’t challenging.
3. Fired from Jobs – You’re too creative. Being just a cog in wheel is very difficult because you want to create something others can be inspired by and contribute to.
4. Labeled a Rebel – You know that greatness lives outside the lines of conformity and don’t think that policies, laws and regulations apply to you. People call you a rebel and rule breaker–you’d defy gravity if you could.
5. Resist Authority – You have a lifelong record of resisting authority from your parents, teachers, groups/community and bosses.
6. Ready to Improve Everything – You always see how you could do things better. Further, you are opinionated and freely give your two-cents about your better way of doing things–even when you’re not asked.
7. Bad at Making Small Talk – Small talk isn’t your thing. It seems like a waste of time to you and makes you uncomfortable.
8. Criticized in Your Youth – You may have been heavily criticized, picked on and even bullied as a child or teenager. Now you’re driven to excel and to prove you are a force to be reckoned with.
9. Obsessive – You may have been labeled obsessive/compulsive because when you get started on something you have difficulty letting go. Don’t let anyone convince you that this is a disease or deficiency.
10. Scared to Go Solo – The entrepreneur in you is scared of going out on your own–and also terrified of not doing it. We’ve been conditioned to think that entrepreneurship is much riskier than getting a “good job.” There is risk in both.
11. Unable to Unwind – You can’t go to sleep at night because you can’t turn your thoughts off. The next morning you are consumed with the idea, distracting you from the job you’re supposed to be doing.
12. Don’t Fit the Norm – You have always been a bit uncomfortable in your own skin. Until you get used to the idea that you are in fact different from most people, it could prove to be a problem–or exactly the motivation you need to acknowledge the entrepreneur screaming to get out.
Do you see yourself in this profile? I’m betting you’re on that list somewhere, maybe in a number of places.
Embrace the entrepreneur within you. It could be your greatest asset.
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