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DEVELOPING THE ENTREPRENEURIAL MIND

Entrepreneurial Habits

Every people will face some challenges, but what sets entrepreneurs apart from non-entrepreneurs is their
mental habits. Listed below are the habits of entrepreneurs:

Curious being

Boredom is the killer of effectiveness, which is why the most successful entrepreneurs are never bored.
They happily spend endless hours working and doing what they love to do. They make it a habit to be
open and curious about everything. This curiosity keeps them asking questions and generating ideas for
what their next steps are going to be. Because they remain open and curious, it is impossible to drain
their creative reservoirs. They always have some small idea they are eager to explore at a later time.
Curiosity is just another aspect which contributes their effectiveness and success. Curiosity is the
difference between average success and great successes. Average people tend to stop working when
they run out of creative energy, while highly effective entrepreneurs have a radically different approach
in that they never stop generating new ideas or paths to follow.

Turn obstacles into assets

The best entrepreneurs believe and act as if everything is a gift. Well, maybe not every single thing
imaginable. But assuming that everything is a gift is a good way of looking at the problems and surprises
you'll encounter in any endeavor, such as getting a new venture off the ground, obtaining buy-in from
your boss, or launching a new product line in an ultra-competitive market.

First, you were going to find out eventually what people did and did not like about your idea. Better to
learn it as soon as possible, before you sink more resources into the concept, venture, or product line.
You always want to keep potential loses to a minimum.

Second, the feedback could take you in another direction, or serve as a barrier to your competitors. You
thought you wanted to start a public relations firm but a quick survey told you potential customers thought
the field was saturated. But more than a few of them said they would love someone who could help with
their internal communications.

Third, you got evidence. True, it was not what you were expecting or even wanted, but that still puts you
ahead of the person who is just thinking about doing something. You know something they don't, and that
is an asset. You are ahead of the game.

Having high tolerance of ambiguity

Ambiguity can be really uncomfortable to many people. They need a clear set of rules and expectations
about how things should be. Without them, they tend to flounder or stall out.

That isn’t necessarily a mark of failure; in some ways, it is most adults’ natural predisposition.
Interestingly, though, researchers have found that children generally have a higher tolerance for
ambiguity than grownups do. They are more willing to accept murky conditions—situations where the
likelihood of winning or losing is unknown. That makes perfect sense: As we mature, we become more
adept at assessing risk. Children, as any parent knows, gleefully indulge in “risky” behaviors on an hourly
basis–always testing their limits and exploring.

Some of the most successful entrepreneurs share that trait with kids. They tend to have a high tolerance
for ambiguity, which makes them more likely to take risks based on limited information. Indeed, starting
a business is all about confronting one unknown after another.

Having a high tolerance for ambiguity makes you less likely to get anxious in novel situations or when
faced with your own uncertainty. You can think quickly on your feet and see things from different angles.

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The unfamiliar is simply an opportunity to adapt, and you know there’s no set of guidelines that can help
you do that.

Using fears and anxieties as fuel

When we’re feeling anxious, many of us try to calm ourselves down. According to research by Dr. Alison
Wood Brooks of Harvard Business School, “Anxiety is incredibly pervasive. People have a very strong
intuition that trying to calm down is the best way to cope with their anxiety, but that can be very difficult
and ineffective.”

In fact, Wood Brooks has found that trying to calm yourself down can actually worsen your performance.
Instead, reframing your anxiety as excitement can dramatically improve your performance. That’s one
reason why professional athletes and successful entrepreneurs frame their anxieties as feeling “pumped
up,” harnessing those normal jitters to work in their favor.

Focus on the causes, not effects, of confidence and success

Many people don’t handle either failure or success very well. They are on a behavioral roller-coaster that
soars or dips according to the circumstances. When things are not going well, they are overwhelmed or
depressed. When things are going well, they are overconfident and lazy.

In fact, success might represent an even greater adversity than failure. That’s been apparent long before
the rise of modern psychology; Abraham Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want
to test a man’s character, give him power.” As soon as we succeed, we tend to focus on the causes of
our success, believing we were right all along to feel confident in ourselves. Our focus shifts toward
the effects of our success. The distracting noise of praise, opportunities, and other rewards pulls us away
from the work that got us there, which can wreck our future performance.

Successful entrepreneurs have the presence of mind to resist that shift in focus. Their behavior is
remarkably consistent regardless of whatever success or defeat they experience. They know that the
confidence they feel and any achievements they make are the products of a constant, internal drive to
improve their craft. After all, those effects are outside their control. Instead, they focus on their own
behavior, which is the root cause of all those outcomes–good, bad, or indifferent.

Be proactive

Figure 1. The Effects of Being Proactive

Source: https://visual.ly/community/infographic/education/summary-stephen-covey-bestseller-7-habits

Proactivity means more than merely taking initiative. It means that as human beings, we are responsible
for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can subordinate
feelings to values. We have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.

Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility means the ability to choose a response. They do not
blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior.

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Proactive people are influenced by external stimuli, whether physical, social or psychological. But their
response to stimuli, conscious or unconscious, is a value-based choice or response.

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt

It is not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us. Of course, things can
hurt us physically or economically and can cause sorrow. But our character, our basic identity, does not
have to be hurt at all. In fact, our most difficult experiences become the crucibles that forge our character
and develop the internal powers, the freedom to handle difficult circumstances in the future and to inspire
others to do so as well.

Figure 2. The Circle of Influence and Circle of Concern

Source: https://visual.ly/community/infographic/education/summary-stephen-covey-bestseller-7-habits

As we look at those things within our circle of concern, it becomes apparent that there are some things
over which we have no real control and others that we can do something about. We could identify those
concerns in the latter group by circumscribing them within a smaller circle of influence (Covey, 1989).

Begin with the end in mind

This principle states that all things are created twice, but not all first creations are by conscious design.
In this case, leadership is the first creation, and management is the second creation (Covey, 1989).

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

Put first things first

There are two (2) factors that define an activity: urgent and important. Urgent means it requires immediate
attention. For example, a ringing phone is urgent; most people can’t stand the thought of just allowing the
phone to ring. Urgent matters are usually visible; they insist action.

Importance, on the other hand, has to do with results. If something is important, it contributes to an
entrepreneur’s mission, values, and high priority goals.

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Looking at Figure 3, Quadrant I is both

urgent and important. It deals with
significant results that require immediate
attention. Activities in Quadrant I are
usually called crises or problems. Some
entrepreneurs are beaten so bad by
problems in Quadrant I that they escape
to the not important and not urgent
activities of Quadrant IV.

There are entrepreneurs who spend a

great deal of time in urgent but not
important activities in Quadrant III,
thinking they are in Quadrant I. They
spend most of their time reacting to
things that are urgent, assuming they are
also important. But the reality is that the
urgency of these matters is often based
on the priorities and expectations of
others.

Entrepreneurs who spend time almost Figure 3. Time Management Matrix

exclusively in Quadrants III and IV Source: https://visual.ly/community/infographic/education/summary-stephen-
basically lead irresponsible lives. covey-bestseller-7-habits
Effective people stay out of Quadrants III
and IV because, urgent or not, they are not important. They also shrink Quadrant I down to size by
spending more time in Quadrant II. Quadrant II is the heart of effective personal management. It deals
with things that are not urgent, but are important. It deals with things like building relationships, writing a
personal mission statement, long-range planning, exercising, preventive maintenance, preparation -- all
those things we know we need to do, but somehow seldom get around to doing, because they are not
urgent (Covey, 1989).

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Think win-win

Win-win is a frame of mind and heart

that constantly seeks mutual benefit in
all human interactions. Win-win means
that agreements or solutions are
mutually beneficial and satisfying. With
a win-win solution, all parties feel good
about the decision and feel committed
to the action plan. Win-win sees life as
a cooperative, not a competitive arena.
Most people tend to think in terms of
dichotomies: strong or weak, hardball
or softball, win or lose. But that kind of
thinking if fundamentally flawed. It is
based on power and position rather
than on principle. Win-win is based on
the paradigm that there is plenty for
everybody, that one person's success
is not achieved at the expense or
exclusion of the success of others
(Covey, 1989).
Figure 4. Win-win Situation
Source: https://visual.ly/community/infographic/education/summary-
stephen-covey-bestseller-7-habits

Seek first to understand, then to be understood

"Seek first to understand" involves a very deep shift in paradigm. People typically seek first to be
understood. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.
They are either speaking or preparing to speak. They are filtering everything through their own paradigms,
reading their autobiography into other people's lives.

EXAMPLE: If a parent has a problem with his/her child, the usual response is “I understand him/her, I
know what s/he’s going through. I went through the same thing myself. I just don’t understand why
s/he won’t listen to me.” When in reality, the parent doesn’t have the vaguest idea about his/her kid.
S/he thought of him/herself and assumed that the kid has the same perspective.

Emphatic listening is getting inside another person’s frame of reference. You look through it, you see the
world the way they see the world, you understand their paradigm, and you understand how they feel.

Empathy is not sympathy. Sympathy is a form of agreement, a form of judgment. And it is sometimes the
more appropriate emotion and response. But people often feed on sympathy. It makes them dependent.
The essence of empathic listening is not that you agree with someone; it is that you fully, deeply,
understand that person, emotionally as well as intellectually (Covey, 1989).

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Figure 5. Process of Emphatic Listening

Source: https://visual.ly/community/infographic/education/summary-stephen-covey-bestseller-7-habits

Figure 6. Exchange of Conversation with an Emphatic Listener

Source: https://visual.ly/community/infographic/education/summary-stephen-covey-bestseller-7-habits

Synergize

Figure 7. Concept of Synergy

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Synergy means that the relationship which the parts have with each other is a part in and of itself. It is
not only a part, but the most catalytic, the most empowering, the most unifying, and the most exciting
part (Covey, 1989).

Sharpen the saw

This means expressing all four (4) (perspective, autonomy, connectedness, and tone) motivations. It is
the exercising of the four (4) dimensions of our nature, regularly and consistently, in wise and balanced
ways (Covey, 1989).

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References
Bellis, R. (2016, March 24). Four mental habits of highly successful entrepreneurs. Retrieved May 25, 2018,
from https://www.fastcompany.com/3058214/four-mental-habits-of-highly-successful-entrepreneurs

Brown, P. B. (2014, February 25). The eight habits of extremely successful entrepreneurs. Retrieved May
25, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/actiontrumpseverything/2013/10/27/the-eight-habits-of-
extremely-successful-entrepreneurs/2/#6ea9cd838eac

Campbell, S. (2017, October 26). 8 habits of highly effective entrepreneurs. Retrieved May 25, 2018, from
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/303633

Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effectivepeople: Powerful lessons in personal change. New
York: Free Press.

Sandefer, J. (2012, May 20). The one key trait for successful entrepreneurs: A tolerance for ambiguity.
Retrieved June 13, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/acton/2012/05/17/the-one-key-trait-for-
successful-entrepreneurs-a-tolerance-for-ambiguity/#b2b047676047

Summary of Stephen Covey bestseller "7 habits" (n.d.). Retrieved June 14, 2018, from
https://visual.ly/community/infographic/education/summary-stephen-covey-bestseller-7-habits

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