- The uncertainty of the entrepreneur's life means that it tends to attract people who have a high tolerance for stress. While some personality types treasure security and feel little need for stimulation, others become bored in the presence of too much security and will seek out risk. Unlike thrill seekers or adventurers, who sometimes spend large amounts of money in pursuit of risk, entrepreneurs endure risk in pursuit of profit. A smart entrepreneur will do what he can to minimize risk, but will also engage in whatever level of risk is necessary to achieve his goals.
- Entrepreneurs are people who put effort into controlling their environment. This is part of the reason that many entrepreneurs are not comfortable as employees in a traditional workplace; they are granted security at the cost of control. Proactive personalities who view a situation with an eye to how they can turn it to their own advantage tend to make successful entrepreneurs. Personalities who accept their lot may be more relaxed, but will probably not succeed as entrepreneurs because they won't put the work into altering their surroundings to nurture their own success. This can mean anything from networking with other financially successful people to moving to a new city where opportunities are more open.
- It requires a great deal of optimism and self-confidence to open your own business. Given the percentage of businesses that fail, you could even say that it takes a certain naivete, and that the ones who become hugely successful are the exception. The line between confidence and foolhardiness is a thin one, but a person who is destined to be an entrepreneur won't waste time trying to find it. She will forge ahead in the confidence that, if 95 percent of people who pursue start-ups in her field fail, she will be one of the 5 percent who won't.
- Agonizing over the day to day success of your business is a good way to get an ulcer. Any business, even the most successful, have good days and bad days. Successful entrepreneurs understand this and focus on monthly or yearly returns as a more accurate representation of their success. Having a clear vision of where the enterprise is headed, even if that goal is 10 years down the road, is more likely to get you there than focusing solely on what happened today. Entrepreneurs are able to craft a long range plan and muster the self discipline to stick to it until it succeeds.
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