“The unexamined life is not worth living” – Socrates
Every entrepreneurial journey is different, but there are some underlying similarities. The same is true that the industry you are in does not matter. You could be a tech start-up or someone conceiving a meditation Toronto brand. While the paths taking to success are different, the human experience of the entrepreneur tends to be the same.
When a business is expanding, there is something unfortunate that people forget to do; assess the journey. It does not mean the person does not use data to tweak and even make better their business or marketing strategy. Even as they do this, there is a crucial component they negate to look at- the self. Let us explore the importance of doing the same in the entrepreneurial journey.
You understand the changes in you
Comments such as “money changed you” or “you don’t have time for us little people anymore” will come by as you expand. It would be easier to brush them off but understanding why they are being said helps you understand yourself better. Starting a business is no easy journey, and there are aspects of you that it changes. When your friends are having a carefree time, you are at home crunching the numbers.
To avoid carrying guilt with you and making unreasonable compromises, take stock of all the ways you have changed in the past month. What are you doing now that you did not before? What are your thinking patterns? It might not be only on a personal scale. Professionally, an awareness of the person you are becoming gives you confidence in decision making.
Understand why the changes around you are taking place
What makes data problematic in some instances is that it does not capture the human emotion. If you note a trend and jump on it, even though you manage to rip the benefits, there is still something missing. Taking the time to investigate why the humans you serve are making the choices they make you a better empath and better equipped to make both appealing and persuasive messaging for your company.
Celebrating wins
When deals are falling apart, and the vendor does not deliver on time. It is easy to feel that things are falling apart. However, when you create a physical list of all the things that have worked out, you have a more accurate perspective of your circumstances. You can let things impact you as hard on a mental and emotional level and take it with the awareness that challenging times present opportunities for learning and growth. Without seeing your wins, drowning becomes almost the expected route. Therefore, make taking stock of the good a priority along your entrepreneurial journey.
