Evolution Is Essential for Successful Entrepreneurs. Here Are 3 Tactics. Learning from mistakes -- and not repeating them -- is only one way to master the entrepreneurial mindset you need to thrive.
By Nick Ruiz •
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As aspiring entrepreneurs, evolution is necessary for you to succeed. There will be times when you will get lucky, and there will be natural spikes of growth and development. However, keen introspection and progressive mastery of the knowledge in your field of choice are key factors to gaining positive momentum and evolving into the entrepreneur that you know you are capable of becoming.
The economic environment will always be changing. Many of these forces are external and out of our control. However, we do control the way that we evolve to become nimbler, stronger and more adaptable to various environments. This is how those who succeed always remain ahead of the pack.
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I want to outline three main ways to make sure that you are always evolving to ensure your progress.
1. Learn from your mistakes and pay attention to trends.
Take an example from the real-estate business. When all the banks were giving away no money down loans, and mortgages were being given to anyone, this was a precursor to the market peaking and was a good indicator that the bubble, which was reaching its peak, was about to burst.
This was a time in the real-estate business where I should have been liquidating as much property as possible. I learned the hard way why it is so important to stay in close contact with people in your business and always heed advice from those whom have walked before you. Hindsight makes this easier to see now, but these are active trends that we must watch and be aware of as we enter into new areas of growth and development in our lives and in our business.
Many people are married to certain strategies and ideologies that have worked for years or even decades, but as we've learned with cataclysmic economic situations, changes can happen overnight. Keeping your finger on the constant pulse of the external environments that surround your business or industry will keep you at the cutting edge of knowledge when it comes to evolving your plans or ideas.
You may need to have a completely different looking business five years from now to stay thriving but not even know it yet. This can only happen through having the necessary awareness that forces you to evolve.
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2. Blame yourself when things go wrong.
Whenever you put blame on an external person, experience or event, you are in essence allowing someone else to make your choices for you. If you allow yourself to be defined by circumstances that you cannot control, you will never take the personal action needed to succeed. This attitude will never force you to look at yourself and make some kind of lasting internal change.
You must allow yourself to be molded through change and adaptation without harboring resentments towards external circumstances. Remember, if you always think that you are correct and are doing what is right, you are never going to make those changes within yourself. Even when problems are not completely your fault, point at yourself, because this always forces you to self-reflect.
This is why successful people are able to evolve in the business world, because they are always looking for improvement in themselves.
3. When you make mistakes, immediately take action to correct them, and take note not to repeat them.
We all make mistakes no matter how successful we are and no matter how much mastery we have over what we are doing. They key here is to embrace mistakes, and seek out viable solutions through personal action.
Do not be afraid to think of things that you could have done differently. You may want to think about replaying the tape of that event in your head and visualizing different endings that may have achieved the results that you were seeking. This is the key to evolution. By accepting what went wrong and being willing to admit your mistakes, eventually, through trial and error, you find what it takes to work around the problem rather than making it happen over and over again.
As entrepreneurs, we have only a limited amount of time to execute in order to receive the results that we are trying to achieve, so time is of the essence. These three simple tactics will force you to evolve and adapt faster to internal and external circumstances. If we are able to jump into these tactics quickly and efficiently, we can steadily evolve and produce much faster results in our business.
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