Get All Access for $5/mo

50 Ways Entrepreneurship Will Change Your Life Do you find yourself loving puzzles more than ever? Appreciate criticism and your personal freedom in a new way?

Edited by Dan Bova

Shutterstock

I've seen tons of articles talking about what personality and skills you need to become an entrepreneur, but while certain qualities can help you become more successful as an entrepreneur, anybody can become one.

Related: 8 Entrepreneurial Qualities That Contribute to Success

The experience of being an entrepreneur changes you, fundamentally, from the way you think to the way you act and the way you want to live your life. Most of the time, it's for the better, and occasionally for the worse, but entrepreneurship will change your life. Here are 50 ways:

1. You become passionate about working. Success in entrepreneurship depends on following your passions.

2. You wonder how you ever held a normal job. Each day, that typical office-based 9-to-5 lifestyle seems stranger and less appealing to you.

3. You think critically about everything. Being in control makes you evaluate everything, from your morning coffee to the arrangement of your living room furniture.

4. New experiences become a commodity. You crave new experiences because you know they're a gateway to new insights.

5. Everything can turn into an idea. Every object, situation and experience you encounter becomes a potential platform for a new idea.

6. You see the potential in everyone. You see the strengths and weaknesses in people, sometimes immediately, and imagine their great potential.

7. You can reduce most things to numbers (if you choose to). Entrepreneurs have to objectively analyze very subjective topics -- the result is your ability to objectively analyze almost everything.

8. You get a new perspective on common situations. Some things seem more important, and others wholly unimportant.

9. You don't care about small failures. When you stumble, make a mistake or lose something, those failures somehow don't seem as bad.

10. You embrace criticism and feedback. When someone points out something you're doing wrong, you embrace that feedback as an opportunity to improve.

11. You support other people's passions. You know the value of passion and support it in others.

12. You appreciate personal freedom more. Once you've tasted it, there's no going back.

13. You make decisions more easily. After making 100 decisions a day, all other decisions in life seem easy.

14. Your problems seem smaller. Your daily crises pale in comparison to what you face as a company leader.

15. Your brain never turns off. You find yourself thinking and brainstorming all the time, with no reprieve.

16. You constantly want to learn new skills. You're thrilled at the notion of how much you have left to learn.

17. You read more than you ever did before. Books, news, articles . . . you love to absorb new information.

18. You want to meet new people more than ever. You realize the value of new connections, and love to meet interesting new people.

19. You can't just do nothing. If you feel as if you aren't making progress at something, you go crazy.

20. Everything becomes a productivity challenge. You want to make everything as efficient as possible.

21. You want to tinker with everything. Your life is a giant experiment.

22. You have an easier time speaking in public. The pressure is off, you become more confident; and speaking becomes easier.

23. You work harder for things. You know your rewards are proportional to the work you put in, so you work harder at everything.

Related: 25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs

24. You aren't afraid to say no. When you don't want to do something, you feel less pressure to say yes.

25. You feel accomplished. Whether you've produced a success or a failure, you're proud of what you tried to do.

26. You never feel bored. Even in dull moments, you find yourself entertained with complex thoughts and brainstorming patterns.

27. You feel in control of your own destiny. You truly feel in charge of your life.

28. You see patterns in chaos. That crazy traffic can be reduced to a series of actions of and reactions by reasonable drivers facing specific conditions.

29. You care less about your comfort zone. You've broken your comfort zone so many times it no longer exists.

30. You're more confident in your abilities. You feel sure of yourself in certain key areas.

31. You want to experiment all the time. Everything is alive, and everything can be changed for the better.

32. You think more about your community. If your business relies on your community, you think more about giving back.

33. You see "work" and "fun" as no longer mutually exclusive. You know there's a difference only if you make one.

34. You become a teacher. You want to share your knowledge and experience with others.

35. You become an even better student. You're always eager to learn something new from anyone who wants to teach it.

36. You take more risks. You aren't as afraid to fail because you know failure is never the end.

37. You aren't afraid to dream bigger. You demand more for yourself.

38. You encourage others to dream bigger. You demand more for others.

39. You construct your own routines. You enjoy creating processes and systems for yourself.

40. You care more about time. You realize the true value of time, and that time truly does equal money.

41. You spend more time with people you like. You know who's valuable to you and don't waste your time with anyone else.

42. You challenge the status quo. You aren't afraid to break the rules.

43. You take more initiative to build great environments. At home and at work, you strive to create places where you feel good.

44. You see everything as a game. Everything can be broken down into rules, actions and objectives.

45. You see everything as a win. Even failure is a learning opportunity.

46. You respect anybody who works hard at anything. You know the value of a work ethic.

47. You try to innovate everywhere. You want to try new things all the time.

48. You love solving puzzles even more than you did. Puzzles are especially thrilling because you know the satisfaction of finding solutions.

49. Everything seems faster paced. The pressure of being an entrepreneur bleeds into other areas of your life.

50. You remain calm in tense situations. Nothing seems as intimidating as it did before you became an entrepreneur.

I, for one, love how my entrepreneurial experience has changed my life. My days have more meaning, my mind seems sharper and everything has become easier to understand, in a new perspective. If you're exploring the possibility of becoming an entrepreneur, grab my eBook, The Modern Entrepreneur: How to Build a Successful Startup, from Beginning to End.

Related: The 5 Motivations That Drive People to Choose Entrepreneurship

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business Process

How CEOs Can Take Control of Their Emails and Achieve Inbox Zero

Although there are many methodologies that leaders can use to manage their emails effectively, a consistent and thought-through process is the most effective way to systemize and respond to emails and is a step of stewardship for the effective leader.

Side Hustle

'Hustling Every Day': These Friends Started a Side Hustle With $2,500 Each — It 'Snowballed' to Over $500,000 and Became a Multimillion-Dollar Brand

Paris Emily Nicholson and Saskia Teje Jenkins had a 2020 brainstorm session that led to a lucrative business.

Business News

Former Steve Jobs Intern Says This Is How He Would Have Approached AI

The former intern is now the CEO of AI and data company DataStax.

Science & Technology

5 Automation Strategies Every Small Business Should Follow

It's time we make IT automation work for us: streamline processes, boost efficiency and drive growth with the right tools and strategy.

Marketing

5 Critical Mistakes to Avoid When Giving a Presentation

Are you tired of enduring dull presentations? Over the years, I have compiled a list of common presentation mistakes and how to avoid them. Here are my top five tips.