Part 2: Deliberate Entrepreneurship Principles
Deliberate Entrepreneurship Principles are based on keen observation and understanding of what successful entrepreneurs do differently.
They are not just a list of activities to follow, but habits that must be developed over time through focused effort and practice. These principles will help entrepreneurs create more value for their customers and ultimately build successful businesses as well as improve their personal lives.
Clarity and goal setting
Your journey as a Deliberate Entrepreneur starts with clearly defining your vision and goals.
Your vision is the overall purpose that will form the foundation of everything you do. Then your goals should tie into this vision, and each should be small and specific.
And don’t forget that your vision should have internal and external elements to it; you need to determine what success means to you and what value you want to create through your business. From there, you can go through a process of refinement to determine your goals.
There will always be other opportunities. It’s hard not to experience FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) or “shiny object syndrome” when you are going through a low point on your journey. However, if you have a clear vision of where you are heading, you are less likely to get distracted. You will be more likely to push through the hard times to achieve your goals.
Focused practice
As with most things in life, quality is more important than quantity on your Deliberate Entrepreneurship journey. As an entrepreneur, you will constantly be juggling many balls. Still, it’s vital to ensure that whatever activity you are engaging in, you are entirely focused on the task at hand and not thinking about all the other things you could be doing!
When you are focused, everything you do is purposeful and systematic. When you are not focused, losing track of your intended direction is much easier. One way to keep focused is to set aside specific times or days for particular tasks.
It’s impossible to stay focused all the time. If you try it, you will likely experience burnout, which is not something we recommend! Therefore, it’s essential to make sure that you incorporate downtime for resting, relaxing, and recharging.
Incremental progress
Another one of the Deliberate Entrepreneurship principles is deeply rooted in consistency. Despite what it may look like from the outside, becoming a successful entrepreneur does not happen overnight.
When you look at entrepreneurs who have made it big, you just see the tip of the iceberg. All the hard work they have put in behind the scenes isn’t as visible to the public as their breakthrough moments. That is why we advocate for consistent, incremental progress and caution against get-rich-quick schemes. Instead, your business will experience compound growth if you make a continuous effort to move it forward.
Success through people
No matter what your business goals are or how much effort you are willing to put in to reach them, you won’t be able to achieve as much success on your own as you will with a team of people. Your entrepreneurial journey will inevitably be filled with ups and downs. You will encounter challenges of many different kinds, and your ability to overcome them will be primarily determined by the people you have in your corner. But, like most things in life, entrepreneurship is not a one-person game. It’s important to invest in others and create a support system for yourself. It can dramatically increase your chances of making it past the 8-figure mark.
A solid support system that consists of different pillars can help you reach this goal:
- Team members: When you start out, you may want to do everything alone, but you will soon realize this is unsustainable. Rather than burning yourself out, build processes that allow you to delegate and focus on what you do best!
- Mentors: Mentors can take many forms. Some people opt for a professional coach, while others may prefer to have more informal role models who can offer guidance.
- Community: The value of having people to bounce ideas off of who share a similar vision and mission to you is invaluable!
Mindful reflection
Deliberate Entrepreneurship is not just about becoming better at what you do. It is also about finding balance and joy in your life and your entrepreneurial practice. This is why part of the Deliberate Entrepreneurship Community is dedicated to paying attention to your wellbeing and happiness and ensuring that you regularly check in with yourself to ensure that the work you are putting in is in alignment with your values and your goals.
Rather than aiming for “work-life balance,” we prefer to talk about finding fulfillment at every step of the entrepreneurial journey. However, it is crucial to remember that you are always a work in progress. The point of embarking on the Deliberate Entrepreneurship journey is to enhance your overall quality of life. Suppose you can practice mindfulness and reflect on where you are at each step. In that case, you will be able to build a business that is not only financially successful but also allows you to live a life that you can deem successful in other areas too!
Creating value
Becoming a Deliberate Entrepreneur means that you can spend more time focusing on creating value. Because of the deliberateness of your actions, you won’t get caught up on things that waste your time. The more time you spend focusing on becoming a better entrepreneur, the greater your ability to solve problems and create value for yourself and the world. This value creation element should be worked into the vision you create for yourself at the beginning of your journey. It’s important not to try and cast your net too wide; you can’t solve all the world’s problems, so instead, focus on something that aligns with your skillset and is most likely to allow you to achieve success on the terms that you desire.
