Beyond Business: Why Everyone Needs an Entrepreneurial Mindset

Are you someone who is concerned that you will not have a job in the future because of AI?

Are you anxious because you don't know what the future will bring you?

Do you feel uncomfortable in the face of uncertainty?

Are you someone who starts doubting themself every time your plans didn't go as you wanted them to or you didn't achieve a goal?

If yes, welcome to join me on a transformational journey.

Today, I'm going to share with you how practicing an entrepreneurial mindset has helped me deal with my own anxiety for an uncertain future and also build bulletproof self-confidence.

I hope that through my story you will learn to trust yourself that you can overcome any type of challenge that might come your way, even in an uncertain future.

What do I mean when I say entrepreneurial mindset?

Usually, entrepreneurship is understood as starting or running a business.

But in reality, an entrepreneurial mindset is just a way of thinking characterized by adaptability, ability to innovate, resilience and problem solving. It's also about seeing opportunities where other people would see obstacles, as well as the determination to chase those opportunities.

In an ever-changing world, adaptability becomes ever more crucial.

Traditional career paths are not linear anymore and you need to be prepared to pivot on the spot.

However, an entrepreneurial mindset will give you the flexibility and resilience to embrace change with confidence, navigate uncertainty and thrive in a dynamic environment.

Entrepreneurial mindset requires constant learning and also the willingness to give up on the past. My own career path is far from linear. I graduated from urban planning, however, in 2008 due to the financial crisis, there were no more jobs in the field.

So, I had to find jobs in different fields. I worked in marketing, operations, IT, training, sales and many more. I was also someone who was changing jobs every 8 months, wondering is there anything wrong with me for not being stable enough, for not being able to focus on only one thing, feeling very frustrated about it.

I only started thinking about this thing when I was already four years on my entrepreneurship path, struggling to figure out what is my business model, what is the value I offer and so on.

At that time, I was struggling with a lot of issues and a friend of mine, who knew my job changing history came to me and asked: “Why are you struggling? What makes you keep going even when you are dealing with so many struggles, when in the past you were changing jobs every 8 months?"

His question sent me on a deep self-analysis path. I realized that I am someone who loves learning, always learning new things. But I realized that for me, the most exciting part is the learning process itself. Once I've learned how to do things, I get bored and I want to learn something else.

I also realized that I am someone who loves challenges. Give me a puzzle and I will be very excited. Give me the same puzzle to solve twice and I'm bored.

So, that made me realize that the reason why I was changing jobs was because at the time I was taking the job, there were a lot of things to learn, many challenges to solve. But because I am a very fast learner, in about 8 months, I would learn everything that there was to learn, I would solve every challenge there was to solve and I would find myself being bored at the workplace. And so, subconsciously, I would find all sorts of reasons to change a job.

However, on the entrepreneurship path, what you're not missing is new things to learn and challenges to solve. I realized that I was born to be an entrepreneur and that's because my focus and my stability are not on one job, but on what that job has to offer: the learning opportunities, the challenges that I have to solve.

What used to be an anxiety source, i.e. changing jobs all the time, has proven to be an opportunity for me to practice my adaptability and become more innovative.

Whenever we're talking about innovation, we think about groundbreaking technological advancements or revolutionary products and services. But in reality, innovation is not only limited to the business world.

By training an entrepreneurial mindset, we're actually able to innovate in every area of our lives, from education to healthcare, to social impact and more.

The only thing that we need in order to become more innovative is just to become a bit more curious about the world around us. When I first came to China, I wasn't able to speak Chinese. I didn't understand anything, but I became curious about what will happen if I just immerse myself in the environment and listen to Chinese language, even if I didn't understand anything. Fast forward 12 years and the feedback I get most often from Chinese people when talking to me is that if they wouldn't see my face, they wouldn't know that they're talking to a foreigner.

Taking an innovative approach to language learning allowed me to reach almost native level in Chinese language, allowed me to gain more business opportunities, but also to get a deeper understanding of the market I am operating in.

Another hallmark of entrepreneurial mindset is the ability to problem solve and also overcome obstacles. Life is full of challenges, both small and big. But with an open mind, we are able to see and take those challenges as opportunities for growth and learning. With flexibility, adaptability, resilience, we're able to keep a can-do mindset and take the biggest challenges to turn them into opportunities for growth.

This skill becomes even more important in an ever-changing job market. I often hear a lot of people saying that finding a job is becoming ever more difficult and my answer to that is: “Well, if you can't find a job, create one for yourself”.

By training your ability to problem solve and create solutions for all the problems you're encountering, you will never run out of business. People like Steve Jobs, Walt Disney or Elon Musk are great examples of people who weren't able to find jobs, so they created jobs for themselves. They are also people in whose stories I found inspiration on my own entrepreneurial path.

By being able to constantly observe the problems around you, you're going to be able to create new opportunities. That's because no matter how much technology or AI are going to evolve, this world will not lack one thing and that's problems. We will always have problems. They may be different all the time, but there will always be new problems.

So, we need problem solvers. We need people who are able to spot those problems and create solutions for them. If you become a problem solver, you will never miss opportunities to create revenue.

Finally, I would like to share more about the ability to find opportunities, see opportunities where other people would see obstacles. Here, I would like to share a story that has changed my own life and the way I view every obstacle that comes on my way, but also the opportunities that I am able to create in my work, life, and so on.

I remember a friend telling me a story about two salespeople. These two salespeople were sent to a different country to explore the market opportunities for shoes sales. When the first salesperson saw that the people in that country were not wearing shoes, went back and told his boss there's no market there. The second salesperson went to the same country, saw these people weren't wearing shoes, went back and told his boss there is a huge market opportunity there, because nobody is wearing shoes.

So, by being able to look at things in a different way, you're actually going to be able to create opportunities for yourself and those around you and by doing so, you'll be able to create more impact around you.

And as I approach the end of my talk today, I would like to leave you with this thought: entrepreneurial mindset is not only for entrepreneurs. It's for everyone who wants to thrive in an ever-changing world, full of uncertainty.

By practicing your ability to innovate, resilience, ability to problem solve and see opportunities where other people might see obstacles, you're going to be able to create new opportunities for yourself and the people around you. You're going to be able to create more value and impact in the world we're living.

There is nothing you cannot do. There are only things that you haven't thought about yet. By keeping an open mind, by trying new things, by going out there and trying everything that you have the opportunity to try, you're going to enhance your self-confidence and ability to deal with an uncertain future. No experience is a waste of time or effort.

Everything that you will experience will just enhance your ability to deal with this uncertainty. So, let's embrace an entrepreneurial mindset, let's embrace uncertainty, let's trust ourselves that we are able to overcome any challenges that are going to come our way, because opportunities are limitless.

We just need to be able or willing to see them. Thank you