From ABCD to Entrepreneur

I recently caught up with one of my friends, who had been going through a pretty bad spell.  Job hunting was proving to be a tedious chore, with opportunities yes but which did not meet her current personal situation.  Eventually self employment and how to get started was considered and during our brief chat, this came out:

A for Attitude and Awareness

Developing a positive attitude rather than a wishful attitude definitely works best.  If you think what you have in front of you is a problem, try and convert it into an opportunity. And if you wear your innovation hat, you are setting yourself up for the discovery of a creative solution, which might even amaze yourself.  On a parallel note, developing awareness, at all levels - social, commercial and self, becomes an effective tool to build on the positive attitude and bring improvement.  These combined will become artisans to make boost your earnings.

B for Belief and Behaviour

Be Yourself and Believe in yourself. Always.  Because if you don't, no one else will.  Again, this builds on the positive attitude and mindset.  Affirm your belief each day with a positive statement and slowly build up the momentum to take the leap of faith and stay on track.  Adapt your behaviour to reflect values which you believe in, and do so consistently. Adopt a congruent behaviour, walk your talk and people will believe you, and eventually believe in you.

C for Commitment and Connections

You have probably read or heard a lot about commitment already, so let's keep it short. Developing commitment already shows that you have an objective to aim for and a cause to stand for.  So be devoted, be engaged and power through.  While you do this, don't forget to work on your connections as well.  Develop networking skills and put them to use. Organise your connections in such a way that you can bring them value easily and conveniently.  This approach will strengthen your network and help in building your brand.

D for Drive and Development

Whatever it is which drives you, find it and stick to it.  This hunger will make sure that you keep on going despite the setbacks and obstacles which might come your way.  Get that motivation going!  While self development is important to build up skills and strengthen key attributes, think about engaging a development model with your enterprise, including jobs, training and the ability of someone building around your enterprise.

ABCD to 

Engage
Empower
Entrepreneur