The Mindset of an Entrepreneur: The harder you work, the luckier you get!

Something I realised early on in life is that with a good mindset and some grit, you can achieve almost anything you set your mind to, as long as you put in the graft to back it up. We all have ups and downs, and trust me, it's not always easy and I should know from my experience in the early 90’s recession when I went home from work one day to my beautiful electric-gated indoor swimming pool look-at-me I’ve made it house, to tell Mrs P as she was cooking the kids’ tea, that everything had gone to poo and our lovely dream home had to be sold, and quickly.?As painful as that experience was, the lessons I learnt about the British financial system and institutions that ran for cover, leaving me as an acceptable casualty, were invaluable in planning my future business and have held me in great stead ever since.?More about that painful episode in a future newsletter. So, we must treat each experience as an opportunity to learn, adapt and go again!

In my first newsletter last month, I talked about the importance of dreaming, which is crucial to any entrepreneur. Great things start with a dream, or an idea, and the entrepreneurial mindset is what brings it to life.

But, it’s not easy. Taking an idea from dream to reality is bloody hard graft.?You’ll never work harder than when setting up on your own.?Ultimately, you have to be able to look at yourself?in the mirror every morning and ask yourself, ‘should I be doing anything differently?’?If the answer is yes, then be brave, don’t be scared of changing tack.?If the answer is no…then keep doing more of it, and keep going!?How to start is always the hardest part, but once you’ve taken the leap, it’s down to you to make it happen.

Early job-hunting

When I left school, because I’d always had a part-time job of one sort or another, I thought it would be relatively straightforward to get a ‘proper job’ - I was quickly brought down to earth with a bump!?

I must have sent out hundreds of job applications, and to add to the challenge, my Dyslexia made the simple act of filling out an application form a Herculean task. I’d rarely receive a response, and to the few that bothered to respond, it wouldn’t be the response I was hoping for.

At the time it really did begin to feel like a hopeless situation, but I knew that I had to persevere, and one thing that this period of my life taught me was to take something away from every experience, and what I took away from this episode was also life-changing.

Rather than throw in the towel when the going gets tough, you have to be able to pick yourself up, roll up your sleeves again, adapt your plan and get stuck back in.

So I persisted. I scoured my local newspaper, the Evening Standard, every day and visited every high-street employment agency I could find because I was absolutely determined to make a career for myself.

It certainly didn’t come straight away, but I kept going and eventually managed to land an interview that translated into a job. I was ecstatic, and I think we can all agree that there’s almost no better feeling than that moment when you realise that all of your hard work has finally paid off.

All experience counts

Whilst the job didn’t work out in the long run - let’s face it, a dyslexic filing clerk tea boy was never going to stay the distance, especially after nine months where nobody could find a file, I was however, often complimented on my cheery disposition and tea making qualities. This first employed experience in an office really drilled into me the importance of never, ever, giving up when the going gets tough, as I found myself back on the job market within twelve months with a very dented young ego.

I already had many dreams I wanted to fulfil, and I realised my big dream when I found that next job which was in retail at the ripe old age of 18.?I found something I was truly passionate about, something that made me bounce out of bed in the morning.

I love the advice ‘the harder you work, the luckier you seem to get’ and for a very long time it’s the advice I've lived by.?You get out what you put in, but the timing is not necessarily always in equal measures, although over a longer period it always seems to come good for me. Thus, when you’re doing something, whether in business or in life, you have to give it your absolute all - there can be no half measures if you want to give yourself a chance to succeed.?

We can all achieve things that we never would have imagined possible just by putting our minds to something. If your mindset is right, you have grit and a winning attitude, your dreams can come true!

And finally, don’t listen to naysayers telling you what you can or can't do. Your destiny is in your hands - it’s up to you, and only you, on how you turn your dreams into the reality you want.

Let’s continue to keep things in perspective.

See you next time,

Theo