The 3 Secrets That Have Led Me to Success Get the inside scoop on the three traits I've discovered have been the key to a life of an entrepreneur.
By Adam Toren
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Being a lifetime entrepreneur, one of the most common questions my brother Matthew and I are asked is what we think are the secrets to entrepreneurial success. One of the beautiful things about being an entrepreneur is that this lifestyle is as unique as people themselves: no two stories are alike.
However, I can share with you what have been my secrets to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Your story will be different than mine, but there are definitely some key tricks of the trade that will help you go further, faster.
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Here are my three secrets to entrepreneurial success.
1. Belief
You have to believe in yourself and your ability to be successful, no matter what. You have to believe in your ability to follow through with your vision and to execute on your dream. That doesn't mean you won't have days of trials or moments of distress and doubt, but the consistent practice you need to develop is to always believe in yourself.
Build yourself up. Surround yourself with people who will question you, but never tear you down, so that you can grow. People can sense the right kind of confidence and the belief that you are a success before you have physical proof. You can go far by helping others see your vision so they place their faith, time and even money with you. This is the foundation you build your life and your startup from, so place all your belief in yourself as the number-one secret to success.
2. Perception
Nothing is good or bad -- things are only how you perceive them.
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There's a great line from Ryan Holiday's new book, The Obstacle Is The Way, which says a whole lot about the power of perception: "A deer's brain tells it to run because things are bad. It runs right into traffic."
Your perception is your ability to observe what's happening and consciously decide whether you're going to see it as bad or good and how you're going to handle it. Are you going to allow your animalistic brain to perceive danger, freak out and run straight into traffic? Or will you exercise your human cognitive abilities and take a moment of pause to see the opportunity or solution to any event?
Your attitude and perception are going to lead you either to success or failure. It's that simple. You have to master your mind and that starts with choosing how you perceive the events and circumstances of your life.
3. Perseverance
People like to say that entrepreneurship and success are a marathon, not a sprint. That's only partially true. In my experience entrepreneurship has been both a marathon and a sprint. You have to keep running that marathon day in and day out, but there will be periods of hyper growth and action where you have to sprint during the marathon.
You need to be able to persevere and keep going -- no matter what! Prepare yourself for success by knowing that no matter what, you're going to persevere. A lot of that comes down to your belief in yourself and your perception of your life. These three abilities feed each other in a continuous loop that will lead you inevitably to success.
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