The Road to Success Includes the Art of Self-Mastery

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Self-mastery is at the core of success. We cannot expect to simple acheive goals without hard work and dedication. Plato said,

“The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.”

In order for us to be able to achieve dreams and goals, for any entrepreneur to be successful self-mastery is an essential component to being successful. Diving in deeper to specifics on self-mastery the article, “So you want to be an Entrepreneur? Don’t jump in unprepared” states the following three areas are critical for anyone who wants to start a business:

  1. In-depth knowledge of the competitive structure of an industry and a network of
    contacts within that industry;
  2. The skills to run the daily operations of a small, rapidly growing company; and
  3. The ability to raise money.

The most important out of the three is to have a working industry knowledge and network. It is important to have a solid background in an industry before starting a business in that industry, “the world is too competitive to start a business without a deep understanding of your industry. This knowledge falls into two general categories: the competitive structure of the industry and personal contacts with trusted experts.” (p. 3)

Success isn’t achieved by picking up a get quick rich scheme and following the herd into a business that you don’t know that much about. It takes dedication and hard work to see results, you have to understand the business in order to run a successful business. By gaining industry knowledge you’re better prepared on how to market to your target audience. You’ll avoid looking like phony, because you’ll actually know what you’re doing. You will be able to be innovative. Also being in the industry makes it possible to cultivate connections that could help you in the future.

The article goes on to say that very few people have all three skills. Self-mastery is important to hone in on specific skills that will help you advance you’re future. It’s important to know your limits and when to delegate to other people. So while you may not possess all three skills you can certainly make connections with people who complement the skills you do have and fill in the gaps where you may be lacking.

How Entrepreneurs Craft Strategies that Work

This was another article in the reading this week that provides insight on different strategies entrepreneurs take. Two quotes I liked from Amar Bhide are:

  1. Analysis can delay entry until it’s too late or kill ideas by identifying numerous problems.
  2. By the time an opportunity is investigated fully, it may no longer exist.

This is something I have seen first hand years ago when I was first dipping my toes into the world of entrepreneurship I did so much research I put myself into research paralysis. I wasn’t able to move past the research phase very quickly, I spent a lot longer in that pool than I should have.

They conducted a poll of 100 companies listed in the fastest growing businesses in 1989, and found the following statistics:

41% had no business plan at all.
26% had just a rudimentary, back-of-the-envelope type of plan.
5% worked up financial projections for investors.
28% wrote up a full-blown plan

The majority of these successful businesses didn’t have a business plan. They had industry knowledge, but they didn’t get stuck in research paralysis.

Steve Blank is a serial entrepreneur and he talks about some very important principles in balancing life with being an entrepreneur.

In the video he states how important it is to have rules and boundaries. Make the weekends for your family, Sundays should be dedicated to God and to your family, make it a goal to eat dinner with your family every night. Don’t break your rules. Apply self-mastery and you will be able to achieve success in business and within your personal relationships.

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Hey I'm Bre!

I’m a mom, a business owner, and a passionate blogger. Bringing you all things mom and baby life to business. From starting a blog, marketing, design and so on! 

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I sell farmhouse home decor to support victims of domestic violence.
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