Let go of the ego, to increase your success as an Entrepreneur
November 20th, 2008 by Hayley Weatherburn
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Speaking from experience, in order for me to achieve success I had to let go of my ego. I had this belief, that in order for me to become successful, I firstly had to do everything on my own accord, to be a one-man-band. Secondly, that the ideas all had to come from me, that they should be original so I could “claim” them. And finally, the biggest hurdle for me, was to learn to admit that sometimes I didn’t know best (ouch that hurt!).
What were the thoughts going through my mind? That if I was wrong, it meant I couldn’t be successful. I mean - how far from the truth is that! You look at all successful entrepreneurs - each have made many mistakes along their journey, and that is what makes them who they are today. Thomas Edison made over 1000 mistakes before he came across the right way to create a light bulb, and look how successful he was!
So, this article is a chance for you to stop what you are doing, step away from the ego and continue on to freedom and success! The following three lessons are vital in moving forward:
1. DIY (DO IT YOURSELF) - For some reason, I had it in my head that the truly successful entrepreneurs did everything on their own. I believe I thought this because when you hear about their successes, you just hear their names not a list of helpers. What I realised, after much research, they have teams that help them out. Delegation is the key - do the things you want and find the best people for the rest. A great book to read is “The E-Myth” by Michael Gerber.
LESSON ONE: Delegate, Delegate and delegate - if you want to replicate a successful entrepreneur, learn to give the jobs you aren’t the best at - to someone that is, so you can have all your energy for your ideas.
2. It has to be MY original idea for me to be successful - I used to get quite defensive if someone suggested an idea that improved on mine. That, my friends, is the ego rearing its ugly head. As soon as I embraced anyone’s suggestions on improving my idea, I realised just how good an idea could develop. If I hadn’t taken in the ideas or suggestions that people suggested when developing my business proposals, I wouldn’t have got anywhere. Many successful people will admit they only replicated the ideas of other successful entrepreneurs.
LESSON TWO: Be open to new ideas, suggestions and criticism. Ask yourself, how could I use this information to improve on what I already have?
3. If my original idea doesn’t work, then it will never work, and I won’t be successful. - Having a mindset, whereby you give up when it doesn’t turn out how you planned, will always end in feeling deflated. However if you learn from what didn’t work, adapt it to your idea and think outside the square - often, with commitment and persistence, you may find a bigger and better idea than you originally thought. And this idea would have never come around until the mistakes were made. The Popsicle, along with the Slinky and Silly putty - all began as ideas for something else that didn’t work!
LESSON THREE: Commitment to a goal of success is key - allow your idea to evolve through failures and obstacles. The journey is the key, as long as you are persistent and allow your idea to change, sometimes many times, on its way to success.
Don’t worry about how you are going to get there, just be determined to reach your goal of success, whatever that means to you. I was able to let go of the way I was going to get to my destination, and it was amazing what opportunities turned up. When you let go of the resistance of the ego, there will be a flood of ideas, suggestions and money making vehicles that will take you to where you want to go. Just know where it is you want to head, research your ‘vehicles’ that will take you there and enjoy the scenery on the way!
