Dabbl

              There are two types of people. Those who wait for their superior to give them work. And those who find work for themselves by identifying problems and going out to fix them. Which type of person do you think is typically more successful? This is a no brainer. The one who has the skillset to identify problems on their own is clearly more valuable.

              Keep in mind, either one of these types of people can work for another employer outside of their own self. But if you are the type of person that needs someone else to give them work, then entrepreneurship may not be for you. When an entrepreneur, no one is going to show you what to do. No one will tell you this needs to get done. That’s all on you. Identify problems is a valuable skillset that entrepreneurs find out very quickly. Even if you are an employee at a medium to large company, there’s no doubt identifying problems and creating projects for yourself is a way to stand out in your company and move up the ranks faster. But how do we master this skill? More importantly, how do we practice this skill and is there a daily practice we can take to constantly work on this skill?

              Of course there is. But what does it look like? Well if you want to make the jump from an employee mindset to an entrepreneur mindset, it will take daily practice because these skills aren’t learned overnight. You may be able to figure out what to do, but the execution of this practice is 90% of it. The first skill to develop to have an entrepreneur mindset is to build up your work stamina. This can be practiced every single day. Work a little longer than you did the previous day. Take less of a break. Check your phone less often. Turn off distractions in the background. Building up your work stamina is the first step to take to have an entrepreneurial mindset. Why? Because the biggest factor stopping people from having an entrepreneurial mindset is work ethic. Or should I call it laziness? Those who wait for work to be given to them do not have the work ethic that an entrepreneur typically has. An “employee” is fine with just getting by. And for this reason, he or she is likely not to take the initiative of finding work themselves. Having the security and comfort of a normal job is not enough motivation for a lot of people to go above and beyond. But an entrepreneur has to. They have no choice. Their rent is on the line. Their reputation is on the line. The success or failure of their entire business is on the line. For this reason, step one is to build up your work stamina.

              The next steps are more like organization skills. Being able to layout the information you have in front of you is the best place to start. Sometimes it may be an Excel file, or sometimes it may be a big dry-erase board. However way you prefer the data, the point is to have all the necessary data in front of you in order to make the best possible decision. That’s the important part. After that, it’s finding gaps in the data or things that stand out or don’t look right. Being able to package the data so it’s simple and easy to read is another skill to have. I recommend taking an online class in Microsoft Excel to learn some simple yet effective tricks.

              That’s the bulk of it. Figuring out what problems to attack is a valuable skill to have. It’s extremely valuable for an employee and absolutely necessary for an entrepreneur. The largest challenge to being able to figure out problems for yourself is work stamina. Being able to run at an effective rate for a long period of time is extremely difficult for a lot of people. Doing this alone will set you apart from most of the workforce. But doing so will also help build your entrepreneurial mindset. You need the energy and enthusiasm to not only identify problems for yourself, but also take on the problem once you clearly define it. Becoming more of an entrepreneur will help you immensely in your work career. Whether you are an entrepreneur or employee, possessing this skill will make you more valuable to yourself and for you company. What’s stopping you from taking advantage of this skillset?