Trait 4: Entrepreneurs Believe in Themselves
If you’ve started sharing your business plans and ideas with friends, family and colleagues, then you already know that not everyone is thrilled by your ideas. Plenty of people are going to doubt your abilities, doubt your plans, and trot out a whole lot of nay-saying every chance they get.
It’s not just you. It’s not just your plans. Every entrepreneur through history has likely dealt with something similar.
Spend a little time reading the autobiographies and biographies of successful others, and you’ll find out that they were ridiculed, told their ideas wouldn’t work, and not given any support. But the world’s most successful people believed in their ideas and went ahead with them anyway, even though others laughed at them.
Did you know Walt Disney’s brother laughed at him, and his wife didn’t think people would watch his films? It’s true. But he had belief in himself, so he went on to build one of the biggest entertainment empires in the world.
Or take just about any successful author. You can bet they received more than a few rejection slips. One good example is J.K. Rowling of “Harry Potter” fame. She had people pass on her story because they didn’t think the story was very good. But Rowling believed in herself, kept contacting publishers, and now she has more money than the Queen of England.
Point is, you need to learn to let other peoples’ negative opinions roll off of you like water off a duck’s back. These people aren’t paying your bills, they’re not living your life, and they have nothing to do with your business.
If you have persistent problems with people who are saying negative things about you and your business ideas, then the best thing you can do is spend less time with this person. If that’s not possible, then stop talking about your business ideas. If they ask questions, simply change the subject and talk about something that interests them instead.
This simple step will help you avoid a lot of toxicity, which will make it easier for you to develop your belief and confidence in yourself and your ideas.
Next up…