3 Negative Beliefs That Hold Entrepreneurs Back

byTheCatherine

14.2K followers

8 months ago

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.” - J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Our lives are a reflection of our beliefs. Most of us know this, and yet, we cling onto old negative beliefs - even when they hold us back. We still insist on telling ourselves stories, which we know aren't true.

Discarding them and creating new beliefs seems to be a Herculean task.

These beliefs (which are usually assumptions and misconceptions) color our worldviews and justify our actions.

Yet, if we stopped to think about it and ask ourselves, “Where did we get these beliefs from?” … we’d realize that most of them were ingrained in us by our parents, teachers and other ‘well-meaning and sensible’ adults when we were young.

In most cases, these self-limiting and defeatist beliefs will impede your progress when you decide to become an entrepreneur. You’ll be setting yourself up for failure from the get-go.

Let’s look at some of the most common beliefs that are injurious to your goals…

1. Money makes money

This is probably the biggest fallacy of the lot. This misconception creates a catch-22 situation. You want to get into business to improve your financial standing… but you need money to get into business - and that’s money you don’t currently have.

So you’re doomed.

But is this reasoning valid? Do you really need money to start?

A quick look at some of the biggest business successes on the planet will show you that most of them invariably began from humble beginnings. They started off small and slowly built their way up.

In the same vein, nothing is stopping you from starting off small and climbing the ladder of business success. It’s resourcefulness and not resources that you need.

Do not count yourself out just because you lack the finances. Rest assured that enthusiasm, confidence, passion and hard work will help you find the resources you need and you’ll be able to employ them to forward your business.

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2. Following instead of leading

The world loves a winner and tends to put them up on pedestals. The media gives them coverage. Books are written about them and so on.

Parents, teachers, etc. often tell us to model successful people and read biographies. The goal is to be like these larger than life people who define the epitome of success.

Millions of people dream of being the next Michael Jordan or the next Elon Musk. Or the next pop star… and so on.

And yet, if you asked Michael Jordan who he wanted to be, he’d most probably say that he wanted to be Michael Jordan.

Herein lies a contradiction – the leaders of the world (whichever field they may be in) are almost always trailblazers who march to the beat of their own drum. They’re so focused on being the best they can be that they don’t have time to try and be like someone else.

Using a role model to inspire you is a start… but if you want to truly see success, you’ll need to lead rather than follow. You’ll need to put yourself in the limelight and be willing to be seen by the masses, rather than quietly skulking in the shadows.

You’ll get the accolades and recognition, but you’ll also get brickbats and hate. This is par for the course. Just remember, leaders lead. You must lead if you want massive success.

3. Expecting overnight success

A lack of patience has sounded the death knell on more goals/dreams than any other cause.

The current society we live in encourages impatience. Social media encourages a world of instant gratification.

Instant notifications, text messaging, microwaves, instant meals, entire 22-episode seasons of Netflix shows presented all at once, etc. have made us believe that anything can be gotten fast.

We want results and we want them now. Preferably yesterday.

Life, however, has quite a different set up. Any worthy goal will take you time to achieve. Usually, it will take you longer than you believe.

Like Jeff Bezos said, “All overnight success takes about 10 years.”

You can’t shrink the journey to fit into a 90-minute Hollywood movie. There is no rousing soundtrack to inspire you. Success is an ugly, dirty fight where you’ll have to claw your way to the top.

It has ALWAYS been that way.

So, if you start on an entrepreneurial journey and are expecting overnight riches without struggle, you’ll be in for a rude shock. It’s just a matter of time before you discover pitfalls, hurdles, pain, struggles and a myriad of other problems that you’ll need to constantly overcome.

You may wonder, “Why is this happening to me? Why is it so hard?”

The truth is that it doesn’t just happen to you. It happens to every entrepreneur who wishes to level up. This is the turbulence you need to get past until you reach cruising altitude.

And it will take you time. So, if you lack patience, it’s time to tell yourself that you’re in for the long haul.

Now that you’re aware of these 3 negative beliefs, you can take steps to fix them and be on your way to success.