Adopting a growth mindset and believing in ourselves as the next generation of entrepreneurs.
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Certainly when we are born, we have no idea what our lives will become. Over 80% of the potential working population will someday go on to work in the corporate world and small businesses. Some will go into other fields such as social work or education. The rest, about 15%, would go into starting a company. Why are these numbers not reversed? Why Aren’t We Teaching Entrepreneurship Skills in Kindergarten? The problem or opportunity is much bigger than that. And understanding entrepreneurship is not that simple.
With regard to entrepreneurship, 50% of academic research shows that entrepreneurship is in people’s DNA from birth. The other 50% of research indicates that entrepreneurship is influenced by your environment, upbringing and knowledge you gain. Whatever you believe, there has been a great deal of research on the psychological impact of belief, which Carol Dweck, a professor and researcher at Stanford University, has studied for more than 30 years.
After studying the behavior of thousands of children, Dr. Dweck coined the terms fixed mindset and growth mindset to describe people’s underlying beliefs about learning and intelligence. When students believe they can get smarter, they understand that effort makes them stronger. So, they put in the extra time and work hard, and this leads to high achievement, a growth mindset. Kids who don’t believe they can learn and get smarter don’t at all. They are stuck in a fixed mindset. forever. More information on Dr. Dweck’s research can be found here, in a summary article published on the Association for Psychological Science.
So, what exactly happens when we are young, full of creativity and open to the world, let alone knowing what we will become? What shapes our brains to become more confident and resilient or to shy away from challenges? your environment. Let’s define environment as a universe where parents, teachers and friends live and where you acquire traits and skills, processes and work ethics, which you don’t even realize at the time, but which will shape your future. Begins shaping you for a career path. Your mindset develops at an early age and you don’t even realize it. And it can affect your ability to be an entrepreneur.
In a perfect world, what could have happened to you in your childhood that would have better prepared you to become a potential entrepreneur? Let’s look at some of those qualities and skills and you should understand that you can still impress them. Meaning, if you believe you can grow and learn today, you may also believe you are capable of becoming an entrepreneur.
Confidence and mindset. first things first. Read and study as much as you can about growth mindset because it is important for your career and life. Then adopt a growth mindset. Second, you have to believe in yourself. According to psychological studies, confidence comes from where we derive our self-worth. Here comes the tough part. To boost your growth mindset and confidence, you need to learn how to make decisions and then consider them right or wrong.
Flexibility and Patience. This can be a trait that helps quite a few entrepreneurs to be successful. When things get tough, they don’t give up. Developing a thick skin in the face of adversity is paramount for an entrepreneur. An important part of entrepreneurship is learning about failure and not being afraid of it. Prepare yourself to develop a resilient spirit and face the challenges that life sends your way. Keep calm and don’t worry too much.
learning to solve problems. Learning to think critically is an important component of being a problem solver. Learning to be a critical thinker involves the art of constantly asking simple questions. Think of it like peeling an onion, where each successive question peels away another symptom until you’re left with the real problem. Don’t be afraid to be wrong; Go incrementally as you search for the right answers with good questions, some learning, and confidence.
Curiosity and creativity = innovation. The world revolves around problems. Being good at spotting and solving problems can potentially make you an invaluable member of the team. Refine your creativity by becoming more curious about something and then intensify that effort by asking more questions and reading to fuel your creativity. Innovative things happen when people with curiosity, creativity and a growth mindset try to solve hard problems.
Small goals, big goals. life is difficult. Big goals in life are difficult. So, get really good at setting and achieving small goals, something that can be accomplished in a day, a week, a month or a year. Work hard for the big goal. Make sure that achieving lots of smaller goals helps you achieve the bigger goal.
is taking the initiative. This is difficult. It’s like being invited to a dance, but you’re so nervous or have too much fear of failure, you never dance. You can’t move forward until you move forward. Start with small decisions and gradually work up to bigger decisions. Use an advisor or mentor to get good advice, but then make a decision, accept it, and move on.
Develop your empathy. You can be kind and empathetic to people and still be successful. You don’t need to be cocky or a bully. Develop leadership skills by listening and using respect and trust to drive decisions and projects forward. You cannot build a great team unless people trust you. Someone once said, ‘Have mercy on the janitor like the CEO, they both have an important job to do.’