Archive 1 of Momentum for the Entrepreneurial Personality Type (EPT)

One of the 10 attributes of the Entrepreneurial Personality Type is 'Drive for Gained Advantage'.

The ancient voice that keeps evolutionary hunters constantly asking "how do I get ahead?" This is one of the strongest drives we have and can often overrule our better judgment.

I feel lucky that early in my career as a consultant I saw the repercussions of situational ethics and was sufficiently scared to always think twice when money was too easy.

This is a story from my years as a consultant that I have never told publicly before.

Over 20 years ago on one of my first major consulting trips, I had one of the most awkward moments I have ever had in a hotel.

I did, however, learn a lot about successful people and an incredible travel hack...

As entrepreneurs we have heard this expression so many times our mind finishes the sentence for us, "you become the average of the five… people you spend the most time around.”

This never sat well with me. I always knew there was something wrong with this statement. In principle, it sounded good and I heard it from so many people so many different times, it seemed like it was just accepted fact.

Early in my career, I had a chance to work with some of the most successful people in the world, and I can tell you that this statement simply isn't true. The billionaires that I worked with did not hang around with five equally as successful billionaires. In fact, mathematically it would be impossible for one person to become riches in the world because he wouldn't have had at least two people who were richer than him to bring up his average.

I thought about this for a long time, because it didn't feel like it was treated in this statement. Then it hit me one day…

We don't become the average of the five people we spend the most time around, we become the average of the five people we learn the most from.

EP37 DEFENDING BRILLIANCE

Over the last 40 years, modern education has devolved to a system whose stated goal is the standardization of all human beings.

Any child that is different is seen as having an issue that needs to be resolved so the drive towards standardization can succeed.

When I think of these young hunters strapped at a desk, straining not to move and willing themselves to try to pay attention I feel their pain because I was one of them.

In this episode, I share an article co-written with Dennis Welch where he has helped me capture the essence of this argument and why so many children today are seen as broken.

Dennis Welch

If you have been an entrepreneur for any measurable period of time, you will be presented with the decision, should you do business with a family member or a friend? This decision can present an exciting opportunity but is also full of risk and challenges.

Some of the greatest corporations in the history of the world our family businesses. One of the greatest privileges I believe in entrepreneur can have is to work with their family members and create success together. However, when this is approached in the incorrect way it can destroy a business, a relationship, and sometimes will even pull families apart.

Working with a friend or a family member can be a privilege, but it must be approached in the right way, let me share with you some of the mistakes I've made and the understandings I've come to that make working with family and friends an exciting opportunity rather than a destructive decision.

Every successful entrepreneur I've ever worked with deals with impostor syndrome. This is that deep, dreaded feeling that makes us feel like we are not good enough, and can even make us feel like a fraud.
People like us are constantly driving for new outcomes, trying to improve this situation around us, and doing what we can to make the world a better place. We live on the edge of our capabilities and experience, and what comes next.
When you are someone who is committed to doing everything you can in this world, you will rarely have all the experience, health, and resources you need. This can cause self-doubt, self-judgment, and even worse can free us from doing what we know we should do in order to create momentum.
This episode is for those of us who are committed to taking our lives to the next level, creating extraordinary outcomes in the world, and who just won't give in or give up.
Momentum is a natural state for people like us, and once we get to it we can overcome imposter syndrome and anything else that is holding us back.

This is a question I get often from entrepreneurs, especially those who have achieved a level of success and financial stability.

It is surprising for each of us when we recognize this loss of passion, drive or enthusiasm.

Out of nowhere, we realize that we are approaching the day to day with a less than enthusiastic attitude. We may no longer feel like our activities are inspiring or exciting and we recognize we are simply going through the motions.

This does not usually last long, we either need to be inspired and compelled to go forward or we will have a difficult time getting things done. Eventually, a loss of passion can lead to procrastination, missed deadlines, and even what appears to be self-limiting behaviors and self-sabotage.

There is only one consistent way that I have seen entrepreneurs reignite their passion, create the excitement they once felt and get back into momentum.

This is a question I get often from entrepreneurs, especially those who have achieved a level of success and financial stability.

It is surprising for each of us when we recognize this loss of passion, drive or enthusiasm.

Out of nowhere, we realize that we are approaching the day to day with a less than enthusiastic attitude. We may no longer feel like our activities are inspiring or exciting and we recognize we are simply going through the motions.

This does not usually last long, we either need to be inspired and compelled to go forward or we will have a difficult time getting things done. Eventually, a loss of passion can lead to procrastination, missed deadlines, and even what appears to be self-limiting behaviors and self-sabotage.

There is only one consistent way that I have seen entrepreneurs reignite their passion, create the excitement they once felt and get back into momentum.

When we feel a loss of momentum in our lives, we will do just about anything to get it back.

This will often send us into negative loops and spirals.

We will do the same things over and over again without making forward progress. This behavior by itself will cause stress, anxiety and rob us of even more momentum.

There is a clear way for us to walk ourselves out of a negative loop or spirals.

This is the path that every successful entrepreneur in history has followed and you can as well.

It may surprise the rest of the world to know that entrepreneurs are terrible at setting and achieving goals.

The vast majority of us don't even set them. Those that do have a hard time tracking or achieving them in any consistent way.

Unfortunately for a lot of us, this is a learned behavior, we have been conditioned to set goals in a way that prevents them from getting accomplished.

There is a better way to set your goals and consistently overachieve and stay in momentum, but it may be counterintuitive.