The Common Trait Of All Successful Entrepreneurs

I’ve met thousands of entrepreneurs over the years… and personally, there is one attribute that stands out to me, and that’s a growth mindset.

This is the belief that “no matter what happens, I’ll figure it out… I’ve got this!”. 

And the most successful entrepreneurs I know don’t just have a growth mindset – they cultivate it every single day. They know it’s the key to tackling challenges, solving problems, and moving forward.

That’s because it isn’t just something you’re born with… it’s a skill you can learn.

So back when I was starting out there were these tests you could take that would supposedly tell you whether you had a future as an entrepreneur or not.

And I didn't do very well on those tests. I think they were pretty messed up. One thing they didn't test for, which I think is probably the most important indicator of whether you have a future as an entrepreneur, is whether you have a growth mindset. And when I talk about a growth mindset that means that you have a belief that you can get better, that you can acquire new skills, that you can acquire new capabilities, that you can figure things out as opposed to a fixed mindset which is sort of that, like, “it'll never work,” “we're all going to die,” “there's no hope.” 

You want to cultivate a growth mindset. As I started my business and I started to hang around more and more successful entrepreneurs I noticed that so many of them did have this growth mindset.

So there are ways to cultivate this growth mindset. One is to embrace challenges. Always look for new challenges. I believe that you can even look for new challenges outside of it, doesn't have to be business, it doesn't have to be work, I know that when I learned to kayak, when I learned whitewater kayaking, and got the skills to kayak down very pretty difficult waters, for those of you who know white water, like class, four hard class, four very comfortable, some class five, so I had some skills. In learning that and going through the process of learning that and understanding that I could learn that, when I was in my mid-30s then that just gave me great confidence in so many other areas of my life. 

Another one is to look for feedback. You always want to look for feedback and you want to look for feedback from people that are willing to tell you the truth which is a big deal because a lot of times people want to patch on the back. They're uncomfortable telling you areas where you could improve. So always look for feedback and try to put yourself in situations where you're going to get feedback.

Another one is to find a mentor. Someone who can mentor you, that can show you the way, that can share their experience, that can show you your growth areas.

Another way to embrace the growth mindset is to join a mastermind. This has been the fuel for me since the early ‘90s, really. It's crazy but I've been in different Mastermind groups since through the early ‘90s and I've been through many over the years. I kept on evolving. I personally kept on growing out of them. I'd get in a group and it'd be great and then all of a sudden I'd be the smartest person in the room and I'd have to go find another group.

Eventually I just created my own Mastermind which I've been running for, I think, we're in our 13th, we're about to start our 13th year running my Mastermind which has been awesome. But being around people that have a growth mindset. Those are the people that will naturally pull you up another way.

To embrace that growth mindset is to embrace failure. To know that failure is an event. It's not an identity. And every one of us as entrepreneurs we're going to have plenty of times where we fail where things don't go the way we want. And if you can take on this mindset of, okay that didn't go the way I wanted but I learned something, so it's still a win.

So cultivating this growth mindset is something you're going to do every day. It's never going to end and definitely, I think, the biggest thing is by surrounding yourself with other people that have a growth mindset because then you're going to just naturally be pulled up.

You don't have to do the hard work every single day of getting out of bed and fighting through it when you're surrounded by people with a growth mindset. 

Now you might say, I mean the people in my life, they don't, I'm surrounded by people that don't have a growth mindset. Well, the great thing about the online world is you can build relationships. You can find other people that are on the same path, that are walking the same path, or maybe a few steps ahead, or even be a few steps behind but they're walking that same path and you can build those relationships online.

When I first started out I had not, you know, didn't have two nickels to rub together. Times were very challenging but I was still able to build relationships online. Those people, there weren't very many of us online entrepreneurs back then, but I just, right from the start, I went about building those relationships with others. And guess what, they had growth mindsets and that helped me develop my growth mindset.

This is absolutely critical to your long-term success as an entrepreneur. Build yourself a growth mindset.

So I'm Jeff Walker. Wherever you’re watching this, scroll down, leave a comment for me and let's go get them this week.