7 Career-Killer Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs Make & How to Avoid Them

 

 

By:- Joseph Chukwube

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein

Generally, mistake is inevitable. Taking the first step towards turning your career dreams to reality is a big deal, but it could be even bigger if you are left with no guidance.

Some people prefer to learn from their mistakes while others enjoy learning from other people’s. Either way, both are good.

However, learning from people’s mistakes will make you smarter as to avoid the same mistakes, earn you experience to seem more learned in your field, and help you avoid unnecessary intimidations suffered by newbies.

7 Career-Killer Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs Make

All entrepreneurs have at one point or the other fallen victim to the below mistakes, either consciously or subconsciously. These mistakes have been broken down and how they can reflect back on your career is explained.

Therefore, as an entrepreneur, carefully study and learn from the below mistakes. You’ll be surprised how much more productive you will seem and become compared to your colleagues.

1. Exhibiting a Workaholic Attitude

On deciding to chase career goals, most individuals decide to cut off ties with old life together with the people in it because they believe they are about to begin a whole new chapter and follow an entirely different path.

In the beginning of their journey, such people who put up such workaholic attitude work extremely hard and expect to succeed almost immediately. However, it dawns on them when things don’t work out as expected.

Because their hobbies have been cut off, such people spend their leisure time alone with their thoughts wandering to and fro about work and progress so far.

This usually end up filling their minds with what-ifs, fear, and frustration, thereby leaving them in a demoralized state with little or no drive to carry on.

As a student and blogger, my hobbies of watching movies, playing video games, and socializing are still intact. I just learn to prioritize and manage my time properly.

How to avoid this:

Instead of cutting off old life entirety, re-scheming your schedule to suit the new life is more advisable.

Never lose your hobbies because it’s the best means of spending a leisure time. Spending leisure time doing things you love and being genuinely happy will not only clear your mind of work and stress, it’ll prepare you for a fresh start/resume at work.

2. Entertaining Failure as the Last Resort

Individuals who view failure as the last resort often tend to give up hope upon failure. They torment themselves nonstop for their lacking and this in turn hinder them from the lessons the failure had to offer. They end up doing the same mistakes over and over.

 “It is fine to celebrate success, 

but it is more important to heed 

the lessons of failure.” – Bill Gates

 Every dream chaser is bound to experience failure at some point in time. However, how these failures are embraced can either build or destroy your career. As it is often said, failure is simply an opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. Whatever the case may be, it’s absolutely impossible to live without failing at something. But again, once viewed from a positive perspective, some of those failures can be the boost you need to reach your desired destination and achieve your goals.

 “Sometimes by losing a battle, you 

discover a new way to win the

 war.” – Donald Trump

How to avoid this:

Learn to view failure as a stepping stone and as an opportunity to reinforce yourself with greater wisdom and intellect.

3. Often Expecting Sudden Breakthrough

Every worker certainly yearns for a reward. Most people however, fall victim to the desire of achieving success over the easiest-quickest means; often forgetting nothing good comes easy.

After going through success stories of successful individuals, you’re bound to realize none woke up to embrace success over a short period of time.

Most people’s drive seem to be greatly retarded when they are faced with the fact that genuine success needs patience and endurance.

How to avoid this:

Before taking the big step to your journey, bare in mind that no matter how much effort you put in, you certainly have to exercise patience.

However, your point of breakthrough can be drawn closer with essential attributes like hard work, commitment, consistency, etc.

4. Failure to Seek Wisdom

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my axe. – Abraham Lincoln

Wisdom is the axe needed to chop down obstacles and build a firm foundation in your career. Most people who are always in haste to make their investments often end up neglecting the basics; like failing to do the necessary research needed to grow such investments.

This in turn cause huge career-damaging mistakes which could’ve been easily avoided with little research and tips from professionals.

You discover large number of entrepreneurs and companies starting over after lots of projects come crashing down.

How to avoid this:

Begin steadily and build a strong foundation. Just then, building an empire could be just a matter of time.

Knowledge is never a waste. Gather as much information as you can relating to your field, study them and you’d be surprised when needs for such info arise.

 

5. Underestimating Oneself

Most entrepreneurs often find themselves shielding behind the word “beginner” practically all through their journey.

As a result, most entrepreneurs end up sucking up low pay rates at work. They lose their innovative ideas to smarter entrepreneurs who rather appear intimidating. Most entrepreneurs remain stagnant because they never believe they deserve something better.

How to avoid this:

Whether an amateur or a professional, believe in the potential within you, and always strive to improve daily.

6. Hesitation to Take Action/Risks

“Take time to deliberate, but when

 the time for action comes, stop

 thinking and go in.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

 Hesitation to take risks is the major cause of stagnancy in careers. Individuals who are overwhelmed with the fear of risk taking miss out on lots of irretrievable lifetime opportunities. Every great investment certainly requires great risks.

“…if there is no risk, there is no reward.” – Christy Raedeke

Risk taking can only play two roles in your career: accelerate and escalate your success, or increase your wisdom. You must risk going too far to discover just how far you can go. 

How to avoid this:

Be smart enough as to knowing which risks to take and which to avoid.

If you want it, go for it. Take a risk! Don’t always play it safe. If not, making great achievements will be a really big deal for you.

7. Failure to Split Dreams

This is the key reason behind people’s loss of focus and lack of consistency.

When one tries to achieve all his goals and reach his destination instantly, he end up with divided attention and eventually achieve none.

For example, going through a broad road with diverse routes, it is easier to lose track compared with going through a narrow path with a single route.

How to avoid this:

Learn to split your dreams into readily and easily attainable goals because it’ll help you focus wholly on achieving these smaller goals, thereby bringing you closer to your big dream.

Summary

Success is desired by all, yet achieved by only a few.

To achieve success, you must be ready to exceed possible and do the impossible. You’ve got to leave the ordinary and chase the extraordinary.

Instead of working unnecessarily harder and making the same mistakes over and over, learn from these common mistakes and work smarter. Working smarter will unconditionally parachute you to your desired destination quicker than hard work.

Source:- wealthy gorilla