Entrepreneurial Life Skills
Or, creative living without power
Last week my power was out at my house for nearly 4 days. Yes, for sure #firstworldproblems, but since am I not only working from home right now and my kiddo is doing school from home, but we’ve had a local spike in COVID cases, so my county called for a Stay-at-Home advisory at the same time, and it was the coldest its been so far this Fall. Less than ideal.
We all got through it, no real problems, but as I was reflecting on the experience and how people were commenting that I had a good outlook on it, I thought about how being entrepreneurially minded really helped get us through with a minimum of drama. I pulled out a few “entrepreneurial lessons” that help during power outages, but also in the wild world of being your own boss.
Being ok with uncertainty
I had no idea when our power would come back; there were so many tress down around the city that even the electric company couldn’t give us anything but the vaguest of timelines. I feel like the true definition of an entrepreneur should be “someone who can live in uncertainty”: whatever all the other possible lists of characteristics required for entrepreneurship, as someone who has done and coached many many others, I think this is really what it all boils down to.
Being able to pivot quickly
A corollary to the first point is being able to make decisions quickly (or wait to make a decisions when necessary). Surveying the landscape and reacting to what’s going on (waking up each morning to listen for the sound of the furnace or chain saws in my neighborhood…) is necessary when you’re building something new (even if it’s just new to you!). No power and a big meeting today? Try a friend who lives within walking distance and a great hat! :)
Seeing what is most important
Being able to look at the next day and see what was truly important for me to attend to made it a little easier to make decisions about how those weird days would proceed. Knowing that there were some meetings I could miss, reschedule, or my colleague could handle helped me focus on the ones where I really needed to be present and prepared for not only myself and my work, but as a mother.
Being (relatively) optimistic
Focusing on the positive keeps hope alive. Even when it is *literally* dark and cold, having a vision in mind that you can communicate of better days will help pull you through those uncomfortable hours, giving you something to focus on and helping you not wallow (too long) in self-pity or anxiety. Being grateful for what you do have available (a gas stove!) will help you use your resources creatively. Plus, seeing the silver lining in a situation and realizing that being in a crappy mood only hurts you propels you forward into making that better day a reality (And people want to talk to you more too!).
The application of these values, as you can see, don’t always have to be to starting a company, but they are some of the defining aspects of an entrepreneurial personality, imho. They likely have been a part of your life all along and will help you whether you start a business, have a side hustle, create a project, make things for fun, or none of those. And if they’re not a natural part of your personality, they are traits that can be learned, built up, practiced, and used for success in many areas.
