Mistake Mystique

9 Points to take care during entrepreneurial journey

I know this is very bold statement, but very true. 90% of the stuff we learn in school is worthless. Remaining 10% what we learn at school are very critical and important. I believe teaching is more than just learning lessons from textbooks to pass exams. Education must bring out a real person in you. 

But, our traditional education system forces you to think and stay in your comfort zone. One major indirect learning our education system gives is – You have to be right. If you make mistakes in life, you will lose life’s race. So everyone is trying to be perfect and perfection is a big myth. 

When I say, perfection is myth, we must understand that progress is the key. Your journey is more important than your destination. Your education stops when you try to be perfect in your journey. This means you fail to analyse your life results. 

Whoever you are and what stage of personal and business life you are in, that is the exact result of actions you take. Once you stop being Mr. Perfect, you will be able to make the right decisions for your progress. 

This means, once you start analysing mistakes you do and try to improve on those, your life progress begins. But traditionally we all are trapped in a thought process of, we learn from mistakes. What is the point of making mistakes and not learning from it? I have seen many people who keep repeating the same mistakes again and again. 

Assuming, “we learn from our mistakes”, is the biggest mistake we make. Let me come straight here. It is very hard to learn from mistakes. No one enjoys making mistakes and losing money, time and energy. We start our entrepreneurial journey with success in mind. Still 80% of businesses fail to succeed. There are many reasons for this. But the most important reason is, people fail to learn from their mistakes. You really have to analyse the impact of mistakes. This will happen only after you address your mistakes. 

Ripple effect of mistakes not addressed properly compound leaps and bound. This is very harmful for your success. 

I take this opportunity to admit here that I have made a lot of mistakes in my entrepreneurial journey. With great help from my mentors, I was able to understand those and address them properly for my benefit. Following are a few pointers to sail smoothly.

1. EGO Kills:  Don’t think you know everything. Whenever you sense your life is taking the wrong direction, admit and be open for suggestions. Get closer to people smarter than you.In 2013-14, I made a huge blunder. I was heavily investing in the real estate business. On the legal, personal, financial front I didn’t have rules set for the process. One day, I was forced to get out of that real estate project. This happens with everyone who doesn’t make rules. If you don’t have rules, people will start making rules on their own.I had lost a good amount of money, time and energy because of a mistake I made. Still I don’t say this was my biggest mistake.My main mistake was my ego. Looking at a rosy picture from real estate, unknowingly I have stalled my cash flow from my financial planning business. When big ties washed me out from the real estate business, I faced a huge financial crisis. This was a result of my ego.
2. Blame Game: Don’t ever try to play this blame game. Your growth stops the moment you enter this game.Let us come to my story. When I was washed out of real estate, I had 2 choices. One was to blame my business partner and spoil my mental health. Second choice was to take 100% responsibility. I chose the 2nd one. I took 100% responsibility for my situation. Moment I said to myself, I am the creator of my destiny, my mind opened up for various sources.
3. Time management:When you feel like a loser and time is not in your favour, you tend to hang around with similar types of people. This is normal psychology. You feel comfortable being with someone who is in a similar situation. This activity will drag you further down.When I decided to take 100% responsibility, I specifically chose people I want to spend my time with. I stayed away from my partner too. I started reading books and attending seminars.Cost of giving your time to losers and negative minded people is very high. So choose wisely.
4. Expectation: Expectation kills your creativity. If you expect nothing from anyone you never get disappointed. You remain in a stable state of mind. In this happy and stable state of mind, you start finding a solution.My life changed when I started looking for a solution for my problem within me. When I decided to take 100% responsibility, I stopped expecting my partner to resolve the issue. I pulled up my socks, did my goal setting and took the first step.
5. Compete with yourself: You are your real competitor. Your real competition is with yourself. “Me against me” is a powerful mantra of success.If you are 0.1% better than yesterday, you are on the winning path. Success breeds success. When you are better than yesterday, it becomes easy to achieve more.As stated earlier, my cash flow was completely stalled in 2014. Larger real estate deals were out of sight. First step I took was to go basics and work on my financial planning area. This small step helped me generate my first small cash flow. Then it was easy for me to achieve more.
6. Power of continuous learning: If you are not growing, then you are dying. Most people stop learning after college. I believe real learning starts after college days. Your technical or college education contributes to just 15% of your success. Rest 85% is your personal development.I thank my friend Suren of Success Gyan from the bottom of my heart. His vision for India helped me to learn from great teachers like Blair Singer and Robert Kiyosaki. Success Gyan community helped me to stay close to highly positive, enthusiastic and progress minded people. Interaction with community members added value for my progress.
7. Hardest task first: Take up your hardest task first. These are bigger stones in your success. You become more productive on completion of the hardest task. Improving yourself is simple looking but the hardest task for most people.When you complete a hard task, there is a sense of accomplishment. Doing the hardest things will give you more returns on your life, time, energy and money.
8. Me time: There is a problem if you can’t find me time. Me time is you just with yourself with zero external distractions. Your thinking ability improves when you are just alone.I am a mountaineer and have been to the Himalaya several times. During my climb, I am just with my steps and breathing. This synchronisation stops all distractions. This is the point your mind focuses on what is best for you.Most of my life changing ideas have popped in my mind when I am alone and do self-talk.
9. First step climb Mt. Everest: What is the first step you will take when you plan to climb Mt. Everest? When I ask this question during my seminar, participants keep beating around the bush. But they don’t conclude on the simple first step of getting up early and start exercising.You get overwhelmed when you don’t design simple steps. Every single and simple positive step will have a compounding effect in your life.Apply these 9 simple actions in your life. I promise, your life will never be the same again. On the other hand – what will happen if you keep making mistakes and don’t learn from those? No one cares. Everyone has their own life and so do you.So, just make sure you apply these learnings and make sure you always learn from your mistakes to take a flight.

Just be awesome.