A common reason for failure in business is a lack of determination. Entrepreneurs are filled with motivation at the beginning of their journey, but as soon as the setbacks kick in, they throw in the towel.
What these people don’t understand is that profits come to those who persevere. When you launch a new venture and the going gets tough, you must keep your head down, remind yourself of your goals, and continue moving. That’s what being determined is all about.
There are many characteristics of successful entrepreneurs and I firmly believe that determination is the most important one. It almost always guarantees business success.
Table of Contents
- What is Determination in Entrepreneurship All About?
- How Can You Become a Determined Entrepreneur?
- Determination in Entrepreneurship Requires You to Deal With Mistakes
- Determination Is About Pursuing Your Cause and Mission
- A Determined Entrepreneur Will Do The Boring Work
- It’s About Continuing on Your Path Despite What People Say
- Determination in Entrepreneurship and Goal Reminders
- Determination in Entrepreneurship Is Ultimately About Consistency
What is Determination in Entrepreneurship All About?
When I was in university, I ran for the varsity track team. I’d hit the track 3 to 4 times per week with the hope of getting faster in the 60-meter and 300-meter sprint.
In the addition to the running, I’d also lift weights in the varsity weight room, the interior walls of which were decorated with a quote that I will never forget. It read…
“Go the extra mile. It’s never crowded.”
The student-athletes who attended the weight room outside of scheduled practice times lived by that quote. It seemed like they had a strong desire to achieve their goals.
Observing them in the weight room made me a better runner. It also taught me one thing: When you want something bad enough, you are willing to go the extra mile to achieve it. This is determination in action.
Determination is a skill that’s not just important in sports, but in all facets of life, including business. A determined entrepreneur is the kind of person who has a sense of urgency about their goals and goes out of their way to put in more work.
Elon Musk, whom I wrote about in last week’s blog titled, “Continuous Learning is the Key to Entrepreneurial Success“, once said in an interview, “You just have to put in 80 to 100 hour weeks every week. If other people are putting in 40 hour work weeks and you’re putting in 100 hour work weeks, then even if you’re doing the same thing, you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year to achieve.”
Determination is not just about outworking your competition, though. It’s much more than that.
How Can You Become a Determined Entrepreneur?
Many dictionaries will define determination as a skill that allows you to pursue your goals and move past personal challenges and through difficult times. But if you really think about it, its a term that encompasses many things.
You’re a determined if you …
- Learn from mistakes and move past them without giving up.
- Are on a mission and understand the reason behind your efforts.
- Put in the work even when you don’t feel like it.
- Continue on your path despite what other people say.
- Remind yourself of your goals often.
What’s great about each one of the above items is that you can learn how to do them or get better at them with practice. Repetition teaches your brain what’s important and worth remembering. That being said, here are the steps to develop an unshakable sense of determination.
1. Determination in Entrepreneurship Requires You to Deal With Mistakes
You will make many mistakes when you step outside your comfort zone. This is inevitable.
When you find yourself in unfamiliar territory, you lack certainty and direction, and need to make an education guess on what the right course of action may be. Sometimes you will walk down the wrong path and end up facing hard times.
Only because you make a poor decision doesn’t mean that you should stop trying. Mistakes are a part of the process so don’t be afraid to make them. They provide you with valuable insights and allow you to navigate the world better.
When something goes wrong, think about what that moment can teach you. Only then can you make sure it will not happen again. As Henry Ford once said, “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”
His autobiography is a fascinating read, by the way.
This is the original autobiography of Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company. It was originally published in 1922. The autobiography details how Henry Ford started out, how he got into business, the strategies he used to become a successful and immensely wealthy businessman, and how he built a company to last.
The next time you deal with a setback, reconstruct the scenario and see if there’s a lesson to be learned. The following checklist will help you reflect and strengthen your sense of determination …
- What were the events leading up to the mistake?
- Can you identify the resources or tools that will keep you from repeating the error?
- How can you re-frame the mistake as an opportunity to learn?
2. Determination Is About Pursuing Your Cause and Mission
At one point or another, we all ask ourselves the question, “What should I do with my life?” Depending on the answer, life will unfold in many different ways.
Some people have a moment of reflection in high school when they need to decide whether or not to study at a university. Others are forced to think about the bigger picture of life much later, perhaps after a sudden job loss or a mid-life crisis.
Periods of intense soul searching force you to re-evaluate your priorities, lead you to discover new ideas, spark your entrepreneurial drive, and sometimes even help you find your life mission. And once you’re on a mission, you have a strong commitment and sense of duty to achieve your goals.
What’s the reason behind your actions? What’s the cause that fuels you?
3. A Determined Entrepreneur Will Do The Boring Work
Have you ever done something even when you didn’t feel like doing it? Of course you have. When you brain said no but you did it anyway, you were using your willpower.
Your willpower is your ability to resist immediate temptations in order to achieve your long-term focus. People with a high level of self-control are determined to put in hard work to attain their goals.
This is something I learned in a great book called The Willpower Instinct.
Based on Stanford University psychologist Kelly McGonigal’s wildly popular course “The Science of Willpower”, The Willpower Instinct is the first book to explain the science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity.
You use your willpower if you …
- Write 300 words of your blog before going to bed instead of watching TV.
- Make 20 cold calls to new clients instead of sending copy-paste emails.
- Expand your social networks and meet new people face-to-face instead of avoiding a potentially awkward situation.
- Brainstorm for a new business idea instead of sticking with old and outdated solutions.
- Take time to make a to-do list in the morning instead of going on your phone.
There are many tasks that are uncomfortable in business, but it’s often the most distressing activities that yield the biggest returns. As Bob Parsons said, “If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn’t have an opportunity.”
4. It’s About Continuing on Your Path Despite What People Say
Worrying about what other people think about you can be an enormous source of stress. Focusing on things outside of your locus of control can drain your energy resources and leave you paralyzed, incapable of progressing toward your goals.
The fear of judgement holds a lot of people back from pursuing the things they love. Many aspiring entrepreneurs never build up the courage to launch their own business because they’re afraid of being ridiculed about the idea.
This is where determination can be a useful skill to have. Successful people don’t get distracted by judgement because they have a clear vision and a strong work ethic. They believe in their own cause so much that nobody can changed their mind about it.
In my blog post, A Simple Way to Deal With the Fear of Being Judged, I shared a simple realization that might help you move past the fear of judgement. It goes like this: Judgement is inevitable. It’s human nature to observe our peers and form opinions about them. Someone will always have a problem with the way you do things. There’s no hiding from critics.
5. Determination in Entrepreneurship and Goal Reminders
Any large accomplishment is the result of carefully considering what you want to accomplish.
The world’s most successful businesswomen and businessmen didn’t blindly pick an idea and pursued it, but they set a goal and put in the work until they achieved it (Note how I mentioned the singular word “goal”, and not the plural version. Goals are best achieved when we focus on one at a time.)
The internet is filled with clever and innovate ways to set goals, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. You can set a goal by simply setting pen to paper. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate masterplan; a few lines about what you want to achieve and how you will achieve it do the trick in the beginning.
Keep in mind that this exercise will only be of significance if you review your goal often. Make it a habit to remind yourself of your objective every day for one month from the moment you wrote it down.
Reviewing your goal often is a surefire way to anchor it in your mind, and to develop an unshakable sense of determination about your mission. And don’t forget …
Determination in Entrepreneurship Is Ultimately About Consistency
The most determined people on earth weren’t born that way. Determination is a skill that is acquired through consistent application of the above-mentioned principles.
If you take away only one thing from this blog post, let it be this: Success is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting. Failure will never overtake you when your determination to succeed is strong enough.
You can develop this entrepreneurial mindset by learning from mistakes, pursuing your mission, putting in the work when you don’t feel like it, ignore judgement, and reminding yourself of your goals often. Put in the necessary work and your business is bound for greatness.