The Roar of the Entrepreneur
April 19, 2016
by Betsy Westhafer
By virtue of being an entrepreneur, you are your own animal. You are courageous. You are tireless. You are instinctive, and you dominate.
Think of your entrepreneurial self as the lion. The lion represents the King of the Jungle and is a great example of one who knows who he is. A lion slowly, methodically moves forward, boldly and confidently confronting anything in his path. When you truly know who you are, you, too, are able to confidently and courageously confront anything that faces you.
Whether you are a solopreneur or have a team behind you, you are a leader. You are leading your company and you are leading yourself. When you take time to tap into the heart of a lion, you have the courage to move forward and lead to achieve whatever you set out to achieve.
Courage produces confidence, and confidence conquers fear.
As with our animal friends, it’s not removing or denying the emotions or instincts that we have been equipped with. But rather, it’s equipping us to direct these emotions and instincts into something that is helping us be productive instead of destructive.
“Courage is not the absence of fear – but rather, the idea that something else is more important than fear.”
Fear is always going to be there. But it’s what we do with this fear when we are faced with it that really matters. We have two choices when faced with fear. We can choose to run from it or we can choose to move toward whatever is opposing us.
When we choose to move toward it, we can then channel that fear in an appropriate direction to elevate our actions and performance and use it as a benefit. When we tap into animal principles, in this case, the lion, we are able to snap our performance into right action and use our emotions to our advantage so that they produce optimal results.
Within our day-to-day situations, we can courageously say, “I know where I am right now, but I would also like something greater.” Strategically and tactically, we move toward something that’s better than what we’ve achieved so far — and some of those initiatives are big. THAT TAKES COURAGE.
How can you create more courage in your own life?
1. Be aware of your thoughts
Half the battle in life is becoming aware of your thoughts and how they shape your life. It’s easy to fall back into your old conditional habits without paying attention to your thoughts. By paying attention to them, you become AWAKE to your thoughts that LEAD to your ACTIONS that CREATE your RESULTS.
2. Keep a positive attitude
When you maintain a positive attitude, your motivation increases and your procrastination decreases. When you are in that “zone,” you can act on any plan with laser-like focus. Remember, you are a leader, and with that, it is your responsibility to execute on the vision with precision.
3. Increase your self-awareness
When you are able to accurately identify your strengths as well as your areas for improvement, you understand that all experiences assist to improve and prepare you to achieve more. Building upon your life’s lessons, your skills, and your passion, you are better able to bravely move forward into the actions that are required to move your business forward.
Betsy Westhafer is an Extreme Focus™ Mental Performance Coach and the founder of the ActionMasters Network. Betsy works with entrepreneurs to uplevel their personal performance in order to accelerate their business growth. She can be reached at [email protected] or by calling 800-600-2213.
