Tag: challenges

17 Ways To Develop Your Entrepreneurial Mindset

On Monday, I had the opportunity to talk to a talented group of young entrepreneurs about the entrepreneurial mindset. This 2025 cohort of Youth Mean Business was inspiring, engaging, curious, and full of good questions and good answers. They made me feel like a total Slackle Jack for waiting until I was in my 40s to start my own business.

To prepare for my talk, I combed through the things I feel have most helped me develop my entrepreneurial mindset. This mindset offers a valuable approach to life that enables you to create value for others. It’s not just about starting businesses. It’s about creating value, solving problems, and developing resilience in yourself. But like Trix Cereal, these approaches aren’t just for kids. Here are tips anyone can use. Even silly rabbits.

17 Ways To Help Develop Your Entrepreneurial Mindset

  1. Spend Time With Other Entrepreneurs.

 Jim Rohn famously declared, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

So, spend time with entrepreneurs to become more like them. Entrepreneurs think differently. They see the world through a different lens. Surround yourself with them. Read about them. Ask them questions. It’s the fastest way to transform your mindset. And for Pete’s sake, stop hanging out with Debbie Downer.

2. Tap Into Your Energy & Enthusiasm

They make things happen. And they attract customers, employees and partners.

3. Create Things

James Clear shared, ‘Education teaches you to analyze. Entrepreneurship teaches you to create.’

So always Be Creating.

Not just businesses:

  • Systems
  • Processes
  • Clubs
  • Blogs
  • Newsletters
  • Events
  • Content
  • Videos
  • Words
  • Lists of bullet points

4. Develop a Bias Towards Action

Nontrepreneurs Talk. Entrepreneurs Act.

Take action. When you see an opportunity that you think is right for you, take steps towards it. Each time you take a step, the next step is likely to reveal itself. It is more important to take action than to plan everything out ahead of time. The need to plan everything will prevent you from taking steps. And there is no elevator to success. You’ve got to take the steps.

5. Be An Imperfectionist.

Perfectionists have to get everything exactly right. They down’t lyke mayking missteaks. But entrepreneurship is quick, messy and full of janky solutions, until you can afford better solutions.

Create quick models, products, services, content and promotions. Then improve as you go. That is how life works. You don’t have to have everything figured out from the beginning.

6. Give Yourself Permission To Be An Amateur.

One of the greatest gifts I gave myself as an entrepreneur was the permission to be an amateur.

It took the pressure off. It allows me to learn as I go. And to not beat myself up over the mistakes I would surely make, Shirley.

In fact, I loved what this did for my entrepreneurial mindset so much that I have adopted this in all areas of my life.

Today, I give myself permission to be an amateur as a:

  • Parent
  • Husband
  • Speaker
  • Coach
  • Blogger
  • Author
  • Newsletterer
  • Content Creator
  • Brain Surgeon (Which is probably why my rating is so low on Health Grades.)

As a result, I am always learning a lot. And I remain open to suggestions.

7. Read

Read as much as you can. On a plane. On a train. In a box. With a Fox. Entrepreneurs need to know things about all areas of their business.

  • Read about business and entrepreneurship.
  • Read for motivation and inspiration.
  • Read biographies of successful people to pick up clues you can use to be more successful.
  • Read to practice the slow grind of reading.
  • Listen to audiobooks when you are commuting.

8. Be Trustworthy

The most important thing you need to do to become an entrepreneur is to have people trust you.

To earn your first customers, you have to sell on trust.

  • So do what you say you will do.
  • Show up on time.
  • Deliver what you said you would deliver
  • Catch people if you do that trust-fall team-building exercise. (But if you do drop someone, make sure to get it on video.)

9. Approach Your Business Like A Video Game

Entrepreneurs face endless challenges and obstacles. Embrace the challenges.

Video games are fun specifically because they offer a challenge. The deeper you get into them, the higher level you achieve, the more challenging they get.

That’s part of the fun.

When things get hard, think of it as a fun and interesting challenge that will help you level up and become even better. And remember, you get points for eating Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Clyde.

10. Collect Friends

All opportunities come through people.

The more people you know the better.

My very first client was a friend of mine I have known since 7th grade.

  • Always be meeting new people.
  • Introduce yourself to people.
  • Ask for introductions to people you think would be good to know.
  • If you don’t have business cards, get them printed and hand them out whenever you can.
  • Then, make a regular effort to reach out to your people.
  • Especially when you don’t want or need anything from them. (Read this bullet again. And then reach out to me to practice this.)
  • This is how you maintain relationships and make them valuable when either of you needs something later on.

11. Grab Chocolate Milk

Get together with people to talk.

Adults grab coffee or beer or wine or cocktails.

I don’t drink alcohol.

So I grab chocolate milk.

Or Ice Cream

Or Juice or Soda.

Or Carmels.

It all works the same way. These activities offer a good opportunity to get together and talk and develop your friendship, share ideas and discuss other opportunities.

12. Become A Problem Solver

Businesses are designed to solve problems.

So, become good at spotting problems.

And become good at solving them. Like Vanilla Ice.

This means replacing ‘I can’t do that.’ with ‘How could I do that?’

13. Focus

You will have the greatest success when you really focus on the most important thing at the moment.

FOCUS = Focus On Completely Until Solved

Focus fully on the important things you need to do or create. Do less. And do them better.

*Focus is the English word that many of my native French-speaking friends pronounce most hilariously. Listen for it. And let me know when you hear it.

14. Be Willing To Sacrifice

To be a successful entrepreneur, you have to sacrifice things you would like to do or have now. But you do this to get more freedom and more opportunities later. The delay of gratification means more gratification later. So don’t eat the first marshmallow right away.

15. Don’t worry about how much milk you spill as long as you don’t lose your cow.

You will lose money at times.

That’s ok.

Just don’t lose your money maker, and you will always be ok.

16. Bet On Yourself

You are the safest bet you will ever make. You can stack the odds in your favor through your hard work, determination, and creativity.

Bet!

17. Don’t Burnout

You need to pace yourself.
Entrepreneurship is a marathon. Not a sprint.

Key Takeaway

Entrepreneurship is a mindset. It is a way of approaching life. So develop yours. And it will empower you to create businesses and all kinds of other valuable things that make the world a better place. And remember to share what you know. When others approach you to share your knowledge, do it. It’s one of the best ways you can add value to the Universe and positively impact lives.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.And consider subscribing to Adam’s Good Newsletter.

This week I was reminded of a valuable life lesson thanks to a Starbucks mishap.

On Thursday morning I met my great friend Roland ‘Rocky’ Larochelle for breakfast. We hadn’t seen each other for more than a year. When I arrived at the Starbucks he met me by the front door and we heartily greeted each other. It was a great start to the morning. Like Tony The Tiger Great.

Roland had already ordered, so I walked to the counter and ordered a breakfast sandwich and grabbed a chocolate milk from the cooler. Because chocolate milk is my jam. Then I made my way to the small round table where Roland was sitting with his vente coffee. As I sat down, excited to catch up on the past year with an old friend, Roland moved his coffee to the side of the table to make room for me. This is typically an uneventful act. But that morning, the act was most definitely eventful.

In the process of moving his tall and freshly full coffee, the cup tripped and tipped. In an instant, the entire drink splashed onto the table and then poured onto the floor.

The aftermath. It looks like the coffee spilled in the shape of Pangea.

That’s Just Life

These types of mishaps happen all the time. Things are constantly going wrong in both our professional and personal lives. How you respond to such events determines the tone of your life.

You can allow such incidents to make you angry, bitter, deflated or depressed. Or, you can recognize that these setbacks are an expected and unavoidable element of life. You take the hit and roll with it. Like Tina Turner. (That was supposed to be a reference to Proud Mary, not Ike.)

The filter you use to interpret your setbacks determines whether you are floored by them or strengthened.

The Response

For a brief moment after the spill, there was no response. It was like that moment after you see a flash of lightning before you hear the inevitable thunder. You know it’s coming. But you don’t know how soon it will hit. And you don’t know if it will rumble or crack.

Then it hit.

Roland and I both erupted in laughter. It was the best possible response. We recognized that our 20-year friendship had just added another funny story. A new layer. An event to talk about.

Roland is clearly a great guy to spill coffee with.

There is no use crying over spilled coffee. Even $7 coffee. So we moved our things to the next table and began the clean-up. We grabbed napkins and notified the barista-janitor behind the counter of the caffeinetastrophe that had just occurred at table #9.

Within 2 minutes there were no signs of the spill on the table or the floor. Just as the final drops were being mopped another Barista in her superhero apron appeared at our table and presented Roland with a replacement coffee that she had made without us even asking. Thanks, SuperBarsista! You saved the day!

Key Takeaway

Setbacks happen. Everywhere, all the time. It’s not your bad luck. It is life. And physics. Those things are constantly spilling your drinks, breaking your things, blocking your progress, and stealing your time. Just roll with it. These are the basic challenges in the game of life. Keep playing. It makes the whole adventure of life more interesting. It makes you stronger and more capable for the next challenge. And all those setbacks transform into stories. And sooner or later you realize that a good life is just a collection of good stories.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Here’s a better way to think about having a bad day.

Last week I traveled from Milwaukee to Florida for work. While it should have been exciting to leave below-freezing temperatures for 80 degrees and sunshine, things kept going wrong.

First, I couldn’t find a parking space because the 6-story parking structure at the airport was reduced to only 2 active levels. Which felt like an April Fool’s joke. But it was March 9th. And March Fool’s Day is still not a thing in Wisconsin.

Then, after clearing security I heard an announcement in the terminal that some silly rabbit left their keys at TSA. After patting my pockets I realized that I was that silly rabbit. So I bunny-hopped back to security with my cotton tail between my legs to retrieve my little lost fob.

When I finally reached my gate and attempted to board the plane, my mobile ticket came up as invalid. Even though I had checked in 24 hours earlier and had a QR code for boarding, apparently when I deliberately changed from my complimentary seat upgrade back to my original exit row window, the system unchecked me. Because I was no longer checked in 30 minutes prior to boarding, they gave away my seat.

They rebooked me in the last row of the plane. But when I got to the last row, someone was already sitting in my seat. And he was more Papa Bear than Goldilocks.

All of this happened before 5:45 am.

It would have been easy to decide that I was having a bad day. Or that I was unlucky. Or to take it all as a sign that I wasn’t supposed to leave Milwaukee that day. And maybe that is all true. But I interpreted it differently.

I recognized that some days you run a sprint. Some days you run a marathon. And some days you run hurdles. And I was running hurdles.

Things go wrong all the time. It is the nature of a world run by humans, Mother Nature, and ever-present gravity. It doesn’t mean that life is bad. Or that you are unlucky. It’s just how things work, or don’t work as the case may be.

Key Takeaway

Keep life’s challenges in perspective. Life is good. Challenging situations are just part of the deal. Don’t let the hurdles of life stop you. Clear them and keep going. That’s what successful people do.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Embrace the difficult things in life. They make you stronger.

I face challenges every day. Big ones. Small ones. New ones. And ones I have seen a thousand times before. As an entrepreneur, I’ve signed up for a life of challenges. As a parent, I’ve committed to helping 3 other humans work through their challenges too. I often feel like a contestant on American Ninja Warrior: Work & Home Edition. But I enjoy hard things. I find great value in the difficulties.

When life throws challenges my way I embrace them because I learn from them. I get better. I discover more about myself and my character. I develop more skills. I realize how capable I really am. #AintNothingGonnaBreakMyStride

The challenges of life are like the challenges of sports. Or video games. They are forms of competition. They are there to test you. To force you to think, learn, strategize and grow. Challenges force you to add tools to your toolbox, plays to your playbook, and tricks to your bag of tricks.

Triumphing over your personal and professional challenges is a rewarding part of the human experience. The more challenges you face the more you feel like you have faced the same type of challenge before. Which means you face each new obstacle with a greater sense of confidence that you can handle it. Because you can, Toucan!

In their training, the military special forces go through some of the most difficult challenges that humans will ever face. But those very challenges also provide the tools and confidence to overcome anything they face later. Both in the military and while shopping at the mall.

The challenges of life are not to be avoided. Or lamented. They are what make life interesting. They are the primary source of self-improvement. They teach you and make you stronger.

To accelerate your growth you can also read about the challenges that others have faced, and how they learned and improved through them. It is why reading is so valuable. It allows you to learn vicariously through the challenges of others without losing a battle, a war, or a limb. Because you can only lose so many limbs of your own.

Key Takeaway

Life challenges help you learn and grow. Each one leaves you better equipped to face the next. Each one adds to your skills, experience and understanding. It is a critical part of the evolutionary process. And it strengthens us both as individuals and as a species. You grow. You adapt. You thrive. And you are better prepared to face whatever comes next.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my new book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.