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The 5 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

#1 Driving Force

#2 Energy Management

#3 The Focus Habit

#4 Productivity

#5-Persistence

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THE 5 TRAITS OF SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS

The internet has sparked the interest of millions of people wanting to build an
online business or to expand a brick-and-mortar business into ecommerce.

If this sounds like you, be prepared to keep your motivational engine firing
on all points. Having the desire to be your own boss isnt enough. In this
report youll discover motivational forces which define the difference between
hobby entrepreneurs and wealth generating entrepreneurs.

The following describe five key factors shared by successful entrepreneurs

which are:

1. Driving Force
2. Energy Management
3. Focus
4. Productivity
5. Persistence

#1 DRIVING FORCE

Human motivation is a very complex thing and the driving forces behind what
motivates you may be obvious, but often are difficult to discern for many
aspiring entrepreneurs. Did you know that there is a hierarchy of motivation?
Once you understand the link between the levels in this hierarchy and the need
to satisfy them, then you can understand the main driving factors behind
human motivation.
Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist who created the theory of the
hierarchy of needs. The theory states that there are certain levels of human
needs which must be fulfilled before achieving self- actualization. Maslows
Hierarchy of Needs looks like this:

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SelfActualization
Esteem

Love and Belonging

Safety Needs: Security, Order, and Stability

Physiological Needs

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

At the very bottom layer are the basic human needs to live: food, water, sleep
and sex. If you cant feed yourself or your family, you wont be able to achieve
the higher layers in the pyramid. Once people have food and shelter, then they
feel secure in their environment. There is a sense of order and stability. At
this stage they have a feeling of belonging and are capable of developing a

loving relationship. The highest layers, that of self- esteem and self
actualization, are the levels that many people struggle to achieve.
At the top of the pyramid, the need for self-actualization occurs when a person
feels accomplishment and believes they are achieving their full potential.
Once a person has reached the self-actualization level, they focus on
themselves and try to build their own self-confidence by setting and
accomplishing goals.
Maslow referred to the first four levels are as the Deficit needs or D-needs. This
means that if you do not have enough of one of these four needs, you will have
the feeling that you need to get more. But when you do get them, then you
feel nothing at all! Hence, they cease to be motivating. This is an important
realization when it comes to establishing goals.
Since money is the medium we use to pay for food, shelter and security,
establishing a monetary goal isnt enough as a strong internal driving force for
an entrepreneur. Thats why motivational coaches encourage people to have a
purpose beyond one that is purely monetary. Having a purpose is an absolute
must in order to keep the entrepreneurial engine revved up.

Uncertainty and Fear

Uncertainty and fear are factors causing entrepreneurs to give up or miss

fulfilling objectives.
Blame the brain. It all starts there. A stress stimulus causes a release of
chemicals which start your heart to racing, which increases you rate of
breathing and your muscles are engaged ready to run. That emotion is often
referred to as the fight-or-flight-response. The stressor can be real, like the
first time you parachute out of a plane, or imagined, like the boogie-creature
living under your bed when you were a child.
The point is to realize that fear is a physical reaction and that there are two
directions involved in the fear response.

One path is the take no chances path. Usually, this is a quick response. The
phrase to shoot first and ask questions later sums up the take no chances
path.
The other path is more thoughtful and delivers a clearer interpretation of
events. Its when you have a moment of terror, but then after a few seconds,
you calm down. Both processes are happening simultaneously. The difference
between responding with a take no chances or thoughtful reaction is
conditioning developed from lack of or extensive experiences.
Successful online business owners learn how to eliminate paralyzing uncertainty
by understanding what has to be accomplished to achieve their goals.
Entrepreneurs find success in both the mundane activities as well as new
opportunities. They are driven and are ready and willing to try something new.
Developing an entrepreneurial mind can bring great rewards and plenty of new
fears. But youll get over them.

#2 ENERGY MANAGEMENT

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If youve seen the trailers or the full movie, Fast And Furious, you know what
NOS is. This is a street racing term used to refer to Honda Preludes converted
into street rockets.

Well, there probably are some Toyotas, Mazdas and Acuras in the mix, too.
A NOS system produces a chemical known as nitrous oxide (N2O), often used in
the performance optimization of car and motorcycle engines. The N2O pumps
extra oxygen into the fuel system which converts into extra horsepower.
Drivers only have to push a button and the car shoots down the street at
amazing speeds. Well, thats the movie version.
One misconception is that NOS can be installed on any car. Another is that NOS
is nitrous oxide. NOS is an acronym for brand 'Nitrous Oxide Systems'. Nitrous
oxide can only be installed on some engines, and does not necessarily mean a
huge gain in speed.

What does this have to do with being a motivated entrepreneur?

Are you a high energy producer? Take a quick mental inventory of some
successful entrepreneurs you follow. Are they always delivering new products?
Are they full of energy in their presentations or videos? If so, they have a notso-secret fuel burning in their entrepreneurial engines. Its not NOS, its a
power mixture of VISION + GOALS.
Theres that four letter word again goal.
If you are trying to build a business without goals you are going to run out of
gas. A race car driver has a goal: cross the finish line first. The driver knows
how much fuel he needs to finish first. And if he misjudges it, then he knows
that more fuel is required for the next race.

Yet so many online businesses start and later fizzle because of a lack of
challenging goals. Once you have goals established then create the
intermediary steps or tasks to get to the finish line.

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Having this in place will keep fuel in your entrepreneurial engine.
There are other physiological things you need to manage, too. Remember
Maslows Hierarchy? Watch your diet, implement an exercise program and get
plenty of sleep. Some entrepreneurs benefit from adding yoga and meditation
into their physical management practices. Establish a routine and make it a
habit.

#3 THE FOCUS HABIT

Remember the four letter word goal? Having measurable goals help you keep
on track. Losing focus is often caused by a lack of belief in a goal or simply
bad habits.
Pursuing a goal without first breaking it down into manageable steps can cause
your mind to meander. Before you know it, youre checking out unrelated
videos on YouTube or shopping for some new gadget.
The simplest way to handle this is to break down the goal into tasks and assign
due dates to these tasks. Next, and this is a critical point, you decide to meet
these tasks. Its a personal choice whether or not you will complete goals.
Sure, youll run into problems, but that is all part of the game. Once youve
set your mind to accomplishing the tasks, the document due dates on your
calendar or better yet in a planner.
As a solopreneur, you are in charge of yourself. Thats what you wanted right?
Now you have a schedule of tasks to accomplish whether you feel like doing
them or not. Here are some tips to keep you on track.
Stop multi-tasking. Do you try to complete two or more tasks at the same
time like trying to fold laundry and write an outline for your next Kindle book.
You arent focused on either task and will do a poor job of both. Instead, block
out a segment of the day to focus on the task. If you struggle with focusing for
more than 20 minutes, then use 20 minute blocks of time.
Schedule in action breaks. Take short breaks every two hours and try
walking or exercising. If you do better with a longer break then take 30
minutes out for a mini-workout or walk. If you walk, this is a great time to
pack along your MP3 player and listen to some motivational audio books.
Consistently accomplishing small tasks, on time, will strengthen your self-belief
and fire up your entrepreneurial engine.
Reward. Dont forget to reward yourself for sticking with your daily routines
and tasks.

#4 PRODUCTIVITY

Along with focus, you must be productive. The knack for getting things done is
directly linked to your ability to define goals, tasks, due dates and scheduling,
as well as committing to the work. Hey! This is sounding almost like a job!
The difference here is that your internal drive is motivating you to get the task
completed and not your boss or even the paycheck at the end of the week.
This habit is part of your daily routine. You may have to glance at your planner
to remind yourself of the weekly deliverables, but then you sit down and get
things done.
Do you struggle with getting things done or follow-through? Procrastination is a
bad habit spawned by lack of focus and fear. One suggestion is to start with
small wins in order to feel the satisfaction of completing tasks on time. Once
you get a few small wins under your belt, youll have to push for larger
accomplishments. If you dont, youll become complacent about the overall
objective and due dates will pass by without competing tasks.
Once you get in the productivity groove, keep revisiting your objectives and
add in new ones new challenges.

#5-PERSISTENCE

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Here is a quote attributed to President Calvin Coolidge
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will
not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and
determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan press on has solved
and will always solve the problem of the human race.
The point Coolidge makes is when faced with challenges, setbacks and failures,
persistence wins. Innovations dont just happen overnight and often require
persistence in testing and development. Scientists and inventors understand
this and move forward through each iteration of testing driven by the belief
that they must prove out (or disprove) the idea.
As an entrepreneur, it comes down to having a strong conviction about your
vision, creating a plan and working that plan to fruition. New discoveries,
products and innovations are not won in a lottery pool and rarely possible to
make a quick buck as an entrepreneur.