Starting a business or aiming for a new direction in your career is all the same to me. There is risk and uncertainty involved and neither has a guaranteed outcome. In the hope of a greater chance of success, we go to Startup Accelerators, incubators, corporate training and dabble in corporate social networks to increase our learning and understanding of this new environment we are heading into. All for the hope of greater success. This is a results-driven approach which has its merits. What I found though, is that most people forget to look at what is producing the current results.

Building on shaky ground

The human beings behind these startups and new career directions already produce a certain result. That result is visible in their current financial and career situation. After all, your life is the sum total of your decisions. Yet, we try to launch a new life, a new hope and a new future based on the thinking that created the world we are not happy with. It does not take a rocket scientist to see that is not the most desired path to follow. It is impossible to solve new problems using the same thinking that created them. Building startup education and other corporate education on top of shaky ground can only lead to a higher possibility of failure.

Personal development, entrepreneurship and career success

Entrepreneurship and career success should focus more and more on the person that will eventually produce the results if we are to hope for higher success rates in both areas.

#1. Mindset

Mindset will determine many things in life, the biggest being success or failure. If you do not have the right mindset, you will never produce the right results. You need to develop a mindset of learning, responsibility and a hunger to see how you can apply yourself and grow in different situations. The same mindset you use in your personal life will be reflected in your business life.

See this amazing talk from Carol Dweck who has done extensive research on Mindset: The power of believing you can improve

#2. Beliefs

Most of us are plagued in some form or the other by limiting beliefs. I am not good enough, I do not know enough, I am not rich enough and the list can go on for another page or two. Limiting beliefs hold you back from taking action. Actively work to overcome your limiting beliefs. If they play out in your personal life, they will play out in your business and your career.

This TED talk about overcoming your limits will really make you think differently about why you are not taking action: Looking past limits

#3. Daily learning

You need to learn every day. It can be in the form of 10 Flipboard articles to a more structured approach where you set and review goals daily with the guidance of a coach. Your business or your career will only grow as big as your thinking.

Lifelong learning is something few of us practice or are fully aware of it. This TED playlist of 5 talks will really move your world: The love of lifelong learning

I developed a startup process called indivineur. indivineur is an Entrepreneurial Activator because it focuses on individuals and their discovery and application of their own abilities and resources for the creation of a new life either through business or career. My slogan is “Start here, before you startup”. I have seen amazing results in people after only two hours of the process. I address the roots and I am always amazed at the wonderful fruits I see blossoming when I work with people. Start with yourself, see what you can do first and how you can make that bigger. You are an amazing person with amazing potential, you just need to see it first.

*** This was originally posted on Willem Gous’s website, www.WillemGous.com and is published with permission on this website. ***