In a world filled with fake and hollow people, it is not surprising that most aspects of life eventually follow. It’s easy to see things on TV, at the movies, or in the magazines and get misled into thinking that this is how you need to be as well.
In fact, its not. The world gives much more respect to originality – there is no one else in the world like you. Be the one that gets imitated – NOT the one doing the imitating, especially if like me, you are basing your business’s culture, expertise and creed on your own values.
Our adolescence is the most crucial time in our lives. We discover what we like and dislike, characteristics in people that we can and cannot handle, issues that we agree with and disagree with, and for us entrepreneurs, what kind of business we want to run. As young adults, it becomes much easier to get swayed in many directions, especially when we are befriending other curious thinkers who are contemplating their own stance in the world. Eventually we need to make a decision or otherwise we will be flip flopping all our lives and never move forward on our individual paths.
Here’s the trick that we all must learn. We must first learn how to separate our intuition from our intellect. Our intuition is the first feeling that we get, like most, I’ve always called it my “gut instinct” moment. This is usually the right way to go, however, before we even have time to relish in it, we shoot our intuit directly into our brains, our intellect. Soon we are rationalising it, picking at it little by little and eventually over-thinking all the details.
We get completely confused at which way to go, and then it becomes a problem. Over time, we often forget where we stood on the issue and it soon develops into an emotional battle. For an entrepreneur, this can lead to a missed opportunity and really damage the growth of the business.
Having said this, there is nothing wrong with rationalising. In fact, rationalising is one of the greatest things we can have as humans. The habit, however, is not to depend on it. Not everything needs as much rationalising as we would think. Sometimes, our intuition is the only tool we have towards being happy and successful. When we go against our core feelings, the contentment with our decisions obviously start to combat with each other.
This is a huge dilemma for young entrepreneurs. Most entrepreneurs know that they’re entrepreneurs at an early age, for example I knew at the age of 20 that I wanted to be my own boss. BUT, and it’s a big but, my intuitive knowledge was met with the world’s intellectual reasoning of how young is too young to be an entrepreneur – I mean what could I know about the world let alone run my own business?
As we begin to grow, it infects our understanding of who we are and what we are capable of achieving. The battle scars are still there when we are adults in most cases in the form of self-doubt. You need to take a journey of rediscovering your intuition, allowing you to transcend towards the next phase in your life – and most importantly, to grow from it.
The more you listen to your intuition, the further you will be in living your authenticity. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t ignore it; at least acknowledge the fact that you felt something. Learn to say no! Saying yes all the time will only get you in the habit of ignoring your opinions. Know what you stand for and be true to that. Don’t change your strategies, after all you have your intuits for a reason.
There’s nothing wrong with trying new things and taking risks. Pretending to believe something or faking your liking to something just to please others, will affect your success and ultimately your happiness.
Your authenticity is the only thing you have in this world that separates you from the cattle. How many times have you seen someone walk through the doors and instantly, you are captivated by their confidence? Seeing someone who is totally themselves naturally invites the world to view it. Most people ache to have that quality and to see it in another, it’s inspiring to them.
The only way you will find yourself is if you start listening to yourself. Don’t ignore your truth, flourish it and make it ripen. Your life will be much more plentiful because of it and your business will thank you for it later.
