In my graduate school days at Notre Dame University, we would always get the course catalog before the new session, FALL-SPRING-SUMMER. I loved the course catalog. Sure enough, I’d spend hours (yes, I was a bit of a dork who actually really loved school) perusing the catalog to see all of the exciting courses. I’d look in my own field of study. I’d look in the other fields of study where there were cool courses that were interesting to me.

Inevitably, most of the courses I wanted to take would say, “PREREQUISITE” in front of them. Ugh… To get to the courses I really wanted to study and learn about, I had to take all of these lesser, boring courses that seemed like a complete waste of time. I hated playing by the rules, so sometimes I’d find a way to have the prerequisite waived so I could take the course I really wanted to take. EXCEPT I’d be in the course and find out that the reason I needed the prerequisite to begin with was so that I’d have the foundation necessary to excel in the higher level courses.

My best illustration was when I attended Notre Dame University and took graduate psychology statistics without ever having had an undergraduate statistics class in psychology. Somehow my undergraduate psychology program allowed me to graduate without a foundation course in statistics. To this day, I’m not sure how that happened. So there I was at Notre Dame University taking graduate statistics without undergraduate statistics as the foundation. It was like learning Russian. Plus, it took me half a semester to realize my vision was a little off (I needed reading glasses) and that I was in the middle of dyslexia-ville with all of the calculations we had to do by hand on paper to illustrate to the professor that we understood the process. One error in hundreds of calculations could throw off the answer. And folks, there is nothing intuitive about statistics. So it was a painful lesson. The great thing is that undergraduate statistics seemed like a breeze after that and it was never an issue again. Once the foundation was in place, it was smooth sailing.

This is such an important point, it bears repeating…

We need a solid foundation in order to excel in dynamic, fluid environments.
A solid foundation is the key to success.

Entrepreneurship has a couple of primary prerequisites that are the foundation of good business, and if you don’t have them, it is probably better to find solace in “Corporate America” by finding a role in which you can excel in your strengths. I know that probably sounds a little intense as a declaration, but it is true, because to become a successful entrepreneur, you really have to dig deep. You have to go longer than the other guy so it requires staying power. This means you stay in the game despite exhaustion and times and despite uncertainty of the future.

Notre Dame University College Football is an excellent illustration of this point. I was lucky to be there the year Lou Holtz rocked the house, and let me tell you, Lou was much more than a Notre Dame University College Football coach. He was a master of the winning mindset. The point is, despite rain, sleet, snow and sheer exhaustion, you keep going. And even if you don’t win this week, you’re back in swing for next week and for the rest of the season. And if you don’t make it to a bowl game this year, then you get back on board for next year. You weather disappointments and momentary setbacks, learn from your mistakes and keep going until you reach your desired outcome always focusing on what is important in the NOW. (Memories… GO IRISH! GO IRISH!!!! - WE ARE ND! WE ARE ND!!!!! - LOU! LOU!!! LOU!!!!!) So remember to ask yourself what is important in the now?

ENTREPRENEURIAL TRENDS

Most of the entrepreneurs I know have rags to riches stories. Some have pinnacle of success to bottom of the barrel to pinnacle of success stories. A few have doing okay in their businesses for a long time and then suddenly taking off stories. One thing is certain, they all have to stay the course and go the distance in order to reach the success they now enjoy.

ENTREPRENEURIAL PREREQUISITES

So what are these essential entrepreneurial prerequisites? Are you ready? Drum roll please!

The core of entrepreneurship is BUSINESS PERSISTENCE. This means come hell or high water, you don’t give up. You adapt. You revise. You correct course as you go. You follow a plan to fruition. It is essential. Better to mess up than to stop midway, change course completely midway or get most of the way there and then freeze up. Think of the horse that stops dead in its tracks right before the triple bar jump sending its rider over the top - eeeouch!

Along with business persistence comes the personal quality that must be developed and that is PERSONAL RESILIENCE. See, many of your best laid plans will fail miserably. You’ll experience financial failures, product failures, marketing failures, internal business infrastructure failures and major miscalculations along the way. You’ll learn. You’ll get better over time. You’ll improve. Be patient. The key is the ability to weather the storm and make it through to the other side.

Business Persistence includes:

1. Seeing concept to completion in the rough.
2. Making it nice and shiny with feedback from your most valued players.
3. Taking it to market until you method of marketing meets your prospective buyers.
4. Finding your turnkey system and then repeating your results on a larger scale.

Personal Resilience includes:

1. Facing the financials on bad days and good days.
2. Dealing with your critics who drain your most precious asset of creative energy.
3. Ignoring bright shiny object syndrome, also known as the distractor factor.
4. Staying the course and going the distance.

The good news is that you can live into these qualities over time. If you find that it is a challenge, remember that working with good coaches along the way is essential and can help you develop the foundation that will allow your dreams to flourish.

Live Into It… :)CC
Christine N. Cibula, M.S.
The Live Into It Expert
www.LiveIntoIt.com