I can’t remember where I read or heard the quote, but it was one that stuck with me.
Be careful what you become good at doing…
That was the basic phrasing, but it might not be exact. The idea is that humans are really good at modeling themselves after one person or a small group of people. What I’ve seen is that we oftentimes do it without even realizing it. That’s where the quote above comes in.
I don’t remember hearing the advice as a young person. And I might not have paid attention if someone had told me. But it’s really important for young people to understand that they’re going to model themselves after others when it comes to work.
You can ask a young person what they want to be when they grow up. Some will give a specific answer, like “doctor”. Odds are pretty good that they’ve seen a doctor somewhere and figure, “That looks appealing.”
Some will say, “I don’t know yet.” That can be a harmless answer, but that person needs to understand that they have the ability to take control of the outcome even if they don’t know what they want to become. They have the opportunity to start modeling themselves after someone or a small group of people. They have the opportunity to start examining the lives of others that are older as a way to figure out what they want to do.
But it could also represent something tricky were they start modeling after someone by default and soon they have a job path and several decades could go by and now they’re good at something that they don’t really want to be good at and it could become a long-term issue.
“I want to be an entrepreneur.”
This is what I said to myself fairly early on in life. I had seen at least a handful of entrepreneurs in my small circle and realized that I was drawn to it. I was drawn to the challenge. I was drawn to the flexibility. I can’t even say it was any specific aspect, but it spoke to me and I followed that path.
If you’re feeling this way I would say it’s important to start modeling yourself after other entrepreneurs…
1. Build On What Exists
You don’t need to become a brand new entrepreneur. One of the great things about humans is that we build on what currently exists and those that currently exist have built on those that came before them.
You have the benefit of seeing and studying all of the entrepreneurs in human history up to this point. If you like studying people you can learn quite a bit by observing them and watching their actions. You can find books about entrepreneurs from the past.
What you’ll find is that many have similar traits and attributes and practices and routines and things like that. They’re each a bit different. There are different ways to do things. But many have followed what others have done before them.
If someone has been successful it makes sense to do much of what they did to get that way. You can tweak a few things. You can take fundamentals from a couple entrepreneurs to create your own mesh that will work for you.
But you don’t need to do everything from scratch.
2. Look At The First Steps
It’s easy to get caught up in where an entrepreneur is right now. You might see the power and control they have over their operation. You might even see that they have a nice house and car and things like that.
But you have to look back to their first steps. What were they doing in the early days. What was their life like in those early days. How long did it take them to reach another step and then another step.
If you’re starting out as an entrepreneur you have to pay attention to the first steps that entrepreneurs took. That’s what you’re looking at doing and you’re probably looking at those early steps for several years.
3. Take Action
The final step is really just taking action. You can look at one entrepreneur. See what their first steps were. Then look at your current life and figure out how to take action. It might require working another job while you’re working on starting a business. Many businesses don’t make money for awhile. Many entrepreneurs start out with second jobs to pay the bills while they build a business and figure things out.
Or maybe you identify a business you want to buy and you work for the current owner in a variety of capacities as you work to save and buy the business.
Action is the key thing. It’s where many kind of stop once the fantasy of being an entrepreneur wears off. Or they start and after a few months the fun stops and they have to grind through the long days.
Never Stop Modeling
Modeling doesn’t have to stop in the early days. You can start a business and figure things out on your own. But I’m a fan of continuing to observe entrepreneurs and to read about entrepreneurs. You can always look at the steps they took at the same point where you are now. You can learn from them and plan your next year or five years based on what they did.
You’re going to model yourself after people in your life. If you want to be an entrepreneur it makes sense to intentionally model yourself after successful entrepreneurs. At all stages of their life.