Question for successful entrepreneurs: Counterintuitive insight?

[ArmanK]

What has been the most counterintuitive insight you've had since becoming an entrepreneur?

Stated another way - what is so obvious to you now that would not have ever crossed your mind in the beginning?

 

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[SteveO]

What has been the most counterintuitive insight you've had since becoming an entrepreneur?

Stated another way - what is so obvious to you now that would not have ever crossed your mind in the beginning?

I have found that pieces of a project always fall in place. The more relaxed and focused leads to better faster results.

Fighting, stressing, stomping on people doesn't get the same results.

Simply move in the direction you want to go and things will work out.

 

[ArmanK]

I have found that pieces of a project always fall in place. The more relaxed and focused leads to better faster results.

Fighting, stressing, stomping on people doesn't get the same results.

Simply move in the direction you want to go and things will fall into place.

This is good life advice.

To paraphrase what you said in my own words - Go with the flow

 

[SteveO]

This is good life advice.

To paraphrase what you said in my own words - Go with the flow

Yes. But flow in the direction you want to go.

Sometimes there are obstacles that need to be overcome. These tend to resolve themselves. If they don't, move another direction.

 

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[ArmanK]

Yes. But flow in the direction you want to go.

Sometimes there are obstacles that need to be overcome. These tend to resolve themselves. If they don't, move another direction.

"flow in the direction you want to go"

WAY better than what i said haha

 

[ArmanK]

Yes. But flow in the direction you want to go.

Sometimes there are obstacles that need to be overcome. These tend to resolve themselves. If they don't, move another direction.

what is the most telling sign that you are flowing down a suboptimal stream?

 

[SteveO]

When you are relaxed and listening to yourself. Pay attention to your emotions. They are driven by you.

How everything progresses is important.

I have felt like odds were overwhelmingly against me but direction felt right. Went with the flow and it worked out beautifully.

 

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[Antifragile]

Listen to your gut.

Mine has always been right and when I ignored it, it cost me. When I paid attention, I did well.

 

[Black_Mamba_427]

Set lower more achievable goals, because they build momentum and allow for you to be consistent.
It's the consistency that drives results.

Sometimes before I'd set massive goals and then get burned out and take a long break, or feel lost or unmotivated if I didn't hit them. Start low and slowly increase, rather than starting with a daunting overwhelming goal/targets.

And don't blindly trust "professionals" that you are paying (such as accountants). You think they SHOULD be able to do their job properly - even expensive ones - can still be horrible at what they do. Make sure you don't just blindly take their word on advice. Make sure you fully understand what they are telling you. Ask questions and understand it. My first accountant was insisting I should be paying 65-69% tax. The second one I used would have cost me tens of thousands of pounds a year.. It was only when I looked into what they were doing I realised it was all wrong and they were leaving bits out and costing me more too. 3rd accountant is a dream and down to around 10-15% tax.

 

[TheKingOfMadrid]

Always be in love with who you were before, and who you'll be tomorrow.

What I mean by this - is that many people become blackmailable and one way or another they end up under the heel of someone else. This happens because we grow ego attached to our image of who we are when we think we're being successful.

But if you loved who you were before - and can see it all as just one big game then you can just walk away before someone holds your feet to the fire.

it doesn't have to be a love either, for example people that grew up dirt poor have a deep knowledge that they survived that - so they will never accept it being used as a threat against them.

Same for relationships - you grow comfortable and your partner gets leverage to blackmail you, you need to always be able to just walk away.

It's counter-intuitive because culture tells you that you should hate yourself if you're not Apex Alpha Bro.

 

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[ArmanK]

Always be in love with who you were before, and who you'll be tomorrow.

What I mean by this - is that many people become blackmailable and one way or another they end up under the heel of someone else. This happens because we grow ego attached to our image of who we are when we think we're being successful.

But if you loved who you were before - and can see it all as just one big game then you can just walk away before someone holds your feet to the fire.

it doesn't have to be a love either, for example people that grew up dirt poor have a deep knowledge that they survived that - so they will never accept it being used as a threat against them.

Same for relationships - you grow comfortable and your partner gets leverage to blackmail you, you need to always be able to just walk away.

It's counter-intuitive because culture tells you that you should hate yourself if you're not Apex Alpha Bro.

This is a good reminder that ego can be our biggest enemy if we let it control us.

Thank you for sharing.

I love the Stoic philosophy view that is similar to what you said - by occasionally practicing poverty, we will no longer fear it. And asking yourself, "Is this the situation that i feared so much?"

 

[TheKingOfMadrid]

And asking yourself, "Is this the situation that i feared so much?"

Yeah, thinking like the quote you wrote is the difference maker - I have seen so many people gripped by personal prisons that they spend all day battling against them never finding the energy to take what they want from the world.