Wednesday, June 15, 2016

F E A R L E S S

             I’d like to talk a bit about being fearless. Something I’ve arguably struggled with for some time. I have recently read a few articles talking about entrepreneurial success, and although I am not necessarily looking to be an entrepreneur I found them incredibly inspiring.

The first article I read last week was called “The Advantage of Not Knowing- Key Advice From A Disruptor” (https://medium.com/smartup-io-the-ultimate-founder-guide/the-advantage-of-not-knowing-key-advice-from-a-disruptor-co-founder-of-made-com-be66e897d61#.u7lhssbvh). It was about Chloe Macintosh, one of the co-founders of made.com. She very clearly says sometimes to be truly successful you’ve got to take the risk and cannot be afraid of getting burned, because from time to time it happens. However she puts a completely new spin on that mindset that I found not only completely refreshing, but also compelling. In terms of skill set, she believes “Not knowing how to do something, means not knowing that it cannot be done.” Thinking in these terms almost completely eliminates the fear of failure. A sort of ‘everyone starts somewhere’ method of approaching a task makes it easier for the ‘task doer’ to learn along with the process without getting discouraged when they hit bumps in the road. This sort of thinking is the method which allows you to broaden your skillset almost unknowingly (we could call it multitasking).

But what about that skillset?! Macintosh makes it clear that there needs to be a shift in thinking- one should not base their decisions solely on which skills you have, but which opportunities your skills could potentially grant you. So you haven’t studied marketing, but with your skills you could thrive in a marketing agency AND learn marketing skills at the same time, and once it’s time to move on, you’ll have those new skills to take with you. Basically (and I’ve said this before)- NEVER stop learning, and more importantly, don’t be afraid to learn, don’t be afraid to have someone teach you something you didn’t know before, you don’t know everything… and neither do they.

I think all of these things that Macintosh presents are strong representations of being fearless in not only business, but also in life. This is easy to apply to everyday life as well- and I think that this is important because in general, fearless people often are able to achieve more in their life.

The Next article I read was about the founder of Daniel Wellington Watch Co. (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-story-of-daniel-wellington-the-180-million-watch-empire-2016-6?utm_content=buffer98baa&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer) who built a $180 million dollar empire of online watches in 5 years. Tysander, the founder of the company used $24,000 to start this business which all started as taking a risk. The CEO perfectly embodies an entrepreneurial mindset- identifying a problem and seeking a profit- and coming up with a solution. I mean really this guy had no money, was fired from his job, and didn’t let that discourage him. He pushed on, he knew that there was a demand, and that with careful execution it was possible. This lead him to enroll in business studies, which enabled him to become even more a success because he then had the soft skills and the drive, and with those two qualities you’ve got a basis to do amazing things. Long story short, Tysander has had immense success recently, and should inspire anyone… but especially those of my generation that anything is possible, if you’re fearless.

           Being fearless in your work and career is helpful, but those who are fearless in their lives, live better, happier, and ultimately with more success. They aren’t afraid of risk, because they don’t know what’ll happen until it happens. So even if it is just a small change, take a step out from under the safety shadow you’ve cast around yourself, just as I will with mine- let’s all try and me a little more fearless!

That’s all for now, I hope you’ve enjoyed!! Until Next Week!

                                                                                                                                                                Cheers!! xoxo

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