Overcoming ‘Wantrepreneurship’: How to Successfully Pursue Your Passion

Entrepreneurship used to be great. It used to be something that select people could pull off, but today, that’s different. Over the years, entrepreneurs have achieved some kind of “rock star” status, attracting “wantrepreneurs” by the truckload.

These are the people that just seem to care about flashy cars, fancy offices and social media accounts that are filled with pictures of what they call “the startup life.” But that’s not what it’s about. The problem is that wantrepreneurs don’t seem to care about the success they’ll eventually have. Instead, they only care about what they have now.

If you want to keep it real and prove to the world you aren’t another wantrepreneur:

If You Want Something, Go Get It

It baffles me how many wantrepreneurs spend all their time creating a product they think is the greatest gift to mankind, and then complain when no one buys it. Instead of doing something about it, they just sit around and do what’s easiest for them. If you need something done, you should be doing everything you can to make it happen.

That means that if your company needs cash and you need sales, you get up and start selling. Don’t like selling? It doesn’t matter — it needs to get done, so just do it. Get on the phone, start sending emails or reach out to people on social media. Be relentless in achieving your goals.

Here’s what to do:

• Write down your goals and the most logical steps that take you on the path towards that goal. Don’t overthink it.
• For each goal, determine the main criteria and stay as objective as possible. Good factors to consider include the goal’s impact and chances of success.
• Take your top three goals and start creating a high-level plan for each.
• Go to your agenda and block a decent amount of time to get it done. It’s hard to not multitask, but don’t do anything else during that time.
• Start with your most important goal, and get in the zone.

Odds are these are steps venture outside of your comfort zone, and that’s fine. Just make sure you don’t have excuses for doing something else instead.

Stop Doubting Every Decision You Need to Make

There are many people who spend so much time trying to get everything right that they eventually fail to hit the mark, and often never even launch.

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

• Your website needs to be absolutely perfect before you can launch. You wouldn’t dream of putting up a simple small landing page to catch your first visitors.
• Your product absolutely needs that last feature — that’s why it’s not selling.
• You want to start marketing but want absolute certainty it’ll work before you hire someone.

The list goes on and on. If you want to fix it, it comes down to creating a habit of finishing projects and taking responsibility for your actions before you’ve even done them.

When a certain decision feels too complicated, remember that your hesitation is probably due to a lack of understanding of what the consequences will be. So, take a moment to step back. Try to visualize the upsides and downsides to your decision. Don’t be afraid to write down extreme consequences. This is about managing your feelings, so don’t feel limited by reason.

When Life Hits You in the Face, Pick Yourself Back Up

When wantrepreneurs’ first ventures fail, they give up. To them, being an entrepreneur is a suit you wear, not who you are.

Life will get you down when you’re an entrepreneur. It’s the getting back up part that sets you apart from the rest. You need to find your “why,” or better yet, find your “must.”

You can find your must by going back to the basics: if you only had one thing you could accomplish, do or change, what would it be? Train yourself to focus on that goal. Do you need to stand in front of the mirror in the morning and start a speech, meditate, or write down your thoughts? Get to know yourself.

Some say being an entrepreneur today is easier than ever. It’s true in some respects, but this image has diluted what it truly means to be a scrappy, resourceful entrepreneur. To tune out the noise of wantrepreneurs who chase the lifestyle of entrepreneurs, focus on what’s really important, and do everything to make that happen.