7 KEY Attributes Of Life That Define The Essential Core For Genuine And Sustainable Success For Any Entrepreneur

By Steve Biko Wafula / Published July 5, 2022 | 3:37 pm

KEY POINTS

Without your health, there wouldn’t be you. This is in various forms and it’s critical because no one else will care about your health. Your physical, Your emotional, Your mental, Your social, Your Spiritual, and Your economic health all form the vortex that defines who you are as a person and if any of them is out of sync, then you will not function well. Nothing trumps this.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

An asset, in business terms, is a resource of value that you own or lease that helps you run your business. These resources can be tangible items such as computers and petty cash, or non-physical things such as goodwill, reputation, and brand.

Entrepreneurship is a journey that takes everything from you. It’s a journey that puts your life at a junction where you have to pick what suffers in your life and what thrives and what dies. It’s an environment that is meant for the chosen.

The desire to be one must be instilled in heaven as one is being born to have the desire to fix the problems that face our societies. It’s a journey that has inspired many authors to write so many books to motivate others on the same journey. It’s a journey that I would compare it to the process of learning and unlearning on a daily basis to remain relevant and of value to my vision and purpose without destroying my very essence as a person and as a man.

The type of person you are is usually reflected in your business. To improve your business, first, improve yourself. The best way to be a better entrepreneur, a better employer, and a better business owner is to improve the very essence of self. Because that self is that the world will be buying through your products and services.

The nature of being an entrepreneur means that you fully embrace ambiguity and are comfortable with being challenged regularly. Challenges are daily. They are in different forms. They test the very essence of your being. This is why every entrepreneur needs to understand that to succeed on this journey, one must have a critical mass of certain assets that will aid him or her on her journey. Without them, then failure is the next logical occurrence.

Starting a company is a riveting roller coaster of emotions with tremendous highs and at times, difficult lows, but one thing that always helps me through the ups and downs is to connect with the core assets that stabilize my life and ultimately help me navigate my vision and purpose. These assets are inevitable and essential to anyone who purposes to make a positive change in their society.

One’s confidence, competence, and belief in self & these assets that are within our grasp of control and nurturing will sustain one through the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that they will face. Knowing with everything you are, that you can do it.

Success in life is not for those who run fast, but for those who keep running and are always on the move. This is something, unfortunately, we learn when it’s too late and that is why, I hope through sharing my own experience around this aspect, will encourage others to dig deep within themselves and rise up. Am not here to motivate anyone, because that’s not my role or purpose. Mine is to share that which I believe is critical for us all.

Business failures are valuable. Success is the worst teacher any entrepreneur can aspire to have. When you experience failure as an entrepreneur, you must make a conscious effort to try and understand everything about how you failed and how the business failed. It’ll help you succeed. Understanding where the rain started to beat you is more important than why it was beating you.

I would like to focus on the non-physical assets that are more important to our agenda here today. From my experience, they are SEVEN in number. I will call them the CORE assets that form the core aspect of one’s engine of growth, purpose, and vision. These are;

Your Health

oxytocin

This is the greatest asset of them all. Without your health, there wouldn’t be you. This is in various forms and it’s critical because no one else will care about your health. Your physical, Your emotional, Your mental, Your social, Your Spiritual, and Your economic health all form the vortex that defines who you are as a person and if any of them is out of sync, then you will not function well. Nothing trumps this.

Your Word is Your Bond

Used to indicate that one will always do what one has promised to do you can believe me when I say I’ll help you. My word is my bond. This is the denominator that defines the aura that will attract clients to you and your business because of authenticity and to be honest, it is the MOST difficult asset to keep in today’s world where variables are always changing. Truth is the old way. Truth dates back to the time when your word was your bond, and you didn’t need papers in a language you couldn’t understand to compel you to act honestly. This asset is rare in today’s world and that is why it is such a critical aspect.

Related Content: Types of Common Entrepreneurs in Kenya

Your Time is Precious

Time is valuable, and should not be wasted is something is a wish for, I had learned in school when I was young and able to mold myself around this concept. This saying was first used by the American politician Benjamin Franklin in 1748. Often we think of it as an endless commodity, but in the words of Buddha, at least according to Jack Kornfield in Buddha’s Little Instruction Book, “The trouble is, you think you have time.” When in essence we do not have. Time is money. We must be careful how we spend our time because we can never recover the time we have lost. We must purpose to spend it with virtue and purpose. Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time. These were coined by the famous Leo Tolstoy. Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer who is considered to be one of the greatest authors of all time. Whether he truly is the author of the above quote remains in question; despite the fact that it is popularly attributed to him online. Tolstoy died in 1910, but not before producing some of the world’s finest literature, including Anna Karenina and War and Peace.

The character of General Kutuzov from War and Peace may be where the quote originated. In the book, he says, “But believe me, my dear boy, there is nothing stronger than those two: patience and time” and also refers to patience and time as his “warriors” and “champions.”

To create these novels would have taken both patience and time–but as Tolstoy proves through his work, when you combine the two they are a powerful recipe for success. Your SpaceThough you can’t stop the ticking of the clock, you can decide how to get the most from the hours you do have.

Your Personal Space

Personal space can be defined as the comfortable distance between you and another person that you are talking to or standing next to. If someone invades your personal space, it means they are too close to you, and they are making you feel uncomfortable. This space is very important as it helps you plan yourself and be able to control the spiritual energies that affect you and define your moods. A good entrepreneur MUST be in control of his or her personal space.

Your Social Network

Social networks are important because they allow people to develop relationships with others with whom they might not otherwise be able to connect. It also helps boost business productivity when used for public relations, marketing, and advertising purposes. One must be very selfish with their networks. It takes a long time to build them, especially effective ones hence the need to protect them at all costs. One’s social network is KEY as it helps them define how they will deploy their vision and how the execution will pan out. Be careful with whom you share the network with. Be careful how you address challenges that might arise.

Your Irrational Passion

Those who are successful are irrationally passionate about something. For entrepreneurs, the ‘something’ is fixing issues that affect us in our diverse societies. It’s in the stories of Entrepreneurs who sleep under their desks or ‘camping out’ (Elon Musk was rumored to be doing so in 2018). We hear it in the stories of sportspeople enduring intense physical pain to win (Michael Jordan famously played with the stomach flu – and won, and you only have to look at the feet of a ballerina to see a more regular example. I lack good examples for Kenya, but Dr. James Mwangi of Equity comes close to how someone with a passion to change the financial sector and the moves he has made in the East Africa region. One must be crazy about something to create the needed force for change to happen. What is your irrational passion?

Your Prayer Life

Life

Have you ever wondered why we should pray? Or why it’s important to our walk with God? Prayer is an important part of the Christian life, and it is a way for us to pour out our hearts to God as His children. When we pray, we are communicating with God; we are worshipping God, and also letting Him know what we would like from Him. We are to pray all the time and not only when we need something from God. He is our Father and our joy should be to come before Him in awe, and tell Him how much we love and adore Him. Prayer Is the MOST powerful weapon an entrepreneur can have. Literally the most powerful weapon when you mix faith and action. What happens on earth must first be approved in heaven. Hence prayer is the catalyst that few of us ever appreciate until it is too late. God answers prayer, and sometimes it takes time, but that does not mean that He has not answered. If we are patient, we will see the answers to our prayers. Time. Patience. Prayer. The three pillars true entrepreneurship is built on.

Does your story inspire you? If someone else was to tell your story and you were to listen to it, would it inspire you? Would it challenge you? Would it motivate you? If not, it’s time to change it. The above SEVEN assets are what you need to be the best entrepreneur there is.

If you need a motivational speech to keep you going, then do not pursue entrepreneurship. If you are bootstrapping, it is very normal that you may not have a guide or a mentor in the beginning. If you need someone to motivate you, I might suggest that you are in the wrong business.

About Steve Biko Wafula

Steve Biko is the CEO OF Soko Directory and the founder of Hidalgo Group of Companies. Steve is currently developing his career in law, finance, entrepreneurship and digital consultancy; and has been implementing consultancy assignments for client organizations comprising of trainings besides capacity building in entrepreneurial matters.He can be reached on: +254 20 510 1124 or Email: info@sokodirectory.com

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