Posts tagged entrepreneurship
"What if" you weren't so negative?
"What if" you weren't so negative?

Have you ever had a great idea, or thought of something awesome, and you started telling other people your idea, and they just start to shoot it down? They start to ask “What if it doesn’t work?”, or “What if people hate it?” or “What if you run out of money”, etc?

I had a great conversation earlier this week with someone who mirrored my sentiment towards these questions: What if, instead of thinking everything was going to fail, you thought it was going to be awesome? Even more amazing than you are thinking now? What if everyone loves it? What if it works so well you can grow a hugely successful business? What if you make so much money you can give back and make an impact in other areas?

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startup, productivitySamer Abousalbistartuplife, entrepreneurshipComment
The Real Failure is when...

One of my favorite lines of The Matrix (which is unbelievably 16 years old) is when Morpheus says to Neo: “I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it”.

I believe this profound statement is the difference between people who succeed and those who always look at success from the sidelines. I believe that opportunity presents itself as an open door all the time but we’re too afraid to walk through it.

Going through doors means taking risks. Taking risks means that there’s a chance of failure. I think we need to stop being afraid of failure—at least as it is traditionally defined. Failure only happens if we let it. Instead, if we mess up and keep trying, then I don’t consider that failure at all. I consider that learning.

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startup, productivitySamer Abousalbifailure, startuplife, entrepreneurship, successComment
Stop telling yourself you can't: How to be a successful entrepreneur

Our company is now six weeks into the Tech Wildcatters accelerator program, and I am amazed at how much we have grown up and how much my team has been able to accomplish. We are learning a lot, being challenged and iterating as fast as we can. Yet even with everything we’ve done, we still have a mountain of work ahead of us.

Even with all the excitement, there have been a number of times that I come home after a long day and think: How am I going to do all of this? There’s so much work to be done! I can’t do it!

That’s when I remind myself to override that voice. I replace “I can’t do all this” immediately with “I can and I will”. The effect is powerful. The more you train yourself to replace that cynical inner voice with a positive one, the more likely you are to snap back to making progress.

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startupSamer Abousalbistartuplife, entrepreneurship, motivation, successComment