How To Get The Entrepreneurial Edge

Bruce Lee once said “Knowing is not enough, you must apply. Willing is not enough, you must do.” There may come a time in your business where you feel you sort of know where you’re going and what you’re doing but you’re insecure about what you’re delivering because your competitors seem to be doing so much better than you are.

The idea of whether or not they’re doing anything better than you is irrelevant. The fact is that they’re doing it. They know exactly what they’re doing, where they’re going, who their market is, and the value they want to deliver.

This is where you need to be. You need to get the edge up on your competition. You need to be the standard that other people in your industry aspire to reach - and you can be. You need to have the entrepreneurial edge.

What is the entrepreneurial edge, you wonder? The Entrepreneurial Edge is a state of mind that you must take on to be able to blitz the competition. It’s knowing that you have what is takes to get to the top of your industry’s ladder and stay there for the long haul.

Imagine you’re playing an epic game of tag on the school playground. All the other players are trying to catch you. They’re trying to get you. But you have the skill (and the stealth) to be miles ahead of the pack. That is because you have the edge up on the other players. It’s time to move that into your business.

There are five long lasting and easy ways to have the Entrepreneurial Edge.

1. Hunger

No, this is not the kind of hunger that you feel after a long day of swimming in the ocean. This is the kind of hunger that serves as a driving force for your passion. This is the hunger, the longing, and the desire that gives you the energy you need to create your empire on three hours of sleep.

What inspires you to do what you want to do? What is the unquestionable outcome that you have to reach? What keeps pushing and motivating you time and time again?

Establishing where your hunger comes from and making it ever present in your work environment is a necessity to keep you in constant genius mode.

2. Outstanding Communication

The most important thing to remember when working with clients, leading a team, or just chatting with friends and family is to have outstanding communication. Communication is only as effective as the response it elicits. Knowing and observing how language can have an effect on others is one of the most powerful tools in the world.

Words like “appreciate”, “respect”, and “agree” have a much more powerful effect on the listener than “but” and “understand”. Many times, we enter into conversation with the intention to respond rather than listen. We think about what we’re going to say in response to the other person, that we’re not 100% invested into the conversation.

That being said, only 7% of our communication comes down to the words we actually say. 38% of our communication is how we say the words and the other 55% is how our physical body is delivering the message. Arms crossed, stern face, and a low uninterested voice is probably not the best combination when telling your girlfriend that you love her for the first time. On the flip side, clapping your hands, grinning from ear to ear, and having a higher tone to your voice doesn’t convey “Your dog just died” very accurately.

3. Authentic Leadership

When in business, knowing how to be an effective leader is an absolute asset. More importantly, knowing how to lead authentically is a necessity. This means being honest with yourself (and your team) on where you currently are as a company and an individual.

Whether you’re the type of leader that leads by example (a Pace Setter) or the kind who loves to constantly proclaim the vision and future of the company (the Visionary), you need to be true to you and your team.

Humans these days are smart. That’s not said in jest. In a world of constant media and celebrity interaction, we’re becoming more and more attune to the smoke and mirrors act that used to work in the past. We see beyond the mask and into the actual crux of the situation.

It saves a lot of inter-office drama (and embarrassment) if everyone on the team is their authentic self.

4. Unshakeable Belief

This may be the most important step in getting the Entrepreneurial Edge. This is the step that quite literally makes or breaks a company.

If you were to rate yourself, right now, on a scale of 1-10 (one being ‘eh, not sure’ and ten being ‘duh’), how sure are you that you’re going to succeed? Take the 13 seconds it’ll take to rate yourself. Go ahead.

If your score is anywhere under a 9.872646758, I need you to sit down and reevaluate what you’re doing and why. If you’re going to succeed, you need to know that you’re the best of the best. You need to know your worth.

Think of Ghostbusters for example. Those guys knew they were the best in their field. They were so confident that they made their theme song a literal promotion for them. “If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!” They don’t say “Oh…maybe us but if you don’t want to call us here are others you can call”.

You need to have Ghostbusters level of belief in yourself and your product!

5. Emotional Mastery

I got a little pop quiz for you. How many emotions do you think we feel, on average, a day?

The average person feels 12 different emotions a day.

Now, bonus question. How many of those emotions do you think are positive and how many negative?

If you answered 8 negative and 4 positive, you’d be correct.

Imagine that! You feel twice as many negative emotions during the day than you do positive. Being able to recognize the emotions that you’re feeling, and the potential triggers for those emotions, is vital for emotional mastery. Yes, we’re human and we’ll feel things we may not like at times. But understanding those emotions and taking steps to process them is a powerful tool that can be used in any situation, not just in your business.

Your competition is only competition if you’re not winning. When you’re at the top of your game, and your team is at the top of their game, you’re winning together. That’s not to say that you should ever stop the hustle (#hustle365) but it means that your hustle is paying off. You have the edge that everyone wants and strives for. Give yourself a pat on the back. You started from the bottom and now you’re here, and all you do is win win win no matter what.

Get more information on getting the Entrepreneurial Edge with our FREE 4 Part Training Series available HERE.