Because you never know when you’re going to need them. 

Enlightened Entrepreneurial Leaders (EELs) are looking to change the world and be of benefit, making it a better place for all. What qualities will help you on your journey to create a meaningful and successful life and business?

Here are a few you should reach for, whenever you find yourself in doubt:

1. Be solution-focused.

Focus 90% of your time on solutions and only 10% of your time on problems.

~ Anthony J. D’Angelo

Right now there are a gazillion challenges facing the human race, be it economic, social or environmental, and that’s both perfect and imperfect. It’s imperfect because it could be better; it’s perfect because if you are looking to do something meaningful with your life, there are plenty of creative opportunities. Waiting for the institutions that led us along this path to come to our rescue is pointless. You have to (as Gandhi said), be the change you want to see in the world.

All the answers we need are within us now. The reason they are not being implemented is because they require radical transformation; and that scares most people.

There is a difference between fundamental solutions and symptomatic solutions.

If you choose a fundamental solution, you solve that particular challenge, and even when you face new ones, you are higher up in the universal product cycle, you have evolved. If you choose a symptomatic solution —favored by institutions—nothing really changes. You face the same challenges over and over like some perpetual groundhog day. Moreover, you exhaust your resources and find yourself less able to implement real solutions later.

Make your work count and make yourself redundant; so you can find another challenge to solve and keep life interesting.

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

~ Aristotle

2. Be open-minded.

In any situation there will be an equal and an opposite of positive and negative. In fact, it gets to the point where saying that something is bad or good becomes pointless.

Starting right where you are, look at your business idea and choose a challenge you face. Now write down all the negatives about the challenge (this bit is usually easy). Once you have all the negatives written down, turn over the page, and either reframe each challenge, or come up with reasons on how each challenge could turn positive. This is the difficult part, because we’re usually so focussed on the negative aspects. We’re not aware of the positive ones as much, but they will show up.

Once you start asking and seeking to find balance in every situation, you open up your creative capacity to solve challenges.

Remember, it’s not resources we lack, but a resourceful state of mind and body.

Try to find that balance, no matter what.

3. Switch on your attitude. 

Practice does not necessarily make things perfect, but it does make them permanent.

When talking to an Olympic coach, he mentioned to me the “core traits” that differentiated the highly successful from those who were not:

Committed: You have to be totally committed to your goal or vision. There can be no halfway house to your commitment to achieve success.

Ownership: It doesn’t matter what went wrong, you have to be totally responsible for your project. There is no point in blaming others when something fails to work, because that will leave you powerless. If something doesn’t work out, you have to be the one in charge of fixing it.

Result-focused: You have to have a mission supported by goals. You have to record these so that you can observe realistically how you’re doing. Don’t rely on guesses and hunches, rely on results.

Excellence: Top performers in life strive for excellence. They are constantly improving, step by step and minute by minute. High achievers do not compare themselves to others; everyone is on their own individual path. Where you are is exactly where you’re supposed to be. When you take a moment to look back at how far you have come, you will be amazed at how much you’ve achieved.

4. Be resilient.

“Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.”

As an enlightened entrepreneurial leader, resilience is key. Nothing great was ever achieved by giving up. Look after yourself mentally and emotionally. Remember there is no failure, only feedback. Look at challenges as a necessary ingredient. The ups and downs symbolise a great life, whereas a flat line resembles death!

It helps to remember that in this highly connected universe, your purposeful endeavours are helping others achieve theirs. Your heroic story will inspire others to carry on. If they see how you overcame your challenges, it will help them overcome theirs. Keep getting back up, there’s plenty of time to rest at the end.

Here are a few questions and tools to help you on your journey:

At the end of the day, ask yourself what 3 things you have to be grateful for.

Write a journal, detailing the results you have achieved so far.

How can you turn meditation and exercise into a habit?

How can you get more involved in “RAKs” (Random Acts of Kindness)?

And, just remember: when in doubt… soar.

(Stay tuned for the next episode of the Enlightened Entrepreneurs Saga: “The 6-P Plan to Prosperity”.)

 

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Editor: Andrea B.