5 Things Entrepreneurs Should Stop Doing

None of us are perfect. However, I think that as entrepreneurs, we sometimes do things to ourselves that make things harder than they need to be. Especially when it comes to moving forward vs holding ourselves back. As a matter of fact, one of my biggest blocks over the years has honestly been me. Based on my own challenges and what I’ve seen from clients over the years, here are a few things that we as entrepreneurs should stop doing, to improve our businesses, our lives, and overall well-being.

Stop Being Your Own Worst Boss
If you feel like you are being overworked and underpaid, ask yourself who’s the boss? Are you running your business or is your business running you? How much time do you take for yourself to enjoy life and focus on other things besides your to-do list? For so many years, I would just eat, sleep and drink only things related to my business. Nothing else mattered to me. And then there’s all the time spent talking to yourself. When you’re in a team of one, talking to yourself is what we call being in a business meeting. But how many of these meetings are completely toxic for you? How do you speak to yourself? Do you struggle with negative self-talk? When was the last time you gave yourself a raise or a much-needed guilt-free vacation? It’s important to take care of business, but are you taking care of yourself too? Always remember that there is no business without you.

Stop Starting Over
It takes ten years to be an overnight success and startups don’t pay up right away. Sometimes we throw in the towel too soon. Sometimes we give up before we ever really get started. Sometimes we expect too much too fast and don’t take enough time to build the business or master our crafts. One of my favorite SistaSense sayings is to “Build on what you’ve already built.” Don’t get me wrong, there are times when as a business owner you need to make the hard decision of closing up shop and going in a different direction. However with serial entrepreneurs, most times this is not the case. Most times the real issue is not knowing or wanting to work on the hard parts of business growth. Instead choosing to run to the next shiny object or feel-good project when things get rough; always in search of fast results over taking the time to build a strong foundation.

Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
Comparison is the thief of joy. Furthermore, you should never compare your beginning to someone else’s middle. You are your only true competition. We waste so much time talking ourselves out of greatness, only seeing the greatness in others while failing to see the greatness in ourselves. The truth is all that wasted time could be better spent on self-improvement. It’s time for you to define success on your terms and get laser-focused on hitting your personal goals. Instead of always looking at them, focus on becoming the best version of you.

Stop Seeking Validation from Others
Never let someone who has not done what you’ve set out to do have the power to discourage you. In our need for acceptance and approval, as entrepreneurs, we sometimes put the fate of our life’s work in the hands of the wrong people. The truth is not all people have your best interest at heart. And most of the people we look to for validation aren’t qualified to direct themselves let alone you. As a spiritual entrepreneur, I believe your validation came from the fact that God gave those gifts and that vision to you. As for those who can’t see the path ahead for you, that’s because they weren’t meant. God didn’t give the vision to them, he gave it to you. Start having more faith in your decisions. Start to appreciate, respect, and value your ability to know what’s best for you and the direction of your business too.

Stop Taking So Long
Fear of failure and the need for perfection often leads to constant procrastination. Some things need time to create, but not everything. If most of your projects take months or even years to get off the ground, you are taking too long to put yourself out there. I need you to hear that a big part of entrepreneurship is resilience and speed; learning how to quickly make decisions, move forward, and accept the outcomes no matter what. Like it or not, a lot of times it’s about failing forward fast; knowing that many things won’t work and quite a few things will go wrong. But there is beauty in all of it. With every loss and win we learn when it’s time to pivot or power through. If you find that you overcomplicate or over deliberate everything, focus on KISS – keeping it seriously simple for you. Start to simplify each process so you can amplify your success. In place of seeking perfection, focus on smaller, simpler action-oriented projects that make things easier for you. Stop making things harder than they need to be. Moving forward, choose progress over perfection.

And the list goes on. There are a few other things I want to say; recommendations I’d like to share.

A Few Other Things We Can Add to This List

STOP – Stop Think Observe Proceed
Stop begging for business – Get better at marketing and sales or seek out professionals who can help you learn or handle sales for you.
Stop Walking over Dollars to Pick Up Pennies – Invest More Time in Things that Will Generate Both Real and Substantial Revenue for You
Stop Overlooking the Importance of taking the time to build and nurture your email list and cultivate a community around your business brand.
Stop Overspending and Underperforming
Stop Telling People Your Plans – Move in Silence and let your actions speak volumes.
Stop Giving the Right Help to the Wrong People
Stop Being Afraid to charge your worth
Stop Being Afraid to Ask for What You Want – Closed mouths don’t get fed, so learn to get your ASK in gear if you really want to get what you want.
Stop Assuming Everything is About You or a Rejection of You – If someone says no to you or doesn’t have time for you it doesn’t necessarily mean they saw your request or don’t like you. Sometimes rejection is God’s protection. And most times no does not mean never, just not right now.
Stop giving it all away for free – Get out of the lead magnet loop and understand sometimes you ain’t selling because you ain’t selling.
Stop thinking social media is the only marketing strategy.
Stop Trying to Do it All On Your Own – Learn to delegate and ask for help.
Stop Being Afraid to Start Because You Don’t Want to Be Seen At the Beginning
Stop Avoid Avoiding Your Growing Pains – Growing May feel Like Breaking at First

Chime in. What else would you add to this list of things Entrepreneurs should stop doing? And if you like this post you may also like This is Still Your Year: Get Clear and Back On Track, how to Get Unstuck, So Your Success Can Stick, the Focus Forward 5-Day Program, and the Stop Procrastinating Challenge.