Seth Godin is a master entrepreneur who has written 14 books and founded several companies, including Squidoo. He says every entrepreneur needs three skills that go beyond having drive and working long hours. Godin outlines these characteristics in his latest book, "The Icarus Deception."
First, Godin says entrepreneurs need to put away their 'lizard brains.' "The lizard is a physical part of your brain, the pre-historic lump called the amygdala near the brainstem that is responsible for fear and rage and reproductive drive." He says the lizard brain serves as the voice inside your head that hinders you from taking risks and tells you to tread carefully. Keeping this voice quiet is hard, but vital for entrepreneurs to find success.
Godin also suggests that entrepreneurs channel their inner artist. "It's not art if the world (or at least a tiny portion of it) isn't transformed in some way. And it's not art if it's not generous. And most of all, it's not art if there's no risk," he writes. Thinking like an artist instead of a business person can open you up to new possibilities.
Finally, Godin says entrepreneurs need to be able to connect people who have been disconnected by figuring out where and why they have been disconnected. "How much connection did you just make? That's one way to measure whether or not the work you did made a difference," Godin writes. "When you make a daring comment at a meeting, when you produce a video or app or an idea that spreads, when more people visit your farm stand because they can't get enough of the way you engage… Boring and safe rarely lead to connection."
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