Is everyone entrepreneurial? Is it in our DNA? Could you become Great?
Greatness is about doing something important and adding significant value in different spheres of life. The desire to create and add value can be found in many people, a reason why many believe everyone is entrepreneurial. According to Reid Hoffman the founder of LinkedIn “all humans are entrepreneurs not because they should start companies but because the will to create is encoded in human DNA”.
Plan Your Life, Achieve Greatness
Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, personal development author and motivation speaker like Steve Jobs believes, if you can, it is best to do your own thing and possibly start a business or risk living an unplanned life, Rohn voices, ‘If you don’t design your life, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much’.
Essentially, enterprising behavior is about taking responsibility for achievements hence the reason entrepreneurship transcends sectors; innovative entrepreneurial people can be found everywhere in different countries, in private, public and nonprofit sectors, within sciences, social sciences, arts, sports and even politics etc.
Therefore, what you believe in and work towards will ultimately become your reality, so push yourself and attain your dreams. These high achievers in this blog did and became great, I bet you could come up with more examples…
Self-Made Billionaires (Forbes 2015)
The current number one, America’s Bill Gates worth an estimated USD$79bn was age 19 in 1975 when he started Microsoft (the worlds biggest software company) with Paul Allen with a goal to get computers into every home. Sir James Dyson a British inventor and industrial designer worth an estimated USD$5bn invented the dual cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner and founded the Dyson company. Aliko Dangote from Nigeria West Africa is Africa’s richest man and CEO of the Dangote Group worth about USD$18bn operating in cement, sugar, flour, fertilizer and so on. Jack Ma (Ma Yun) a Chinese Businessperson from humble beginnings but a big dreamer founded Alibaba in 1999 in his apartment to create a highly successful e-commerce business that earned him Time Magazine’s 2014 Personality of the Year after Alibaba listed and pulled off the biggest IPO (initial public offering) in the world; Wall Street’s largest historical debut.
Scientist & Inventors
Marie Sklodowska-Curie (1867-1934) a polish and naturalized French chemist and physicist operated in the 1800’s when mostly men were scientists, she persisted and pioneered in radioactivity research to eventually became the first women to win a Nobel Prize and subsequently the only person (male or female) to win two Noble Prizes in multiple sciences Physics and Chemistry.
Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) was labeled stupid by bad teachers, which led to initial homeschooling by his mother, he later failed at some jobs but through resilience eventually succeeded as a serial entrepreneur and one of Americas acclaimed inventors with over 1400 patents including the light bulb, Edison started about 14 companies, such as, notably the multinational General Electric (GE). British physicist and chemist Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1882-1914) invented the first incandescent light bulb independent of Edison, then both scientists later merged and formed a company Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company selling electric lamps. Granville T. Wood (1856-1910) considered one of the greatest Native American/African American inventors, pioneer mechanical and electrical engineer largely self-educated became a prolific inventor and cut down train collisions and accidents, he owned over 50 patents including the electric motorcar for street railways, steam boiler furnace, elevator signaling and the multiplex telegraph. Ahmed Yazami a Moroccan French scientist invented the granite anode used in lithium ion batteries found in most of our mobile devices e.g. phones, ipad, computers.
The World Wide Web
Globalization, interconnectivity, the growth of businesses, trading online, having a web-based storefront, business and personal branding has been aided by British computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee (1955) who enabled the “World Wide Web” in 1989 making it possible for people in different parts of the world to share and distribute information.
Finance & Films
Christopher Gardner pursing financial independence overcame homelessness through courage, entrepreneurialism and founded his brokerage firm a story that inspired the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” played by Will Smith.
Politics
President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) won and lost many elections to subsequently become the 16th President of the United States. President Barack Obama become the first African American and 44th President of the United States, and said the best way to achieve your true potential was to pursue a goal that appeared bigger than yourself. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia made history as that 24th and first female president of an African country.
Motivational Athletes
Karl Maynard was born without limbs but became a competitive wrestler, an author, and an inspiration to many. He advised, ‘There’s an ultimate plan for your life and there should be no excuses, you will get there as long as you don’t let obstacles stop YOU”. Muhammed Ali overcame and pursued his dreams to become the greatest boxer.
“I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was” (Muhammed Ali)
It’s your choice, make the decision today to achieve your definition of greatness, plan and commit to becoming the positive change you wish to see in your career, work toward your plan, add value and success will embrace YOU!
Get in touch. We can help if you would you like to become an Entrepreneur.