There are a lot of catchy phrases or statements in circulation all around the world. They are mostly considered or labelled as wisdom. In fact, some of them are so common that they are considered conventional wisdom. However, most of them, upon a closer look, are not entirely true or are outright untrue. You could even go as far as calling them myths because that is what most of them are. This might sound trivial but it is important because some people limit their lives based on them. On the other hand, it is quite possible to apply them and actually get good results. So you might argue that they are open to the interpretation of an individual in question. Well, I can give you that but ultimately it is those who hold them dear and fail to realize good results that I want to help. Thus, I will herein discuss some of those false wisdom items or myths that are common in the world of entrepreneurship.
In order To Succeed, You Must Do What You Love
This has been said since time immemorial and you probably have heard this too. There is this widespread emphasis that you must do what you love if you are to succeed. In fact, the emphasis is on that success is premised on doing what you love. As much as there are many people who become successful by doing what they love it is not a universal truth. Rather than hammering people with this notion that you can only be successful by doing what you love, we must re-examine this. It is more about developing a love for what you do.
Most people try out business ventures in line with what they love and things get tough along the way and they opt-out. It is because they presuppose that if I do what I love then everything will be rosy. Well, that is not the case; in business, most of what you do gets to be very demanding, stressful and unpleasant. It is the prospects of profitability that push entrepreneurs to keep moving despite all that. So, in as much as you can be successful by doing what you love – it does not apply to everyone. In some cases pursuing what you love might not be profitable at all.
It Takes 21 Days To Develop A Habit
Most of us have heard that it takes 21 days (3 weeks) to develop a habit. Many people have gone on to put this to the test and have been frustrated because it did not work. There are several variables to explore in establishing why most fail to develop a habit in 3 weeks. One of them actually stems from the fact that, on average, it takes longer than 3 weeks to develop a habit. It has been found out that it takes an average of 66 days (9 weeks or so) to develop a habit.
Let me point out that it is quite possible to develop a habit in 21 days – it has worked for me many times. If it does not work for you then consider the possibility that the average time it will take you is longer. This will help take the pressure off if you fail to accomplish it in 21 days. I could even posit that it takes on average between 21 to 66 days to develop a habit. It is important to know this because entrepreneurship entails killing off bad habits and developing new ones.
The Customer Is Always Right
It is funny how customers love to allude to this statement when interacting with service providers. It might interest you to know that this all started out with some store in the USA who used this statement as a marketing tagline. This was sometime in the early 1900s and people adopted the statement over the years. It is not borne out of an empirical basis but it was just a catchy way to make customers feel special. In reality, the customer is not always right. Often times they can be very wrong and misguided in their demands and expectations. Customers must realize this and not be unreasonable in their interactions with service providers. Service providers must also know this but must ensure non-confrontational interactions with customers (especially those that insist on the mantra: the customer is always right).
Written Business Plans Must Always Precede The Kick-starting Of A Business
In business, it is normally said that you must write down a business plan before starting a business. It is mostly presented as an indispensable prerequisite that will ultimately determine your success. However, experts debunk this notion as not necessarily true always. This does not mean you must not plan before starting out a business – you have to. It might not always require drafting and writing down a comprehensive business plan. Mostly detailed business plans are necessary when seeking capital investment. So do not be disturbed if you realize that you cannot come up with a comprehensive business plan before starting out. On the other hand, if you can write one down go ahead; you will not lose anything by doing that.
These are 4 of some of the numerous assertions commonly held by people that are somewhat false or not entirely true. You will notice from my earlier discussions that any of those assertions is somehow open to varying interpretations. Some people can apply them and it works whilst some do and it does not work out. That on its own shows you that those assertions are not objectively true. If something is objectively true it is true no matter what – and that is something we cannot say for the 4 examples I gave.
