Learning through the mud

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As founder of Mentor Hub, I have been helping entrepreneurs and founders build and scale their new ventures. I usually start this process by teaching the basics of a ‘go to market’ strategy (how to build rapport, meet new clients or pitch a product or service).

After being exposed to a lot of start-ups and established businesses, I started to notice that pretty much every founder was making a ton of mistakes along the way before they got it right. They would literally have to repeat their pitch or story countless times before they got it right. They would flub their lines in meetings and get defensive when challenged by a potential client or investor.

So I started to ask myself a series of questions:

• How we best grow, adapt and learn in a new market? 

• How do we embrace feedback from the marketplace and not take it personally?

• How do we move to a state where we accept each mistake as simply an opportunity to correct, grow and adapt?

 I began to notice that those entrepreneurs and founders who were willing to embrace feedback and self-awareness had the capacity to accelerate their ventures above and beyond their competitors.

For those entrepreneurs, failure isn’t an insult – it’s simply an opportunity to reflect, learn and refine their craft. In fact, they become so adept at making mistakes, correcting them and refining their processes that their ventures began to grow in direct correlation to their personal growth and development. I recall the words of a wise older mentor of mine: “ventures don't grow, people do!”

So next time you get stuck in the mud and find yourself repeating the same mistakes consider the following:

• How can I best change my mindset so that every mistake I make is treated as a simple correction along the way?

• How open can I be to owning and accepting my part in this process without fear or favour?

Give that a go and see what happens next.