Momentum Podcast: 2

Redefining Entrepreneurs

by Alex Charfen

Episode Description

After attending the event and reflecting on the conversations I had, there was a common principle I saw. It's that simplicity scales naturally, and complexity creates constraint. Out of all the people in the room, the simplest businesses were the ones growing the fastest. How crazy is it that the simplest business plans were the biggest ones in the room? But when you think about it, it makes sense. People who have one promotion, one product, one sales process, one pretty much anything always grows. The more clear they are, the more success they have. Because people know what the offer and they become the go-to person for that product or service.  

Full Audio Transcript

So I've been trying to record a podcast called the Entrepreneurial Personality Type. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to get the right tone, to get the right level of excitement, the right level of connection. Me and a microphone in our sound room downstairs, and it was incredibly hard. And I recorded a podcast, I had a few people give me feedback that it just didn't feel right, and so I've decided to do my podcast by recording it on Facebook first and ripping the audio from there and releasing it as a podcast. I actually had one of my clients, [inaudible 00:00:36] sent me a message within minutes and said, "Hey, just do that. That should be the podcast," where he made a comment.

So in this episode, I want to redefine entrepreneur. When I go out and speak at large groups, I ask a simple question. "What qualities would you give a successful entrepreneur?" And I get a list something like this. In fact, if I was gonna share a composite list, it would be this one. Successful entrepreneurs, the crowd says things like intense, intelligent, focused, aware, relentless, restless, confident, driven, curious, enthusiastic, and even bold. So I want you to ask yourself, on that list, intense, intelligence, focus, aware, relentless, restless, confident, driven, curious, enthusiastic and bold. There's ten. How many of those ten resonate with you as a quality you have? Because if you're watching me, listening to me, I think that it's probably ten out of ten. And not only is it a quality you have, but I think all people have this.

But on a scale of one to ten, where would you put yourself on that list? Are you in the eight, nine or ten? Or let's be honest. When we compare you to the rest of society, and we look at your level of intensity, your level of restlessness, your level of drive, aren't you just a ten out of ten? And here's what I know. For people like us, and what I found was, it's not just crowds that do this. Sorry, that say this. When I read the life histories of successful people throughout history, you see these qualities. But you also see the other side of all of these.

Here's what I know about you, if you're an eight, nine, or let's be honest, probably a ten. You, your intensity, has probably been seen as aggression. Your intelligence has probably been seen as arrogance. Your focus has probably been seen as being anti-social. You probably even been called anti-social, or told you isolate. Your awareness, relentlessness, restlessness, and confidence has been seen as sensitivity, even being cutthroat, maybe hyperactive, and conceited. Because see, for people like us, when pressure and noise goes up, there are two sides to this coin. And there's a difference between us and the rest of the world. The fact is, the rest of the world is not a ten out of ten on this list. The rest of the world doesn't have intensity and drive.

In fact, at one point in the United States, one fifth of the population watched a show like Wheel of Fortune every night. And if that show didn't play at the right time, hundreds of thousands of people called the TV station. We aren't like those people. And you know that your drive, your curiosity, your enthusiasm, your boldness, has been seen as being irrational, even paranoid, obsessive and risky. This is how it is for the entrepreneurial, and the entrepreneur. And here's what I want to share with you. My redefinition of entrepreneur is that we are hard-wired differently. We are different than the rest of the world. We're the people who have to, not want to, press forward. Stoplights probably annoy you. You don't like to slow down. And let's be honest, you really can't turn it off. We're hard-wired differently.

We don't want to, we need to do and create. We need to make things happen. We need to drive our own way. We need to create an outcome. We need to drive an outcome or create the outcome, but we don't have a choice. That's who we are. And you know and I know that every time in your life you've approached a finish line, it has lost importance to you as you cross it. So I want you to know that we are different than the rest of the world. Let me share my theory with you, and let you self qualify. See, I think there's four different types of people in the world, and I want you to qualify each one and see which one you are.

So the first type of people, I call 'em the caretakers, and there's a huge population of caretakers in the world. And our evolutionary tribe needed caretakers. We needed the people who wanted to take care of other people. Now, you may think that you're one of these people, but here's the question that I ask audiences, is do you like to change bedpans? Because there's a population who actually feels fulfilled by changing bedpans. This is not a judgemental statement, this is a factual statement. I've spoken with these people, and I say, "Does that really make you feel fulfilled?" And they will say, "Alex, if the person needed a bedpan changed, and I could do it and be there, yes, that makes me feel fulfilled." It makes me feel like I should've written a check if I end up doing something like that. And I offend them just with that statement, and you know you feel the same way.

The second type of person is the communicator. Our evolutionary tribe needed communicators. You know, we needed people that would talk about anything. We needed people that would talk about the wooly mammoth over there, and the cliff over there, and how there's water over there. And as it happened, what was going on? They even talk about the weather. You know who I'm talking about. Did our evolutionary tribe need people to carry on oral tradition, to talk about what was happening? They absolutely did. We absolutely did. And today, those people, they'll talk about anything. And a lot of people like you and I, we will modify and learn how to talk, like I'm doing now. Learn how to communicate. But very rarely do we love that thing that confuses the shit out of us called small talk. But there's people out there who love it. And did our evolutionary tribe need them? Yes.

Now the third type of person, I want you to self qualify. Which one are you? The third type of person is, and this is just like a subspecies of human beings. An evolutionary subspecies. I call them the organizers and the memorizers. Ah, man. If our population of the tribe is going to conflict with anyone, it's going to be the organizers and memorizers, and you know who I'm talking about. These are the people who volunteer for the condo association. It's the ones who love fine print. They enjoy contracts. Now, I want you to understand, I've worked with some incredible attorneys, and accountants, and people who have helped me. But there's a sub section of every one of these groups that clashes with us. Because when you look at this evolutionarily, and we look at these roles, are you an organizer and a memorizer?

Here's what I know. You probably can run a spreadsheet. You can probably do things that would make you look like this. But the fact is, do you wanna follow the rules or make the rules? That's the difference. And when I look at this evolutionary tribe, we needed the caretakers. We needed the communicators. We needed the organizers. We needed the memorizers. There had to be some order to things going on. But what's missing from our evolutionary tribe? The population that you and I are in. The subspecies we belong to. The evolutionary hunter. Our tribe needed the people who were driven enough, who were committed enough, who felt the need to go forward hard enough to get up every day and go on the hunt. And if we're honest about who you are, you know you've been an evolutionary hunter your whole life, 'cause your need isn't to actually finish. Your need is to be on the hunt, to be in momentum, to be moving forward. And I feel that need.

Because when you read about the most successful people in history, you see that same need. That's why for people like you and I, going forward, creating success, is a feeling of life and death. And the faster we admit it, the faster we understand who we are and how we can create the success we want in this world. Because our drive to create success, to go on the hunt, to kill, is evolutionary. It's chemical. It goes beyond what we can actually understand, and you and I both know that. Because entrepreneurs are the only people in the world who will get up every day, take the criticism and the pain and the condemnation of trying to do something different, and I don't think that we're just entrepreneurs.

See, the evolutionary hunter is a personality type. The entrepreneurial personality type is a clear subpopulation in the world. And I want you to understand that I know you felt like a party of one, isolated and alone, and like you really didn't have a place to belong. But once you understand more about the entrepreneurial personality type, you'll understand why we encounter so much friction in the world. Because the rest of the world, every other population I told you about. The people who take care of people, the caretakers, the communicators, the organizers, the memorizers. They strive for average and cling to the status quo. They want to keep things the same. And you know, and I know, that every day you've woken up and looked for what are you going to change next. The entrepreneurial personality type is different.

In the next episode, I wanna show you why we don't want the same things as everyone else in the world, and what truly drives us, and how you can use it to create any outcome you want in your life.

Thanks for listening to episode two of The Entrepreneurial Personality Type. If you could take a minute right now and subscribe to this podcast, I would really appreciate it. In the next episode, you're going to be reconnected with the driving force for entrepreneurial personality types throughout history. And once you are, your life may never be the same.

Thank You For Listening!

I am truly grateful that you have chosen to spend your time listening to me and my podcast.

Please feel free to reach out if you have a question or feedback via our Contact Us page.

Please leave me a review on iTunes and share my podcast with your friends and family.

With gratitude,

Alex

Scroll to Top

Simply enter your email address below to get instant access to the Free 90-Minute Predictable Business Growth Training.

We hate spam, so we won't send you any...

We are excited to share the Predictable Planning System with you.

Please enter your email address below so we can share more valuable content with you in the future.

I hate spam, so I won't send you any...