Click bait truth? Entrepreneurs.

I usually don't pay much attention to click-bait type headlines about entrepreneurs.  They're almost always wrong, or talking about a whole nother level of entrepreneurship. (Apple and I don't have a whole lot in common.)

But...I admit I check them out occasionally.

There was a pretty good one on Business Insider this morning, that I more or less agreed with.
 
"Psychologists say successful entrepreneurs have these 4 personality traits."

The first paragraph caught my attention, because I think it's the first time I've seen these particular statistics:

A third of all business fail in the first five years, and two thirds fail within ten years.

This seems about right.  The old bromide of "half of all business" fail in the first 2 (or 5) years has always seemed outrageously overstated to me.  At the same time, I always felt that in a longer timeline, say 10 years, that it was much worse than acknowledged.

So anyway, that caught my attention.

So the four personality traits, in order.

1.) "They're generalists, rather than specialists."

I love books, I like comics, I like games, and so on.  But when people say, "Wow.  It must be great to own a bookstore!" I always answer, "No, it's great to own a business."

Most of what owning a business entails is of a more general nature than specialized knowledge in one thing.  You have to pretty much do everything, especially at first.

2.) "They're outrageously self-confident."

Well, I don't know about 'outrageously,' but yeah, you have to have a firm faith that you'll succeed in the end.

I once told my mom that I tested as the 'most self-confident' of all personality types.  She laughed, because she equated self-confidence as being able to walk into a group of people and command the room.  I've always been reserved, shy.  So she didn't see that as "self-confident."

But what really matters?  Figuring out things for yourself, doing what you want to do, and making it work?  Yeah, that.

I feel self-confidence is being able to go your own way, no matter what.  Thinking for yourself, going against the tide even if everyone else seems to disagree with you. 

3.) "They're disagreeable."

I hate to cop to this, but it's undeniable.  You have to impose your will on the world, and this takes a form that doesn't always please other people.

4.) "They're conscientious."

I'm just going to say this, even if it's disagreeable:  I have conscientiousness in spades.

So here's the thing.  No one knows how hard I worked to make Pegasus Books work.  You can get a hint with my writing.

You can see specific results with writing.  How many books I'm writing.  How dedicated I am to the process.  How I see things through.

Well, I was applying that same sort of conscientiousness to my business for years.  It isn't the kind of thing that is noticeable on a day to day basis.  The results can take years to show up.  But day in and day out, I was doing the things necessary.  Out of sight of anyone, I'd spend hours doing things tht others probably would have skipped.  (Another example is this blog -- writing everyday for 7 years.  I set my mind to doing it, and then I DO it.)

Anyway, this all probably seems a little arrogant of me.

But, you know... see the above.