3 Reasons Entrepreneurs Are Strange—And Why That’s A Good Thing

Do you ever get the weird feeling that, as an entrepreneur, you’re not like other people? Does it ever seem like you think differently, act differently, and even make decisions differently than other people do?

There’s a reason for that.

Unlike other jobs, which require you to go to school to learn specific concepts and skills and then directly apply them to your profession, entrepreneurism can’t be taught. While you do need the knowledge and know-how of your industry, how you apply it is completely up to you. That makes entrepreneurism a unique, and not entirely rational, way of looking at and operating within the world.

It’s also a part of who you are … and I’d be willing to bet it’s gotten you into trouble a time or two!

How many of the phrases below, or ones just like them, used to run through your mind before you took the leap of faith in yourself to become an entrepreneur?

“Gee, I wish I didn’t get bored so easily. I start new projects before old ones are finished.”

“Why can’t I just focus? I’m always getting excited by something new!”

“I have more ideas than I know what to do with.”

“I’d rather do things my way, and it keeps getting me into trouble.”

“I’m just not a good employee.”

I’ve heard the same story hundreds of times, and in many ways, it’s my story too. We entrepreneurs don’t approach business rationally. We approach it intuitively, and understanding this—understanding the entrepreneurial DNA and how it’s different from that of other people—is the key to expanding our capabilities and achieving our greater future.

So, what exactly makes entrepreneurs unique? More importantly, what can we do to leverage that uniqueness?

Entrepreneurs are a breed all their own, and we’ve got the tips you need to use that unique DNA to your advantage. Download our starter kit, a comprehensive collection of resources that will tell you all about The Strategic Coach^® Program and how it can change your life in exciting new ways.

3 Reasons Entrepreneurs Are Strange

1. You Think Of Ways To Make Existing Things Better
“The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.” Jean-Baptiste Say

Unlike most people, who are content to do things the way they’ve always been done and keep their creative thinking within the box of what society considers normal, entrepreneurs look for ways to make existing things bigger and better (and faster, easier, and cheaper). They take the resources around them and improve upon them, creating an entirely new experience that nobody knows they want or need until they hear about it.

For this reason, entrepreneurism is the only experience that’s actually about the future—unlike most learning, which is about the past. It’s the only experience where the end result is based on having the confidence in yourself, your abilities, and your vision of what could be to use your own resources, go out into the marketplace, and say, “I’ve got something bigger and better that you're all going to love.”

And if you’re right? If your confidence is rewarded by someone writing you a check? You’ve just bet on your bigger future and won.

There really is no greater dose of reality for an entrepreneur than someone writing you a check. You might love your ideas, but they don’t do you any good unless someone is willing to pay for them. It always comes down to value creation.

2. You’re Always Curious About Your Environment
“The future belongs to the curious. The ones who are not afraid to try it, explore it, poke at it, question it, and turn it inside out.” Anonymous

Do you ever notice how, when you’re on vacation, you can’t stop staring at everything around you? It’s like your eyes want to be everywhere at once because whatever you’re taking in is new, exciting, and different. Compare that to how people typically are in their usual environment—heads down, screens up, eyes dull—and the contrast is clear.

Entrepreneurs, however, are always looking at their environment with these “traveler’s eyes,” always looking for ways to be inspired or ways they can improve what they see. They don’t experience their environment passively. And that makes them pretty special.

To really excel as an entrepreneur, you need to trust and lean in to that curiosity. Whether you’re searching for your next great idea, thinking of ways to streamline your processes, or encouraging greater teamwork in your company, if you stay curious, you’ll always find ways to make things better.

3. You’re Willing to Take Risks
“If there’s no risk to your future, you’re dying.” Dan Sullivan

It takes a lot of courage to become an entrepreneur. You’re choosing to give up all the comfort and safety of a “normal” job—reliable hours, steady income, predictable tasks—in exchange for more freedom. In essence, you’re betting your own skills, ideas, and tenacity against the promise of a greater future.

To most people, that’s a very strange thing to do. Why risk everything for an unknown future when you could stay on a path already proven to be safe?

To an entrepreneur, on the other hand, it’s absolutely invigorating. To declare independence from the usual world and its usual rules—this is what makes you come alive. The future might be uncertain, but that’s what makes it so exciting. You’re 100 percent in charge of your growth, success, and happiness.

My advice? Take your goals seriously. Have a rule that you will achieve the goals you want, not the goals other people say you should want. You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve when you stop paying attention to what other people think and accept that your way of doing things is different.

Embrace your strange.

Only by recognizing what makes you unique can you reach your full potential. This applies to you as a person, to you as an entrepreneur, and to your business itself. Figure out what sets you apart, find the value in it, and then share it with the world!