Inside The Mind of Elon Musk

    Elon Musk

    Adopting Musk’s Mentality to advance is easy for anyone genuinely seeking growth

    The rise of Elon Musk is an evidence of how quality results accompany commitment and hard work. From some of the ventures which he has founded and some which he currently runs such as Tesla, Neuralink, and SpaceX, Musk has shown unparalleled determination and uncanny ability to walk even the untested waters.

    What is the entrepreneurs greatest tool? Could it be failure?

    Musk is one of the world’s richest individuals yet demonstrates a level of humility. Speaking at an energy conference in Norway, the serial entrepreneur shared some wisdom for potential entrepreneurs.

    Consider yourself to be already wrong and your pursuit should be coming less wrong.

    What do you gain from being wrong?

    The word wrong here is not referring to a bad or terrible business idea. By adopting the posture of being wrong, Musk is advocating for entrepreneurs to position themselves for growth by having a mindset that engenders growth.

    Once you have developed an idea which you believe in and intend to execute, you will most likely give this idea all that it requires to make it a reality. The “wrong mindset” advocated by Musk is what will draw the lines for an entrepreneur who may be at risk of being too optimistic and unrealistic. Extreme optimism can mess up objective thinking and shit down the need for improvements.

    The initial euphoria that accompanies developing business ideas can easily wane when the entrepreneur begins to encounter problems in the business. Adopting the best posture is the only way for an entrepreneur to prepare adequately to weather storms.

    Musk emphasizes that when entrepreneurs approach businesses from the standpoint that they are already wring from the the beginning, it becomes easier to identify impending problems early enough and control outcomes.

    Successful entrepreneurs have different formulas that they rely on to guarantee success. These are some of the strategies that Elon Musk finds reliable:

    1. Maximize every opportunity to be better than the rest

    Musk has always been a visionary. In his quest to create a greenhouse in Mars for the Mars Oasis project Musk approached Russia to acquire refurbished intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The $8 million per rocket quotation the entrepreneur received gave him the motivation to start a company manufacturing affordable rockets.

    Lessons from Musk here is that to join an existing marketplace where competitors have been dominating for several years, you must be prepared to offer products and services better than the rest. This is what demonstrates with SpaceX which makes reusable rocket components hence the lower price.

    2. Seek and grow from criticism

    Musk considers criticism to be one of the most important tools that guarantees the success of a business. He takes this quite seriously too.

    Explaining this he says, “A well thought out critique of whatever you’re doing is as valuable as gold. You should seek that from everyone you can but particularly your friends. Usually, your friends know what’s wrong, but they don’t want to tell you because they don’t want to hurt you.”

    What this implies is that entrepreneurs must always seek out criticism and business advice and must be ready to convert these to improve their business.

    3. Keep a circle you can learn from

    Musk has a bachelor’s degree in economics and physics and practical experience in different fields. This has not stopped this entrepreneur from learning from his everyday circle as he understands no one is an island of knowledge. Musk gets regular advice from the people he surrounds himself with. He underscores the importance of paying adequate attention to what people have to say even of you don’t necessarily agree with their input.

    Most people will consider Musk to be an enviable entrepreneur who turns every business he touches to gold but Musk does not accept this label. A cording to Musk there are never guarantees and some of his entrepreneurial attempts have almost failed at one point or the the other.

    Starting a business is obviously paved with pain and lots of inconvenience but those who plan adequately and adopt the right mentality will weather the storm eventually.

    As originally reported in (https://incafrica.com/article/marcel-schwantes-elon-musk-says-adopting-these-3-simple-steps-has-helped-produce-his-success/)