The most important differentiator between an entrepreneur’s mindset and that of a non-entrepreneur is the way they look at problems. No, I am not talking about terminology here, like addressing problems as challenges. I actually mean problems for what they are and all that they are supposed to mean.
To a non-entrepreneur, a problem is just that: a problem. To an entrepreneur, on the other hand, a problem indicates an opportunity. This effectively means that while a non-entrepreneur focuses on the socket, the entrepreneur tries to figure out the best plug that will fit into that socket. Which is actually a radically different way of looking at things.
Going a step back, this also reveals that an entrepreneur has a more optimistic way of looking at life and its attendant problems.
A non-entrepreneur mindset looks at life’s problems and then tries to solve it for its own sake so that one can get on with the business of living.
An entrepreneur mindset, on the other hand, looks at life’s problems as hurdles that need to be addressed with proper solutions, all right; but then, once those hurdles have been addressed, it also looks for a way to scale that solution so that others can benefit from it too.
This IMHO is the essence of an entrepreneurial mindset.
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