Comments on: Learning to Be Tough in Business http://thinktankinvesting.com/learning-to-be-tough-in-business/ Investment News and Resources Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:35:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Frank Heavlen http://thinktankinvesting.com/learning-to-be-tough-in-business/comment-page-1/#comment-184 Frank Heavlen Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:11:08 +0000 http://thinktankinvesting.com/?p=414#comment-184 I too have been a little toughened up since I entered the "real world" after graduating with my Masters in Finance in 2007. Just two years ago, I was, I guess, a little naive and overly optimistic about starting a business and making a zillion dollars. Since the crash of the markets and the liquidity crisis, I have lost not just optimism, but also time and money. I hate to admit that I've been hardened by this loss and am now a lot more critical of everything and everyone in business. I think this transformation has been good for me though, as I've gained more knowledge in these last two years. I will say however, that maintaining optimism is crucial. So many businesspeople and entrepreneurs become overly analytical and skeptical after being toughened up, and they lose courage to go after their dreams. I think there is a balance between being blindly optimistic and having "analysis paralysis." Even though the business world is toughening recent grads like myself up a little, we must be careful not to lose the spirit of entrepreneurship. The same spirit is what has driven the nuts like Steve Jobs and the two founders of Google to fly by the seat of their pants and create billion dollar companies. I too have been a little toughened up since I entered the “real world” after graduating with my Masters in Finance in 2007. Just two years ago, I was, I guess, a little naive and overly optimistic about starting a business and making a zillion dollars. Since the crash of the markets and the liquidity crisis, I have lost not just optimism, but also time and money. I hate to admit that I’ve been hardened by this loss and am now a lot more critical of everything and everyone in business.

I think this transformation has been good for me though, as I’ve gained more knowledge in these last two years. I will say however, that maintaining optimism is crucial. So many businesspeople and entrepreneurs become overly analytical and skeptical after being toughened up, and they lose courage to go after their dreams. I think there is a balance between being blindly optimistic and having “analysis paralysis.” Even though the business world is toughening recent grads like myself up a little, we must be careful not to lose the spirit of entrepreneurship. The same spirit is what has driven the nuts like Steve Jobs and the two founders of Google to fly by the seat of their pants and create billion dollar companies.

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