Nothing is stronger than a mindset – a valuable thought shared by Thomas Despin, Founder of Reconnect, who faced several hurdles before finally setting his mind on doing something that actually mattered.
Thomas cycled around the USA and Europe meeting CEOs of startups to learn from them and write about them. He travelled to Bali in search of a warmer climate where he ended up losing all his money. Desperate to make ends meet, he found a job at a digital agency as a marketing advisor but ended up quitting it upon realizing his lack of passion for the job. He then stepped into the ecommerce industry by establishing a 6 figures drop shipping business but closed it within its first year as his hunger for making a difference continued. Alas, Reconnect was founded; a high impact private island eco-resort.
Here is what Thomas learnt through his journey:
Work Smarter, Not Harder
The drive to remain competitive as a business manifests in doing more work faster, and with less effort. When it comes to productivity, many people tend to focus on putting in the time and effort rather than focusing on the result itself. Taking the desired result as the focal point will help in leveraging time in favor of achieving success. According to Thomas, you can work smarter by setting achievable goals, focusing on progress not perfection, and maintaining motivation by keeping a healthy work-life balance to protect your greatest resource, yourself. Having a results-first mindset will help you work smarter and ensure that your day isn’t just filled with non-essential tasks.
Making Mistakes is Necessary
Mistakes are part of the entrepreneurial journey. They reveal important lessons of business that maintain their relevance and timeliness for years to come. Business success largely depends on analyzing mistakes and ensuring they are never repeated. At the time of his involvement in the drop shipping business, Thomas Despin came to believe in the fact that the more you test, the more results you get and the more you learn from those results, the more you understand what works. It should be clarity and quality over quantity. Moreover, since the likelihood of being wrong is high most of the times, mistakes tend to give useful insights. It is also about how you react to a mistake; you can either grieve over it, dramatize it into something bigger than it already is, or you can learn from it and attempt to rectify it. Mistakes give you the knowledge that leads you to make better decisions.
Money Doesn’t Have to Be a Source of Inspiration
Thomas Despin quit two times; one from his job, second from his drop shipping business. He knew he needed to find satisfaction in doing meaningful work. Once he realized that he is capable of making money, he closed down the business that gave him 6 figures in sales in less than a year. This led him to open his mind wider, connect with people, and consider more opportunities. The fact that he had been exposed to business before made him realize that it will be easier the next time. His new project is all for living sustainably. Before taking any business decision related to Reconnect, the question is no longer about if it’s sustainable or not. Sustainability is already the accepted direction. The new question at hand is “is there a way to make it more sustainable?”, and if they can afford to implement it.
A strong mindset is what dictates the potential of one’s ability and it is crucial to develop that mindset to foster entrepreneurship. Thomas stresses the importance of focusing on doing things 1% better today than he did yesterday, rather than focusing on getting it 100% right. The will to manifest your ideas into reality should form the backbone of your actions.