M.S.Dhoni - Good Form is a State of Mind

Entrepreneurship is similar to Cricket in many ways. Just as we say when a batsman is doing well, he is in form. In entrepreneurship, if a business does well, we say the entrepreneur is on a roll. If a batsman makes a mistake, he gets out. If an entrepreneur makes one, he fails.

The difference in both situations, in cricket and entrepreneurship, has more to do with the state of mind of the person. When you are doing well, you feel positive and confident and tend to make the right moves. When not, you tend to put pressure on yourself, make mistakes and are further pushed down by people around you.

Positivity is the key to sustain through ups and downs of your career. It drives you when you are going strong and supports you during your weak periods.

Entrepreneurs are Positive People!

As an entrepreneur, we cannot let negativity get the better of us in any situation. Negativity spreads very quickly into the team and since startups often work as small teams, this really tends to hamper our growth.

This is one thing I am guilty of. Due to challenging circumstances or inefficiencies within ourselves, I did become negative at times. I was my team motivation dipping quickly, which in turn hampered the overall atmosphere in the office. I felt it also affected our growth as during these stints of negativity, we as a team barely managed to finish our routine work, forget trying to scale our operations.

'Live as if you were to die tomorrow; learn as if you were to live forever.' ... Mahatma Gandhi

On Martyr's Day, I am reminded of Mahatma Gandhi, a man who through his focus and immense dedication was able to achieve the most difficult of goals. I take great inspiration from one of his quotes in which he mentions the importance of being positive and making learning an ongoing process. He believed that we should live in the present and not leave anything for tomorrow. He also states that learning should be continuous and one's learning curve should always be on the rise.