How to Be an Ultrapreneur

By Tom Evans

Entrepreneurs are wired differently from other folk.

The etymology of the word gives some clues why. In recent history, it comes from the old French word ’entreprendre’ meaning ’to undertake’. It maybe apocryphal but it's thought that it has even earlier roots in the phrase from Sanskrit ’Antha Prerna’ meaning ’self motivated’.

It’s unquestionable, entrepreneurs have to be ’self-motivated’ and they have to ’undertake’ all manner of things. Entrepreneurs are human too and suffer bouts of self doubt and sometimes hard times. Each entrepreneur has an angel on one shoulder driving them forward. On the other sits a devil telling not to be so silly and to go and get a day job.

What separates those who make it from those who struggle is mindset. This is not as trivial as holding an optimistic ’glass half full’ mentality in the face of adversity. In fact, the most successful entrepreneurs positively thrive in the face of adversity.

When they struggle over something, or see others having a hard time, they know if they come up with a solution to solve this problem, they will be on to a winner. Especially too if that ’winner’ saves or makes those who invest in it more than it costs them.

There is something more subtle again buried deep inside an entrepreneur’s DNA. They are timelords.

They are ’mind-full’ of the past, learning from their mistakes and experiences. They can also see clearly right into the most wondrous future. Furthermore, they don't let the past bring them down or wallow in self pity. Neither do they get carried away by a future that hasn't happened quite yet, spending their fortune before it has amassed.

The most successful entrepreneurs are focused on doing exactly the right things, in the right order, right now.

Even blessed with these basic temporal powers, they have another trick up their sleeve. Entrepreneurs can jump outside time itself by tapping into light bulb moments on demand. This allows them to get the whole picture for the most amazing ideas in less than a split second. This might be for a new product or just the most sublime marketing concept.

There is something more elusive still going on in the minds of an entrepreneur still. Recently, scientists using MRI scanners have noticed neurons in our guts firing 5 to 10 seconds ahead of a stimulus in ’real time’. Note it's now also known that we have more neurons in our gut than cats do in their brains.

We've all regret not going with our gut feelings at some time or other. It turns out that our gut mind is an active centre with a primitive consciousness and awareness and that it is in continual communication with our brains. It somehow ’knows’ things before ’we’ do.

We can think of an entrepreneur who trusts their gut as being an ’ultrapreneur’. Their secret is this. The ease with which they generate ideas and make things happen, is because they are always at least 5 seconds ahead of everyone else. When ‘ultrapreneur’ is on fire, everyone else is playing catch up.

So the next time you are in two minds about something, trust your gut and tell your ’inner critic’ to be quiet for a change. •

Renaissance Man and Imagineer Tom Evans is the author of four books and counting about creativity. More »

8/28/12