I'm always having ideas for businesses and products. Some of the products that I've created on paper I've seen succeed after other people idea years later. I'm a little ADHD, I suck at execution and I'm pretty good with the big picture. Both of my parents were entrepreneurs, but not very successful. I've been working at many jobs and I'm not happy, I only feel happy when I push projects that were initiated by myself and when I see some sort of "growth". Doing personal projects are core to my personality, but I always avoid moving forward because of the bad experience I've seen in my family. I've observed that successful entrepreneurs have some sort of psychopathy, so they usually don't feel pressured and they manage to get through obstacles easily because they can seduce and manipulate people (selling). My problem is that I'm a little the opposite, I care a lot about people and I get really stressed under pressure (that's why I think my parents failed). I feel happy when I see things changing (changing the world) and apparently this is one good trait of entrepreneurs, but sometimes I feel biased because in real life I see that people like Steve Jobs tend to be more successful.
Licensed psychotherapist here. I work heavily with entrepreneurs, start-ups and business owners... The truth is, most entrepreneurs show no more TOTAL psychopathology than folks who get a W-2 for a living.
But, I've found that moderately successful entrepreneurs often have elevated personality traits in one of two areas - narcissism or dependent personality traits (aka people pleasing). They're either strong-willed or service oriented enough to get a business to a stable point quickly.
On the flip side, people with avoidant, schizoid, schizotypal or anti-social traits usually fare poorly for a variety of reasons.
The most WILDLY successful entrepreneurs usually pursue and develop a strong internal self-awareness and are always pushing for new insights into the way they function. They embrace all criticism as valuable data to tweak towards their highest desired outcome (usually profitability).
For what's it's worth, if you truly believe you have ADHD traits (I'm most definitely not providing a diagnosis here!!), you'll do best with entrepreneurial roles that are heavily focused on constantly changing stimuli (like customer service, networking, sales, etc). I'd contemplate staying away from activities that require long periods of focusing on one task (coding, product development, etc).
If you'd ever like to bounce ideas and brainstorm on what might be the best entrepreneurial fit for you, feel free to reach out to me through Clarity to schedule some consulting.
Best of luck!
Ken Clark
Coach, consultant, and therapist to entrepreneurs
Answered 9 years ago
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