This article is coming from the heart, when I say learn to let go of your ego. It was my ego that actually hindered my success for years. If I can help just one other budding entrepreneur to let go of their ego and move forward, then I will be happy. So what about the ego? It was three particular areas that caused me grief. One - I believed that I had to do everything in the business - in order to “claim the fame”. Two - that I had to be the wisest and most brilliant person and come up with all the ideas. Three - That I had to know everything… crazy I know!

I truly believed, although writing this now just sounds ridiculous, that I wasn’t allowed to be wrong, because all those successful ones we see every day (Oprah, Richard Branson, etc) never were. After reading biographies and really noticing - I realised that they actually made mistakes, and those mistakes are what made them who they are today! Thomas Edison took over 1000 try’s before he got the light bulb, in his determined mind - he just said he had found 1000 ways not to do it!

So, I wanted to give permission to all you budding entrepreneurs to let go of the ego - because as soon as you do, success soon follows and it is the most freeing thing you can do. Here are 3 things to think about:

1. “One Man Band Syndrome” - I used to think that I would only be deemed successful if I did it all on my own. That way, I thought, I could claim all the credit. I used to think I should do the accounts, the marketing, advertising and the core work. How ridiculous is that?! You become spread so thinly that nothing really gets done. You also end up doing things that you don’t enjoy or aren’t even good at.

LESSON ONE: Delegate, Delegate and delegate - if you want to replicate a successful entrepreneur, learn to give the jobs you aren’t the best at - to someone that is, so you can have all your energy for your ideas.

2. Idea’s were all mine, or not at all - Umm… yeah, was I stubborn or what! That little ego would pop up it’s head, anytime someone suggested an improvement on my ideas and I would become defensive. Once I realised my ideas and growth wouldn’t get anywhere until I embraced other people’s ideas - the growth was exponential. Anytime I heard suggestions or criticisms, I thought - how could this make my business better? With that attitude - you only have one direction for success, and that is up!

LESSON TWO: Be open to new ideas, suggestions and criticism. Ask yourself, how could I use this information to improve on what I already have?

3. Right first off, otherwise therefore I am a failure - Something to be very aware of is giving up after your first attempt doesn’t work. This mindset is the mindset of someone who will actually never make it - yes, they may try something new over and over, but what they don’t do is commit, persist and determine to be successful. That is what is key - and after all be open to what your failures bring. A lot of successful inventions began as a completely different intention. If you look up the Slinky or Popsicle or even Silly Putty, they all were “failures” for another idea, but became successes in their own right.

LESSON THREE: Ideas are organic, through trial and error, suggestions and natural progression; it will evolve into whatever it is meant to be.

Don’t worry about how you are going to get there, just be determined to reach your goal of success, whatever that means to you. I was able to let go of the way I was going to get to my destination, and it was amazing what opportunities turned up. When you let go of the resistance of the ego, there will be a flood of ideas, suggestions and money making vehicles that will take you to where you want to go. Just know where it is you want to head, research your ‘vehicles’ that will take you there and enjoy the scenery on the way!