Yoda, Teach Me Business And Entrepreneurship: I Value Your Wisdom

You do not need to be a Star Wars fan for you to know Yoda. As a matter of fact, his character, wisdom and backward-talking style has endeared him to a much larger audience than that which Star Wars commands. Business professionals and upcoming entrepreneurs are among the beneficiaries of the life nuggets that Yoda so generously shares with his fan base. This article looks at some of the key lessons you can learn.

“Patience You Must Have My Young Padawan”

Empires that have survived the test of time are those that were built on a foundation of patience. No success rushes through your doors overnight, rather, you have to take the long suffering route if you are to appreciate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.

With patience, you lay brick after brick with carefulness and this makes you enjoy the process more than the destination. Remember Rome was not built in a day.

“Control, Control You Must Run Control!”

In business, you will come across destructive and constructive competition. Your entrepreneurial feelers should direct you on the path of productivity rather than dancing to the tune of your competitors. By breaking down your goals into manageable tasks and establishing strong control measures, you can steer your horse right through the final gallop of victory.

Without measuring, you cannot control and without control you cannot achieve and without achievement there is no success.

“Difficult to See. Always in Motion is the Future”

A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor. As an entrepreneur, you must have the will to go against the current even in times when everybody else seems to be waiting for the winds to come down.

At times, opportunities are hidden in motion meaning if you don't take the step of faith and bravery to move from your comfort zone, you may as well boil in the heating water just like the proverbial frog.

“A Jedi Uses the Force for Knowledge and Defense. Never for Attack”

As an entrepreneur or business owner, you are bound to master your skills as you go along. A point reaches when your skillfulness and mastery of business principles surpasses what the average players in the industry know.

It is at this point that most entrepreneurs lose their sense of humility and compassion and pursue self-aggrandizement. While it may seem the way to go, the force of knowledge should be used exclusively in lifting others around you as well as growing your business not showing off.

Always maintain your calmness even when the conditions are rough because that is what makes you and your business different from the rest.

“The Dark Side Clouds Everything. Impossible to See, the Future Is”

In business as in life, you cannot always live on the buttered side of the bread. However, this doesn't mean that you give up even at the sight of a problem that is temporal and not representative of your future.

Dark clouds come and go leaving a clear blue sky. You do not have to base your decisions on the conditions around you, but rather have a long term strategy that transcends time.

No business you see today would be where it is if the owners had succumbed to every pressure they encountered down the river. You got to be brave and long term in thinking and planning.

“You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned”

There is no concept that you know which is irreplaceable. As a matter of fact, clinging to old tactics in a world where destructive technologies are the norm can drive you out of business. It's important to have principles and values that you can hold onto and shape your business with.

However, you must also recognize that times are changing and yesterday's technologies may not be applicable today. Think of the business environment as a self-consuming fire that burns up even the same matchstick that lit it up.

You have to be adaptive and flexible so that like the palm tree, you bend but do not break.

“Luke: I Can’t Believe It. Yoda: That is Why You Fail”

The biggest factory where the tools of success are manufactured is your mindset. God wouldn't have been more generous to put everything you need in your head. If you believe it, you can attain it.

Belief in yourself has a way of leveling even the obstacles that would have otherwise hindered your progression into mere speed bumps.

Nobody around you will believe in your ideas and plans unless you are totally sold off to your own idea in the first place. In life, there is no try, you either do or do not.

What most people miss out in entrepreneurship is the appreciation of the process because most of us are glued to the illusionary mirage ahead of us and fail to recognize the small larvae and pupae steps that make the journey worthwhile.