You can often hear parents telling their kids “it is important to work on your character traits”. However, it seems that teens are not sure what character traits are and why they are important. For instance, they have a role model and they think that his character traits are the perfect ones. Still, will knowing their character traits truly help? Probably not.
Something that truly matters is how to improve them. This is a more difficult part. For instance, many successful people in the world have character traits of a leader. But, how did they get them? Were they born with those character traits or they improved them for many years?
Yet, let’s start from the very beginning. Before everything, let’s answer on “what are character traits?” There is a list of positive character traits that we would want to highlight.
What Are Character Traits?
It is logical that adolescents are wondering what are the character traits of a leader. They know that becoming a successful entrepreneur requires that sort of character traits. The list of positive character traits is not short, so it would be better to starts with answers on “what are character traits”.
• Giant Will and Determination
The first character traits that deserve to be on the list of positive character traits are definitely willingness and dedication. Kids will not be able to become successful entrepreneurs if they do not truly want to become that. That is of the basic character traits that they need to have.
In the other words, you will have to do what you love. For instance, you have a talent for programming. Yet, if you start developing a business in the marketing industry, that won’t motivate you to fully commit to your business. Knowing what you love is also one of the character traits of a leader.
Kids with that sort of character traits usually do not like to listen what their environment suggest them to do. They like to listen to their instinct. However, we suggest to those adolescents to be careful. Having the character traits of a leader doesn’t mean they have enough life experience. But, mistakes are the best lessons we can get, aren’t they?
• Persistence
One of the character traits of young entrepreneurs is not giving up from their goals. This includes the moments when things are not going well. Let’s imagine that a youngster is a YouTuber and he sells his own T-shirts to his followers. But, he didn’t come up with a good idea of how to offer those T-shirts. Will he give up? No. His character traits of a leader do not allow him to do that. He will sit and develop a new sales strategy.
A child must learn to be persistent from the early ages. Parents should help with the improvement of that sort of character traits in different ways. For instance, support your child to study harder when he gets a bad mark. Tell him that this is the only way to fix his previous mistakes. That will mean a lot to him when he starts his entrepreneurial journey.
Anyway, let’s continue with our list of positive character traits.
• Self-Confidence
We can say that self-confidence is one of the most important character traits of all. However, kids should know that there is a big difference between self-discipline and ego. Ego is not one of the character traits of a leader. Every true leader is aware of his talents and abilities. However, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know his own weaknesses.
Sitting around and talking about your positive side is nothing more than narcissism. Not working on the improvement of your weak side is going to bring bad results. For instance, you are a high-quality graphic designer, but your communication skills are bad. You would probably be a worker of the month. Still, would you be a successful entrepreneur?
Our message to kids is to believe that they can achieve success through the talents they possess. However, it is important that you stay on the ground. Knowing that you are talented and capable to do things and yet accepting of the fact that you have your weak points to improve on, is of utmost importance.
• Curiosity
Keep in mind that entrepreneurship is a science where every day new inventions arrive. Every teenage business owner always strives to improve his knowledge in different ways. Besides that, it is also one of the character traits of every leader in the world.
One of the ways to improve your knowledge is to learn from your own mistakes. This maybe is the “most painful” way, but it also brings the best lessons. The second way is to read a lot. For example, a teenage business owner would not stop only on this list of positive character traits. He would explore each bullet from the list and try to find out more.
Besides that, gaining knowledge is a process that lasts forever. People learn new things until the last moment of their life. That’s why we mentioned persistence as one of the key character traits of young entrepreneurs. You need to be persistent in researching and gathering information.
By the way, it has never been easier to improve your knowledge. Only 20 years ago, “physical” books were the most common way of studying new things. Now, when we live in a world of modern technology, the things are quite different. Instead of spending hours on your Instagram account, you should visit Google. Only 3 hours of watching videos and reading articles will improve your knowledge for 1%. One by one, you will slowly start becoming an expert in your field.
Do you think this is the final answer to “what are character traits”? You are wrong, there are more:
• Time Management
Let’s use college students as an example. You can quite often hear them complain because of lack of time. Quite often, they start preparing for exams too late so they end up cramming. Well, that’s why time management is one of the most important character traits.
Most of the teenagers make some sort of “to-do” list. They put every goal and mini-goal they have on a pieces of paper. In that way, they are able to ensure that in every moment they know what they need to. Ultimately, deadlines are important to them. Delaying is not one of the character traits of this sort of youngsters.
Time is the most valuable thing we have. We mostly spend it on irrelevant things that do not bring any sort of value to our lives. Which in most cases, we end up regretting. Unfortunately, we do not have a time machine, and the most successful people are aware of that. Plan things ahead and try to stick to your schedule.
• Self-Discipline
Every successful entrepreneur will confirm that self-discipline is one of the top character traits of a leader. The percentage of youngsters with this character trait is low. They won’t understand why you want to invest so much time and effort in your business. It is maybe to direct to say, but some people around you will be a big distraction in some moments.
However, we do not need to blame them. Most of them do not even know an answer to the question, “what are character traits?”. Instead, we should try to keep our good habits in every moment.
We already said that a “to-do” list is one of the ways to organize your time and improve your self-discipline. But, this is not the only way. Learning to say “no” is the key. Many friends will probably call you to go to a party or spend time out of the house. But, your business needs to be your main priority. Be thankful because they call you and politely say “Sorry, I am busy now”. Of course, you can spend time with them only when your duties are finished.
• Self-Motivation
The road to the top is full of ups and downs. This especially counts when we talk about adolescents. Everything is new for them and that’s why they get confused when things are not going very well. Some of them would rather choose to quit and get back to their comfort zone. That’s why it is necessary to know how to motivate yourself when the tough moments come.
Responsible teen business owners know how to grab motivation at that moment. When they make a “to-do” list, they always split some time to charge their batteries. For example, if they complete all the tasks from the list, they usually somehow reward themselves. They spend time with people they love, go out and have fun with friends or anything else.
Something that is important is to understand which things motivate you. Every individual is inspired to work in different ways. If you start doing things privately that are not making you happy, that won’t make any sense.
There is one more list you can make – “motivation list”. Write down every moment when you felt happy and relaxed. We sometimes forget about those moments because we are too focused on our problems.
So, why exactly are successful people so obsessed with motivation?
The answer is simple – positivity will only bring positive things in your life and business. Working hard on your goals without any inspiration is like striving to run 5 kilometers without condition. You won’t be able to succeed. But, if you have a valuable “why”, everything you want to achieve will be possible.
• Ready to Help Others
Take for example those teenagers that are running their own businesses. You will notice that most of them are ready to share some valuable pieces of advice.
A teenager that is 19 years old will usually be ready to help a teenager younger than he is. As he knows he had much more time and exposure to gain business and life experiences. He is aware that if he shares his knowledge, the information will be much more valuable and useful.
Additionally, teaching others is also a motivational act. You will feel proud because you are no longer a student. Step-by-step, you are becoming a teacher, a business mentor. Having this trait does not only improve the personal lives of others, but also their entrepreneurial spirit. Same way that it improves your overall individuality.
Conclusion: Practice Actively
You now got the answer to the question “What are character traits of young entrepreneurs?”. In case you feel you don’t have them, it is not the end of the world. No one in the world was born with only positive traits. The improvement of these traits is a process that requires time.
However, it is important that you practice everyday. Similar to going to the gym. You won’t be able to do 20 push ups at once on your first day. But as you progress, say after 3 or 4 months, you’ll notice you will be able to do a lot more things. Your body and condition will improve significantly as well.
Focus on one trait first. Pick from the list and concentrate on improving it. When you feel like you are ready, move on to the next. Until you master all of them.
Finally, do not delay. Accomplish what you can today. Challenge yourself! Seek help from your parents and work with them in improving not just the good traits, but also the bad ones. They are the best go-to-people as they know you better than anyone. You have the guide above. It is all up to you to act upon it.
