Having travelled the path from a modest life as a child in Germany to becoming the founder and CEO of companies with an overall turnover of 100 million euros, Dr. h. c. Harald Seiz is perfectly placed to talk about the important role that self-belief plays in a career as an entrepreneur. Self-belief has certainly helped him to navigate what has sometimes been a rocky path.
It’s also a central theme of his book, “Think BIG – How to Conquer the World with a Great Idea”. The book is inspirational for anyone who aspires to be an entrepreneur as it shows them that even small ideas can be used to build success, as long as they are prepared to believe in themselves and to be able to embrace change should the results of one idea not be as successful as theory suggests.
The man behind the book
Dr. Seiz is today known as one of the foremost authorities on crypto currencies and blockchain as well as being an expert in gold. He has already been successful in creating a crypto currency that is stable backed by physical gold. His aim is to continue to help people stabilise their investments by having the security of the ownership of actual gold.
The world famous author and entrepreneur has come a long way since his childhood in Germany, when he was cared for be a mother and grandmother who both had problems with alcohol. He grew up to realise that he valued independence which included being without the restraints of working for someone else. Dr. Seiz has total belief in his ability to bring ideas to fruition and to overcome dips in performance by treating every setback as an opportunity to learn, change and grow. As he says in “Think BIG”,
“I have had to deal with setbacks and disappointments, myself – both professionally and personally. I took on this fight and made the best of my life.”
The power of self belief
You only need to look at the story of Dr. Seiz to see how influential self belief can be. For anyone who wants to progress with a career as an entrepreneur there will always be doubters and pessimists who can easily throw an individual off course if they are allowed to.
One of the biggest skills an entrepreneur needs to have is to be able to determine when advice and questions are aimed at being constructive and when they are aimed at being destructive. Constructive advice can help with the achievement of success and the avoidance of pitfalls. No entrepreneur has a career that is completely hazard free, so having the self belief to avoid negative forces and embrace constructive assistance is vital. It takes a self-confident person to be able to listen to constructive criticism and learn from it. As Dr. Seiz says in “Think BIG”,
“Your true friends will not shy away from criticising you. Maybe even because you are very successful right now. So don’t reject them, try to understand the criticism. Listening is what’s important here.”
