I have discovered that when it comes to building a successful and thriving business as a young entrepreneur, you are your own greatest threat. A great business, a great team, a great life, and a secure future is something you create yourself. The sooner you realize that, the better it is for you.

In this two-part series, I want to talk about anxiety. This is something that we young entrepreneurs don’t talk about often. I am going to. This wasn’t easy to write. I stopped myself several times to write something else. It’s got to be done. It’s going to sound a little dark.

It starts with the intention to be disruptive, creative and strategic. It starts with the belief in the idea that you were born for a purpose and you have a mission you deserve to accomplish. Your belief becomes your message. Your belief needs to be clear. It needs to express what you feel deep inside.

We have been told time and time again that goal setting is an essential tool for achieving success in business and in our lives. That's true. But what we are not always told by goal setting experts is that goals themselves do not change anything.

What type of mindset do you have? In a ground-breaking research study conducted by John-Erik Mathisen and Jan Ketil Arnulf at BI Norwegian Business School, there are two mindsets that most aspiring entrepreneurs have, one of which is likely limiting your potential as a young entrepreneur.

The biggest mistake you can make in your business and in your life as a young entrepreneur is to try and protect yourself from failure. If you want to become who you want to be, you must be willing to fail. If you want to get hired, you must be willing to get fired.

Are you feeling frustrated and stuck in business and with your life? It could be because you are too fixated on performance. You may be ignoring the learning and growth opportunities that are in front of you. The uncomfortable things in front of you might be what you actually need to get to the next level of your business.

Goal setting is a common prescription most young entrepreneurs use when they’re looking to perform at a higher level and grow their businesses. There is nothing evil about that. I believe goal setting is how you become who you want to be. Using goals to unlock massive growth in your business seems like a noble thing to do.

I believe being professional, smart, persuasive, fun, and social is not enough to become who you want to be as a young entrepreneur and improve the quality of your business and life. Don’t get me wrong. It’s important to be professional, social, smart, and fun. You should strive to be all of those things.