Today’s guest post is written by Mark Harai.

I often read articles about the bliss, excitement, and glory of being an entrepreneur.

Don’t get me wrong, these are certainly part of the overall journey, but typically just the icing on the cake.

Everything in between the start of the climb to the icing at the top define you as a person and shape your entrepreneurial career.

Dealing with bills, budgets, and payrolls isn’t glorious. Driving day-to-day operations, motivating the crew, and meeting crushing deadlines may sound exciting, but it can be daunting. It will seem as if everyone and everything is conspiring to derail you and your plans. It can really suck!

Pushing through constant resistance and overcoming challenges on a daily basis requires commitment, mental toughness and hard ass work.

Before you buy into the bliss of entrepreneurship, one must first understand and accept the realities to have staying power when the tough gets going.

1. Entrepreneurs Take Action

Entrepreneurs take action. They catch a vision and build businesses out of thin air. Their mindset is centered on organizing and leading people vs. being led by someone else. It’s the strength of their commitment and conviction to their ideas and vision, coupled with a ‘right now’ attitude that drives the entrepreneur.

2. Failures Are the Building Blocks of Entrepreneurial Success

Entrepreneurs will experience failure more often then success. Out of the dozens of companies they start over their career, only a small percentage of them will become successful. Failures are actually the foundation of a successful entrepreneurial career.

3. Entrepreneurs Don’t Quit

Persistence is the key ingredient to entrepreneurial success. You will be emotionally, mentally, and physically stretched. At times you will even question your convictions and beliefs. The key to successful entrepreneurship is to never, never give up!

4. Entrepreneurs Are Born To Do What They Do
Entrepreneurs are wired differently. They don’t look for jobs – it’s not part of their nature or thinking. They create them. They look at needs in the marketplace and build companies to fill those needs. Building businesses and putting people to work is just what they do.

5. Entrepreneurship Can Be Lonely

Entrepreneurs must rise above all of the naysayers that called them dreamers or fools, ignored the laughs and giggles of friends and family, and embraced a vision much bigger than themselves. If you need the support of others to get busy following your dreams, then entrepreneurship is not for you.

6. The Foolishness of an Entrepreneurs Heart

It’s the foolishness of an entrepreneurs heart that tells him/her they were born to build great companies that in fact provides the power to actually accomplish it. This belief in ones-self has been behind every great movement or company in history. Without it, you won’t succeed.

7. Entrepreneurs Are Extraordinary
Safe doesn’t change the world. Doing things the way everybody else does won’t change the world. Being normal doesn’t change the world. Being extraordinarily you and committing 100% of yourself into your vision and work is the only way you can create businesses out of thin air and make them roaring successes.

At the end of the day, there just aren’t that many people on the planet who can pull this stuff off. Doing so is the fulfillment and accomplishment all entrepreneurs seek after.

There’s obviously much more to all of this and it would be great if you would add some of your wisdom, insights or comments below for the benefit of the community.

Mark Harai is a serial entrepreneur based in Costa Rica. You can read Mark’s personal blog and connect with him on Twitter at @Mark_Harai.