Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Key Takeaways

The habits that make immigrants successful in entrepreneurship are choices anyone can make, no matter where they come from.

Become a student before you become an expert, get comfortable being uncomfortable, and make resourcefulness your competitive advantage.

Balance high standards with empathy, and replace “I can’t” with “I’ll figure it out.”

Some of the best entrepreneurs I have worked with had something in common long before they built successful companies: They were immigrants, or the children of immigrants. In fact, Carnegie notes that immigrants have founded or co-founded more than half of America’s billion-dollar startups.

I think I understand why so many first- and second-generation Americans flourish in entrepreneurship . My family immigrated from Cyprus when I was eight years old. I didn’t speak English.…