It’s so easy to get discouraged in business. Perhaps you have a fantastic week of great success, but then it’s followed by a week of belt-tightening and worry. Maybe you have to cancel that dinner out with friends and eat pasta for another night.
Business can be hard. I was there once; we all were. Success doesn’t happen overnight. Neither does failure.
But to avoid failure, you sometimes need to sacrifice and work a little harder.
How do you do that? Keep yourself motivated! Here are some great ways to stay motivated:
1. Create annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals for yourself. Make them reasonable to attain: requiring some work but not impossible. Develop goals that are directly tied to (a) your business and (b) specific and actionable tasks you have to do. (In other words, don’t make your goals reliant on other people). Write down a list of things you’ve always wanted, whether it’s a new coffee mug or a tropical vacation. Figure out which ones are worth more and put those beside the hardest goals to accomplish and which ones are worth less and put them beside the easier goals. That way, you’ll have appropriate rewards for each goal.
2. Create a motivation sheet to look at. Take an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and cut out pictures and words from magazines and photographs that pertain to your goal. For example, if you have the goal of being a millionaire by the time you’re thirty, write that on your page and add pictures of things that you would do or own if you were that millionaire. If your motivation is to give your children a great life, simply put your kids’ pictures on the page. Then, laminate the page and hang it up by your computer (or wherever you work) and look at it constantly.
3. Use visualization techniques and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to put yourself in a positive and focused frame of mine. Visualization is easy: simply picture yourself in the lifestyle you measure as a successful lifestyle. Live in it… breathe in the smells, see the sights, hear the sounds. Check out some of the helpful NLP resources online or at your public library.
4. Fill your life with positive, motivating people. As difficult as it is, break off relationships that are demotivating and negative. The short term pain of ending those poisonous relationships will be largely overshadowed by the long term joy you will add to your life.
5. Do what you love. If you don’t love what you do, or you begin to sour from doing it, sell your business and find something else to do. Your success is important, but your success is not measured solely by wealth… your happiness and well-being are important parts of that, too.
6. Take regular breaks through the day and take a vacation. Nothing brings you back to your desk refreshed like some time away. Even if you just check into a local day-spa for some long overdue “you time” you will return to your business with renewed vigor.
So you’re probably reading this and wondering to yourself, “Diane, did you suddenly become a psychiatrist?”
No, I assure you that I’m still doing what I love to do. I know, though, that it’s so easy to work so hard and want success so badly that you give 120%. Unfortunately, we’re simply not wired to give 120% for very long.
I want you to have all the success you can… and these are some ways to fuel your tank!
Author: Diane Hughes
