Lost enthusiasm in your business? Five things you can do to recover your motivation
Lost enthusiasm in your business? Every entrepreneur hits a tough patch at some point. If you’re wondering what the point is any more, here are five things you can do to recover your motivation.
Being your own boss equals freedom. It means having full control over your own life and making your own decisions – including when and where to work.
Running your own business sounds pretty amazing on paper. But as any entrepreneur quickly learns, it also has its dark side; times when you struggle to find the motivation to go on.
What do you do when your actions aren’t delivering the results you expected? If your timescale is stretching and you feel like you’re not moving forward? If you feel overwhelmed and are starting to wonder if it’s really worth the effort?
Five things you can do to recover your motivation
If you’re losing enthusiasm in your business, here are five things you can do to rediscover your mojo and find the motivation to carry on.
1) Talk to people who’ve been there before
The advice and experience of someone who has been there and come through it is invaluable. You’ll see that, despite the gloss of official company PR, most business owners have had their moments when it all felt hopeless too.
Talking to people who were in a similar situation to yours but overcame their frustrations will give you strength and energy. You’ll begin to get an idea of what kind of qualities and decision-making you need to do to get out of the rut you’re in, and trust that you can reach your dreams.
So where do you find these people? You’ll meet them at networking groups or mentoring. Or indeed any opportunity you get to have a one-to-one conversation with a business owner. If they seem approachable, ask them if they’ve had times they’ve felt like giving up, and how they got through it. Most seasoned entrepreneurs are happy to share their war stories.
2) Read inspirational articles
If you’re feeling like everything is gloomy, immerse yourself in a positive world; surround yourself with an infectious, can-do attitude.
Love inspirational quotes? Seek out ones that resonate with you and use them for your laptop wallpaper and print them out and stick them up where you can see them.
Even better, read inspirational books and articles by and about entrepreneurs who have achieved amazing things. You get extra points if they have a similar background to you (so they’re more relatable) or have also been through tough times and survived.
Trust us, nothing fires you up like reading about how someone like you overcame similar obstacles to achieve success. After all, if they did it you can believe you will too. (You don’t need to look far to find stories just like this – check out our hundreds of real life interviews!)
3) Ignore negative people
Just as positivity is infectious, negativity can easily be catching – so avoid it at all costs. If you know people who are always complaining, seeking out niggles to worry about, or moaning about how hopeless things are, you can soon find yourself unconsciously channeling (or worse, believing) their negativity – all of which is going to impact your motivation.
So, learn how to spot toxic people, and then give them a wide berth. Then seek out and learn how to build relationships with positive people, people who help you to believe you can want and achieve more, and see the sunnier, more optimistic side of life.
4) Look at what you’ve achieved
It’s usually more healthy to look forward in life. After all, you can’t change what’s happened in the past. However, there are times that looking back can be helpful. And if you’re having a bad day then that’s one of those times.
It’s easy to focus on what we haven’t achieved yet in business; the goals as yet reached and the distance we still have to go. Or get caught up in comparison with our competitors. But when we do this, we forget just how far we have come already. We don’t celebrate the successes we’ve already made.
So if you’re having a bad day, when it feels like nothing is working, look back at where you were six months, a year or two years ago. What have you achieved since then? What progress have you made, and how much more confident do you feel now?
Then take that awareness and project it forward. If you have made that progress already, imagine where you’ll be in six months, a year or two years’ time?
5) Spoil yourself regularly
One way to keep yourself motivated is to set yourself plenty of SMART goals – and rewards for when you achieve them.
So not only will you be able to measure and recognise success as you reach one goal after another, but you can acknowledge the achievement with a treat for your hard work. And if nothing else, knowing that treat is at the end of a period of hard work will keep you motivated!
6) Take time off
If you really feel demoralised and sick of your business, step back for a while if you can. Give yourself an afternoon, a day, a week, or longer off – however much time you can spare, and enough to recover your positive energy and see things from a different perspective.
And when we say ‘step back’ we mean completely switch off. Take a break from social media, and do something completely different. Spent time with your children, read a book, go for a walk… give yourself breathing space and allow your creativity and inspiration to return.
Then, once you’re ready you can pick up the reins of your business again, refreshed, revived and full of new energy and ideas.
SecuriAccounts supports small business owners in growth by providing bespoke and tailored bookkeeping services and start up assistance.
