Being able to motivate oneself to be productive is a very effective tool. And when you are in a position where you have to wake up every day and earn your own bread you cannot afford to feel demotivated and sluggish. You have to be driven every single moment to achieve your goals and build a successful business. Here are some motivational tips for all the entrepreneurs out there to feel constantly driven!
1. Have a strict daily routine
Change is a part of life but at the same time setting a structure to your life is just as important. Everybody comes across a phase in their life where their days just pass in a blur. Try to be far away from that place as much as you can and one thing that can help you do that is setting a productive routine for yourself. A human being is a creature of habit and forming good habits is the secret to success. Habits will be formed when you set aside a strict time bracket for yourself to do specific things. So if you decide to wake up early and write content for your blog for two hours you make sure you follow through. Another habit that successful entrepreneurs have is to write a to-do list every morning or the night before of all the things they need to accomplish that day.
2. Set higher than estimated standards for yourself
Aim higher than you think you can achieve. Goal setting is a very important step towards the success of all entrepreneurs. So make sure you set goals that are higher than the average person would think they can achieve, and mainly that you think you can achieve. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be honest with yourself and set proper rules and guidelines for both your personal and professional life. You know very well your boundaries, take an extra step and set goals which are a tad bit higher than that.
3. Read things that matter to you
Reading, in general, is a very productive habit that you can add in your life. But reading books and articles that are relevant to your industry is very important when you are trying to run a business. You need to be well informed about what is happening around you. You need to be aware enough such that if any layman asks you any question which even vaguely relates to your industry you should be able to answer it. Other than this, reading biographies or stories of top business legends, who know the ins and outs of running a business from scratch, is, of course, motivational and should be done regularly. Reading famous business magazines like Forbes, Fortune, Entrepreneur for entertainment purposes isn’t all that bad either.
4. Always remember what brought you into entrepreneurship
In your story of success, THE WHY is the most important. What started all of this, what made you get up one morning and decide that you will be building this business! There will be times in your startup career where you will feel disheartened and alone, and nothing will make sense. In those times, remind yourself about THE WHY. Always keep it in your front and center. For reasons like this maintaining a journal is of great help. Take a notebook, write down your why and read it every morning the first thing you wake up. That is enough to keep you motivated and give your best every day.
5. Treat failure as a stepping stone towards success
Successful entrepreneurs never ever fear away from failure. They know that failure is a form of success. If you haven’t failed even once the last year, you’re doing something wrong. Of course, nobody wants to make mistakes that lead to failures. But in my opinion, failure can only be considered true if nothing is done, or changed after the mistake. In any business taking risks is always important, any day 20 year old can come up with a business idea which is similar to yours but better and takes over the industry you need to learn more and take risks to expand your business and while doing that, failures will be common, but learn from them, do not fear them. Here’s a quote by Denis Waitley: “Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is a delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”
6. Have a Mentor
A mentor doesn’t necessarily have to mean Tony Robbins or any professional counselor or adviser who can lead you to success. It can be your best friend, a confidant, a parent, a partner, etc. Sometimes when you are in a funk, getting out of your head and asking for a second opinion from a third person who has a really fresh perspective can really help. So have someone who you can bounce new ideas off and discuss new plans. Getting a professional mentor is always better too, if you have the financial resources to do so. These people have a lot of experience and knowledge.
7. Surround yourself with people with the same drive as you
You can only run your business as a one-man army only until a certain point. Beyond which you have to set up an efficient team that will act as your clones and takes over specific departments and when the business grows bigger those teams will have their own small teams which are a sign that the business is moving in a great direction. But through all this, it is important to select your employees which are essentially people who you will be surrounded by every day very carefully. No 9-5 employee will work for their business like their own, there will always be that general bias. Keeping that assumption you need to select people who will be the closest to that. These people should motivate you to be better and people who you can not only guide but also learn from.
8. Read or listen to something positive each day
In this day and age, when you are constantly bombarded with information every moment, through Instagram pictures, blogs, facebook posts, podcasts, youtube videos, and more it is easy to get distracted and make yourself vulnerable to a lot of emotions which are out of your control. It is important to stay away from all this clutter of information and read or listen to something motivational every day to keep you going. Give yourself those regular positivity doses.
9. Take Risks
If everything is going stable and smooth, nothing bad, nothing extraordinarily good, it is time to wake up and do something scary. Taking risks is a very important step in every business. To expand your business to new levels you have to do something out of the ordinary without the fear of failure. Sometimes going with your gut feeling can do wonders for your business.
10. Practice Gratitude
Some of the very successful entrepreneurs have this journal called the gratitude journal, in which every morning they wake up and make a list of things that they are grateful for, This may seem like a very mundane task but it has helped many and it can help you too. “Most of the time when people ask me about motivation, 80 percent of the time I attribute it to gratitude. If you want real fuel to win, be grateful,” – Gary Vaynerchuk.
It is very hard to feel demotivated when you are grateful for stuff in your life. It has really helped a lot of people change their genera attitudes in life for good.
11. Take enough downtime
All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy. Don’t be Johnny. Working hard is important but taking some time off is just as important. Working continuously for long hours is scientifically proven to be counterproductive. Stress is not good for your body and your soul and you should get rid of it with the help of vacations, hobbies, small walks, meditation, hanging out with friends, etc. Set aside specific time for yourself to do nothing, grab a cup of tea and just relax, watch some TV, etc.
12. Never feel self-pity
Feeling sorry for yourself is a vain activity, let others do that if need be. No matter what hardships you’re going through feeling pity on yourself is never a good idea. You are what you think you are. So be a person who is strong-willed and the one who thinks that nothing can bring him down. Barbara Corcoran, founder of The Corcoran Group and a panel member on Shark Tank says: “All of my best successes came on the heels of a failure, so I’ve learned to look at each belly flop as the beginning of something good,”
13. Set for yourself a mission statement
Every company has a mission statement of its own which describes what the company stands for, its goals and its core values. It is a direct reminder for the partners and managers of the business. Similarly, you can keep a mission statement for yourself too to keep reminding yourself of your purpose and why you started this business, and what is your work ethic, what are your bigger broader goals in life, etc. Don’t make it too long. Put this everywhere, in your journal, hang in your office, read it every morning, tattoo it if you want to.
14. Reward yourself
Some self-love is important. Whatever small wins you come across in your business, make sure you celebrate them. Pat yourself on your back for every nice thing you do. This applies to your team as well, if they achieved something big or small, reward them. It will motivate you and them to keep working harder towards your goals.
15. Don’t get too busy finding motivation
Reading, watching, and listening to motivational content definitely has its pros but don’t get dependent on it. Don’t be that person who has to watch something motivating to start anything. Motivation should come within yourself for the most part! If you think you are lacking the motivation to do a certain thing for your business, read your “WHY” or your personal mission statement and just get to it and give your best. In today’s world, it is very easy to be a slave to your content. Don’t get there! Nonetheless, I sure do hope this article motivated you.
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This is a lovely read… Worth giving it a try. Thanks for sharing.