How to Keep Yourself Motivated to Your Business

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Is your business currently full of challenges or setbacks and you feel that you are fighting an uphill battle trying to overcome them?  As a result of these challenges, have you ever felt like giving up because you lost your motivation to continue? Don’t despair; almost every business owner or entrepreneur goes through this. However, quitting is the worst decision you can make because you are having a brownout (not a burnout) and probably need to take a timeout to learn some quick tips on how you can keep yourself motivated.

10 Quick Tips to Help Keep You Motivated

1.  Associate yourself with other successful people in general and/or in your line of business. If at all possible, pick their brains–ask them questions about how they dealt with challenges similar to yours. There is a good chance that if you network with those business owners who are successful or have already achieved what you want to achieve, you will eventually be successful also.

 

2.  Set goals– write them down and review them often.   check-list-md This is very important because if you have goals that you can visualize, they will keep you focused. You have to review them often because your goals can change over time and may need to be adjusted, especially when they no longer motivate you. One goal-setting technique I learned several years ago was to put all my goals into a “dream book” (scrapbook) where I had pictures or images representing my goals. For instance, if your goal is to make $100, you could put either a Monopoly® 100 dollar bill or a picture of a US 100 dollar bill onto a piece of paper as a visual representation of that goal.  It is also a good idea to separate your goals into different categories, such as: Family, Fitness, Fun, and Financial.

 

 

Angry Customer clipart

 

3.  Avoid negative people. This may include family and close friends.  Decline invitations to “pity-parties”. If you continue to hang around people who either do not support or believe in what you are doing in your business, they will eventually bring you down and depress you. Do not even argue with a negative person because you will be wasting your time and energy which could be better spent doing something meaningful for your business.

 

 

 

4.  Practice working on having a positive mindset. Reading books or quotes or listening to CD’s that encourage you to develop a positive mindset helps feed your mind with nourishing information. This is something that should be done on a daily basis because we are constantly bombarded by so much negativity from television, radio, and social media.

 

tv-trash-no-tv

No TV!

 

5.  Turn off the television. Limit the amount of time spent watching TV.  Watching just one show on TV can easily turn into an entire evening in front of the television, which ends up wasting time that can never be recaptured. Instead of watching television, spend time doing something that will help you grow and improve your business.

 

6.  Stay spiritually connected. No matter what your religion or spiritual belief is, you should take the time to pray, meditate or do whatever you need to do maintain your spiritual health. For instance, every morning I read scripture from the Bible. It helps me get my day started off on the right foot.

 

7.  Believe that you are a winner. If you don’t have faith in yourself, don’t expect anyone else to believe in you. It has been said that sometimes it is necessary to act like the person you want to be before it becomes a reality. Remember the saying, “Winners never quit and quitters never win”.

 

8.  Take action.  Don’t procrastinate. If the challenge you are currently facing seems monumental, try breaking it up into smaller steps. The important thing to remember is that you have to start somewhere, even if it is baby steps at first. If you make a mistake, don’t be discouraged. Expect to make mistakes along the way; that is how you will learn not to repeat them.

winner trophy9.  Reward yourself.  Remember to congratulate yourself when overcoming a business challenge or reaching a goal. This will serve as positive motivation and will encourage you to keep moving forward.

 

 

Customer Service clipart10. Talk to your customers.  Customer feedback, both positive and negative, will help you find ways to improve your business as well as generate new ideas that will re-energize your business. Without customer feedback, you would have no way of knowing how well your customers’ needs are being met. Feedback could be in the form of either a customer survey or a suggestion box for customers to put their suggestions in.

 

Conclusion

The above list is by no means all-inclusive. I am quite sure that you could probably think of more ways to keep yourself motivated. The most important thing to remember is to not make the final decision to quit just because you have temporarily lost your motivation to continue. Take the time to find out what technique works best for you in keeping you motivated and stick with it. Below are quotes from some notable people regarding motivation:

“To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business and your business in your heart.”– Thomas Watson

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”– Bill Gates

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.”– Winston Churchill

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”– Thomas Edison

Best wishes for success and stay motivated!

Deidre

Sources:
1. “14 Great Ways to Stay Motivated” by Jordan Taylor, editor of Real Estate Investor’s Newsletter. Article found in Rich Dad’s Education Wealth Intelligence Academy 2009 Workbook, page 41.
2.  “5 Ways to Stay Motivated as a Small Business Owner” by Susan Lou. Posted May 20, 2014 in ThriveHive.com
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12 thoughts on “How to Keep Yourself Motivated to Your Business

  1. jessie palaypay says:

    How do you deal with people who have a woe is me mentality especially if they are close relatives? Its not like they can be cut out of that persons lives but I know it is understandable to surround yourself with winners.

    Lately, my latest roadblock is that I have been behind on posting content for my business because I am having writers block and don’t know what to write on. This has contributed to my lack of motivation. How do you deal with that?

    Thank you for your help,

    Jessie

    • Deidre says:

      Hi Jesse,

      I completely understand what you mean when you say that you have writer’s block and don’t know what to write about. This has happened to me also. My writer’s block lasted for 4-5 months. During that time, I looked over older posts I have written, looking for something within that post that I could expand on or even update. I also used Kyle’s alphabet soup technique using Google search just to brainstorm on new ideas. If you are not familiar with this technique, go to:

      https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/alphabet-soup-technique-using-google-instant-to-find-keywords

      Using this technique has helped me in that it gave me several new ideas that I could write about based on what people are searching for on the internet. I find that it is a great way to brainstorm for new ideas when you cannot think of anything yourself. As for keeping yourself motivated, keep looking at your written goals as to why you want to succeed in WA. If your goals are no longer keeping you motivated, then it may be time to consider changing them. In the meantime, try to stay away from people (relatives included) with the “woe is me” mentality. I’m not saying cut them out completely, but just do not ask them for advice regarding your WA business because they may not be able to give you the moral support you are looking for. I also think that it is important to set aside some quiet time–no phones, TV, or other distractions– to work on your business, even if you have only an hour.

      Hope this helps,

      Deidre

  2. Vlad says:

    Motivation is a fickle thing when it comes to business.
    The idea is simple – as long as you keep trying your best, you are bound to succeed eventually. this is basic statistics, the longer you keep at it the better the odds in your favor.
    Yet people grow doubtful very quickly due to may factors, some of which you reviewed here.
    I think that the most important things to do are to tell yourself that you can do this, put 100% of yourself into it, and tell everyone and anyone who doubts you to get lost.
    What do you think?

    • Deidre says:

      Hi Vlad,

      You do make some important points here. Yes I agree that motivation is fickle in the sense that it is very hard to maintain for long periods of time especially when you are not seeing success right away. Before I got my first WA sale, I found it hard to stay motivated. However, I kept telling myself that if I Do Not continue working on my site, I will Never succeed. Since I did not like that option, I kept on, and eventually I succeeded. What it really comes down to is this–You must believe that you can succeed before anyone else will believe it. It is also important to stay away from people who are negative about online business opportunities like WA , as they will make you doubt yourself. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

      Deidre

  3. Lynne says:

    Hi Deidre

    Thank you, this is exactly what I needed to read right at this moment!

    I do have a number of challenges with one of my businesses and it drains me to be honest. I think just taking a step back to think how I can address these challenges is what I need to do.

    Perhaps I should also stop stressing about it. I have had plenty of challenges in the past and each time it just makes me stronger in the end!

    • Deidre says:

      Hi Lynn,

      Yes, I believe that sometimes if you are faced with either making a tough decision or having a business challenge, you have to stop for a moment and think about what needs to be done.

      Perhaps this may help you. I do not know if you have ever heard of the late Dr. Robert H. Schuller, former pastor of the Crystal Cathedral Church in Garden Grove, CA. He had a method he used to solve his problems that came up during his ministry. He called it “Count to 10 and Win”. He listed the problem or challenge at the top of a piece of paper. He then brainstormed and listed 10 solutions to that problem. While listing the 10 solutions, he just wrote whatever came to mind; he did not care how crazy or impossible each one seemed. Once all 10 solutions were listed, he then went through each one, thinking about how to make the solution happen. By using this method, he eventually solved his problem.

      Thank you for taking the time to comment on my post. I really appreciate it. Hope you find a solution to your current business challenge. Best wishes for success!

      Deidre

  4. James says:

    Hello

    Excellent article, I was just browsing when I came across your article. Thank you for sharing this information with us, I have found some very useful pointers to take away with me. I know others will also benefit from it. You clearly know your stuff.

    You seem like you know a thing or two about money and online business, I came across this video and opted in for the training, please could you take a look at it and give me your opinion, i don’t want to fall victim to another scam. its http://amazingacade.me?p=a9379&w=m6_v1

    I hope to hear from you soon, I will pop back in a few hours to hear your response.

    -Jack

    • Deidre says:

      Hi Jack,
      I am glad that my tips were helpful to you. I did take a look at the video (for the first 5 min) you sent me. While it’s
      true that many people are making money on Amazon.com (which is a great company), I think it is still highly competitive–that’s
      just my personal opinion. From what I have heard, I question why they are stretching out what you need to start your business into 4 videos.
      Since you have already opted in, keep an open mind and see what they are offering you. Perhaps my other post may help you as well,
      “Avoid Choosing the Wrong Business Opportunity”
      I hope the Amazon opportunity works out for you. However, if you should decide that this is not for you, let me know.
      I have some other opportunities on this website that may interest you. Hope to hear from you soon,
      Deidre

  5. Matthew Thomas says:

    I’d have to say that out of your 10 quick tips to help keep motivated, the most important ones for me personally are #2 setting goals & #8 taking action.

    Goals are paramount when it comes to business, and even life in general, as it gives you something to strive for. Never be complacent – always work to build, not maintain. I set goals every year for my business and review/modify on a monthly basis.

    And of course, taking action. You’ll never get anywhere without taking action. As my business grows, I’m constantly trying to expand my knowledge and apply the methods I learn. What’s the point in learning if I’m not taking action?

    Great list and I’m sure this will help many current and future business owners be successful.

    • Deidre says:

      Hi Matthew,

      I agree with you that having goals and taking action is very important in being successful in WA as well as in life in general. Even if a person is unsure of how to proceed with something, at least he/she should make an attempt–do something rather than nothing. Doing nothing definitely will not help a person reach that goal. However, doing something may at least bring the person one step closer to that goal. Thanks for your kind comments.

  6. Andres Santos says:

    Great post Deidre. You’ve provided some great tips. Especially the ones about associating with successful people and avoiding the negative ones. I always tell people that haters will hate no matter what you do. That’s what’s great about Wealthy Affiliate. The support you get from your peers is like none other.

    • Deidre says:

      Yes Andres, I agree that avoiding negative people is one of the keys to achieving success. Negative people most often depress and discourage you from moving forward. Since we are surrounded by lots of negativity from either the media or other people, we need to counteract this by keeping positive. WA provides a perfect platform for this. Thanks for commenting on my post.

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