For each of us, what motivates us in our work or business can be, at times, different. Are you motivated by challenges, or having lots of different things to do, helping people or making money (nothing wrong with that by the way), or something else? To maintain motivation, it might be about making an impact, being acknowledged, stardom, being needed, leaving a legacy or something as simple as providing for your family and showing your children what a great parent looks like – leading by example.
Once you clearly know what motivates you, then you can build a strategy to remind yourself of that point. If it’s money, then review and track your wealth and money growth. If it’s about helping others, then checking in with clients to ensure they got value or you were able to help them, will help to ‘fill your bucket’.
Here are a Number of Different Tips to Maintain Motivation:
1. Review the business’ mission statement.
What is the why? Especially if the business has been around for a while, or had a previous owner. What their ‘why’ may be different from the current owner and team. Being really clear about your ‘why’ is important. Why do you do what you do? Why does the business even exist?
2. Set some goals and make a plan.
You know what they say about a goal without a plan, it’s just a dream. It’s nice to dream, but in business (and often in work) we need to have a vision and direction in order to not only be motivated but also to know where we are going and how we will get there. When you have direction and purpose, you are far more motivated.
3. Have mini goals and KPIs.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the things that we have in business that tell us if we are likely doing well. It might be a certain number of leads a week, or number of contacts in your database, or perhaps the number of 5-star reviews you have on your Google My Business profile. By setting, monitoring and (hopefully) achieving these things, business will be doing better. You’ll see that happening in each of these KPIs and know that ultimately business will be doing better too. You see these little wins and it lifts the spirit and makes us feel better. If you’re not achieving, then have little very achievable goals to work on and achieve positive outcomes.
4. Ask for reviews, testimonials and feedback.
This is just good business, but when you get people saying “Donna, you’re an awesome business coach” that really makes me feel great. One of my motivators is helping people and making a difference so when someone tells me this, they literally “make my day”. Naturally having more Google reviews is a great marketing strategy, but it’s actually good for the soul as well and so if you’re needing a lift, ask for some reviews.
5. Tell yourself a different message.
If you keep saying to yourself “I’m over this” or “I’m bored” or “I’m sick of this” then you hear it enough from yourself and you’ll not only be believing it, but probably telling others the same. Set a positive mindset and tell yourself a different story and message, so that you soon start believing and living a different (positive) message. A lot can be said for mindset and attitude!
6. Do what you love and you never work a day in your life.
If you really hate your job or your business, then why are you still in it? Now, when I say hate, I mean hate it most of the time, most days of the month. We all have down days or hit roadblocks (that’s life) but I’m talking about being in a situation you hate most of the time. This can sometimes come back to knowing your ‘why’ and ensuring that you’re still in for the right reason.
7. Start with a routine, especially a morning routine which will set you up for the day.
This includes exercise, reading, meditation and visualization. Don’t forget a good breakfast too! A routine becomes a habit and you’ll soon find yourself starting every day in a positive way.
8. Set some time for yourself.
When we are busy (as we all are these days) we need mini breaks and ‘time out’ to relax, recharge and reset. That time should be at regular intervals within the day, but also have some special time each week just for yourself. Entrepreneurs usually get completely caught up in their business, that is why you need to set your personal time during the day.
9. Try a new approach to fight off boredom.
They say a change is as good as a holiday and speaking of … make sure you regularly take holidays so that you can properly recharge.
10. Plan ahead and set reminders.
It can be difficult to stay in a routine even if you have made a plan of action. You should make it a habit to set reminders throughout the day to work on important tasks and have daily goals set.
11. Learn (but don’t stay focused on) from your failures.
We all make mistakes and without focusing and lamenting on those, learn and move on.
12. If you’re motivated by rewards, then set mini goals and reward yourself.
It’s better to have a few mini goals and rewards along the way, rather than one big item at the end. Lots of little wins will keep us going longer for the big win at the end.
13. Feeling stagnant – then perhaps it is time to raise the bar and exceed our own expectations.
We are frequently capable of more, so let’s do that. Stagnation is a big stealer of motivation.
14. Find an accountability partner (or business coach or life coach like myself) to keep you motivated and on task.
When you share a goal, share a challenge and share a win, it’s better. The challenge in business is that often no-one knows (other than ourselves) if we are slacking; unless we connect to another person to help keep us on track.
15. Connect with positive and like-minded people and especially connect with motivated and positive people.
We are the sum of who we hang out with. Other people’s manners rub off on us, so connect and hang out with the people you admire, respect and want to be like.
16. Find inspiration in others, books, videos, apps, podcasts and so much more.
There are a trillion motivational sources out there – connect with a method that works for you. Even upbeat music can make a difference, as can mindset books, motivational quotes etc.
17. Relive past successes or envisage what success in the future will look like.
Once you start imaging it and seeing it, then you’re just that step closer to living it.
18. Never underestimate the value of a good night’s sleep.
Check out my blog on the subject once you’re finished reading this article.
19. Feeling burnt out? A change might be needed.
The change might be to give yourself permission to go a little slower, have a break or a holiday or change what you do and how you do it. If you are completely burnt out, and a holiday makes no difference, it might be time for a far more dramatic change.
20. If you’re lacking focus in day-to-day activities, there are a number of resources to help with this.
Naturally, discipline is one, but also there are a number of Apps which work well. The objective is often to focus for a solid 25 minutes and then have a 5–10-minute mini break, before you again refocus for another 25 minutes. Apps like Forest are great to keep that focus going – for whatever period you need.
21. Discipline should never be underestimated.
Whilst some motivation comes from others, ultimately a lot of our own motivation and focus needs to come from within. That means having the discipline to do what needs to be done, even if our motivation at the time is somewhat lacking. Pushing through that lack of motivation and lack of incentive to keep working will help you get things done. The thing is, the more you do, the more you feel motivated and the more you achieve. It’s somewhat of a cycle and definitely has a ‘snowball effect’.
I hope these tips are helping you feel more engaged, motivated and inspired. If you are needing any coaching (business or life) or need an accountability partner to keep you on track – love to hear from you. My passion is your potential.
