Most times when you’ve just started as an entrepreneur, you might find it extremely exhausting, or hard to set tasks and goals for yourself without any support. Of course, it is difficult and stressful but it worth it in the end. You may also find it hard to balance the combination of entrepreneurial tasks with your personal life.
As an entrepreneur it is very easy to lose any form of motivation, the only way to survive is to never give up and find ways to stay motivated. I have found ten ways to stay motivated and I will love to share them with you in this post.
1. Set your goals
As an entrepreneur, you have definitely started a business with some specific goals and targets in mind, objectives you want to achieve, and some core values you want it to live by. The problem is that everyone or most people who start a business don’t know that you need two different goals, that you need to set which are; the business goals which you already set when you start a business, and the other which we always forget is the personal goals.
It is crucial to set your personal goals which means what you want to achieve as an entrepreneur or the reason or reasons you wanted to be an entrepreneur.
2. Success stories
They are several millions of success or motivational stories of entrepreneurs from different fields making it in the real world. Use those stories as a source of motivation, and most importantly learn from these stories. If you have encountered a specific problem, look at how other entrepreneurs solved them in the past.
3. Join an entrepreneur’s club
You can join a group, seminars, a reading club, or a social group consisting of other entrepreneurs. In this groups, entrepreneurs from various field regroup to tell their peers about inspirational books they have read or share findings and learn from others while allowing to discuss all things relating to entrepreneurship and business.
4. Maintain a good life style
While stress is inevitable, learning how to cope with it is important, because that sometimes demotivates, we are sometimes too busy to take care of ourselves physically. Maintaining a healthy diet, engaging in some exercise, and giving some time to yourself away from work is very good.
5. Creating a daily routine
To make sure you have a productive day, you need to start it properly. Once you have woken up, showered, and had breakfast, you should relax and create your list of goals for the day. Try and make three-quarters of your goals business-related and the remaining one-quarter personal. Some may say having a daily routine almost makes them a robot, “Maybe” but the main purpose of a daily routine is to help you stay focused, organized and help you accomplish much work with less stress involved.
6. Have a reminder
Even with a list of goals displayed in front of you, it’s easy to lose focus, losing focus can get you very irritable and lose motivation as well, so it is good to have a reminder. You can set an alarm reminding you to:
- get some tasks done by specific times
- get off social media and focus on your work
- send emails to shareholders
- publish blog or social media content
7. Do stuffs that motivate you
You really don’t need to be focused on work throughout the day. It is necessary you take a break to do things that inspire and motivate you. Doing motivational activities can also drive your entrepreneurial success. In your personal time you could watch motivational talks (I like Ted Talks), movies, documentaries, listen to music you find uplifting.
8. Have a good night rest
Sleep deprivation is very bad and most times we put work above sleep. Lack of sleep may result in low productivity, lack of concentration and motivation, and sometimes fatigue. If you get a sound night’s sleep you’ll notice you are more energetic, and more productive when you continue with work.
9. Set challenges with loved ones
The best form of motivation is from your friend and family. They can pick you up when you are feeling low, congratulate you when you achieve your desired goal, and encourage you when you are in a slump. You can also engage in a bit of motivational peer pressure by challenging each other with various tasks.
10. Reward yourself
Reward yourself after a job well done. Whether they are big or small, your entrepreneurial victories are a milestone towards the overall success of your venture, your rewards could be dinner at a nice restaurant, a vacation to an island, organizing a drink with friends.
In conclusion, the key to staying motivated is remembering why you went on this journey in the first place. Staying positive and using some of the tools outlined above will help you improve and remain motivated.
