Have You Lost Your Motivation to Be a Business Owner?

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The Entrepreneur Ride

"Nelson Mandela said that "It always seems impossible until it's done." -

I’m sure that you have heard that being an entrepreneur is not for everyone. It is definitely one heck of a rollercoaster ride. There are so many ups and downs. Sometimes the ride up or down can happen so fast. Then other times that ride up happens very slow!

There may even been some days when you asked yourself “What am I really doing?” This is the number one question we tend to ask ourselves when we hit a few tough days or weeks in row. I am talking about those days or weeks when nothing seems to be going right.

But during those tough times, there are a few keys things that help to motivate us. In this article, I will be discussing four things helps you find your motivation to continue to be a business owner.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, Nelson Mandela said that “It always seems impossible until it is done.” This is such a relevant statement for us who are business owners, especially those of us who are founders.

We get so caught up in the daily tasks in our business, and in some instances, doing everything in our business, that our motivation takes a massive hit some days.

What is Motivation?

Motivation is a drive or need that we have to change something within ourselves or within our environment.

Our level of satisfaction within our business can impact our level of motivation. In case you missed it, in the blog article from last week, I shared some information on job satisfaction for business owners.

Our motivation should energize us to take action to gain the things that we want. As business owners, we are taking actions to accomplish the goals that we developed for our business.

But when we encounter a roadblock or a setback, whether personal or in our business, our motivation levels can take a massive hit. Then negative thinking might set in and we start questioning what we are doing in our business or why we even have the business.

Funny thing is that those are questions we already know the answer to. It is just that on those tough days, we need to remind ourselves about the answers. There are four things that can help us remind ourselves and help us find out motivation again.

Four Things to Motivate Business Owners

Those four things that we can use to motivate us are things that we already have in our business, but we might temporarily forget about them when we are going through tough times. No worries. I will remind you of those four things now. 

1. Vision statement

Remember that you reflected the road map for your company in the vision statement that you created. It reflected the long-term goals that you want to accomplish in your company. If you are not getting excited by your vision statement, it may be time for you to revisit your vision statement for your company.

2. Mission statement

The purpose of your company is what you wrote in your mission statement. Think of the why or reason for your company. That is the purpose of your company. Your mission statement should make you smile and get you into action, if it isn’t then you need to find out why not.

3. Goals

You spent some time working by yourself, with your team or with a business coach to write SMART or SMARTER goals for your company. You then broke down each of those big goals into smaller goals or objectives. Those objectives helped you to outline your action plan for the actions that you will be taking in your company. Not all of those tasks were going to be easy or quick. So our big goals in our business have to motivate us as we complete the small tasks.

4. Accomplishments

This one is sometimes avoided by many business owners. Within our schedules, we should have time when we evaluate what is happening in our business so that we can identify successes. In moments when your motivation seems low, look back at those successes, especially where you came from to where you are now.

Also, if you have received awards and public recognitions, look at those things and remind yourself of why you received them in the first place. By the way, there is no accomplishment or success that is too small to serve as a motivator for us when we are having tough moments.

If none of these four things have increased your level of motivation, then I encourage you to have a consultation with a business coach and get some help identifying the underlying

issue.

If you might be thinking that your low levels of motivation might be related to feelings of depression, then please seek out a mental health professional to help you through that feeling.

As Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible, until it is done.”

We will have tough days being an entrepreneur, but our vision, mission, goals, and accomplishments should serve to boost up our levels of motivation so that we continue taking action.

If you are ready to get help with finding the underlying cause of your motivation issues, submit your coaching application and see if you qualify for a customized coaching program to meet your specific needs.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article.

Regards,

Dr. Priscilla "Dr. P" Kucer

Solutions+Actions=Results! (SoAR!)