Hunger and motivation are the two driving forces behind business success, don’t you agree? Which one feeds the other, though I sometimes wonder. I believe that if you’re motivated you will tend to make things happen; you’ll leap over obstacles and realize your dreams.
How can you stay motivated?:
Review your goals at least daily
Focus on reaching them
Sharpen your hunger by taking personal responsibility for attaining your goals
If you find yourself veering off the path you’ve chosen for your entrepreneurial endeavor, or your life goal, it’s time to step back and reassess the situation. What steered you off the path you were following? Did the goals ultimately not align with your life? For some reason has the impetus for achieving a particular goal faded? Does it not matter as deeply as it originally did? Do you want to get back on that particular path or will that goal no longer serve you?
It’s never a bad idea to take a step back and assess your goals, especially if you find you’re no longer as hungry for them as you once were.
Want to know what a great stress reliever is? Being positive — having a positive attitude. There are days when the entrepreneur simply feels overwhelmed and when that happens, stress also happens.
Here are some steps I take (and you can too!) to embrace a more positive attitude and help your stress melt away:
Tap into a positive event that happened to you recently. Simply remembering a happier time can reduce your stress.
Mingle with optimists. Being with people who have upbeat attitudes will increase your positive feelings.
Believe in yourself. If you have the thought that you can be successful, chances are you will be successful.
Eliminate negative phrases whenever possible. If you find yourself saying, “I can’t,” or “it won’t work,” try to turn those phrases around to more positive ones.
Complaining may feel therapeutic at the time, but it will eventually sap your strength and your good attitude. Complaining will rarely solve an issue unless you’re confronting it head on and may even earn you the title of the “Eeyore” of the group for projecting a negative attitude.
One of the best ways to reduce stress is by being physically active. Exercise releases feel-good endorphins which boost your mood but exercise and keeping your body healthy helps your overall lifestyle.
Did you know that inertia feeds on itself? The longer you put off doing a task or making a call or even making a decision, the harder — and less attractive — it becomes to make a decision. Enter inertia.
Did you know you use more energy avoiding making a decision than you do by simply committing? It’s true. Also, the longer you delay making a commitment the harder the final decision becomes and you might even be dissatisfied with the outcome because of lengthy procrastination. Procrastinating on a decision can also lead to a snowball effect where you have myriad decisions piling up and in the face of them, the decision making is daunting.
On the flipside, though, making decisions leads to making even more decisions and accomplishing more than you’d imagined.
When you’re faced with a decision — whether it’s as life changing as: should I relocate? Take a new job? Have a latte or an espresso? — grab pen and paper and write down the worst case scenario for each decision that needs to be made. After that write down the reasons why you can’t simply reverse the decision once you’ve made it. If you find yourself going down a path that simply isn’t, or hasn’t, worked out. Take steps to reserve it.
Being frozen in place drains your energy and saps your emotional strength. Are you procrastinating any decisions?
Business owners invest in the business by purchasing equipment and hiring staff, but how often does the business owner invest in him or herself? Taking time to invest in yourself will help you reap rewards.
Here are some ways the entrepreneur can invest in himself:
Education matters. Continuing education in your profession is always a wise investment. Are there certifications you can earn? Courses you can take that will help keep you up on current technologies? Any education that can set you apart from the competition?
Investing in yourself outside of the realms of the business is crucial to mind and body. What can you do that will advance your life’s purpose? Are there goals you are working toward? Take steps every day to achieve them.
Stay healthy. As an entrepreneur the stresses are many and varied. You need to take time every day to exercise and eat with mindfulness. Better health will help you perform at your peak and will also give you more energy and reduce your stress.
Cultivate relationships. Yes, it takes a lot of hours and effort to sustain a business that will support yourself and your family. You also need to invest in your relationships though. Schedule time off for family time. Cultivating relationships also extends to business and networking events. No entrepreneur can exist in a vacuum.
Plan for the future. Whether the business is brand new or if you’ve been working it for decades, the future will be here before you know it and you need to be prepared to face it head on. Whether that means, saving and investing for retirement or working toward a goal for the time when you close the business and move onto other endeavors, you need to have a conscious plan for it.
10 Primary Differences in Men and Women When Multitasking….
1. MULTI-TASKING
Women – Multiple Process Oriented
Women’s brains designed to concentrate multiple tasks at a time.
Women can Watch a TV and talk over phone while cooking.
Men – Single Process Oriented
Men’s brains are designed to concentrate upon one work process at a time. Men cannot watch TV and talk over the phone at the same time. Men will typically pause or mute the TV while talking. They either watch TV or talk over the phone or cook.
2. LANGUAGE
Women more easily learn multiple languages, but find it more difficult to solve problems.
Men find it more difficult to learn languages, but can more easily solve problems.
On average a 3 year old girl has three times higher vocabulary than a 3 year old boy.
3. ANALYTICAL SKILLS
Men’s brains more space allocated for handling the analytical process. They can analyze a process and map solutions more easily.
When women view complex maps, they find it more difficult to understand. Women labor more in easily understanding the details of the map or process.
4. DRIVING A CAR.
The more analytical functioning of a man’s brain improves his ability when driving fast. When seeing an object at long distance, his brain immediately classifies the object, (bus, van, car, etc.), the direction and speed of the object, and he drives accordingly.
A woman typically takes longer to recognize objects, direction, and speed.
Mans single process mind automatically blocks the audio in the car (if any), blocking out the distraction, then concentrates only on driving.
5. LYING
When men lie to women face to face, they are more easily caught.
A woman’s more intuitive brain observes facial expression 70%, body language 20% and words coming from the mouth 10%, then combines the data to discern if the statement is true with surprising accuracy.
Men’s brains do not have this same intuitive capacity.
6. PROBLEMS SOLVING
Men’s brains more clearly classify problems, compartmentalizing them into different areas of the brain to find the solution one by one.
A woman’s brain does not classify the problems in the same way. She often deals with problems by wanting someone to hear them. Once her story is told she can resume life in peace. She is not as inclined to worry about the problems being solved or not, she want to know there are others who know and are concerned.
Relating this to the advanced intuitive characteristics of a woman’s brain, it may be that she is “designed” to identify and communicate problems a man may not see coming. Her expectation is that a man will assume and correct the problem using his more advanced analytical ability.
When a man fails to assume this responsibility, the woman may intercede, but not without some internal stress and anxiety as the result.
7. WHAT THEY WANT
In a nut shell…, (yes far over simplified, but characteristic)
Men want status, success, solutions, big process, etc…
Women want relationship, friends, family, etc…
8. UNHAPPINESS
When unhappy in their relationships, women find it difficult concentrate on their work.
When men are unhappy with their work, they find it difficult to concentrate on their relations.
9. SPEECH
Women more frequently use indirect language in speech. But men more frequently use direct language.
10. HANDLING EMOTION
Women often talk without engaging a significant amount of logical process.
Men tend to “act” without engaging a significant amount of logical process..
Have you ever felt a little discouraged, a little down, maybe even a little hopeless? We all have and it’s what you do when this feeling begins to creep in that makes all the difference.
I was sitting this morning writing in preparation for an upcoming “Keynote” presentation when my mind drifted… (does yours ever do that?). I thought back to a time not that long ago, when a series of events, one right after the other, left me exhausted, and I felt discouragement slipping into the recesses on my mind.
It all begins so innocent, so subtle. A little thought enters… “you could have done it better”, or “you should have been more prepared”. We can be quite harsh on ourselves at times. But as soon as I realized these thoughts were taking over, driving me down, I paused to take a different view of the thoughts.
You see, unless you interfere with the pattern, break the flow of self-condemnation and abasement; you will rapidly lose the strength to combat the problem. Before long, you become overwhelmed, with your focused shifted to a direction where solutions seem too far away to reach.
Before I go on, I want you to know, that no matter what has happened, it’s never too late to turn it around, and turn it around in a big way…, but first you have to “turn it on”.
“Turning it on” refers to the release of an endless source of energy, ideas, and creativity that lies within all of us. It never goes away, but we can allow it to become hidden, buried, and disguised so that we do not recognize it any longer. In fact, in time we can completely forget it is even there.
Let’s first take a closer look at discouragement so we can better understand the challenge.
Discouragement is:
Universal. Almost everyone has been discouraged at one time or another.
Recurring. You may overcome discouragement one week, only to face it again the next.
Contagious. Watch out for those who want to pull you down by indulging in negativity and self-pity.
Unpredictable.You never know when it will strike you or a loved one.
Temporary.It will pass if you respond correctly.
Discouragement differs from disappointment.When our expectations aren’t met, we feel disappointed. But discouragement, a feeling of despair and despondency, is a choice. We can choose to remain dejected or determine to work through our feelings and overcome them. So we may ask, “what are the causes of discouragement”?
The causes of discouragement are…
Inability to please others
Physical or verbal abuse
Unanswered prayer
Lack of proper recognition
Financial pressure
Health problems
Unexplained adversity
Feelings of worthlessness
Fatigue
We may also ask, “what will happen to me if I allow discouragement to remain”?
The consequences of discouragement are…
Divided attention—If you are discouraged, you may not be able to work wholeheartedly.
Placing blame—When you feel down, be careful not to dwell on the wrongs of others.
Anger and depression—Unless you address the inner roots of discouragement, you will never overcome negative feelings.
Estrangement—People push others away by constantly grumbling.
Loss of confidence—Every aspect of your life will suffer when you feel unsure of yourself.
Negative spirit—Remembering and rehashing painful events.
Unwise decisions—Discouragement can cloud your judgment.
H.Spiritual drift—Depression is fertile ground for seeds of doubt.
So how do you find the inner strength, remove the mask that hides the assets required to depart from the discouragement and “turn it on”. Let’s take a look at the cure!
The cure…
Look within yourself. Ask, Why am I discouraged?
Look up. Faith has the ability to rescue you from harmful attitudes.
Look back. Don’t dwell on hurtful things in the past. Instead, think about God’s faithfulness to deliver you.
Look ahead. Focus on what God is doing now in your life. Realize the fact that you are special, designed with a purpose and part of a much larger “strategic plan”. Then, be encouraged by what He has planned for your future.
Then, once we have mentally and spiritually dealt with the challenge, there are some specific steps we can take.
Rest. Physical and emotional exhaustion often lead to discouragement.
Nourish. When your body is depleted from the healthy foods it needs and the water it craves, your resistance to discouragement is weakened.
Reorganize your life. In other words, evaluate your use of time, energy, and other resources. Make sure you’re doing the right things in the right way. Clean house, organize your desk and make ready for a new flow of energy.
Resolve to trust God. Believe that He is in control (Ps. 103:19), loves you, and will never leave you (Heb. 13:5). He can turn any adversity into something beautiful, something good.
Resist discouragement.Ask God to reveal the best response to your difficulty. You will be amazed at the difference a positive attitude makes.
Are you tired of being discouraged? You don’t have to stay that way. Whether or not the situations around you change, you can experience joy, peace, and contentment. Circumstances don’t have to dictate emotions. Read the Bible and allow Scripture to permeate your mind and heart. Discouragement will lose its foothold, and joy will return.
Then there’s one last step…, the step that can make all the difference.
Take action!
You see at the root of the problem was some thought, plan, or responsibility that you did not act upon, or that you acted incorrectly upon. Now with renewed energy and cleared thinking, take action to resolve the challenge, do the work, and make the most of your newfound clarity and direction.
There are countless examples of discouragement in the lives of famous and accomplished people. In fact it is almost without exception found in the lives of those we respect as the greatest leaders of all time. But though discouraged, they did not allow it to take their lives from them. They “took action” and turned the darkness into light.
You, as I, as many others, can do the same thing. The best time to start, is always…, now!
