Finding Motivation

Entrepreneurs and artists often experience a different sort of struggle than those who make a living from the beaten path. When you work a “regular” job, you go to a designated place. You’re told what to do. You go home. The groundwork is generally laid out for you and there are many facets of your job that you don’t have to think about. Things like your company’s website, the programs you’re using, where clients are coming from (with the exception of sales), or the cost of the materials you use at your job. The list goes on.

When you choose to step off that path and to lay your own groundwork, it can be overwhelming.

“Where do you start? How do you become stable? How do taxes work? What’s your next move going to be?”

A whole host of questions come up when you’re building your own business. Questions you didn’t even know you had until you embarked on your journey. With all of those unknowns, there is another issue.

Motivation.

Some days you’d rather sleep than get up and work towards your goals. Some days you wish your work actually ended at the end of the day. Some days you look around at your scattered notes and files and reminders and think “nope.”

When you are responsible for every facet of your business, it can be hard to stay motivated enough to get everything done. Especially if you find your passion alone isn’t enough to bring you to action.

Where Does Motivation Come From?

So how does one find motivation when starting their dream or keeping their dream going?

The short answer is: you don’t.

Motivation is cultivated daily. You craft motivation with your own hands and it grows slowly and steadily.

People assume that inspiration and motivation just happens by chance. Yes, there are those moments when you are struck by such feelings. The reality though is those moments can sometimes be far and in between. So rather than wait for those feelings to come, you have to be bigger than your feelings and take actions.

Action begets motivation.

How Does One Cultivate Motivation?

In 2017, I tried to go full-time as a freelance writer. It was going well until I didn’t get paid for a 2-week long project and had to go back to a “regular job”. That hit me hard and made me think “if that was my 110% and it didn’t work out nothing I will ever do will work out.” Now objectively I know that’s not true but at the time it was my reality and I found it harder and harder to stay motivated to get back to my dream. Too be frank, I was afraid.

Then, slowly but surely, I started to think about what went wrong, how I could have made better choices, and what I learned from the situation. What came from that was a small spark of hope but it wasn’t enough. I felt the hope but I didn’t feel motivated to do anything. So on the days I didn’t feel like actually writing, I did other things that supported my writing. I looked up resources for writers, I joined some virtual role-play groups, I built a website. Etc. Etc. As the year progressed, I found myself more “motivated” to work on my writing.

Small and frequent steps is the key. The more steps you take, the more you’ll want to do.

Staying Motivated

Another misconception is that giving your best effort means the same thing every day. If you haven’t already, please consider reading Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements. In it, one of the agreements is to always do your best. He explains that our “best” is fluid. When you’re sick versus healthy. When you’ve had enough rest and you haven’t. Etc. Etc. As someone who struggles with mental health, some days I’m only able to accomplish one task on my to do list. Other days I’m able to finish my tasks and then some. It’s constantly changing. What I’ve learned to do is to shift my perspective a bit. To focus on my dream and make sure that each day to try my best no matter what state I’m in.

That’s not to say every action has to be grand-it can be small actions but they must be frequent. In terms of creative content, I don’t always feel like writing and that’s okay. So some days I’ll work on a story, others just poems, while other days I may plot out a new business idea. I try to change it up so that I don’t get too burnt out.

Being Gentle With Yourself

It should be noted that it’s also okay to take breaks. In order to effectively cultivate motivation, you have to be gentle with yourself. On your best days and your worst days. As long as you’re trying your best, you can’t fault yourself.

Pro-Tip:

Back when I worked for Herbalife (in the dark times), we were encouraged to spend 10 minutes at the beginning of our day doing personal development. I actually found this really useful. When I would wake up, I would start my day with a motivation video. I found it cultivated enough inspiration for me to act.

Check out this one.

I hope you found this helpful and I hope you have a motivated day.

Peace & Love,

Shannon M.