Feel like it’s all work, no play? Lost that mojo and spark? As a small business owner, you’re not alone when it comes to experiencing motivational burnout. To help get through those rough patches when you’re feeling a bit flat, we asked a mix of small business owners to share their insights and tips into what helps keep them motivated. From focusing on the bigger picture to educational podcasts, find your inspiration and motivation this Easter!
Oliver, Owner of host my bnb
How do you stay motivated?
Keep it light, keep it fun. Set easy short-term goals and early wins. This can help motivate you to go out and finish harder tasks. I also love giving my time to mentoring youths, as I work for a non-profit organisation called Generation Entrepreneurs, helping to teach Australian high school kids entrepreneurial skills. It helps to keep me motivated when I see such bright young potential.
Suggested motivational resource: Tim Ferris podcast, it’s great not only because he has interesting guests, but he is also interested in human potential from different types of industries.
Nicola Moras, owner and business strategist at http://nicolamoras.com.au/
What are your top three tips for staying motivated as a small business owner?
- Self-care. It is a big part of staying motivated and it doesn’t always have to be about going and having a massage or taking the day off. Self-care can be blocking out some time once per week for you to spend 3 hours just brainstorming about what you want your life to look like. It could be spending time reading a novel for enjoyment and not business or even going to the movies.
- You’ve got to have an outlet of some description that you can be fully immersed in. Personally, for me that is playing roller derby! I love that the only thing that I can think about when I get those roller skates on is the game, the people around me and requires my focus. It’s important because you’ve got to leave work at work. What is it for you?
- Do something you love. It’s critical that you are doing something every single day where you have the ability to do the work that makes you happy, that you find easy and that lights you up!
Jade Pearlhouse, Professional Ghostwriter and Content Marketer of Jade Pearlhouse
Motivational resources that I would like to recommend to my fellow small business owners are:
- Gary Vaynerchuk’s book “ Thank You Economy”
- Tom Bilyeu’s “Impact Theory” videos on YouTube
- Tim Ferris’ book “The Four- Hour Work Week”
Motivational tips? I don’t drink anything that has caffeine in it! My other secret is that I go to bed at 7 pm and get up at 3 am. Getting up at 3 am means I have at least 5 hours to 100% focus on my business before the world wakes up.
Casey, Founder of Grand Cru Digital
What keeps you motivated as a small business owner?
My motivation comes from wanting my clients to succeed with their businesses and from wanting to show people that there are good SEO providers out there. Unfortunately, there are some people in my industry who do little to improve a business’s online visibility. So many people get burnt and then lose trust in this form of online marketing before they can see the potential benefit.
I love what I do and I genuinely care about my clients and their businesses. This motivates me to not only do what I told them I would do but continually look to improve my business and services.
Lauren Clemett, Owner and Founder of Ultimate Business Propeller
What wisdom would you like to share to small business owners who may have lost their motivational mojo?
The one thing that changes your mindset around motivation as an entrepreneur or SME is making sure you have an emotional reason why you care. When you are engaged and driven by your belief in what you do, motivation is always there to draw on.
It is the passion and purpose behind your business that will see you through the inevitable tough-times and stuff ups. And they are inevitable.
As Jim Rohn once said, “the same wind blows on us all, it’s up to us to set the sails”.
Erin Morris, Founder of Young Folks: Digital marketing Agency
Top four motivational tips and ideas?
- Believe you can do better- I never let ego get the better of me, I know I can always learn something new and continually improve.
- Plan ahead– I have project management software to keep myself and staff on track.
- Set goals and celebrate- I make sure I’m always setting lofty goals and celebrating them with the team when we hit those targets. Our celebrations are always part fun and part professional development.
- Make a commitment to life-long learning- whether it’s listening to a podcast, studying, attending training workshops and conferences to ensure I’m taking care of my own professional development as well as staff.
Stay tuned for part two as we hear more from small business owners and what keeps them loving their day!
