This blog post originally appeared on Paul Saunders’ website.
Staying motivated as an employee when things are not going well is hard, being the head of the company only makes staying motivated harder. Getting yourself through those tough times are going to be crucial in whether or not your business is going to be able to succeed. Here are five ways to not lose focus when everything seems to be going wrong.
When your business is hitting a rough patch, it can be hard to remember why you decided to open. Self-reflect when that happens, and think of all the good that your business has done, and how much it has succeeded since it first started. Think of why you decided to open your business, and the passion that you felt when you first started will come back. When you can bring passion back to your work, it will reinvigorate the way you look at the situation you are in. If you can do that, you will be able to keep pushing yourself in those tough moments.
Who you associate with does change who you are. You may not notice it at first, but who you keep company with changes how you think, what you say, and how you act. With that knowledge surround yourself with positive people you feel are successful. They will help you when you are down because they want to see you succeed. If you surround yourself with negativity, you will become negative in the process. You will begin to think you are going to fail no matter what you do, and you will stop trying to help your business. This won’t reflect on your behavior in significant ways, but it will show in the small things you do. You will give your customers poor service, or you will stop trying to fix things your business needs. When you think your business will fail, it will. If you stay positive, you will be able to look at what you are doing right, and still give the customers what they want and need.
Break up your goal with milestones
When you have a big goal in mind, it will look like a daunting task. If you break the goal down into achievable milestones, it won’t seem impossible. When it does get tough, you can look at how much progress has been achieved since you began. Understanding the development of something you have created will make you feel accomplished. Feeling accomplished will make you want to continue that feeling. It will give you the encouragement you need to keep moving forward. You will also be able to see what the next milestone is, and seeing that will let you know what you have to do next to reach it. It helps develop your business when you lose your way.
Have your own mission statement
All businesses have mission statements that guide their actions. It’s what they are trying to accomplish so that they will be successful. If you have a mission statement, it will guide you when things get chaotic. This self-reflection will give you the chance to think of what you want to do, and what you value. Your mission statement will remind you of what you are aiming to achieve while helping you not lose focus on what is important.
While focusing on your mistakes when you are already down, may seem counterintuitive, it isn’t. As long as you are focusing on how to improve yourself from the mistakes. Looking at what you can do better, and learning from them is a skill that everyone needs to have. Knowing that you have a solution to a problem that brought you down will give you confidence, and you won’t feel as stressed if the problem shows itself. Not only that, but as you learn from your mistakes you become a better leader, and problem-solver. All skills that you need to run a successful business.
When you lose motivation, it can be hard to get back on track. Staying motivated is a fight between your mind and yourself. Don’t let it tell you that you can’t accomplish something, keep preserving until you get back on your feet. If you need to force yourself to become motivated, then you need to do it, because it won’t always feel forced.
Paul Saunders 