Staying motivated against it all

We hear it all the time and it makes sense the moment you begin your own journey that motivating yourself to get the work down takes just as much effort as sitting down and getting to grips with the work load. How many times do you feel like throwing the towel in for a few days to regroup, but then you look to your side and realise that other peers are still going at it and are reaping the rewards?

Like Thomas Jefferson said “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”.

To get you in the groove – here are my favourite tips to keep you motivated even on those hard days:

Be clear with yourself about what you want

I believe this is one of the best ways to keep your ship sailing against any storm. Once you have the exact idea of what you want to do and why you want to do it, things begin to click together a lot easier. This certainly makes the pressure of late nights much easier to handle – this work load is more of passion and love rather than a burden.

The exciting part is, once you have chosen to do something you love, you will never feel as though you are working a day in your life. When I first got into writing, I found it hard to complete things, I was having a rough patch and I sat down one day and asked myself one question; why are you a writer?

After I answered that question, I reminded myself of why I started and where I would like to take my passion. It’s a brilliant exercise to question your actions and I would really recommend it.

Make your routine a habit

Developing a routine is easy, write it down and manage your time, but getting it to work for you every day is where habit comes into play.

You will never be able to tolerate doing something day in day out by sheer force, it becomes tiring very quickly – so developing a habit makes child’s play of your daily to-do list. Even something as tedious as scheduling tweets can be turned into a force of habit rather than using will to force yourself to carry out this task on a daily basis.

Try not to jump in with a full list of things, break your habit in slowly by choosing one task and bild on it over time.

Keep yourself physically healthy

There is nothing harder than trying to push through a crazy work load if you are physically not feeling your best. Try to not only assess your mental state, but also your physical. Building up your motivation to get things done is fantastic, but you will need the physical strength to get the ball rolling all the way through.

Ask yourself; do I get enough sleep? Am I eating properly? Am I feeling low on energy for no reason?

Don’t just take these things as a fad if it is consistent, book some time off to speak to our doctor. I had an experience with my iron levels that really affected my performance and daily energy levels. At first I thought it was just a matter of not getting enough sleep, but after making changes to the amount of sleep I got, nothing changed.

I went to see my doctor immediately and after a blood test, I was diagnosed with low iron, which explained a lot. It is very important to take care of our bodies as well as our minds.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

I have heard this phrase so many times, but it wasn’t until I was placed in a situation that made me uncomfortable and I was certainly out of my depth that I realised how true this is.

Remember that the discomfort you feel only means you are experiencing something new…

This something new is about to shape your life and create and even greater person at the end of that journey. You may be uncomfortable because you can see where you need to take your business, but you are confused about how to do it. This throws a lot of people out of whack and they begin to unravel - don’t let this happen! This discomfort is saying; well we are finally here, we are at the point where growth is around the corner and now we need to figure it all out so we can get there.

This may see you going to the right networking events, making that phone call or talking to that one person you knew you would need to have a word with at some point but didn’t feel ready. Once you get things moving, there is no going back and that discomfort will eventually transform you and your business.

There are so many tips and tricks out there on how to motivate yourself to be greater, but at the end of the day; you need to first love what you do, and all those sleepless nights will seem like an endless sleepover will be a story for you to share later on down the line. It is all a learning experience and as with anything there will be low days, but never allow those days to spill into your good days.