How do you stay fresh, motivated and inspired?
This is a popular discussion that comes up in my conversations with small business owners. Those that have been around and have navigated changing times know the value of the “long game” and balancing work and time off.
Finding new ideas, people, goals and projects to rejuvenate and stay inspired becomes as important if not more, than making the sale. Without the will and inspiration, there is no sale.
We are not going to be inspired all the time. We will go through cycles, twists, ebbs up and down flows. Our business life is impacted by external things that continue to change at warp speed. Our personal life is impacted by internal things that we actually can control.
The great news is that we CAN succeed long term if we set ourselves up to.
The #1 Trait that Determines Long Term Success is the ability to
go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. –Sir Winston Churchill.
Very difficult to do, but doable. Many of the best-known entrepreneurs who achieved long-term successes, including Howard Schultz (Starbucks) and Steve Jobs (Apple), shared a common set of attributes and habits, says veteran startup mentor and investor Martin Zwilling.
They never give up, they learn lessons not make excuses, they innovate new offerings, they seek out new relationships and partners, they engage with positive, strong people and they know a higher cause is needed to drive long-term success.
How to Get Inspired, Stay Fresh and Fire Up Your Motivation
Here are some scenic routes you can take to discover new things about yourself and ways that you can rejuvenate and re-engage.
- Immerse yourself in new resources, websites, newsletters, information gathering services. There are so many credible, non political sites to choose from. Start here on Alexa’s Top Sites and do spend some time on one of my favorite trend sites: Trendwatching.com
- Join 1-2 new groups for networking and community involvement. This can be in your city, county, faith, hobby, family interests. Meeting people where you have a commonality can lead to many wonderful conversations and relationships. Choose what feels right and commit for several months so you can get to know people and they can get to know you. Ask people for some first hand suggestions and recommendations.
- Commit to one new regional or industry conference. Keeping up to date on your industry makes you a valued resource to customers and colleagues. Research which ones are most interesting to you, get some referrals, gather a few colleagues together to go with, or be really bold and go by yourself and meet new people.
- Make more face to face meetings and dedicated phone dates so you can really get to know people. Be selective, set goals for your interactions and be interested in others, which can inspire interest in you. Focus local but spend more time learning and connecting with others in your industry.
- Be bolder, braver and better at what you do, so you can help others. Strive to be the best in your niche or field. Contribute, write, get on a committee, take a course, volunteer, improve. Be a power of example.
Recommit to yourself consistently. We get buried in the work and the process and forget to work on us and enjoy the road we are on. There is much to see on the highway of life and business. Make your journey an adventure.
Explore, discover, be grateful and believe in your ability to succeed. If you believe you can succeed and you set yourself up to, you will.
Motorcycle Photo via Shutterstock
Aira Bongco
I think that getting inspired is a must for any type of business. You have to redefine why you are doing what you are doing on a daily basis to make sure that it is still in alignment with your goals.
Deborah Shane
Without truly wanting to do what we do and having an expertise to support it, long term enthusiasm and success is fleeting. This is still the biggest challenge to those who start a business.