The life of an entrepreneur isn’t always smooth sailing. It is no secret that there will come a time when they would lose their sense of direction in the vast world of entrepreneurship. They could end up losing sight of their goals because of some unforeseen challenges that bring them to the brink of sinking. But being a great captain of your ship takes experience and real-life training to navigate your way to your destination.
Just like in entrepreneurship, being the captain of your business would require a lot of years of experience to be great. And comes with it, the possibility of burnout and overwhelm which could lead to one’s loss of drive.
In our previous blog post, we have enumerated the reasons why entrepreneurs can’t gain their drive back. Now, we will be telling you how to regain your edge because losing it, is bad for your business.
Recalling Your Big Why
Every entrepreneur has started out with their Big Why. Their Big Why could either be: an ambition to earn more than what they have with a 9-5 job, spend more quality time with their loved ones, a dream to travel wherever they want to go, a deep passion for helping others or simply because they are tired of the mundane life in the corporate world.
Whatever it is, it is important for entrepreneurs to always recall their Big Why in times of struggle. Sometimes simply asking ourselves, why and for who am I doing this? can be enough for anyone to keep going and stay motivated.
So, what is your Big Why? What’s your reason for making this huge decision in your life and business? Isn’t it worth all these challenges and struggles you’re currently facing?
Perfect Day - Envisioning and Planning How to Get There
Envision yourself in your current, frustrating situation and compare it to where you want to be. At what state do you want to be in? What is a Perfect Day like for you? Your Perfect Day isn’t that too different from your Big Why.
Your Perfect Day should also motivate you, and every entrepreneur, to keep pushing forward amidst all challenges. Challenges are only temporary and can be used as lessons to grow — grow to be someone you never imagined you could be. And before anything else, nothing works out perfectly without a plan. Success just doesn’t happen without a concrete plan and goals that are set to achieve.
Set Clear and Achievable Goals
It can be overwhelming at times when you have a 1-year, 3-year, or 5-year plan, but wouldn’t exactly know how to get there. It doesn’t hurt to start out small. Stacking up small goals is the best way to achieve long-term goals.
Start with your quarterly goals and break them down to how you can achieve them on a monthly, weekly, and daily basis. Keeping track of your daily tasks sets the momentum and will motivate you to complete the succeeding tasks. Before you know it, you have this whole list of goals you have accomplished so far, and you will be amazed by the results you’ve got with consistent determination.
Celebrate Small Wins
As you go through your daily and weekly tasks, you should be able to be proud of yourself for the progress you’ve made. Celebrating your small wins will give you the motivation to keep on going and move on to the next task you need to accomplish. With these small wins, it also doesn’t hurt to reward yourself! Just make sure that these rewards do not affect your progress negatively. (We love celebrating with a glass of wine and good ol’ conversations with the team!).
Having an Accountability Partner
If you haven’t already noticed, all of the points we have mentioned are greatly related to motivation. In order to have a consistent feeling of motivation, it is important for entrepreneurs to have an accountability partner or support group. Operating your business without an accountability or support group can be lonely because you wouldn’t have anyone to share your successes and hardships with.
The rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship will be hard without having anyone beside you and to hold your hand through the thrill of it all. No one would be able to congratulate you on your progress, nor critique you when things aren’t going the way you want them to be. There are thousands of people like you out there who would be giving you support and imparting you with lessons to be a better entrepreneur.
Don’t be shy to explore Facebook groups that have the same interests you. You would be able to share your knowledge with other entrepreneurs as well who are not as experienced as you in the field you’re in. With this, loyalty and connections are made that would be beneficial to both of you in the long run.
Apart from having an accountability partner and a support group, you could also invest yourself in valuable training with a business mentor — such as Sebastian Schieke.
Sebastian Schieke is a 7-figure entrepreneur, business angel, and investor. After experiencing 25 years of success with his own companies, yet witnessing the struggles of other businesses, he saw a need for more great business leaders in our ever-changing world. Sebastian is dedicated to making a positive impact by empowering motivated individuals to become exceptional entrepreneurs.