What is the secret sauce used by entrepreneurs to create successful businesses? How do they overcome obstacles, maintain razor-sharp focus, and exemplify ironclad discipline? Well, they’ve mastered an essential ingredient of running a business, which is self-motivation.
And what does motivation mean anyway? The perfect definition of motivation is the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Or, we can simply say it’s the desire/drive within a person to do something with the sole purpose of achieving a particular goal.
Every entrepreneur starts their businesses with a lot of passion and clearly defined goals. However, it’s easy to lose motivation along the way and, as a result, give up on their dreams. Here are some of the self-motivation hacks for entrepreneurs in the early stages of creating a successful business.
Always remember why you started in the first place
Every entrepreneur is lured into owning a business by thought out reasons such as financial freedom or being their own boss. As time goes by, they end up working long hours, doing a lot of work, and earning less than when working for someone else. Before you know it, you lose the motivation of hustling on.
When you started your business, you had clearly defined “why” you had to. Unless you changed your mind, that’s the reason your business should exist. Remind yourself of those reasons as often as you can to keep your energy high. It seems like a minor thing to do, but it’ll keep you motivated to put in the hard work that comes with creating a successful business. The more you focus on the “why,” the more fulfilled you’ll be along the way.
Know what you’re supposed to do each day
When you know why you started a business, you can determine what you’re supposed to do each day to achieve your goals. Start each day with a well-defined set of tasks to complete by the end of your day. Knowing that there are tasks you must do creates a sense of motivation that won’t quit all day long.
You can create daily routines to make sure you subconsciously complete specific tasks commonly known as habit stacking. A habit stack is a series of small actions you do in relatively the same order each day. You’ll never (or rarely) skip a step because the habit is set, and each day, you’ll go from one activity to the next without even thinking about it. After all, we’re all creatures of habit; we might as well use that to our advantage.
Create your own rules
Self-motivated entrepreneurs have the courage to create and follow their own rules for life. They don’t allow other people, groups, subcultures, and external forces to influence their self-perception, goals, vision, and dreams. Another way of saying this is that what works for them is the most important thing. That’s why some of the most successful entrepreneurs have quirky behaviors, thanks to their rules.
If you can rise above external pressures and create your own guidebook for living, you’ll definitely create enormous personal motivation. It could be what you eat, when to go to bed, when to wake up, working hours, the type of people to hang out with, or hobbies to help you unwind after work. The rules you set can produce massive amounts of self-motivation, which, in turn, helps to fuel high achievement.
Have short term and long term goals
Another way that self-motivated entrepreneurs push forward is by using the power of goals. What do you want to accomplish in the next five years? What about the next three months?
Goal-setting does something to the mind. You might not have something today, but the fact that you planned to have it by the end of a certain period keeps you moving, knowing that you’ll achieve it as long as you keep working towards that goal.
LifeHack’s Dustin Wax explains it like this: “According to the research of psychologists, neurologists, and other scientists, setting a goal invests ourselves into the target as if we’d already accomplished it. That is, by setting something as a goal, however small or large, however near or far in the future, a part of our brain believes that desired outcome is an essential part of who we are — setting up the conditions that drive us to work towards the goals to fulfill the brain’s self-image.”
The science of setting goals basically says that the simple act of creating the goal helps to drive the accomplishment.
Conclusion
Self-motivation is one of the underlying forces that set apart successful entrepreneurs from those who stagger from one neglected startup to another. It keeps them going even when it doesn’t make sense to the rest of the world, why they should keep pressing forward. And when they fall, it helps them reevaluate, learn, get back on their feet and work to make their business succeed.
When you see a determined entrepreneur, what you’re watching is an incredible amount of goal-oriented behavior. Self-motivation is like a propulsion system that transforms individuals from passive participants into active leaders.
Featured Image by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay