It can be a pretty lonely life as an Entrepreneur or small business owner. Many of us work alone much of the time and it is quite usual to find ourselves at a crossroads wondering whether to keep going or take an easier route, particularly when things don’t quite go to plan.
Plans, goals, targets; all words we regularly hear from our mentors or see on motivational social media posts. But sometimes the road to success can be worse than bumpy and it can be hard to pick ourselves back up again and keep going. So at these times we need to make sure we remember why we are doing what we do, and I personally take a two pronged approach.
Firstly, I keep a ‘why am I doing this’ box. It is full of things from the past to remind me of things that have happened along the way. I have cards from clients that say really positive things, pictures the children have given me, tickets from conferences, press articles I have featured in – in fact anything I have collected through my entrepreneurial journey similar to that. It is also a great way of storing things when you have received them. Make sure the box is attractive and easily accessible.
The second thing I do is have a motivational sheet on my wall. This is much more of a forward look at where I want to be in x number of months or years. I put short and long term goals on there to remind me that however hard something is, it is going to get me closer to my next dream holiday, owning a campervan, buying a log cabin, taking the children to Disneyland. And some super small goals can really help for quicker motivation – day out to the shops, a massage, new hairdo, coffee and cake with a friend.
Taking time to remember your ‘why’ is a great start to any day and may just make it easier to get going each morning.