Photo by Christiann Koepke on Unsplash
As you no doubt know, keeping a business going saps a lot of energy. Perseverance is key but it’s not possible unless you have hope.
There are seemingly nonstop weeks and months of business ups-and-downs, so you have to reach down deep inside for motivation to overcome obstacles to success.
You have to master the mental barriers to success. Positive attitude is everything.
Even if you’ve struggled for years to find solutions, you will ultimately win with the right mental approach:
1. Study terrific role models
Try to connect with role models who have experienced the success you seek. Make contact with authoritative people who have the mental strengths that you need.
Once after being laid-off by a major broadcasting company, I called the company’s nationally known president emeritus to learn how he developed his mental strengths. My peers couldn’t believe that I had the chutzpah to call such a successful man for his insights.
As the founder of the company, I learned the secret to his success — he was mentally tough. Really tough. I was stunned he knew exactly how I felt. He explained how his family once nearly starved in the 1930s and how he couldn’t pay the electricity bill in frigid rural Utah.
Career Tips: 5 Morning Habits of Winning Entrepreneurs
We met a few times and he gave me a big boost and I even learned eight career tips for shameless self-promotion.
He was happy to learn I was a voracious reader. Yep, you should read, read, read. If you can’t find such people with whom to interact, read news stories, scan LinkedIn postings, go to the library, and read biographies and autobiographies of anybody and everybody in any field who have overcome defeat after defeat.
Even if successful people are in a different career, you’ll find out how they overcame adversity. The principles to their paths to success will be applicable and transferable to your situation.
2. Surf the net for motivational movies, speeches and quotations
When your spirits are low, try surfing the Internet for entrepreneurial motivation. There are all kinds of movies, speeches and quotes that will motivate you.
Personally, I love stories about underdogs who persevere and overcome adversity. Many are sports stories. Quotes by athletes provide significant self-help motivation.
When your outlook improves, keep at it. Don’t ever lose your momentum and quest for learning.
You have to master the mental barriers to success. Positive attitude is everything.
3. Take personal responsibility to invest heavily in yourself
For a big morale boost, invest in yourself.
At a low point early in my career, I invested more than $10,000 taking university classes, and attending interactive workshops with experiential exercises.
4. Find peer groups
If you’re surrounded by negative people – family and friends – it can be a lonely existence. It’s imperative to connect with knowledgeable, positive and trustworthy people. That would be people who get you and have inspiring experiences to share with you.
You might have to go to great lengths.
When I was in a highly competitive situation without the ability to talk with local savvy experts whom I could trust, every month for nine years I either flew or drove 24 hours to a city in another state to network with peers at dinner meetings who were also accomplished in their careers.
As a result, I got objective information and was also able to share my experiences to help others in the group (which was personally satisfying, too).
“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”
-Warren Buffett
“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing,” Warren Buffett once said. If you’re really struggling, get perspective from successful people, and find and implement strategies for a successful turnaround.
5. If you can’t find afford a confidential business coach, get a mentor
During trying times, chances are you don’t have the mental acuity to power your way to success. With a great mentor, you won’t be alone in making career decisions. (Candidly, I didn’t have a father/role model when I was growing up. So, I used multiple mentors who generously shared their insights with me, just like a father would, at every stage of my career.)
Such quality people will give you objective feedback and counsel to help you navigate through mental struggles – the trials and tribulations of business and career.
Even after moving to other states, I called a trusted mentor long-distance.
When he retired to Mexico, the highlight of each week was being able to get feedback from him via a telephone call. It was very costly four decades ago but it was worth it as I knew I was investing in myself.
The mentors’ answers were invaluable. Their timeless insights accelerated my career and have served as ideas in the more than 1,000 articles in this business-coaching portal.
6. Put thoughts and ideas into action
The antidote for depression is action. Take baby steps in footwork. Footwork eventually leads to business. More business results in hope and more business.
With hope, you know that anything is possible including profits to keep your business dreams alive.
7. Feed off your employees’ energy
Savvy bosses know how to profit from their human capital. Such knowledge is a powerful weapon for high performance in a competitive marketplace. There’s a correlation among excellent sales, happy customers, and high employee morale.
Motivate your employees to offer profitable ideas.
From the Coach’s Corner, related information:
Business Got You Down? Tips for a Morale Boost — If sales are discouraging and you feel like you’re on a treadmill going nowhere, it’s probably because you’re worried about the future. Trust me, you’re not alone. The trick is taking baby steps and not worrying about the future results. Instead, focus on the positive. Business success and strong sales stem are made possible by enthusiasm, and an attitude of service and gratitude.
30 Time Management, Stress Reducing Tips — Tips that will enable you to take bold measures to invest in your future and make money by saving time and reducing stress.
Four Tips to Motivate Employees When You’re Facing Adversity — Effective bosses have antennas to alert them over looming challenges. If they don’t have such an antenna, it’s important for them to develop one for multiple credibility reasons. Even the bosses of small companies can suffer from image problems externally and internally. Either one or both will adversely affect profits.
With Employees’ Help, 3 Strategies to Succeed with Your Strategic Plan — Have you developed your strategy? It’s important to proceed without engaging in self doubt. But you’re concerned about involving your employees? There are three closely related basics in working with your employees to get the job done.
HR-Social Media Tips for Best Employee Morale, Culture — Social media affects your company’s culture – probably as much as the employees who engage in water cooler gossip. It’s true. Your company’s reputation is affected internally and externally by social-networking sites.
“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”
Albert Einstein
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