The surefire way to stay motivated while running your business every day
Do you sometimes wish you were... how do I put it... a bit more motivated in your work?
Let’s talk about that today. Because - let’s all agree - getting un-stuck from mental ruts is one of our biggest challenges. Do you agree?
I know it is for me.
Whether I’m alone working from home or out shooting all day, there are days when I end up crawling to bed physically and mentally exhausted. Long hours and longer days, filled with clients… shoots… consultations… errands, team calls, etc… And after those there come the hours when I hear that unpleasant voice of doubt in my head (as well as heavy feeling in my chest - like a big clunky piece of metal, pressing me down, making me feel drained and exhausted):
“Why am I doing this? Where do I want to go with this?
Can't I take one more nap…? Of course I can! The World has waited this long, it can wait some more.”
Naps are nice, but work hours tick fast and we need to meet those weekly and monthly goals. As they say, the show must go on… Whether we like it or not. But therein lies the question one of my clients asked me a few days ago: HOW do you stay “on the roll” and keep pressing forward?
Here’s the first thing I immediately thought of: Hire some talented people to work with. A freelancer. A virtual assistant. Working with people who are excited about what I do keeps me self-accountable and focused on the prize at hand. Seriously - it works. And there's a lot more to it than just that.
The key to this little trick is getting them involved in tasks that are vital to your business - particularly if they can do those tasks better than you can.
For instance, I currently have content available for sale: I created online courses that help people up-level their content visuals, and I’m doing 1-on-1 visual branding consultations. These are the tasks I’m on top of, but I kid you not - I have an entire wall covered in large post-it sheets full of tiny scribbles with tasks I still need to accomplish in order to move my projects forward - all to prevent being stuck in same place for months (or even years) at a time! Think: Getting more speaking engagements, doing more interviews, developing the blog, writing more guest posts, and creating more consistent content in general. All of it in order to grow.
With us being growth-oriented people - our biggest nightmare is fast forwarding to next year and watching ourselves do the exact same thing we’re doing today! Ahh, the frustration! Are you feeling the same?
Photo by Oscar Keys via Unsplash
So, naturally, I’m hiring and working with people who are helping me cover those bases. Work on tasks that will grow the business and stimulate change, not the ones that I’m doing everyday anyway.
I have a wonderful team helping me format my content and free me to not only work on my vision, but also making sure the work I started gets finished - a copywriter, a graphic designer, retouchers and a small group of virtual assistants - all of whom I’m deeply grateful for.
On top of that, I’m beginning to work with an ad agency. It’s an exciting new beginning, and I know without a doubt that they’ll further keep me on-target with my goals.
Of course, picking the right freelancers and agencies to work with is crucial. But it’s also extremely important to truly involve them in the heart of your business process - not just to handle some mundane tasks. Only then can they really help you break through those mental walls and shut up that voice that insists it’s time for another break! Think about those 20% tasks that REALLY matter, and assign your wonderful helpful team to those! The other 80% can wait. Or they’ll somehow magically get done along the way. Trust me - that’s what’s happening in our workflow all the time.
And one more thing. At the end of the day, if you can get people excited to show up for you, you’ll be motivated to show up for them. It’s a beautiful never-ending circle of feeding off one another’s energy! That’s why I always take time to remind my team how important each of them is to me: Because (a) it’s the truth, and (b) their enthusiasm is my lifeblood. It gives me strength, it keeps me going, and it forces me to show up. Every. Single. Day.
