How to Stay Motivated
I opened up the floor for others to suggest today’s blog post topic and decided on “how to stay motivated”.
I’ve heard several entrepreneurs recently share their struggles – struggles from overcoming challenges to staying consistent in writing. It’s tough. It’s really, really tough.
As I mentioned in the past, many people assume the hardest part of startups is making the leap into entrepreneurship. That’s tough, but the greatest challenge is overcoming the CHASM. The greatest challenge is staring down doubt and overcoming hurdles over and over. There’s even a period referred to as the “trough of sorrow”.
Tips on staying motivated:
- Ground into your why. The why is what fuels your passion. It’s the reason you started. If it’s powerful enough, it’ll keep you going.
- Find tools, whatever they may be that gives you energy. For me, that sometimes starts with a simple motivational video.
- Surround yourself with supportive, like-driven people. Atlanta is really thriving as a startup hub with a vast network of entrepreneurs, startup spaces, and dream-chasers and achievers.
- Take a step back and reassess your situation and your direction.
- Be vulnerable and ask for help. This is why I read Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly. Staying motivated sometimes means opening up to others to ask for the support and encouragement needed.
“Staying motivated” implies you’re already in-flight on your idea, passion, or startup. A piece of advice that can help before you make that head-on jump: Can you pursue this idea or passion on a steady basis as a hobby? Sometimes, making a big plunge is too drastic and requires too much change which can quickly deflate interest and motivation.
There are a number of ways to stay motivated, but the big ones are grounding into your why, and reaching out for help.