Five Easy Tips to Staying Motivated in Your Scrapbook Business

Staying motivated in your scrapbook business, especially in a down economy, can be tough. However, it is not impossible. Staying motivated is an ongoing process that includes several areas of your business. This includes yourpysical well-being, mental attitude, your interaction with others (clients and potential clients), and your home environment.

If you want to stay motivated, strive for success, and continue to grow your business, follow these five tips and watch for positive change.

1. Maintain a Positive Attitude - Realize that life is only 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. You are responsible for your own actions and attitude. However, you can change your attitude. When you are around people that are positive, you become upbeat as well. You will have more confidence in yourself. If your workplace is organized you will experience higher productivity. You might even find you look forward to working in your business! I know the more productive I am, the more I want to continue working towards my goals.

2. Leave Personal Troubles "Home" - Everyone has problems, but don’t allow them to enter your business. Turn your attention and energy entirely to your tasks at hand. Your customers and clients deserve 100% dedication. This will actually be good for you because you’ll get a mental break from your worries.

3. Create Positive Affirmations -Writing down your goals for your business provides the same result as creating positive affirmations on paper. What your eyes see and ears hear, your mind will believe. Create affirmations that are applicable to your needs. For example, if you tend to procrastinate, utilize statements such as, "I know I’ll make good use of my time today" or "Just do it!". If you are a Christian find applicable Bible verses to mediate upon. "With God nothing is impossible!" Repeating them out loud everyday will help reinforce positive actions.

4. Make Sure Break Times Are Really Break Times - This is an area where most entrepreneurs fail. You become so intense about finishing a project that you don't stop to take a break. Thinking that it’ll be solved in the next few minutes, and then you’ll get a cup of coffee. The next thing you know it is time to quit for the day. Oftentimes, by getting up and walking away from a project you'll be able to return refreshed and really finish it up within minutes.

If you work on a computer this is even a greater problem because you have been working in the same position for hours. The solution to this is to pysically get up every hour or so and move around. Which leads us into our next tip...

5. Exercise, Exercise, Exercise - I know, not what you want to hear. I am not saying you have to join a gym. Go outside or have a play break with the kids, enjoy the sunlight, or just get up and do a few stretches. Concentrated, tense thinking, typing, and scrapbooking can make your muscles tighten and knot up. Periodic stretching, even at our desk, or just getting up and walking over to the window and getting a different view can help.

I also encourage you to remember your "why". Why did you start your business to begin with? Re-examine your business plan. Have you veered off course? Renew your motivation and dedication to your goals by visualizing your why. It only takes a little concentrated effort on your part to stay motivated and be productive, which leads to success.

 back to WAHM articles...

Recomended Resources:

• Free Report - Scrapbook Business Survival in a Recession
• Free Report - "Effective Yet Simple Strategies to Getting More Done when Working From Home" by Nicole Dean 
• Homepreneur Habits -How much time do you waste every day because you're interrupted or end up surfing the web or checking your email? Stop it right now and develop good habits for becoming a successful and productive “Homepreneur”.