Motivation/Success

Often times new business owners get lost in a sea of information when starting online. They buy hundreds of eBooks on how to make money, go to seminars, get private coaching, etc. And often, after all this effort, they still don’t make money.

Obviously it’s great to learn from others. However, everyone has their own unique methods and strategies for accomplishing things.

“There are many ways to skin a cat.”

Remember, no two e-books you read are going to be the same. Why? This is because every internet marketer has developed their own strategies and methods along the way.

No two marketers do their keyword research the exact same way, or use identical strategies for writing headlines. And yet there are thousands and thousands of people making full-time incomes online, even though they all do it a little differently. This means that you don’t have to follow a certain formula to make money, because there are many paths to success online.

And as you take action, you will also develop your own individual style. So the important thing is that you just take action and learn from your mistakes. If you try to follow someone else’s guidelines to the letter, you could get held back.  Read more or post a comment...

When it comes to business, being motivated is key. Without it, your business will never become successful. And with the lazy days of summer, or in my case the hectic summer, you may need a little motivation to work on your business in preparation for the busy fall season.

Lack of incentive is one of the biggest reasons that 95% of start-up businesses fail.  If you are really willing to go after something, you will stop at nothing to get it. However, most people give up long before they reach their final goal.

So the obvious question is, how do you get motivated? It’s actually not hard. Here are two ways to do it:

Set specific goals

Let’s face it, you really can’t be motivated if you have no direction. You have to have a strong “why” or else your business will probably never become profitable.

You’ve no doubt heard about goal setting before, and maybe you’ve even read books about it. However, until you sit down and write out your specific goals and set a deadline for them, you are going to have a hard time making money.  Read more or post a comment...

Monday Motivator

It may sound contradictory to think of someone being fearful of success, but it happens more often than not. For whatever reasons, many of us are wired to fear our own success. It may be that achieving that success brings us out of our comfort zone or simply puts us into a situation we’re unfamiliar with. Whatever the reason, letting fear sabotage your plans can be detrimental to you personally as well as your scrapbook business success.

Here are a few tips to help you overcome the fear of success once and for all:

See the “big picture”. Many entrepreneurs feel paralyzed with fear once they look at all the minute details of a business venture. Some of the most successful business owners of our time have done the exact opposite to avoid this feeling. Instead of concentrating on minute details, they concentrate on the big picture. They know that the small details will get taken care of.

No one expects you to be familiar with every aspect of business, and there are many tasks that can be outsourced. You can also ask for help and advice when the time comes to complete each task.  Read more or post a comment...

Perfectionism can rob you of your self-esteem, undermine your relationships, and keep you from enjoying life. It’s often a lifelong habit that is hard to break, but a little bit of effort can go a long way toward changing the perfectionist pattern. Here are some tips if perfectionism applies to you:

1) Weigh the cons. List all of the ways in which your perfectionism is hurting you, your family and friends. This exercise will help motivate you to make a change.

2) Take note. Try to document your perfectionist, negative thoughts throughout the day. If this is impractical, then at the end of the day think back on your day, remember any feelings of failure or inadequacy, and write down your thoughts at the time. That way, you’ll become more aware of these detrimental thoughts when they resurface.

3) Think positive. Mitigate your tendency to focus on the negative by making a conscious effort to notice all that is good about your own and others’ efforts. If you notice something negative about yourself or your work, find five or so positive qualities to counterbalance those thoughts.  Read more or post a comment...

Monday Motivator

Self-Discipline Can Be Learned

Can self-discipline really be learned? Absolutely! In fact, most of us are not born self-disciplined. It is a skill that we develop through time if faced with the right situation.

If you’re a new entrepreneur and are struggling to stay disciplined, don’t despair. You are not alone. Staying disciplined requires hard work and a lot of planning.

Here are a few tips to help you develop self-discipline:

Know what it is you want. The first step to building discipline is to know what you are aiming for. Accept that you may have to work hard and long for the things you want. This way you know what you’re getting into and accept that you’ll have to remain disciplined to achieve your goals.

Be strict with yourself. Nothing worth anything ever really comes easy. We have to work for the things that really mean something in life. Prepare yourself for this by being strict with yourself. Set a work schedule and break your tasks down into manageable steps. Work at each step daily until you achieve your goals.  Read more or post a comment...

Monday Motivator

Developing self-motivation is something you may not have thought about before you started to work from home. Most work and life structures have been set up to provide motivation from an outside source.

For example, if you work at a job outside the home, instant motivation would be provided by the fact that you are working in a monitored environment where there is not much other to do than work. And so you work.

When you go to school, instant motivation is provided by a teacher who checks to make sure you have done your assignments.

But when you work from home, you don’t have an instant motivation source on tap. In fact, if you have your own business, it may be time to learn a whole new set of skills you haven’t used previously.

The good news is that self-motivation can be learned. It’s not something that will come naturally to all of us, but with a little work and time you can develop it. Here are some tips to help you get started.  Read more or post a comment...

Monday Motivator

There are some people who can work at any business – whether selling doughnuts or raincoats – and remain passionate. These people are often passionate about business itself so it doesn’t really matter what they’re selling; what matters is the thrill and chase of building a business.

However, for many of us, the trick to running a successful business is to be passionate about what we do. Here are a few tips to help you build a business you are passionate about.

Know your “why” – Early on in your business, write out a mission statement. While these statements can seem stuffy and old-fashioned, it really does make sense to take the time to write one out. A successful, passionate business owner will be able to state what they do and why they do it in a few short sentences.

Take a little time to think about why you want to do what you’re doing. What is your end goal? Is it more money? Is it freedom or a sense of achievement? Is it to help others, or all of the above?

Defining your why is your first step to building a passionate, thriving business.  Read more or post a comment...

If you find you’ve strayed from your business goals slightly or are simply looking for a way to refocus and recharge, then these tips will help you get back on track.

Write it down. You may have written your goals down previously, but perhaps your situation has changed or you simply need reminding. This is a good time to write your goals down and start focusing on what it really is you want.

Plan for success. It’s been said that if you fail to plan you plan to fail – a statement that many entrepreneurs have found to be very true. Start planning your success by creating a clear outline of what you would like to achieve on a day-to-day basis. This step, along with a clear list of goals, will help you really narrow in on what you’re working towards.

Set up a dedicated space. Laptops are very convenient but sometimes it’s really worth setting up a dedicated space to work in. This will help you keep all your files and important documents in one place and may also help you set up a clear work routine. In other words, you know that when you sit at that space it’s work time.  Read more or post a comment...

Small Business Owners: How to Kick-start Your Momentum

Momentum is a great thing. At its height, it makes you unstoppable. It’s the times when everything seems to come together effortlessly and your business just gets better and better.

Unfortunately, keeping momentum isn’t always easy. A lot of us find that coming up with ideas or getting stuck into a project are great fun, but staying dedicated once the going gets tough isn’t always so much fun. So how do you kick-start your momentum when things slow down?

Here are a few ideas:

Remind yourself why. This may seem obvious but sometimes just taking a step back and remembering why you’re doing this is a great starting place for kick-starting momentum. Focus on how you felt when you started the project or business, and remind yourself of your goals and desires.

Keep track of your goals. If you haven’t done so already, writing your goals down will help you focus and stay energized about your business. We all need something to work towards and having clear goals will help make it easier to stay focused.  Read more or post a comment...

You’re a mom and an entrepreneur. Often there’s a fine line between the two and the back and forth juggle from one to the other can make it difficult to stay motivated. Here are a few tips to help savvy mompreneurs stay focused and motivated.

#1 – Set a schedule. One of the best ways to stay productive when working from home is to separate work from home. By setting work hours you say to the world and to yourself “I’m now working and can only deal with work.” Once your work hours are finished you can then move on to other tasks. This is exactly what you would do if you worked outside the home.

Being strict with yourself and setting a work schedule means that you not only get more done but you keep motivation at an all time high. It’s very demoralizing to fall behind on your work and this can really send any motivation you have into a nose dive. Avoid this trap by working to a set schedule.  Read more or post a comment...

As an entrepreneur you may hear a lot about networking and wonder what all the hubbub is about. Networking, both online and off, is a wonderful way to build connections in your industry. It’s a great way to increase awareness for your business and to build your customer base and ultimately your profits. You probably know that already. What you may not know is networking is also a great way to motivate yourself.

Networking exposes you to other business leaders, entrepreneurs and motivated individuals. Even if you don’t have a single competitive bone in your body, when you network online and offline, you’re going to be inspired by the energy, ideas and productivity you see in those around you. It’s actually a great reality check. It gives you the unique ability to mingle with like-minded individuals who may have a different perspective, a different experience or a different story than you do and have achieved success.  Read more or post a comment...

How to Let Go of Negative Thoughts and Unlock Your Business Potential

Mired by negative thoughts? They can hold you back from achieving all you’re capable of. Negative thinking can be considered as habit, created by lifelong limiting beliefs, comparing yourself to others and some is just plain old procrastination. When you learn the cause for your negative thoughts you can release them and unlock your business potential. Here are a few ideas to help you get started.

Start by catching yourself whenever you have a negative thought. It’ll probably contain the words,

• “I can’t”
• “I’m not good at”
• “I’m afraid”
• “I never have”

You get the picture, right? It’ll be negative. When you’re first starting on this road to letting go of your negative thoughts, don’t judge yourself. Simply recognize when you have negative thoughts and what they are. You may even want to write them down. Keeping a journal of your negative thoughts for a couple of days will help you analyze where they’re coming from.  Read more or post a comment...