It’s the end of your day.
You look back and wonder what you’ve accomplished.
And the answer is clear — Nothing.
You feel dull and lifeless.
Like you are running on empty.
Your world seems to be spinning out of control and you seem to be moving further and further away from your goals.
You’ve lost your motivation.
But you decide that you are not going down without a fight.
So you decide to do something about it.
You reach out for your smartphone and scroll through the list of motivational videos and settle on the most popular.
You love the message. The motivational speaker seems to be speaking directly at you.
You get fired up.
You feel good.
Rejuvenated.
But not for long.
After a few hours (or even minutes), you are back to square one. The feel-good hormones surge that you experienced seems to be gone.
You hate to admit it but you’ve come to the end of your tether.
You look down at the smartphone in your hand and you wish you could go back to how you used to be.
Upbeat, motivated, and ready to face the world.
But don’t beat yourself up
Seriously don’t. A large number of business owners report having that feeling of lifelessness and demotivation at one time or another.
That’s because all businesses have their ups and downs. Sometimes you have the world at your feet. Other times you are down in the trenches.
Nights are sleepless and restless.
It’s seems easier to just throw in the towel and call it quits.
But that’s not an option because the survival of your business depends on you.
So stop the pity party and dig deep to make a conscious effort to stay motivated.
There are many ways of doing that and we’ll focus on the easy and quick ones. The no apps no fuss ones. Those that do not require much effort because after all, life is hard enough:
1. Step out of that damn comfort zone
Let’s face it. Working on your business every day doing the same tasks day in day out can sometimes get sooo boring.
It is no wonder that you sometimes dread getting out of bed. You wish you could just snooze the alarm and go back to bed.
If you find yourself there, there is a chance that you have gotten too comfortable and complacent so get out of the damn comfort zone. Do that by making changes to your daily surroundings.
I’m not talking about huge drastic changes. I’m talking about small changes. Changes small enough to get you out of your stagnation.
They can be spontaneous or planned. Changes such as:
- Changing the set up of your office: Move your desk to another corner or the potted plants to a different position
- Working from another room: You can move from your home office to the living room in-front of the fireplace
- Working from a coffee shop: Choose a coffee shop with a great ambiance
- Working from a park: Sit on a park bench with a great view surrounded by nature.
These subtle changes can light up the fire in you and bring back your Mmph. It can even 5x your productivity.
2. Breathe (and while at it, get spiritual)
When your day seems like a drag, something as simple as deep breathing can be such breath of fresh air (pun intended).
That is because we tend to take shallow breaths due to the anxiety the demotivation brings. This then results in a lack of oxygen to the brain which can leave us feeling dull, lifeless and even downright bored.
So breathe and do so slowly.
Take in slow, deep breaths then hold your breath for two seconds before breathing out slowly.
Put your hand on your stomach as you do so to feel your diaphragm rise and fall.
Think positive thoughts as you breathe in. Think of how far your business has come. Think about the goals that you have accomplished and the obstacles that you have overcome.
Get spiritual and tell yourself that this too shall pass. That God will never leave you.
Take it all in.
The fresh air. The bright future ahead. The optimism for the future.
This will release endorphins into your system and put some freshness into your job.
3. Get into the beat
Music has a way of giving life to everything. It is no wonder that all situations in life have specific melodies associated with them — from weddings, to birthdays and even relationship breakups.
During the 2012 and 2016 summer olympics, the legendary swimmer Michael Phelps could be seen walking into the pool area with earphones to his ears.
Asked by a reporter what he’d been listening to, he responded that he found loud rap music to be very motivated.
Now I’m not asking you to annoy your neighbours by blasting Kanye West from your speakers but find what works for you and use it.
It could be jazz or classical music or even — Kanye West. Whatever works for you.
Find out what gets you pumped up and run with it.
This will give you that kick that you really need.
4. Scream your lungs out
Sounds strange but it works.
Screaming can get a lot of negativity out of your system.
The great boxer Mohamed Ali used to use to get loud, beat his chest and shout, “I’m the greatest!”
So go somewhere secluded and scream your lungs out. Kind of like the incredible hulk. Beat your chest while at it. Shout out your version of “I’m the greatest.”
When you are done, walk back to your office with your shoulders pushed, head held high and chin up and imagine that you are a fearless animal — like a lion or a black panther. Snarl as you do so.
This will give you that much needed impetus to recharge and get back to work.
5. Daydream (with a purpose)
Daydreaming is good.
Ask yourself the deep, soul searching questions. For example, what’s your dream? Is it to own a home?
If it is, visualize that home. Go online and do a 3D tour of your dream house.
Imagine your future self living there. Smile as you do so.Imagine the interior decor, imagine where you’ll hang your family pictures or place your potted plants.
Be hard on yourself while at it. Tell yourself that if you don’t get back to work, you’ll be homeless. Tell yourself that you are in a do or die situation.
Convenience yourself that this is not the time for a pity party and that it’s time to to work.
After all, dreams don’t wait for man.
Let the fun begin
Anything in life that you love is worth fighting for. So fight for your business.
Do that by making a conscious decision to keep going.
Do that and you will get an enormous amount of work done.
You’ll no longer feel like giving up and when you do, you’ll know what to do about it.
There will be no more sleepless nights.
There will be no more lying awake tossing and turning. Wondering how long you can carry on.
Because you’ll have mastered the art of easy no fuss tactics to keep you going.
You’ll be the grand master self motivator. The champion of your dreams.
So go ahead and do them now. You’ll be glad that you did.