Business success comes from knowing you’re headed in the right direction, and being prepared to seize opportunities for growth.
Success also depends on performance - doing your work with speed, efficiency, and the motivation to achieve great things.
So says Siimon Reynolds, author and coach, in this article in Forbes.
In his piece, Reynolds outlines four ways to stay motivated in your life and work.
Most people have a commitment to get work done, but the desire to do so in an excellent manner is more elusive. Reynolds has found by simply deciding to do everything as well as you can (in the time you have) you end up with better results, as well as a dramatic boost to your self-respect, self-image and personal motivation.
“This commitment to excellence must be adhered to regardless of the mediocrity of the people around you,” he says. “You are choosing to be outstanding, no matter what.”
As a veteran executive coach, Reynolds has found business leaders around the world “beat themselves up for their weak points” all the time. “I would say that many say at least five negative things to themselves for every one positive.” As a result, these otherwise ambitious individuals “feel defeated and not good enough.”
If you’re guilty of doing this too, he says, “this has to stop. Today.” Instead, spend two minutes every morning reminding yourself of why you’re so good (or soon to be so good) at what you do. Put down in writing why, as he puts it, “you’re so damn good.” The reasons you choose can relate to your training, experience or other positive personality attributes.
By focusing daily on your strong points, you will “forge a far more powerful sense of self, which will lead to dramatically higher motivation.”
In his experience, Reynolds believes many business leaders work on envisioning themselves as successful, “but then find they fail often in the course of their daily work.” A conflicted self-image emerges, hampering their motivation.
Instead, by changing your view of yourself to “unstoppable,” you can hold onto a positive mind-set in the face of life’s inevitable challenges. “It may seem like a minor change, but try it for a month and you’ll see a huge lift in your motivation.
By the way, when Reynolds says view yourself as “unstoppable,” he means write the word on a Post-It note “and put it where you can see it every day.” This way, it stays in your conscious mind.
Ambitious people rarely acknowledge their own achievements, tending to focus instead “on the one or two things that haven’t been completed or weren’t done superbly.” This attitude eats away at one’s motivation and as a result, performance suffers.
You can counter this negative tendency by taking a couple of minutes every evening to remember “all the good stuff you got done.” When you get in the habit of listing your achievements (“however minor”), “your self-image will improve and your drive and motivation to do well the next day will be powerful.”
Motivation doesn’t just happen, Reynolds says. But he claims these four techniques have helped many business people become “super motivated” and he urges you to try them, too.
What’s your secret to stay motivated?
Leaders in their quest to move the business forward, get to the point where they exhaust themselves. The business they started with passion is eating all their time, they work more hours and days without taking time off.
This article in Forbes talks about how leaders can avoid burnout.
We're certainly in a position to be doing more with less...and have been for a few years now. So what are we to do about it?
Well, the article's author suggested 10 tips:
Today and tomorrow we'll explore each.
Leading, and growing, a business is a marathon. Just like training for such a race, you need to have strong and long weeks with taper weeks and rest days in between. During the next 30 days, choose three days that you aren't going to take any meetings, phone calls, or interruptions. You're at your desk solely to get things accomplished. Those can be considered your long runs.
By now you're accustomed to forecasting and re-forecasting and re-forecasting again. Be fair in your expectations, both of yourself and of your team members. Be aggressive, but not unrealistic.
There are business leaders who set aside one day a week to work on the business, instead of in it. The appointment is on their calendars and nothing gets in the way of it. It may take a little bit longer to accomplish things this way, but some entrepreneurs have been able to launch a second business using their one day a week mantra.
It's easy to be distracted by the economy, the shiny newest tool in social media, or the latest customer fire. If you know what your goals are for leading the business, you'll make more informed decisions when under pressure.
It's sometimes easier to just do things yourself, but does that mean you're the best person for the job? It may be as tactical as sitting at your desk, outlining everything on your to-do list, and determining who is the best person in your office to do the job. If you don't have someone to do something, such as administrative work, consider outsourcing.
Tomorrow we'll explore the last five tips. In the meantime, are there tips you have that work well for you, as a leader?
