Pam (00:00):

You’re listening to the flourish and grow to CEO podcast. This is episode 16.

Pam (00:26):

Are you a lady boss making 50 to a hundred thousand in your business? And you’re ready to break through that six figure barrier. Have you,

Jane (00:34):

You’ve done a great job of creating a nice life as the ultimate gig master, but no, your inner CEO is calling you to greater heights. You’re in the right place. If you want to create and implement solid fundamentals in your business without sacrificing fun.

Pam (00:48):

I’m Pam Ivey, I’m certified in small business management and I concentrate in the areas of training and certifying real estate assistance, coaching and mentoring entrepreneurs in online business, marketing growth and profit acceleration. And I take men and women business owners aged 40 plus to bucket list destinations around the world for a month at a time to work, explore, and live in community.

Jane (01:14):

And I’m Jane Garee, known as the sales strategist for the non-sales person. And I work with business owners who want to increase their conversion rate, shorten their sales cycle and have more impact and influence with the work they do all while having more fun with selling,

Pam (01:28):

Hey everyone. And welcome back to the podcast. So happy that you’ve joined us again. You know, so many of us were excited to jump into a fresh new year, but quite a number of my colleagues that I’ve been talking to, including me, we’ve been finding that 2021 is kind of in kicking our butts. When Jane and I were planning this episode, I mentioned that I’m still experiencing a February funk and it’s April and Jane told me she was feeling some of the same things. So that led us to decide that we’d like to focus on motivation, getting your mojo back for this episode because we know we’re not alone. So let’s talk mastering motivation, how to create momentum. When momentum’s hard to find being your own boss has its rewards. It can also feel really lonely, especially if you’re a solopreneur, running a business by yourself, requires a lot of focus, discipline and resilience because inevitably you’ll encounter stumbling blocks along the way. To stay motivated and to be able to weather the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur we’re going to share some powerful tips to help you with your motivation. And Jane’s going to start us off with the beginning.

Jane (02:45):

Yeah, Pam, this is such a great topic because it, in any point of an entrepreneur or a business owner’s life, you definitely are going to feel that motivation just lagging the motivation and the momentum. Some days you’re going to have it, and it’s going to be really easy to tap into and you’re going to go. And then other days you’re thinking, Oh, I don’t even have the motivation or their momentum to get out of bed, let alone do what I need to do. So I wanted to talk a little bit about the underlying reason why you might be lacking motivation and therefore don’t have any momentum. So years ago I was in a mastermind and I needed to do a few things. We were setting goals. Number one was I needed to clean out my garage. And number two was, I was trying to get back into a consistent exercise regime.

Jane (03:32):

And I kept going to the mastermind. We met once a month. So we were about three months into the mastermind and I still hadn’t cleaned out the garage. And I still hadn’t gotten back into my workout regime. And the leader said, okay, it’s been three months and you have the same goals what’s going on. And I said, I don’t, I don’t know. I just have no momentum around anything. And she said, well, I’m going to tell you something. I hope you’re not going to get mad at me, but I think you’re lazy. And I said, okay. And she said, sorry, but it’s just what I think. I think you’re lazy. And that’s why you’re not doing anything. And I said, all right. And she said, you don’t, you don’t believe that. And I said, I don’t know. I’m, I’m actually processing it. I’m open. I’m open to understanding why I don’t have any motivation and I’ve got no momentum going.

Jane (04:17):

So let me think about it. It doesn’t really resonate with me. I don’t think I’m a lazy person, but hey, maybe, maybe. So I went home and I started doing a lot of research on lazy and I just kept Googling them. What is laziness? How do you know if you’re being lazy? And I ended up coming across this article and it was really fascinating and it changed how I forever viewed lack of motivation or inability to gain momentum. Because what the article really talked about is what is the underlying reason for you not doing the thing that you know that you need to do. And this woman specifically mentioned that she did not believe that laziness was a thing. And then she said to be clear, it is kind of a thing, you know, lazy as when your alarm goes off on a Saturday morning and you purposely say, I will not get out of bed.

Jane (05:12):

I’m just going to lie here for two hours. Um, because it feels good. And I can that’s, you know, you, you could say lazy there, but lazy, not with a bad connotation. There’s nothing wrong with that. Her point was when people say, Hey, you’re just being lazy. That’s why you’re not cleaning out the garage. Hey, you’re just being lazy. And that’s why you’re not doing your exercise regime or whatever you could fill in the blank. You’re just being lazy. Because this thing that you need to do for your business, you actually are not doing her belief was that lazy was just kind of a catch all word, and it wasn’t going to move you forward because what you need to do is discover by uncovering underneath the real reason you’re not doing what needs to be done. And this is where it got really interesting.

Jane (05:54):

Those reasons ranged from everything, from like truly clinical depression to overwhelm, to not knowing what to do next. So you do nothing, which is a little bit of overwhelm to not having enough information, to make a decision to lacking real and tangible items or accoutrements. If you will, of things that you need to get the job done. And she listed, I think it was about 10 different underlying reasons why somebody would not do what they needed to do. And the reason why I’m saying it changed how I felt about attaching a label to myself, I’m just being lazy. I’m just being stubborn. Those types of things, those words are judgmental about the action that you’re doing, and they don’t solve any problems after reading her definition and her explanation of what was going on. What I realized is that if I could pinpoint the reason I didn’t have motivation and didn’t have momentum around anything, that was something I could actually fix.

Jane (06:57):

So real life example, the garage, the garage was overwhelming when I stepped into it, because I had moved from a much bigger place to a much smaller place. So when I opened the garage door and said, today’s the day I’m going to clean out the garage, it, I would look at it. I would shut the door and I would go back in and I would do something else inside the house. And it wasn’t that I was lazy. It was that when I looked in that garage, it was emotionally overwhelming because that was really not a job for one person. So that would be number one, number two, I had a lot of furniture in there and there was no way to get to the boxes and cleaning things out in the garage that I needed to get to without being able to move the furniture.

Jane (07:36):

Well, I couldn’t do that. So the next reason why I wasn’t cleaning out the garage, it wasn’t that I was lazy. It was that it was physically almost an impossibility because without moving that furniture, it was going to be really difficult to go in there and start excavating and throwing things away. Um, and number three, it was actually a rough period in my life. So there some underlying depression that was, that was going on and depression of course has never laziness. So if you are not doing what you know that you need to do, please don’t call yourself lazy or you’re just being stubborn or my, my all-time favorite. And I’m saying this sarcastically, just pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get it done, just buckle down and do it. You know, there’s kind of this foreseen that will happen.

Jane (08:24):

And people mean it in a good way. Cause they’re trying to motivate you, like just stop and just do it. But what I’ve, what I’ve really found is that if it were just a matter of just make yourself do it, you could make yourself do it. So if you’re not able to make yourself do it, you’re not getting any momentum, spend some time and really ask yourself about the situation. What is it that is preventing me from doing this? And if you get out of kind of the emotional words or the labeling words, you’ll probably come up with it. So wrap up on the garage, I went, I’m emotionally overwhelmed. Well, why is that? Well, because this is a tough spot in my life. And I’ve been dealing with a little bit of depression and I can’t move the furniture. And that’s the first thing that really needs to happen to get this garage taken care of.

Jane (09:12):

So of course, I’m going to feel overwhelmed. Number two, I don’t really have the things that I need to be able to go in there. I don’t have tons of trash bags. I would actually have to go out and get them, which sounds like a simple thing until you start putting everything together. So I need big trash bags. I need buckets. You know, I need a room, you know, very simple things that I needed, but that was feeding into the overwhelm. So it wasn’t just let me go make myself clean out the garage. I had to break it down into the first thing I need to do is find somebody who can actually help me move this furniture. So I hope this gives you a better idea of when you are lacking motivation and therefore not experiencing any kind of momentum. Don’t judge yourself with judging language, really sit down and look at it like a data analyst, a scientist, what is the real problem? What is actually going on here and be honest with yourself. And I find when you’re honest with yourself, it’s easier to be gentle with yourself. And when you’re gentle with yourself, then you can start looking at everything again as just data with a potential solution rather than blame and shame about why you’re not doing what needs to be done.

Pam (10:25):

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Pam (11:20): I think that’s really interesting Jane, because it, it brought up the thought of procrastination for me. When you’re talking about the garage and it’s procrastinating because you feel stuck, really something I wanted to talk about as a tip for motivation is really knowing what you want to achieve, which is you wanted to clean out your garage, breaking it down into bite-size manageable chunks, like list out everything that you need in terms of supplies, and you need to do so that you can gather them all.

Pam (11:55):

And you can kind of avoid that procrastination because you’re not stuck. It’s not in your head and you don’t have a list of what needs to be done. So I think that could help. Um, well, I don’t, I know that that can help cause I tend to procrastinate cause I get stuck on things. And when I write out every step that I need to take and every tool supply or thing that I need to do it, it makes it so much more manageable in my head so I can get unstuck. Right? So break it down into bite-size manageable chunks. As I said, and give yourself the goals, measurable outcomes. And when you hit those milestones or those bite sized chunks reward yourself, I think that can make a big difference. So you celebrate small wins in that can keep you motivated and moving forward, according to Oprah Winfrey, here’s a quote from one of the, one of my gals, the more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.

Pam (13:03):

Yeah. Yeah. So if you don’t celebrate small milestones along the way, you’re going to lose the motivation and drive to continue. So the key is not to tie how you feel to your long-term goal, but the progress that you’re making. So the better you feel about yourself and your progress, the more likely it is that you’ll continue to put in the work, that’ll help you reach that dream or that end goal. And you know, one way to track your progress is by creating done lists, not to do lists. Most of us are familiar with them, but a done list is a diary of your accomplishments. That gives you a sense of progress. It heightens the positive emotions and it helps you to stay motivated. According to Theresa AMA bile co-author of the progress principle, it’s important to track your small wins to motivate big accomplishments. So the next time you achieve a smaller goal reward yourself, and some ways you can do this are to do something you truly enjoy. Treat yourself with your favorite latte, taken a spot day, or just celebrate your victories with the people around you. And I know personally that really helps me stay motivated and wanting to move forward.

Jane (14:22):

Yeah, I think that’s, I think that’s great. I’ve really found that one of the keys, in my opinion, to, to living life more successfully today than yesterday, is taking the time and the space to get quiet and listen to what is actually going on inside of you, because it’s kind of like all the answers are there, but in the busy-ness of life and in the desire to make sense of things with language and with action, we miss the deeper reasons of what’s going on. And years ago, I decided I was just going to do this practice of whatever I was feeling something instead of rushing through the feeling and my personal tendency is, and I would actually say this one, I had a corporate job. I, you know, I was, we were in a bullpen and I’d be like, I don’t have time to feel about this situation.

Jane (15:17):

We just need to get it done. And so I would stuff the feeling so I could take action. Cause I was the, I was the boss, right? I was the, I was the leader and everybody else, particularly in crisis situations, if you will, they be falling apart and they, to me, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? And I said, well, here’s what we’re going to do. And then that’s where that came from, because they’d start saying, how are you not really upset? How are you not very angry? How are you not worried or scared? And I would say, it’s not that I’m not, it’s just, I don’t have the luxury of feeling feelings right now because we need to take action. And it kind of became this joke, but it’s really who I am at my core. And once I got out of corporate, I realized that was causing a lot of problems in my life because when something came up, I was unintentional and saying to myself, I don’t have time to feel about this situation right now.

Jane (16:04):

I just need to move through it and solve it. And that causes some problems. So going back to what you were saying to him is really getting specific, getting particular, getting intentional is what is the situation? How can I break the situation down into bite size, manageable chunks? And then how do I feel about the situation? And then how do I break my feelings down into manageable bite sized chunks? And that’s what I was talking about with the lazy. I’m just feeling lazy. I guess I won’t go write my email sequence. Well, it’s probably not laziness. So let’s break the feeling down into manageable bite-sized chunks. What else is going on? Why else are you procrastinating and not writing your email sequence? I don’t know what to say. What, how does that make you feel kind of foolish? You know, so really breaking the, breaking the tactical down into bite-size manageable chunks, but a huge piece of it is really going internal and breaking your feelings down into something that’s manageable and bite-size, and I’ve found that when I put language to how I’m feeling, it gives me clarity around defining how I’m feeling. And that’s eventually how I come up with a solution. Very interesting feelings are a big part of us where he wins.

Jane (17:25):

I mean, we’re, you know, in corporate it’s kind of ha ha I don’t have time to feel, I got to move through this, but there’s a piece of that in owning a business it’s just harder to hide. So in corporate, you have to get done what you have to get done, because somebody is going to come in and eventually check in and say, here’s your paycheck or here’s the door. But when you’re the business owner, it’s easier to hide. It’s easier to not do or to whatever it is. That’s, that’s creating the results in your business.

Pam (17:54):

Isn’t that the truth. And if we’re not doing it, we’re not creating the results. Right. Interesting. And that leads us to another tip. And I think super, super important to keep you motivated is really remembering your why. I know it’s kind of cliche today. What’s your why everybody’s asking that. But as a business owner, you’re bound to encounter challenges and setbacks along the way. So to stay motivated, it’s essential for you to remember your why, why did you start this business in the first place? Was it because you craved more freedom, flexibility, or control over your career, maybe you wanted to pursue an activity that you’re more passionate about, or you just needed to leave behind a legacy that you could be proud of getting in touch with this big picture view. It not only keeps you focused, but it’ll provide you with a perspective to make wise decisions. It’s likely that passion inspired you to pursue your dream of starting a business. It’s that passion for the work itself. That’ll get you through those rough spots and keep you on track to succeed. So we recommend that you write in detail why you started your business and look at it quite often and definitely pull it out when you’re feeling a lack of motivation.

Jane (19:23):

Yeah. And the why is so cliche, but it’s also so powerful. It’s so powerful. So tap into your why and tap into the there’s the altruistic, why, and then there’s kind of the selfish. Why? And so what I mean by that is the altruistic. Why for me, as an example, would be to, I’m very passionate about making sure that any business owner who wants to stay a business owner and self-employed can actually afford to do so. So my trainings and my teaching and my body of work, it’s all about revenue generation in the business, particularly attached to sales because I’m very passionate about making sure that if people want to own a business, they can afford to do so. And they have to be making money. That’s how you afford to own a business. So that’s my altruistic. Why want to help as many business owners as I can flourish my selfish. Why would be more along the lines of, I want the financial freedom and flexibility to go do what I want to do. Sometimes your altruistic, why is going to be the driver that you need that day? And sometimes it’s more, it’s more your personal, why that’s going to drive you that day and both are good. So just kind of pick the motivation for the day. That’s going to give you the, the true momentum.

Pam (20:37):

And I was just thinking, as you were talking, you know, it’s not always why you started your business in the beginning because mine completely changed. I know we’ve talked about this in past episode, but I was working for a woman. I called Satan’s wife and I just needed to do anything to get away from there. And I decided that I no longer wanted a boss, which you know, doesn’t happen when you’re entrepreneur, but that’s a whole other episode because your clients are your bosses. But anyway, my, of course I got away 20 some odd years ago from that Satan’s wife. And so of course that was satiated. So I have new whys and it’s very close to your whys. So that’s very interesting. And I think just the final one for today, cause you know, we don’t want to keep you forever today. There’s lots of tips and tricks.

Pam (21:33):

You can just Google finding motivation or momentum. But I think when that’s really, really important and when that both Jane and I will actually, we use each other for lack of a better word, but finding a support system, flying solo as a solo printer requires a strong support system. Friends and family are important, but there are many other resources as well. One is to find a mentor or a coach. So, a mentor can help by offering their advice, to guide an entrepreneur in the right direction while mentoring tends to be more long-term and development driven, coaching tends to be more short term and performance driven. So the use of a business coach is becoming more and more prevalent. As we know, especially in our industries and it’s coaching, it’s designed to be results oriented so that you can achieve your goals faster than you could on your own.

Pam (22:37):

A business coach can help you overcome mental blocks to stay focused and to take your business to the next level. And mastermind groups are also a great way to find that support that’s needed by a business owner. They allow you to be a part of an exclusive community where you can collaborate with others who may be experiencing similar challenges. And finally, you might consider forming a small advisory board. This option allows you to benefit from the collective brain power of a select group of people chosen by you similar to a mastermind group. Your advisors can help hold you accountable and provide that necessary support when it’s needed. Joining groups in general offers amazing benefits.

Jane (23:28):

Yes. Excellent. All really good ideas. Pam, no human. Even, you know, we’ve got extroverts, we’ve got introverts. I’m going to go out on a limb here and I’m going to say this. No human is really wired to sit in a room all by themselves. Day after day after day with the computer is the only companion and expect us to experience success as people we’re wired to need other people. So you may be highly extroverted, which means you’re going to need to really come up with a plan to figure out how you can get a support system and, and get out whether it’s virtually or physically, but you definitely want to put some energy and effort into figuring out a plan for socialization. And even if you’re more introverted, you still really need to do the same thing. Just not as much as the extroverts, because we’re just not designed to sit in a room with the computer as the only companion and think that’s going to provide us with the support that we need to move our businesses forward with momentum. How

Pam (24:25):

True I know my mum always instilled does call me a social butterfly. And I start to kind of feel like I’m withering and dying inside if I’m not socializing with others on a regular basis. And it helps me keep my momentum because you know, Jane, you and I will just get on the phone and talk about what we’re working on and it kind of energizes the other person, right?

Jane (24:51):

It does. Yeah. We get

Pam (24:53):

Ideas going and we get excited and it just moves us in the right direction. So I think really joining a group, especially with your peers who really understand what you’re doing

Jane (25:04):

Can be a great

Pam (25:06):

Boost to your motivation

Jane (25:08):

And momentum.

Pam (25:10):

So being a business owner, isn’t always easy. We know that, but the rewards can totally be great by following these tips that we gave you you’ll be in a better position to remain energized and engaged so you can ultimately reach your long-term business goals. Well, that’s a wrap everyone. Thanks for joining us this week on the flourish and grow to CEO podcast. Be sure to visit our website at flourish dot biz. That’s F L O U R I S h.biz, where you can subscribe to the shows in iTunes, Stitcher, or via RSS. So you’ll never miss an episode. You can also find our show notes and resources there too. And while you’re at it, if you found value in this show, we’d love for you to leave a rating on iTunes. Or if you’d simply tell a friend about the show that would sure help us out to now get out there and.