Startups
3 Things to Keep in Mind When You Find Yourself Starting and Stopping in Your Business
Do you ever feel like you’re always starting and stopping in your biz? There are days when you wake up with an insane amount of motivation and drive. You sit there coffee in hand and the day is yours to slay. Then there are days where you wake up with ZERO motivation. You are completely turned off, nothing inspires you and you stare at your computer screen waiting for some kind of strategy to pop out at you.
What about the days you are feeling all high vibeish and totally in touch with your creative side. You just want to light candles, focus on your mindset, write down all your ideas and connect with the universe. All you want is consistency in your motivation levels! What gives?
As an entrepreneur I used to struggle with starting and stopping. Highs and lows. Strategic days and WTF days. I could not maintain a steady flow of momentum in my biz for quite some time. Starting and stopping made me feel like I was inconsistent, like I was unable to have constant momentum in my business. I felt super unproductive. It made me question whether or not I was truly capable of being an entrepreneur. I would believe I was failing because I wasn’t like everyone else who seemed to be so inspired, driven and motivated 24-7.
I realized that my difficulty wasn’t that I couldn’t stay in the zone. It wasn’t that I was incapable of being laser focused. That wasn’t the problem. Accepting that I might just need to develop my own way of doing things was the setback. Once I accepted that I’m not meant to do things the way everyone else does my creativity was in full gear. It felt uncomfortable to show up in my business doing what some of my mentors would swear against however I found myself developing new ideas, I was more productive and I had more profitable results.
Dissolving the fear of not doing things the conventional way was extremely liberating. I nipped the starting and stopping behavior in the butt once and for all.
If you’re an entrepreneur and you have difficulty with maintaining momentum in your biz then here are a few thoughts to keep in mind when you find yourself starting and stopping in your biz:
1. Creativity Doesn’t Clock In & Out
Creativity is not an employee. It cannot clock in and out. There is no set time for when creativity will show. Embrace the moment that you feel your creative juices flowing and take as many notes as possible when it does arrive. The days that creativity decides not to show up simply make sure that you are keeping yourself healthy and in a positive space.
This way you provide a warm inviting environment for creativity to enjoy when it does decide to join the biz party. If you’re lacking creativity in your business then I urge you to focus on nurturing whatever is blocking creativity from wanting to visit. Are you stressed? Are you working from a space of desperation because of finances? Are you taking time to maintain your health and well-being? These are some of the creativity blocking culprits.
“You can’t just give someone a creativity injection. You have to create an environment for curiosity and a way to encourage people and get the best out of them.” – Ken Robinson
2. Create A Profit Plan
Creating a profit plan in my business has helped me the most in terms of clarity, focus and direction. I created a simple 4 step process for myself that allows me to know exactly where the efforts need to be spent in my business. I stopped focusing on non-income producing activities. I stopped creating customized offers for clients that were confusing and made it hard to do business with me.
I began saying no to opportunities that did not compliment where I wanted my business to go. If you have no plan in place for how you’ll be making money in your business it’s easy to get distracted. It’s easy to start and stop more often. Profit planning helps you clarify what you’re working towards. Get clear on what you’re offering and on who you are serving.
3. Show Up Anyway
Even when you feel like you don’t know where the heck to start or what to work on, show up anyway. Refer to past activities that have worked for you in your business. Ask yourself what have activity big or small have you stopped doing that may have brought you here. Take a look at your calendar and what you’ve done over the last couple weeks. Look over your to do list, browse through your old notes of what you’ve been working on or go through past emails.
Browse your social media platforms and ask: Who have you not responded to? Where is there an opportunity you may have missed? My best ideas have come to me during the moments that I didn’t feel like showing up. I decided to stop falling into the belief that I could not be productive in that mood. You totally can. It’s just as exciting as when you are in this state and it’s understandable however this should not dictate your behavior. You will experience clarity and direction while in motion than when stagnant.
Practicing new habits consistently and training your mindset can make all the difference in the way you show up in your biz. Now go out there and build your biz in alignment with what is true to YOU!
“Decisions are made by those who show up.” – Aaron Sorkin