One of my readers asked me two intriguing questions recently: How we can stay motivated against all odds and how can we get out of a slump when we’re feeling deflated? Those are great questions! So today I wanna go ahead and answer these questions.
I think there are a few pieces to this puzzle.
The first one is a bit of tough love that you might not want to hear but I’m telling you anyway: YOU are the one who is responsible to create a motivating environment.
Staying positive
It doesn’t help to bitch and sulk when people around you aren’t supportive. All that does is bring you down too.
I know it’s super hard to stay positive when you feel that you’re alone on your mission and everyone around you is negative and criticizing you all the time. I totally get that! I’ve heard my fair share of the “Why don’t you get a REAL job?”- stuff too.
Getting people on board with what you do
Sometimes people do this with our best interest in mind because they really don’t understand what you’re trying to do and how you plan to pull it off. In this case, it might be enough to just talk to those people and explain what you’re trying to do so they can see the situation through your eyes.
Your growth might feel threatening to others
Other times people criticize you because they see that you are ready to grow and are afraid that you won’t like or need them anymore when you level up. So instead of helping you grow, they try to keep you down where they are – and this doesn’t have to be something they do consciously.
They might not be aware that this is the reason they act the way they act – they just feel somehow threatened by your growth and REACT. They are like energy vampires that suck out the energy needed to move forward. Here’s where you need your boundaries!
Sometimes it might help to explain WHY you want to do certain things and that this doesn’t mean you’ll think less of them when you achieve your goals. Once they understand that you’re not trying to distance yourself from them they might come around and support you after all.
But if they don’t – you have to set some clear boundaries because you need to conserve your energy. Maybe you tell them that you won’t discuss certain topics with them anymore because it’s not productive. Or you limit the time you spend with certain people. If it’s unsupportive friends, you might want to rethink if you want them in your circle of friends at all.
The influence of the people around you
You’ve probably heard this famous quote before: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Well, the thing is you are not immune to the things and people that surround you. They shape the way you think and see the world. Some go so far as to say that the people around you determine as much as 95% of your success or failure in life (Dr. David McClelland of Harvard).
That’s why it’s so important to take action and actively create your own environment and choose the people you interact with very carefully.
Creating a positive support network
This might mean that you need to look for new friends. Or join a mastermind of positive, goal-oriented people. Or work with a coach who can support you, makes sure you stay on track and who can give you tips and tools for dealing with difficult situations.
Benefits of working with a coach
The beauty of working with a coach is that they open up a space for you where you can find your own way. A coach doesn’t tell you what to do but guides you to find your own way and this is how you grow as a person.
And yes, I do have a few limited coaching spots for passionate, goal-oriented mompreneurs available who want to master their mindset & habits so that they can build a sustainable, feel-good online biz without sacrificing family time. 🙂 Feel free to shoot me an email if you’re interested in working with me and we can hop on a quick discovery call to see if we are a good fit for each other.
If people just tell you what to do, you don’t learn and you don’t grow.
And sometimes the people around you like to tell you what to do and everyone wants you to do something different because your decisions directly affect them. So no wonder they are biased.
Maybe your husband doesn’t want you to do another course – but not because it wouldn’t be good for you but because he doesn’t want to look after the kids while you work on that course. It’s normal to react that way. It’s just something to keep in mind when people tell you what to do or not to do.
Don’t wait for a change – create it!
So to sum it all up again: YOU need to create your positive environment!
Stack the odds in your favor!
Unslumping yourself
Surrounding yourself with positive & encouraging people should help with both – staying motivated and also getting you out of a slump when you’re feeling down.
But if that alone doesn’t help you to get out of your slump – remind yourself why you’re doing this! Bring your business vision alive again! Why did you start this journey? What’s your goal? How amazing will you feel once you’ve achieved it? That should hopefully help you shift into high gear and kick you into action mode.
Cause a vision will stay a vision unless you take action and turn it into a reality.
Use the momentum to create lasting change
So now that you are motivated and primed to take some serious goal-oriented action, keep one thing in mind: Motivation gets you started. Habit keeps you going.
Once you know what you need to do to achieve your vision, you gotta find ways to turn important action steps into a system that you can then incorporate into your daily routine.
That helps with the time management aspect you mentioned and makes sure you plan your day around these important activities.
Do this well enough and you can turn them into habits which means you don’t have to think about them anymore – you do them automatically. Turning things into habits frees up headspace and brain capacity.
So – I hope that was helpful! Let me know your biggest takeaways in the comments and feel free to ask questions!
If you’d like to get more weekly mini-trainings like that and you haven’t done so already – make sure you join my FB group for passionate mompreneurs!! That’s where all the magic happens and where you get to vote on the topic for the next mini-trainings.
Happy experimenting!
Yours,
