With the New Year upon us, it’s that time where entrepreneurs need to get clear on what their goals and objectives are. We all know that setting benchmarks and having a clear path towards success is paramount if you want to get ahead.
Yet with all of the business information out there that should guarantee your success, it still seems that many business owners struggle with hitting their goals. And it usually stems from one of these five reasons:
1. Time Management
Getting the most from your time is not just about having a calendar and a to-do list. It’s about executing at a high level during the time you have designated to tackle a task.
All too often entrepreneurs are not as prepared as they could be when it comes time to approach a certain project. So while you may spend two to three hours on a specific task, you may only get one good hour from it.
If you truly want to get the most from your time, have the discipline to be prepared so you can squeeze out the best work from those hours.
2. Shiny Object Syndrome
This is one of the biggest reasons entrepreneurs get distracted and lose their focus. They have too many ideas running through their head about what they could be doing. Because of all the blogs out there, we are inundated with marketing and business tactics that everyone swears by.
“You should be doing this.”
“You should be doing that.”
Of course, we spend a few minutes reading about the author’s amazing success and then we want to drop everything we are doing to use this tactic. Unfortunately, this just leads to doing lots of things not very well.
Focus on one thing at a time and take it to the very end. This way either:
A. It will have worked out.
Or…
B. It won’t have worked but at least you know and can walk away from it learning a lesson.
3. Stress & Being Overwhelmed
Having a lot of work on your plate just comes with the territory of being an entrepreneur. It’s what you signed up for. However, a very common mistake that people make is that they assume they have to be stressed out.
No you don’t.
Yes, there are a lot of big decisions that need to be made and many mistakes will also be made. But how you choose to handle the situation is entirely up to you.
One of the reasons business owners get stressed out is because they are not exercising enough. They assume that it’s better to spend more time working than a few hours a week exercising. Yet studies have shown that exercise is one of the best ways to reduce stress and anxiety. Dedicating at least thirty minutes to an hour each day towards some form of fitness will change how you are able to handle the challenges that will arise in your business.
4. Putting Things Off & Procrastinating
Walk into any office and there it is: a big pile of papers and post-its. These are all the little things we want to get to but never do and they just pile up in our workspace creating subconscious havoc.
While many entrepreneurs have good intentions by keeping these papers front of mind, in reality, there are only two things happening:
A. You are avoiding the decision of determining whether the item is important or not.
B. You are creating work clutter in your space, giving yourself a big project to clean later and only adding more weight to your big to-do list.
Being a successful entrepreneur is about having clearly defined priorities and making good decisions quickly. If it’s not important right now, let it go. Add a note in a Word or Google doc for later and focus on what is important right now.
Keep your space clean by doing only what matters.
5. Staying Motivated & Inspired
When you decided to start your business, chances are a spark was ignited that lit a fire under you. For a few weeks or maybe even a few months you were really excited. But then the burden of responsibility began weighing on your shoulders and all of a sudden the passion started to dwindle.
Keeping yourself excited and charged up is a daily practice that you will need to do religiously so that you don’t waiver from your commitments. And one of the best and simplest ways of keeping yourself amped up is by reading inspirational quotes. These positive words have the power to charge your soul so that you will have the energy to keep fighting when you feel like giving up.
Here are 10 quotes you can use to keep you inspired and motivated. If you are looking for more we’ve found the definitive source for inspirational quotes.
- When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor. ― Elon Musk
- From my very first day as an entrepreneur, I’ve felt the only mission worth pursuing in business is to make people’s lives better. ― Richard Branson
- It’s not about money or connections. It’s the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone when it comes to your business. And if it fails, you learn from what happened and do a better job next time. ― Mark Cuban
- Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. ― Dale Carnegie
- You control your future, your destiny. What you think about comes about. By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands – your own. ― Mark Victor Hansen
- Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the high road to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction. ― Brian Tracy
- Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now. ― Denis Waitley
- Opportunities don’t happen. You create them. ― Chris Grosser
- It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things. ― Leonardo da Vinci
- Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. ― Jim Rohn
