Overcoming Doubt

I stay motivated by the thought of having a break-through. Being able to be my own boss and make my own hours and not have a cap on my income. Being an entrepreneur takes a lot of time, patience, and effort; something a majority of people do not have. They want the easy, safe, reliable way out. Us entrepreneurs want to take a different route. I stay motivated by seeing my money come in and see the hard work that I put in pay off. I stay motivated by pep talking myself; constantly reminding myself that's it's coming soon, and to not give up hope any time soon.

 

In business, money is the only factor that keeps motivated. As long as money is coming, I am confident, I am happy, I am on high. However, as soon as money stops coming or comes little, I get worried, I am doubtful and I feel sad.

 

Make a list of your accomplishments, and keep them on the refrigerator or the wall. Then make another list of accomplishments for goals you want to achieve and things you want or need to complete, and place that list in another area near by. Whenever you're feeling down, look at the list of things you've already done and know that there are many people out there who would not have been able to do what you did successfully.

If people have left you positive feedback on comments, products you've sold online (ebay, etsy, amazon, or your own site, or even a place like LinkedIn where people recommend you), print those out and keep those on hand for whenever you feel like you should be doing more. In the absence of positive people or positive encouragement to keep you moving forward, the next best thing is a list of things people appreciate or see you doing right, along with a list of things you know for a fact you did well and achieved success at.

Whenever you're feeling confident and happy with what you've read, then go to the other list of things you want or need to do and use the fact that you've already completed things well to fuel your future success. There are many good strategies out there, but this is one I like to use to keep moving forward whenever things are overwhelming or there's negative people dragging you down elsewhere.

 

Doubt is inevitable, especially when you're in the first stages of a business venture. And overcoming it might be different for different people. For me, I try to look at the brighter side of things. Instead of thinking, "What if I fail?" I think, "What if I succeed?" Because in the end, no matter what happens, you doing you're best is all that matters. And failure isn't something to be afraid of, it's failing to get up again that you should be afraid of happening.

 

Motivation isn't much of a problem when the money is coming in. So, how to combat doubt when things aren't doing so well? I guess the entrepreneur needs to go back to the time when he was just starting out. Harness back the enthusiasm and idealism you had when you first started out. Remind yourself of why you started the business in the first place. During start up phase, you have that feeling that you can conquer all and nothing can stop you from making your business fly. So going back to that time I think can help you snap out of your current muck. OR to be simplistic, maybe put up a frame in the office that says FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION, So Snap Out of IT! N.O.W.!

 

Doubts keeps a man in the abyss of stagnancy or redundancy. Risk is all there is in business. If you never try you'll never know. You might get burnt a few times but you learn from what you did wrong and scale through with the ladder of determination to suceed. Doubt is a dream killer. It is not a desirable trait for every entrepreneur because we are risk takers.