How are You Staying Motivated?

 I admit it. This pandemic is starting to get to me. I did well initially not seeing anyone. I was staying in touch with my clients and continuing to reach out for new business. And as we started to open back up things were looking promising.

And then round two hit us. As you may recall, I’m in South Florida and we are now the new epicenter. We never fully reopened all businesses, but we were on the right track for a couple of weeks. They have us now on a curfew again, no more indoor dining and so on. They are trying desperately not to apply further restrictions.

Hard to plan

However, it doesn’t seem to matter. Most businesses don’t know if or when their employees will come back. Or when their business may resume more normal operations. It makes it hard to plan.

Now, I admit, I am typically a very optimistic, bound out of bed and greet the day sort of person, but lately I’ve had to talk to myself a bit more (well, I really talk it out with my dogs).

I’ve been working hard to keep myself and my team motivated. We, of course, are still working remotely. That is a challenge in and of itself. I miss our team lunches and the brainstorming. It’s just not the same over the phone.

But we are working through it.

Staying in Touch with Team Vital

I make a point to speak with each team member several times a week (really hard to do daily). Checking in on all levels, personal and professional. We all have different stresses going on in our lives. And being more flexible makes a difference.

 I know not to schedule a meeting for 3pm with one team member as that’s when her young son gets up from a nap. No daycare right now. It helps their stress knowing that our day isn’t a strict 9-5 affair.

We are having vendor zoom meetings to explore new and different ideas to present to our clients. And I’ve encouraged everyone to take advantage of the many webinars available now to learn something new.

Taking Time Away from Business is Necessary

And we are all taking some much-needed time off to recharge. Until I took a long weekend recently, I didn’t realize how much I did need to escape the day to day routine I am in. So everyone is taking at least a week vacation this summer. Some are doing a staycation while others are actually going to go somewhere, but the results will be the same. A recharged brain.

 Masterminds and WAMs Keep me Going

For me personally, my mastermind group has increased our meetings to weekly. I’ve spoken about them in this space before. They are more valuable now than ever. We celebrate our successes, even though they may be smaller ones. And we share ideas on how we are reaching out to our clients and prospects.

It helps tremendously to hear the success of others because that gives me hope it will come to us too. If you still are not participating in a mastermind group, now may be a good time to start.

Maintaining Accountability Motivates Action

I also have a weekly accountability meeting with two other business owners. We set individual goals and we have challenged each other to achieve at least 80% of those tasks/goals each week. We don’t want to disappoint each other so it has really helped to keep me motivated to stay on track. I’ve mentioned it before, but just in case, I do recommend you check out Brian Moran’s The 12 Week Year book. Now more than ever we all could use some kind of structure.

Why? Because it works. One of my goals is to reach out and schedule at least 5 zoom meetings with clients and prospects each week. Now, I haven’t had 5 in a week yet because of conflicts but I am starting to have a nice calendar going forward with at least 2-3 a week already scheduled.

Those two elements are my biggest motivators to stay on track. Its sometimes easy to make excuses to myself but having to make an excuse to my WAM team or my Mastermind Group is a lot harder.

Give Yourself a Break and Exercise

I recently spoke to a friend of mine who also happens to be a personal coach and she reminded me that I am not the only one feeling a little lost at times. That we are all feeling it. And it is not only okay to give ourselves a break but it is necessary.

 The first few months I was working 12 hours a day trying desperately to develop new strategies, new business development lists, new presentations and more. I was afraid to stop and take a break.

She reminded me that our brains and bodies need a break from the stress. So, I’m back to walking (had an injury so had to stop for a while), starting up my yoga again and actually tried some water aerobics in the pool the other day. And it has helped me to relieve some of the stress of running the business which in turn helps me to find the motivation each day to get back to it.

Pick a Schedule that Works for You

I am a rather structured individual. Since the pandemic I have not once come to work without getting dressed and putting on make-up (now, it’s jeans and maybe not full make-up, but still I’m not in my sweats), basically keeping my professional self intact. I still get to my home office every day between 8am-8:30am and I work till about 6pm. I am trying to stop by 6pm now so I do have that time to myself in the evening.

I have a fellow business owner that does her day differently. She has her top 10 things she must get done each day. She stays until they are finished. If she’s done by 2pm, she leaves. If she has to stay till 7pm to get them done then that’s what she does.