You know those days where you sit down at your desk to work and instantly you wish you were somewhere else? The days where you struggle to get the motivation, and to get into the right business mindset. Well Todd Herman actually has the answer for you. Let me explain.
I love Todd Herman. Not in a weird way that my husband should be worried about, but in a ‘holy crap this guy knows his stuff’ way. At first this really surprised me, as I never expected to find a sports psychologist interesting (I am so not a sports person!) But wisdom is wisdom and this guy has it in spades.
What Todd Says
I recently watched his interview with Marie Forleo (alright, alright, you got it out of me, I watched it for the third time) and decided to take notes.
Todd’s premise is that when you change, do something new, or try to create a different way of being then a “chemical cocktail ensues”. My chemical cocktail occurred when I went from having the a steady income of an employee, to having to rely on my own business income.
This chemical cocktail is happening on a cellular level. Your cells are constantly receiving information and replicating, based on what you have taught them. This happens all day, every day. When you introduce change, then you are going to feel RESISTANCE in your very cells.
You are going to shock your cells if you suddenly change from giving them ‘mundane’, to giving them ‘exciting’. The same goes if they have been feeding on stress and drama, and you suddenly adopt yoga for calmness. All those little cells are going to be calling out for some stress and drama. It’s what they are used to after all. I noticed this in a big bad way when I began to withhold sugar. Man did my body tell me all about it!
So What Does It Mean?
Knowing this simple physiological fact will affect your whole perspective on change. When you feel the hint of resistance, you know you’re not betraying your very being or your ‘true self’. It’s just some pesky little cells that are behaving like little temper tantrum throwing toddlers. You can tell them to sit down and zip it.
We can fall into the trap of telling ourselves different stories during difficult times. As Todd explains we either operate out of our OWW brain or our WOW brain. The oow will feel ‘stuck’, ‘bored’, or display a need to retreat and find ‘safety’. Whereas the wow brain will see things as ‘growth’, ‘confidence building’ and ‘adventure’.
Nurture that wow brain by doing things that naturally give you a sense of growth, confidence and adventure. Then, REFRAME those other circumstances and retrain your brain to see your latest failure, bad day, faux pa or stumble as a positive. A negative experience is just an opportunity for growth, adventure or confidence building. Each this happens, think of it as working towards your long term goal.
Maintain A Motivated Business Mindset
You started your business with a dream. You were inspired and ready to take on the world. But sometimes, things don’t always go to plan. So here are some things you can do to up your motivation and start kicking goals again (see, Todd and his sporty-ness has rubbed off in me!).
9 ways to maintain a motivated business mindset...
1. Make sure you take care of you. It is H.A.R.D to feel motivated on no sleep, or if you haven't left your desk for ten hours. So get up, have a breather and a well earned cup of coffee. If you can manage it, a day off will work wonders. Even an afternoon away will refresh you.
2. Do reality checks on your expectations. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so neither will your business empire.
3. Don’t lose sight of the big goal, remind yourself of why you are doing what you are doing. Having a vision board in a prominent place can be a constant visual reminder of your goals.
4. Declutter!!! Seriously this is like a magic trick. Spend half a day tackling an area of your life - wardrobe, office, desk, filing cabinet, computer desktop - whatever it is. Sort it out and Kon Mari that thang. Wipe clean your white board and start fresh.
5. Reverse engineer those goals and end points. Get bite sized goals from your big dreams. Try to FOCUS (Follow One Course Until Success).
6. Make friends with the ickies. The things that make you want to run. Know that it’s ok to feel those feelings. They’re not going to get you, sabotage you, or ruin your life. Put them in their place. Remember, chances are they are just teeny little cells talking an old language.
7. Own it. Take a good hard look at your language and anything you are telling yourself you “should” do or “ought to” do is something you are tied to with obligation and not ownership.
8. Clear up your conscience. This comes into decluttering as well. Forgive - yourself and others who may have contributed to perceived failures or setbacks. Restore what you can, then move on knowing you are only human. Give yourself a break and give yourself TIME as well. The goal posts can move.
9. Measure your progress. One of my favourite quotes on this is by British statistician Karl Pearson, ‘Anything measured improves; anything measured and reported improves exponentially.” Karl sure did know his stuff. So, measure anything that can be seen as a success. Celebrate each milestone. Whether it be a comment on a Facebook post, a new person on your list, or the next $10,000 you earn. If it’s a milestone for you, CELEBRATE.
You Can Do It
Now that we have experienced the wisdom of Todd and Karl, I think it is pretty clear that you can do it. You can stay motivated in your business to kick the goals, hit the home runs, or whatever other sports analogy you want to use.
Maintain a motivated business mindset and break through the barrier to make a successful you.
