I love my job! I guess I’m one of those lucky people that actually dared to find a vocation that fuels my spirit and has me jumping out of bed every day just raring to go!
Can you remember that feeling? As an entrepreneur and small business owner there’s no doubt the feeling is or has been familiar to you at some point in your journey. Remember when you took the risk to pursue an opportunity even when others told you that you were crazy? Remember when your own negative self talk had you questioning why you were doing it? It was your passion that propelled you forward despite the sometimes difficult journey; it was your passion that brought you success and had you persevere through seeming failures.
But what happens when one day you wake up and wish you could just stay in bed? You look at the pile of paper and all the “to dos” that keep mounting on your desk and wish you could hide them in a drawer and make them disappear. You’re tired, overwhelmed, and question what you’re doing and why. You realize that you’ve lost your passion. So the question becomes, “how can you reignite your passion, or ‘up’ your game?”
Here are three tips that can help you do just that:
Remember your first love.
Often we lose sight of what it was that initially inspired us to become entrepreneurs. What was in it for you? Was it the need to innovate, to be successful at running your own show, to create from nothing?
For me it was the passion of helping small and mid size companies grow and achieve their goals. Oh, the thrill of the deal! Helping my clients get access to the right funding, the right partners and the right growth strategies reminded me why I was here. I also got to take advantage of the vast amount of knowledge and practical experience I gained throughout my corporate career to guide and mentor my clients to success! That’s what did it for me! It’s important to examine what it is for you and to keep that in your focus.
You may realize that you have veered off into a completely new direction; away from your original goal and intention. It may be time to refocus or to define a new course, either way, getting clarity on your vision and on what it is that you love about what you do will help re-ignite your passion!
Create your dream team.
A typical entrepreneur tries to do too much or tries to do it all. Often this behaviour is rationalized with thoughts like, “I need to save on costs” or “no one can do it as well as I can” or “it would take too long to explain it to someone else, I’m better off doing it myself”. Sound familiar? Although this may be seemingly true for you, you can’t afford not to have the right team around you.
Hire people or outsource functions that will allow you the freedom to focus on what you do best. For example, if you’re burdened with administrative work that keeps you from following up with potential clients or from properly servicing your clients, you may need to consider hiring an assistant or an office manager. If you’re handling the entire process from procurement through to payment (including client service), you’re overloaded. You’ll not only lose your passion but you’ll inevitably burn out too! Hire the right person for the job and leverage their strengths to help you become even more successful.
Hire a business coach or mentor.
Ask successful people how they got to where they are today and most will tell you that they had a mentor or coach guiding them. Hiring the right coach/ mentor can make the difference between success and failure or winning and losing. At minimum, it can make the journey a more pleasant one because you have someone to share your challenges, struggles, and triumphs with… without judgement.
The coach/ mentor can also help you dig deep within to develop the ability to go beyond what you thought was possible for yourself. A coach/ mentor will hold you accountable for your actions and push you to new heights. Throughout my career, I have sought out the right coach/ mentor to guide me depending on what stage I was in. Sometimes my coach/ mentor sessions were one-on-one appointments with a professional that I admired and knew I could benefit from. Other times, I would study and follow the strategies of successful people that I admired, learning from their experience. I also invested in programs and CDs that served to stimulate my creativity and keep my passion alive!
Whatever you choose to do, having someone who can guide you to grow and develop and become the best version of yourself is essential to sustained growth and keeping your passion ignited! Do your research and hire the right coach/ mentor. Check their track record and be aware of whether or not they resonate with you. Just going through this process may re-ignite your passion as it did mine!
