If you’re like me, you know how difficult, and sometimes painful, it is to work on a struggling business. Whether you’re a new entrepreneur, or have had a business for years, it’s hard to work, day-in and day-out, without seeing results.

I love trying to make money online, but some days I find it extremely difficult to wake up motivated. I know it will be weeks, months, or maybe years before I start making a substantial income from blogging. Then today, I found an article by Yaro at Entrepreneurs-Journey about remaining productive when you feel like giving up.

I felt like this article spoke directly to me. So using Yaro’s article for inspiration, I decided to write my own post to motivate all my fellow entrepreneurs on how to overcome fear and self-doubt in your business.

You might be unmotivated if…

You wake up feeling overwhelmed.
Before bed at night, I often tell myself all the things I want to accomplish tomorrow. When I wake up the next day, I dread getting started because of all the things I need to do. Then, it’s even more depressing knowing that I will not see monetary results for a long time. As an independent business owner you deal with everything. The marketing, finances, customer service, product creation, all rest on your shoulders. If each day you feel completely overwhelmed with the endless to-do lists, chances are it’s causing you to lose motivation in your business.

You distract yourself with unproductive work.
Yes, unproductive work does exist. These actions won’t bring you more business, but keep you busy. Productive work is work you do to bring more value to your customers and generate more business. For a while, I thought I was the only one who would spend hours working on a header image, searching for plug-ins, or making template changes. Since then, I’ve heard other entrepreneurs talk about doing unproductive work, while avoiding the important tasks, like a blogger writing content, or a brick-and-mortar business making cold calls.

You regularly contemplate quitting.
Probably the most painful thought of all for an entrepreneur, is quitting. Considering going back to a 9 to 5 job is like kryptonite to an entrepreneur. The thought that people will think you’re a failure, as well as, your own feelings of failure, can be crippling.

Although I think it’s important to surge forward in the face of adversity and failure, you also need to realize when putting food on the table is more important than your business. Personally, I’m looking at taking on at least one part-time job, studying more about web design in order to freelance, and selling stuff on Ebay to supplement our income until blogging starts paying the bills.

Tips on staying motivated while facing fear and self-doubt

Take action each day in the right direction
Your mind is your most powerful weapon. It can be used to help create great things, or tear you down with fear and doubt. You must become a master over your own mind and force yourself to take action every day. Do something to increase your business or potentially generate revenue. Here are 7 tips for growing the action habit that I took from the book The Magic of Thinking Big.

1. Be someone who does things. Be a doer, not a don’t-er.
2. Don’t wait until conditions are perfect. They never will be. Expect future obstacles and difficulties and solve them as they arise.
3. Remember, ideas alone won’t bring success. Ideas have value only when you act upon them.
4. Use action to cure fear and gain confidence. Do what you fear, and fear disappears.
5. Think in terms of NOW . Tomorrow, next week, later, and similar words often are synonymous with the failure word, never. Be an “I’m starting now” kind of person.
6. Don’t waste time getting ready to act. Start acting instead.
7. Take initiative. Be a crusader. Be a volunteer. Show that you have the ability and ambition to do.

Enjoy the small successes.
On one of my first niche sites, I started building content day after day with very little visitor feedback. Then people starting finding my site. I would occasionally get a comment or email like “Thanks for building this great site”. It’s still tough because it’s not generating any revenue. However, the other day I got my first affiliate sale! Even though it was only a couple of dollars, it made me feel like success was still a possibility. At the early stages of your business, especially online, look for small successes to keep you motivated.

Remember the turtle… BE the turtle.
The moral of “slow and steady wins the race” applies to Entrepreneurs in a big way. To win this game you need patience, dedication, and persistence. Most over-night successes are not “over-night” at all. Study the characteristics and qualities of successful entrepreneurs and realize that integrity, self-discipline, passion, and good old-fashion hard work is what will drive you towards success.

The journey to success starts TODAY

The hardest part of changing behavior and mindset is overcoming the person in the mirror. Some days will be difficult, but you have to force yourself to take some action, even a small one, in the direction of your goals and dreams. Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu said it best. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

What step will you take TODAY to make your business a success?

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