POST COVID-19 MOTIVATION
As the vaccine for Covid-19 becomes more widely distributed and people begin to feel more comfortable with the thought of returning to restaurants, brick and mortar stores, and public gathering places (albeit with masks on for many people); the slow climb back to normal has begun. Having completed both doses of the vaccine myself, I am not quite feeling invincible, but I do feel a little less guarded about entering situations where I will be in close proximity to others.
While this past year has put a real challenge in front of many (maybe all) of us personally and professionally, it is time for us to begin focusing on setting up our business future and working toward achieving those goals. Whether you are looking to break out and do your own entrepreneurial venture, or you are simply looking to become more impactful in your current role; the April Showers associated with this month should not drown out your ambitions, goals, and desire to put a plan on place to achieve what you seek.
With that in mind, I would like to remind you of the 8 Secrets to Maintaining Motivation.
1. Set goals for yourself - using the SMART acronym as a guide. Establish goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Based.
2. Choose goals that appeal to you - you are far more likely to pursue goals that are interesting to you than you are to try to achieve goals that others are suggesting or requiring of you.
3. Make it fun - in the event that there are parts of the goal that are drudgery or uninteresting, look for ways to make it fun (or at least less painful). Challenge yourself to find a way to make a game of it (how quickly, how accurately, how creatively, etc.) or tie the least appealing aspects of it to the greater push of achieving your goal.
4. Make the goal known - by sharing the goal with others, it invites them to hold you accountable and it subtly reminds you of your commitment to it. Once it is shared, there is a greater desire to follow-through.
5. Plot your progress - take the time to establish intermediate goals and celebrate each milestone or achievement. By tracking progress, you can see the incremental gain being made to the eventual goal.
6. Accomplish the easy first - when and where possible, ease into the pursuit of the goal by completing the easier tasks first. Build some inertia and then work on the more complex or difficult tasks with the wind in your sails.
7. Pat yourself on the back - provide incentives and rewards for your progress. Whether it is a gift you "allow" yourself to purchase or any other meaningful reward or way of self-encouragement to keep moving ahead, use the element of rewarding yourself to stay on track.
8. Don't go it alone - Having a network surrounding, encouraging, sharing, and holding you accountable will be motivating by itself. Left to our own individual pursuits, we can occasionally become our worst enemies and allow self-doubt to creep into our thoughts.
Work to keep your motivation up and your goals will be that much closer to being achieved!
ONW (OKAYNOWWHAT) INSIGHTS
After over 30 years working in corporate training, sales enablement, management and having worn the hats of; corporate employee, entrepreneur, author, academic, keynote speaker, and youth sports coach and mentor, I am now adding to my roster of jobs - business coach. While I still maintain the original businesses (www.zahnconsulting.com and www.workshop360.biz), I am now adding www.okaynowwhat.biz. It is through this new offering that I will assist new entrepreneurs, those considering becoming entrepreneurs, and business professionals who want to rekindle the spark they once had for the work they do - but have lost their passion over time.
I want to be of service - it is through that effort that the greatest rewards can be found and shared with others. Having seen and experienced much in my career from many different sides of business relationships, I want to share it with others and provide the learning to help others accomplish their goals.
Together, we CAN achieve great things. Working collaboratively and meeting each challenge as it arises and overcoming it until we feel completely confident in your ability to do so without guidance. Working with your own private cheering section to lift you up when you stumble and provide you with guardrails and a metaphorical safety harness when trying new things to expand your reach and capability.
If you are ready, so am I! We can do this!
To schedule a no obligation "Chat and Chew With You" conversation to explore whether coaching is right for you, click here
COOL RESOURCE
If you are looking for a wonderful way of determining where to focus your entrepreneurial efforts, but are just stuck in overwhelm and uncertain of where to begin, I would like to point you to an article I wrote not too long ago that explores the concept of, "Ikigai." It is a fast read and led to the naming of this coaching offer's website https://blog.ctnews.com/zahn/2020/01/02/ok-now-what/
UPCOMING EVENTS
I welcome you to get a "taste test" of the kind of coaching I do by registering for Eprenz connect sessions https://eprenz.com/. I often am asked to participate in those sessions as a facilitator and mentor.
Additionally, I am planning a series of webinars that I will introduce in this space in future newsletters - so keep an eye on this section!
CONNECT WITH ME
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-zahn-30270a4/
Blog: https://blog.ctnews.com/zahn/author/zahn/
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