How to Stay Motivated to Start a Business

How do I sustain my motivation when starting a business?

There are several ways entrepreneurs can sustain motivation when starting a business. Follow this expert advice to find the best tips that work for you.

1. Be in the right headspace.

Being in the right headspace is important. To stay motivated, you can’t allow fear of failure or bumps in the road to knock you off your path. When you focus on your strengths, the future of your company becomes clearer. Your general mindset is a crucial factor in sustaining your positive energy.

“Think of the Little Engine That Could,” said Dr. Teralyn Sell, a licensed psychotherapist, brain health specialist and the owner of Inner Strength Counseling and Recovery. “He knew he wanted to get over the mountain to bring the toys to all of the boys and girls on the other side. And when self-doubt began to creep in, the little engine repeated over and over to himself, ‘I think I can, I think I can.’ As new business owners, it’s imperative you do the same.”

Starting a business can be challenging, and it can be difficult to stay motivated when you hit a roadblock. When those issues arise, so does fear, which is why protecting your headspace is key to overcoming them. [Read related: How to Learn from Your Failures: 4 Valuable Lessons]

2. Use meditation to reflect.

It’s vital to have downtime when starting and running a business. “Practice daily mindset shifts,” Sell said. “Put out positive energy and create some new neurological pathways to keep you going. It’s easy to slip down in the dumps when things get tough, but mental toughness is key to your success.”

Shagun Chauhan, a former business development manager at Kology, suggested breaking down your process to understand exactly what is needed to complete your workload. He also recommended meditation to reduce stress and improve productivity so you can focus on the progress you’ve made rather than any shortcomings. Such reflection strengthens your fortitude against tension or disappointment and pushes you to learn from your past mistakes.

3. Surround yourself with motivational people.

Aside from a good attitude, it’s important to surround yourself with like-minded people who share your goals. Not only will it give you a support system, but being around other motivated individuals who encourage you and hold you accountable also makes it harder to quit. A good group of successful people can inspire you and keep you on the right path.

4. Create a strong mission statement.

Don’t underestimate the importance of your mission statement either. A strong mission statement that you and your employees understand and believe in can help you set company goals, avoid missteps and stay motivated when you face rough patches.

5. Focus on your mental health.

If you find that your determination ebbs and flows, Sell said, that fluctuation may be due to your mental health. When you have an imbalance of neurotransmitters such as dopamine or serotonin, your enthusiasm is more apt to burn out.

“You might start off with a dopamine push, like, ‘What a great idea!’” Sell said. “But [when you] lack drive or reward, you fizzle out. If you are stressed out, your cortisol might be impacted, and you may feel fatigued or depressed. If this sounds like you, then get those levels checked out before your big idea gets off the ground.”

6. Focus on your physical health.

Starting a business is a big venture that requires a lot of time and energy. Many aspiring entrepreneurs pay so much attention to their new business that they forget to focus on themselves. It may not seem important, but your physical health can play a major role in your motivation to keep going. Drinking a lot of water, eating balanced meals and getting enough physical exercise will help keep your body running efficiently so you can focus on setting better business goals. 

Additionally, one of the biggest mistakes a new entrepreneur can make is burning the candle at both ends. Getting enough sleep each night is imperative to maintaining long-term motivation. There is often no task so important that it can’t be left until morning — and with a well-rested mind, it may be easier to accomplish the next day anyway.

7. Plan ahead.

Planning ahead and setting reminders can help you stay on track throughout the day. Create a schedule to prioritize your tasks for each day, week and month. Set alarms daily to remind yourself when it’s time to focus on specific jobs and when it’s time to take breaks. There are productivity apps that can help with this as well.

8. Set a realistic schedule for yourself.

One way to achieve goals and stay motivated is by understanding your working habits and creating a realistic process that coincides with them. If you are not a morning person, for example, setting the goal of waking up at 4:30 a.m. every day may result in you accidentally oversleeping, derailing your daily schedule and ultimately giving up. Instead, shift your working hours later in the day (or whatever schedule works best) to create a realistic workday that you are likely to adhere to. 

9. Incentivize yourself.

Everyone loves a reward. When you’re starting a business, it can be easy to get so focused on what’s next that you forget to celebrate the little victories. Keep track of your milestones — big and small — and reward yourself when you reach them. Recognizing each challenge and achievement is a great way to remind yourself how far you’ve come and what you’ve accomplished.

10. Create a routine.

The best way to motivate yourself long-term is to create a routine. The British Journal of Health Psychology said it takes the average person two to three months to form a new habit and 59 days for a new behavior to become automatic, although it can be more or less depending on the individual and habit type. Create a routine to keep you on track. If you stick with it long enough, you may just be automatically motivated to work without having to think twice.

Why is motivation important for an entrepreneur?

Motivation is important for an entrepreneur for the same reason fuel is important for a plane: Nothing gets off the ground without it. A business isn’t always booming with profit or celebrating achievements. Completing mundane or difficult tasks is a daily necessity, and it’s your ambition that will push you through it to keep striving for your goals.

“Motivation can boost an entrepreneur’s confidence to match their goals,” Chauhan said. “Recognition, esteem and self-actualization fulfill you. Motivated thoughts allow you to think more productively and experiment with new ideas.”

Your drive is also tied to your dopamine reward pathways, which make you want to keep going or do something again, Sell said. “Motivation is the workhorse behind your ideas.”

What are the types of entrepreneur motivations?

Contrary to popular belief, money isn’t the only motivator. Motivations for success include flexibility, control and legacy, said Jacent Wamala, a licensed therapist and the CEO/keynote speaker of Wamala Wellness.

Each motivation falls under one of two categories: intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the internal form of motivation that comes from a personal desire to fulfill your goals and achieve individual ambitions and personal satisfaction. Extrinsic motivation is driven by external rewards such as money, praise and fame.

• Flexibility is a valuable benefit of entrepreneurship. Working for a company or someone else may require long hours that leave you feeling overworked, overextended or bored. When you work for yourself, you may still put in long hours — maybe even more than you would working for someone else — but you have the freedom to structure those hours how you want.
• Control is similar to flexibility in terms of power over your own goals and productivity. More importantly, you have direct control over your success and livelihood. Calling the shots is freeing, but it requires you to be reliable and efficient.
• Legacy in business is the desire to create something long-lasting that can produce generational wealth, with value or an impact to a wide group of people that lasts lifetimes. A successful business can span multiple generations.

Understanding your motivation and what drives you will help you focus on your goals. When your underlying purpose is clear, you won’t feel as overwhelmed or discouraged when things change or you encounter obstacles.

“Having a solid understanding of why you are starting a business will remind you of the necessity to continue in the face of adversity,” Wamala said. “Write down your lessons and wins regularly. Create boundaries to avoid burnout. Seek peer support or mentorship to have a community that you feel understands you. A great entrepreneur is flexible and a lifelong learner.”

Julie Thompson and Skye Schooley contributed to the reporting and writing in this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.