Being motivated to succeed is a key characteristic of any successful business owner.  While motivation in general is important what’s every more important is the primary characteristic of self-motivation.

Motivation in general comes from facing an unmet need.  Often this is seen as coming from some  type of external source.  For instance, a person might be motivated to please a boss, enhance pride or ego, or please  family.

As a business owner, many of those specific external motivators are not present.  Essentially you work and live inside a vacuum.  There’s no boss to keep tabs on you and pride and ego are not at the top of your list.  Family might or might not be there to support you; however, if you’re earning a supplemental income that motivation isn’t always very strong.

The Keys to Self-Motivation

The key to having self-motivation lies in creating goals that you feel excited about and are reasonable and feasible for you to attain.  A large portion of that then means you have to look within yourself to determine what motivates you and gets you excited in your business context.

For instance, are you motivated by money? If so, then you can set sales or profit goals to aim for to reach your monetary goals.  For example, if your monthly sales are $500, then you might create goals and strategies to double that monthly sales number.

Are you motivated by esteem and credibility? If so, then you may want to set goals that help you boost your business credibility.  These could include publishing goals, goals to increase your blog subscribers, comments or your opt-in list subscribers or similar activities.

Are you motivated by helping others? If so, then you might want to consider setting goals for increasing your customer orclient list, adding more value to your prospects and clients, or offering more products and services to serve a broader target audience.

Are you motivated by teamwork? Consider seeking partnerships, mastermind groups or mentors to help you find common purpose and goals and to expand your offerings through collaborations.

Making Motivation Real

When you pinpoint what gives you the self-motivation to move forward in your business along with the types of goals you to set, it’s time to do some creative thinking or brainstorming about how to turn your desires into reality. Follow these tips.

  • Create your goals. Consider both what motivates you and how the goal will help you grow your business.
  • Establish quantifiable measurements so you know when you can claim success. For example, if you’re motivated by money, then select an actual monetary figure to reach in a specific period of time.
  • Break the goal down into achievable steps. Doubling your monthly sales in six months is a large and somewhat vague goal. Instead, determine specifically how you will achieve that goal.  Are you going to release a new product? P artner with someone to offer more value to your customers?  Create a hard-hitting advertising campaign? Create a plan to achieve your goals. Include a timeline for each step of the way.  Don’t forget to include measurements so you know when you’ve achieved desired results.
  • Implement your plan and track your results. You can’t reach a goal if you don’t put it into action. Determine the steps to take to reach the goal and get started making your goal a reality.
  • Once you’ve achieved your goals, celebrate. Take time to relish your accomplishments.  Go to the spa, buy yourself something nice or even take a short vacation. You’ve earned it.

Once you’ve reached your goal and done your celebrating, be sure to evaluate exactly what you did to reach your goal.   Then you know the steps you used to be successful so you can repeat them when doing a similar task or proejct.  Now, take a look at what you want to accomplish next and get started.  There’s no end to what you can accomplish.