How to Stay Motivated When You Feel Like Giving Up

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Have you ever felt like just throwing in the towel on one of your goals or even your Etsy shop? I know that I have. Listen, there’s no shame in not being able to stay motivated 100% of the time. It’s natural to experience a slump in your “go get ‘em” attitude every now and then. The important thing is that you don’t let that slump become permanent. Let’s talk about some ways on how to stay motivated when you feel like giving up.

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How to Stay Motivated When You Feel Like Giving Up

Remember Your Why
When things get tough and it seems like succeeding with Etsy is impossible, it can be easy to lose sight of why you should keep going. That’s why it’s a great idea to write down your “why” and keep it in a safe place for those moments when you need a reminder. Whenever you set a goal for your life, take out a sheet of paper and write down exactly why you want or need to achieve that goal. For example, if you have a goal to lose a certain amount of weight, one big why might be that you want to avoid a weight-related health condition that tends to run in your family. Or it could be that you want to be able to run around with your kids while they are still young rather than feeling out of breath after one round of hide-and-go-seek. Essentially, the reasons you should keep moving forward must be stronger than any excuse you may have to give up. The reasons need to be meaningful enough to make you get up off your butt and take action. Write down all of those reasons and refer to them whenever you need a little motivation.

Envision Your Future
Another great thing to practice is envisioning your future. Close your eyes and imagine that you have achieved your goals and your Etsy shop is a success. How do you feel? What do you do each day? What opportunities do you have now that you didn’t have before? What are you able to do now that you weren’t able to do before? You could take it a step further by writing it all down or even creating a vision board. A vision board can be as simple as decorating a poster board with pictures, images, words, and phrases that represent your life after achieving your goals. If you’re short on time, you could even make a private vision board on Pinterest and simply pin things that will get you excited to keep pushing towards your goals and how to stay motivated.

Look at How Far You Have Come
Sometimes we get so discouraged by how far we are from our final goal that we fail to realize just how far we have already come. Don’t let that happen to you! Make sure you take some time periodically to acknowledge and appreciate the progress you have already made towards your goals. Celebrate the little milestones along the way. Just as parents cheer for their kids as they learn to roll over, sit up, crawl, stand, and (finally) walk, we should learn to appreciate the steps that we take towards our goals. Even if you trip, fall, or take longer than expected, you’re still moving forward. That deserves some cheering!

Put on Your Blinders
Have you ever been to a horse race and noticed little plastic cups placed on either side of a horse’s eyes? These are called blinders. Horse trainers use them to prevent horses from getting distracted by things that are going on around them. In other words, it helps to keep the horses focused on the task at hand. Another good idea on how to stay motivated is to put on metaphorical blinders. We need to eliminate those things that would only serve to distract us from our goals. Those distractions, especially negative ones and constantly comparing ourselves and our business to others, can eat away at our motivation and cause us to get off track. Think about the things in your life that tend to draw your attention away from your goals. Figure out ways that you can minimize, manage, or eliminate these distractions. You may find that your motivation levels improve once you’re focused on your goals.

I hope these tips help to keep you motivated and it’s what I teach creative entrepreneurs in my inner circle group.  If you need more help staying on task and motivated, I would love for you to join me in my Success Circle Membership Group.

What are some of your favorite ways to give yourself a ‘kick in the pants’? Let me know in the comments below.

Julie

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