How to Stay Motivated as an Entrepreneur (Even When it Gets Hard)

Everyone tells you entrepreneurship is hard, but you can’t really understand it until you’re in it. You very quickly realize, it’s nothing like the movies.

In the movies, an entrepreneur makes the decision to change their life. There is a highlight reel of success, one big challenge to overcome, and then victory in the form of wealth, praise, and recognition.

Yeah…..right.

Instead, it’s more like an entrepreneur makes the decision to quit their job and then spends the next ten years wondering if they will be able to pay their bills or make payroll next month.

It’s an insane amount of pressure because now you’re responsible for much more than just yourself, and you don’t get paid to show up, you get paid to perform.

And on the days that you can’t, it’s very hard to stay motivated. The issue is, in an environment where you only eat what you kill, not being “motivated” is not enough.

So here are a few ways to stay motivated, even when it gets hard:

Remembering Why

Simon Sinek made this popular, and it’s one of the best ways to stay motivated. Remembering why you were on this path is one sure way to stay on it. There was a reason you chose this path, or better yet, there was a reason it chose you.

In fact, for me personally, it never really felt like a choice. Most of the time when we get down about where we are, it’s because we think there is an alternative.

Every time I tried to think of a way out because things were just getting too hard, I had a realization of “oh, there really isn’t any other option.” And that itself brought some relief and put some wind under my sails.

Because you know what? I’m not going back. I can’t do the 9–5. This entrepreneurial bug is in me, or better yet, this is just who I am, and this is just what comes with being one. That’s why I started, because this path didn’t just choose me. It is me.

Getting Some Rest

I know…the thing no entrepreneur wants to hear: take a break. A lot of times, what you think is the world crumbling down around you is really just the need for a good night’s sleep and a healthy, nourishing meal.

Your job is to run the marathon, not sprint it, and a marathon feels a whole lot harder when you try and sprint the first mile.

This may sound crazy to entrepreneurs, but rest is important. It allows you to be emotionally and mentally stable as you’re building. Why is this important, you ask? Because believe it or not, entrepreneurial success is MUCH more about good decision-making than it is about “working hard.”

So when you’re not in your best state, you’re not going to make good decisions, and those bad decisions will lead you to working hard on the things that don’t actually matter.

If you want to be rejuvenated and remotivated with a lust for the business life again, then please, just get some rest.

Earn It

Here is a little harsh truth about motivation: it is earned. If you’re early in the entrepreneurial journey and you just haven’t gotten results yet, then you don’t really deserve to be motivated.

An easy analogy is always working out. You don’t get motivated to continue on workout number one. In fact, you may wonder why you’re even doing this to yourself in the first place.

You get motivated the first time you look in the mirror and see progress. THAT makes you want to keep going, because you realize it’s not all for nothing.

Until that happens, however, you have to lean on grit and the complete neglect of all defeatist feelings that will inevitably be there.

Entrepreneur life is no different, choose grit and work until you can make it work. In the beginning, you’ll have to earn your motivation.

If you’ve already seen results in the past and it’s just been a while, then reference back to remind yourself: you did that! It’s what Goggins refers to as the “cookie jar”, a little jar of all your past accomplishments, so that when you’re feeling a little low, you can put your hand in there and refuel, reminding yourself who you really are and what you’ve already overcome.

Talk About Your Business

Most entrepreneurs are so busy working they forget to socialize. In other cases, they are so stealthy they forget to share their ideas.

A lot of times, talking through our business, what we’re doing right, where we’re seeing challenges, getting feedback, and just saying things out loud, can be the fuel you need to get re-energized in your pursuit.

There have been so many times where I vocalized some of my frustrations, not only to realize that:

1. They’re not as big as I was making them out to be.
   
2. I actually came up with a solution JUST by saying it out loud to another human being.
   
3. Seeing people respond positively (or even negatively) can give you the spark you need to get back up.
   

At times like these, if you don’t have a close friend or a co-founder, it might be wise to turn to a good entrepreneur coach. 

Choose Discipline

This is the part you were hoping not to hear in this post, but the real reason not everyone is an entrepreneur is because it’s… hard.

Most of the time you’re not motivated. Most of the time you work a lot and nothing is really happening. And most of the time, no one gives a damn except for you.

This is why, more than motivation, we have to choose discipline. We have to show up day after day, hour after hour, doing the things that we “hate doing, but doing it like we love it.” That’s what discipline is. – Mike Tyson

In the end, what you’re really looking for is not motivation, but the desire to keep going, and the desire to feel good about it.

The only way you get that is to show up for yourself every day, and remember that:

Every little wall
Is not a no
Instead a little sign of where to go

So when you face a wall, don’t lose your will
Because it’s not the doubt that will kill you,
It’s sitting still.