Staying focused and motivated for your goals

How often would you experience the following:

'you have a great goal in mind, something you start off being extremely passionate about. You start with the research and make some good headway. You're still working to keep money coming in but this new idea should be ready to make money within 6 months and you could see it replacing your current full-time job within 12-18 months - that is also an important goal of yours. Some time goes by and you don't see to be making headway and your full-time job starts taking up more of your time. All of a sudden you wake up 6 months later and your great idea is no more. "Oh well", you say, "just wasn't the right time or right idea". Of course you might become disheartened and that's it - no more ideas'.

What I am framing is something that potentially affects many people who have ideas to start off a new project or business. Having an idea is the easy piece, implementing the actions that will progress you past the concept stage requires dedication. It also requires that you focus on the RIGHT PRIORITIES and make the RIGHT DECISIONS (or at least learn from the mistakes you made). It is easy for the brain to ignore pain and disappointment by focusing on something else. This is why if your idea/project is not progressing as expected it is far easier to focus on something else. However we often blame our environment for this 'failure' rather than ourselves. For many of us it is difficult to recognize your own personal biases when it comes to making decisions - whether that be the information you use for input, the experiences and assumptions you make when processing information and the fact that we rarely question our output.

Poor decision making combined with not knowing the tasks that should be prioritized because they offer most value to your project are two key reasons why many people lose focus and motivation. Not everyone is built to continually push past failure after failure and monetary wise many of us could not continue to do so. So what I am suggesting is that you become more efficient when it comes to making decisions and setting tasks. Doing this will result in more small wins and this progress will help you maintain your focus and motivation. So the simple steps to take are;

1. Ensure your idea is accompanied by a vision - supported by internal motivations/values

2. Don't keep your idea in your head. Write down what you need to do and if necessary speak to a business coach who can help you determine which tasks should be prioritized as they will lead to greater progress.

3. Be aware of your decision making biases - always look for independent feedback as well as analyzing why decisions made did not work out the way you expected.

4. Be conscious that you will fail only if you stop. Embrace the fact that setbacks are important but only if you learn from them.

Characteristics of a successful entrepreneur....easy to know, difficult to master

I came across a new magazine the other day called Ambition, which after reading I presume is focused on entrepreneurs but is relevant for all small business owners, entrepreneurs and freelancers. Let me first start by saying that it was a great magazine to read with a good mix of relevant, interesting and informative articles in a market already crowded with entrepreneur focused material.

Anyhow, back to the reason for this blog. One of the articles was titled "What makes a true entrepreneur"? Now there's been a few of these articles recently with the main focus of the conversation focusing on whether entrepreneurs are born or whether the required competencies can be learnt. I don't agree fully with the author when she says that entrepreneurship cannot be learnt because to be honest the word entrepreneur has morphed from what it once was and thus the competencies required have also changed. An entrepreneur no longer has to be an inventor or innovator in the pure sense of the word so what was required to be labeled an entrepreneur 20 years ago is different in today's business environment. I could go into more detail on this now but will leave for another time. Rather let me focus on some of the characteristics of the entrepreneur that came out of a MIT study, albeit 25 years ago (you would think that there is something a little more recent and thus relevant?). However some of these were;

- drive and energy
- internal locus of control
- low fear of failure
- clear goal setting
- self confidence
- moderate risk taker

These are some of the examples but the point I want to make is this. If you are an entrepreneur how do you go about identifying, developing, measuring and learning these characteristics. Whilst easy to read and talk about it is not so easy to assess and increase your own abilities in these areas. Even if you do, the article fails to mention 'how much' drive and energy, self confidence and internal locus of control you need. What is meant by 'moderate' in respect to risk taking? With so many ambiguities this list of characteristics tells you a lot and nothing at all. However it is important to note that the list did not mention that most successful entrepreneurs were the ones with the best business plans. Whilst implementing an effective business strategy is important the message that entrepreneurial success is people characteristic centric appears time and time again.

So what does this tell you? If you're an entrepreneur who wants to be successful focus on your personal and professional development; seek advice from those who can assist you in these areas such as business psychologists because in reality no other professional has the experience, training or education to effectively provide you with the tools, frameworks and support needed.

And for all those freelancers out there, take note. The characteristics listed are some of those you'll need to transition to a 21st century freelancer.