Get motivated: Business is all about you!

Six years ago, Justin Herald launched a new fashion brand with just $50. How’d he do it? It’s all about having the right attitude! Here, Justin shares his tips on staying motivated when you’re up against the odds.

YOU STARTED OFF ALL EXCITED AND MOTIVATED about reaching those dizzy heights of success, but something may not have gone the way you thought it should have.

Now you dread going to bed each night because you know that in the morning you’ll have to get up and go back to dealing with your business problem.

Well, the answer could be simpler than you think. If you’re really honest with yourself, you might find you’re nowhere near the objectives you originally wanted to achieve with your business.

I’m not talking about goals such as success, being filthy rich, or creating a place for yourself in history as a business legend.

No, I’m talking about the personal stuff you wanted which was the reason you started your own business in the first place.

If you think about it really hard, you will remember those things you wanted to achieve.

Maybe you wanted to create a way to spend more time with your family, to be able to afford a nicer holiday once a year, or simply to pay off the mortgage faster than if you were a wage slave.

Most of the time, there are concrete things people want to achieve and experience that are the reason they go into business for themselves. The problem for many business owners is that once you start doing the business thing, you forget your original motives, and become bogged down in the day-to-day stuff.

You get swept up in the doing instead of the getting. I started my own business for two reasons:

1. I wanted to upset someone who said I had an attitude problem, hence the business and brand Attitude Inc.
2. I wanted a nicer car (I LOVE cars) than the humble Mini I was driving at the time.

That was about it. But the only way for me to get any of that was to ensure that I did all my business stuff really well.

Sure, I had to concentrate and immerse myself in the daily tasks and chores of business life, but I never for one day forgot the reasons I started that business.

As a result of launching my own successful business, deliberately named after my so-called attitude problem, I did upset that person who originally told me I had one.

I still have that attitude and I’ve also bought all the cars I always dreamed of owning, so that’s been a great long-term result!

This article isn’t about rubbing it in your face if you are yet to experience your personal desires. In fact, it is the exact opposite.

You really need to have a hard look at what it was you originally wanted from your business, and ask yourself honestly if you have yet to achieve and experience it.

If the answer is ‘No’ then that may be why you’re getting frustrated and left wondering if owning your own business is actually worth it.

If you don’t bother to personally reward yourself along the way then what’s the point of being in business for yourself?

So why not put a small amount of time aside and do a personal stocktake this week? See if there are things you want, or stuff you could achieve that may be what you really need now to get you remotivated.

Be selfish for a minute and enjoy the fruits of all that hard labour you put in each week. Go on: I dare you!