We've been in the wholesale merchandise business for three decades and sometimes you just get pooped! Has your get up and go got up and went? Do you absolutely dread Mondays? Feel burned out? Put off tasks any chance you can get? If so, you are likely suffering from a common condition called "Lack of Motivation". By using the 4 suggestions below, you can jumpstart your enthusiasm and take back control of your happiness, productivity, and fun. Try these quirky motivation tips and see if you don't feel better, work better, and have a better attitude about just about everything!

1) Trick Time By Making It Work For You!

If you're like most business owners, time feels like your biggest enemy. You've got deadlines to meet, stacks of paper to go through, phone calls to return, meetings to attend, reports to product, and there sits time, the Cheshire Cat, grinning at you as it twitches its tail like the second hand of a clock. Tic toc. Tic toc.

But there are ways to race against time.

* Before leaving the office, jot down 5 things you want to get done and the time you want to have them completed, so that right when you get into the office the next day, you have a goal, a mission, a plan…

* Start an assessment or report that is due, but end it in mid sentence, or in the middle of a thought. Start there, the next day and complete the project.

2) To Reach Goals, Set Them.

A golfer will picture him or herself hitting the ball. A swimmer pictures him- or herself rounding the turn. An effective business person creates mini goals for each hour of the day. These generally become "incentive" goals, giving the person a sense of excitement about doing them and "getting" the reward at the end. Maybe your reward is a much needed break, lunch out, or enjoying a round of golf. Maybe you'll leave a little early and go fishing, or shopping, or maybe you'll actually curl up and read a book!

By committing goals to print, you cement those thoughts and by offering incentives, you make the reaching of those goals so much more fun!

3) Who Says Business Isn't a Game?

Taking yourself or your work too seriously can end up eating away at you, your energy, and your psyche, and who has time or energy for that? Instead, make each day fun. Sure, business is work, but who says it has to be tedious, boring, overwhelming, or that everything has to be done by you? Delegate! Strengthen the areas of your work that need support, such as your vision, mission, and culture statements, and get everyone on the same page. Get help in the form of a business coach that can share essential systems with you, saving you hours of time and energy.
 

Weed out those who aren't team players and add value to the lives of the people you keep on your team. If business isn't a game to you, maybe it's time to make it one!

4) Avoid Burnout.

What normally happens when business owners feel burned out is that they further isolate themselves by creating a cocoon that becomes almost impenetrable, closing themselves in. While some business owners kick and scream at this idea, the key is to get out and mix with positive, inspiring, open-minded people and let some of that enthusiasm rub off on you! As you do this, you'll become more inclined to be the inspiration for someone else. This kind of enthusiasm is contagious, so be careful. You might get happy!

It's easy to get caught up in the "my life sucks" mentality, but channelling one's energy into small, doable, reachable goals is key, whether that's in one's personal life or one's business life. Once those goals start to fall into place, you can look at the bigger picture, and then things start to really get exciting.

A friend told me about an interesting little story once. "A man with a broken clock came into the watch repair shop and asked the guy at the counter, 'Do you repair clocks?'. The man assured him he did and pointed to a sign over his head. It read:

"You only get two."
 

"Two what?" the man with the broken clock asked.

"You can get cheap service, quality service, or fast service, but you only get two. Which two do you choose?"

What would you chose? Cheap quality certainly sounds like an oxymoron as does fast quality. But cheap, fast anything rarely lasts long. My choice would be just one: quality service.

Is that what you chose? My point is that what you focus on is what you attract, so be sure to keep your focus razor sharp. Quality service attracts quality customers. Confident, healthy business owners attract confident, healthy clients. As a business owner, you're not broken. You don't need to be fixed, but you do need effective tools, including systems and processes put into place that will help you in the areas of time, team, management, and marketing. That's where a business coach can help.