Staying motivated for 2020 seemed like a much easier task before the year started. The pandemic forced every aspect of our lives in different directions than we had planned, and while many assumed this would be a temporary course of action until everything came back to normal, that hasn’t been the case.
And it probably won’t be for quite some time.
So instead of thinking in temporary terms, we have to make long-term changes and plans for our businesses to survive now and thrive in the future.
But we definitely understand how this entire situation is discouraging. Basically everyone had plans – either for their personal lives or their business – that had to be changed because of the pandemic. Having to rearrange a perfectly good plan feels bad, but we have to stay motivated if we’re to make progress!
Stay grounded in reality
While making plans it’s only human to dream. In fact, dreaming high is encouraged and it’s not something you should always shoot down, but there is definitely a healthy balance.
There’s nothing worse for your business than to deny reality. It’s important to accept the circumstances you’re in and how they impact your work before you can make any improvements and find strategies to work around them.
Besides, another important step of accepting the reality we’re in is to take the necessary safety measures to ensure the coronavirus doesn’t spread more than it already has. You should do this to protect yourself and your clients!
Adjust your plans
There’s no way the same plans you had at the start of the year can be accomplished the exact same way now that so much has changed. Once you rework your mindset to be realistic, it’s time to adjust your plans – not cancel nor get rid of them –, but make the necessary adjustments so that they can still work.
This goes for every aspect of your business, including your major goals and milestones. You may have to push some of them a bit further away, which is frustrating, but by making this change you’ll be setting yourself up for success. Meanwhile, forcing an impossible deadline upon yourself and your partners would probably lead to failure.
And failure isn’t the end of the world, either. It’s hard to make perfect plans when so much is unsure, but plans are there for this very reason: giving yourself a goal and the confidence to tackle every challenge on the path to that very goal.
Find opportunities
This is a complicated topic because at face value, it seems really smug. You’ve probably seen it around – “entrepreneurs” stating that “the pandemic is actually a wonderful time to make investments, all you have to do is know where the opportunities are! You’re not being successful because you’re being negative!”
Well, that’s not how it works.
Obviously, you can find opportunities anywhere, pandemic or not. But trying to sell this idea that all you have to do is “look on the bright side” is disingenuous at best, so let’s consider it in a more grounded way.
You can definitely think of opportunities, but more in the sense of how to grow your business, how to branch out, how to invest in smaller improvements – projects you can realistically achieve within a reasonable timeframe. These opportunities won’t necessarily solve all your problems, but they can help you thrive during these difficult times and open up new doors for the future.
Motivate your team
Someone in a position of leadership should always be the one to inspire and motivate others. There’s nothing more disheartening than looking at your leader and realizing that they don’t seem to know what they’re doing, or that they lack motivation.
And to be fair, you’re only human. No one is that motivated and knows exactly what they’re doing all of the time, so don’t expect that to be the case.
The idea is just to be able to provide that sense of security for your team. Interact with them, stay positive around them, share good news whenever possible – do your best to keep them motivated. The results of this will be a much more positive experience for everyone!
Improve your business
Investment is a tricky subject right now, but I’m not referring to monetary investment in particular. In fact, many would argue this is a terrible moment to consider a large loan for a hefty investment in your business.
Instead, think of what you can do either by yourself or with minimal investment to push your business in just the right way. For example, you might find that your online presence is lacking and needs an update – that’s something you can solve by yourself with just a bit of time. Maybe you can invest some time into improving your customer experience and presentation, which is more important now than ever before. Once again, you can plan and execute these ideas by yourself.
Take inventory right now of your business’ strengths and weaknesses, and you’ve got yourself a list of things to work on!
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