Guest Post by: Karen Wessels, co-founder and COO of VA Connect
I have a confession to make, and I think you may feel the same way – I love being an entrepreneur! It’s such an incredible experience. And, at the same time, the hardest thing I’ve ever done. So what happens when the weight of being an entrepreneur, mom and partner becomes too much to bear? How do you stay motivated?
“We need to get women to the point where they aren’t apologizing. It’s time to take ownership in our success.”
– Tory Burch, CEO & Designer
There are some great ways to remain motivated during challenging times and I want to share some of my favourite ones with you.
1. Don’t give up
Thomas Edison is a fantastic example of not giving up. Like he famously said, “I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. The decision to never give up will change your life forever, and those around you. Successful entrepreneurs may die trying, but they never give up. Look to other successful women entrepreneurs and remain inspired by their consistency and emulate what they do on a daily basis. Most importantly, always remember your Why.
2. Be ready to fail
Our success lies in our failure. If you are willing to fail, then you are willing to succeed. As a women entrepreneur keep motivated to keep pushing forward, even if it means falling on your face now and then. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and learn from your failure. See this as an opportunity not only for you to grow as a person, but also as a shining example for younger women entrepreneurs in your industry.
3. Invest in yourself: read books and find a mentor
Ask any successful women entrepreneur what they do to keep motivated and the one thing that consistently pops up is reading. Make it a goal to read a business book a week, or if you’re not prone to reading that much, get 3 or 4 books and select a page or chapter per night to go through. Take what you need from it and implement it in your life and your business.
The other way to invest in yourself and stay motivated is to find a mentor, someone who has walked a similar path to the one that you’re currently on. Learn from their mistakes; use them as a sounding board. It may even be a close friend or ex-colleague. Ask them to help you by keeping you accountable on certain tasks or achieving selective goals in the month.
4. Surround yourself with a great support team
In order to be successful as a women entrepreneur we need the support and motivation of our support team. This could be your staff that makes sure the wheels run smoothly at the office while you work on your business to grow and develop it. Or it could be your spouse who makes sure that the house and children are taken care of while you attend to certain tasks. Behind every successful entrepreneur is a support person that you just cannot do without. It’s all about the team effort! Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Your team know and understand you, and are the extra hands and eyes that you need to keep focussed.
5. Take time out
We’ve heard it all too often, maintain a healthy balanced lifestyle. Yes, I know you are supermom and wonder entrepreneur, but even you need time out now and again. Treat yourself to some quiet time, a coffee with a friend perhaps, or just take a walk in the park. This time is yours alone, use it to gather your thoughts, centre yourself and appreciate again why you became an entrepreneur.
Karen Wessels is the co-founder and COO of VA Connect, a South African virtual assistant platform that provides outsourced administrative support. Prior to establishing VA Connect, Karen spent over 10 years in different sales, marketing & admin support roles. Having worked with MDs, SMEs and professionals, she is very familiar with managing different workloads within tight deadlines. This has equipped her with the invaluable skills required to run a successful VA business. Follow Karen on Twitter | Facebook | Google+
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