No matter how ambitious you are, you’re eventually going to feel the engines stall. Your motivation will run low — or completely fizzle out — and you’ll need a little boost to get you to your next career goal.
When you’re feeling burned out, it can be hard to dig deep enough to find that inner motivation and start moving forward again. That’s why we asked Young Entrepreneur Council members the following question:
Without motivation, people will never be able to reach their true goals. What is the best way for people rekindle their drive — or discover a new way forward?
Here’s what they advise:
1. Get Out of the Office
Often the thing that rekindles lost motivation is getting out of the office and exploring something that has nothing to do with the job at hand. Travel to a new destination, tour or interact with different people than you normally would. Reconnecting with what makes you happy, calm, serene and excited will inevitably translate over to reminding you why you’re doing what you’re doing.
– Brandon Stapper, Nonstop Signs
2. Find a Mentor
Finding the right mentor can be invaluable. While the gap between you and your goals can be daunting, having someone who has been through the same struggles as you and is willing to push you to succeed makes a big difference. A good mentor is able to tell you the decisions they made that worked, as well as the ones that didn’t, giving you the confidence you need to make your next move.
– Robert De Los Santos, Sky High Party Rentals
3. Do Something Different
Do something different at your job. Ask to be assigned to help out with or complete a project outside your area of expertise, or try learning a new skill. You could also ask to be cross-trained at a new position. Losing motivation can be devastating at times, but in a lot of cases, the fix is not too difficult or far outside your realm.
– Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance
4. Spread Positivity in the Workplace
The best way to rekindle drive is to cultivate positivity in the office. If my employees sense that I care about them, they are more likely to stay motivated and passionate about their job. To achieve this, I am generous with positive feedback and compliments. I also take employees out to random lunches, hold parties, ensure the office is clean and offer employee standing desks for better health.
– Shu Saito, Fact Retriever
5. Reward Yourself
Setup small milestones towards your goal. At each milestone, attach a reward to it so each time you hit a certain milestone, you reward yourself or others. This will allow you to take baby steps towards your ultimate goal while fueling yourself with the motivations and accountability.
– Fred Lam, iPro Management Group Corp.
6. Spend Some Time Alone
I feel that in our society, we almost never have time for ourselves. Even if we are alone, we may still be on the phone and right there we have contact with the people in our lives. The real motivation comes from the moments you spend by yourself, because that’s when you can think about it. For some people, it may be legacy, success, philanthropy or fun, but you need to be by yourself to find out.
– Brian Condenanza, Fluo Shoes
7. Find New Friends
Be selective in the company that you keep in both your personal and professional life. Surround yourself with drive, ambition and follow-through. It doesn’t matter whether you’re struggling, thriving, or if it’s for a beer with a college buddy or a work conference for quarterly strategy. The people around you will influence your behavior. Surround yourself with others who inspire you.
– Raad Ahmed, LawTrades
8. Reflect on Your Bigger Purpose
We should start each day reminding ourselves what is it that we wake up for. This practice helps us make choices that align with our goals and help us to overcome hurdles. Instead of viewing tasks as something to cross of our list, we can change our mindset that the mundane things prepare us for the greater responsibility and fulfillment as a result of living a life with clear intentions.
– Fritz Colcol, Simply Thalia
9. Check Your Excuses
Many of us get stuck in excuses about why things aren’t turning out the way we wanted or why bad things are happening to us. The dangerous thing about excuses is that they are usually based on facts, which makes it easy to use them to justify why things aren’t going how we wanted. We have to find a way around the excuses- look for ways to change the situation or to see the situation differently.
– Ally Lozano, Ally Lozano LLC
10. Take a Holiday
No matter how passionate you are about your work, you cannot avoid the psychological and physiological effects of stress. What follows is lack of motivation and energy, and maybe, even poor health. Taking a holiday every now and again helps reinvigorate the mind and body alike. When you’re on your vacation, try to detach from your work completely. Even successful people make time for vacations.
– Derek Robinson, Top Notch Dezigns
11. Use Your Experience to Help Others
If you need to re-discover your motivations, chances are you’ve been at it for a while. There’s always going to be someone who isn’t quite where you are who can use your advice. Share your knowledge with others as a mentor, panelist, etc. Not only will you give back to the community, but their excitement and drive will inspire you and you may learn something new yourself thanks to fresh eyes.
– David Ehrenberg, Early Growth Financial Services
12. Remember Why You’re Doing What You Do
I’ve failed multiple times in my life. I invested years and over a million dollars for businesses that didn’t even get the chance to properly launch, but it has never occurred to me to give up. I knew what I wanted and why I was doing all this. Knowing my goals helped me face my failures, accept them and move forward.
– Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors