Motivation is defined as the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.  You are excited to do something special, you have the desire to do something special, but you can’t gather enough inner power to act on your idea.  You should be questioning what causes me to lose motivation?  What causes me to lose focus?

1) Own your goal.

We all go through these random times where we get motivated, we set goals, we obsess over our success to the point where we lose sleep over it. This goes on for a few days, then out of nowhere, we suddenly lose motivation, we lose focus, we lose clarity. Why?

Simple answer: Stop doing so much. A very common mistake people make with such a simple solution. You lose energy when you become super-human. You need to take a step back, choose the goal more important, tackle that goal, then repeat. In a perfect world, your second goal would be directly tied in to your first goal making it a perfect harmony.  Need help with your goals?  Read this.

2) Read, Research, Learn.

Sometimes the quickest way to re-motivate yourself or to push yourself out of a slump is to learn about what others have done. What methods have they used for success. What tools have they used to make themselves more productive.

You should have a vast knowledge of books / magazines / publications in your field and constantly be reading these sources. The more you read, the more you learn, the more motivation will re-spark inside of you.

3) Build your support group.

Who better to kick you in the butt when you need a good kicking than the people who are always there for you, and more importantly, the people you trust. It’s always hard to accomplish something in silence and alone. Build your support group, may it be an in-person group, an online group, a Facebook group.. any group! Just build it.

4) Build. Track. Repeat.

How do you stay motivated when you have a mile long task list to tackle? This is why tracking is so important. Whatever system you use, you have to make sure your lists and progress is trackable. If your goal is to pay off a certain credit card, you need an Excel sheet with your plan, and measurable progress so you can stay on track. Looking at this sheet on a monthly basis will prove to you that the methods are working.  Once you prove to yourself that a certain method is working, it will be easier for you to stay on track and repeat.

5) Organize.

Nothing demotivates you more than a cluttered mind. The bigger the project, the bigger the organizational task at hand. Take the time to mind-map the entire project out of your mind and onto a system that works for you. List tasks, list deadlines, schedule events, then work on completing tasks in a timely manner.

A large project which seems impossible, suddenly becomes possible broken down into stages and manageable items.

6) Whatever you do, don’t quit!

It’s hard being your own boss. You can’t blame anyone but yourself, your sleep routine suffers, and you constantly think about your business. These are all problems faced by entrepreneurs every day and every night. Your mind is trained to doubt and constantly assess risk. If you give your mind enough time, it will convince you to quit. You need to work through the pressure and keep reminding yourself why you started. In the grand scheme, think about how far you have come vs. how much farther you must go. The process should bring a sense of accomplishment and a sense of urgency to your life. This is what should drive you to keep moving. Remember, it won’t be easy, but it WILL be worth it.

Take away:  Don’t settle for something easy, like watching TV or reading endless news articles on the Internet.  Find the true cause of energy depletion and tackle it with everything you got.  It is the single most important step to get yourself back on track.