The pandemic and stay-at-home orders have certainly changed the way we work, live, and educated our children.
A common question I get asked by other business owners is, “How do you stay motivated about your business when there is so much change and uncertainty all around you?”
My answer, “Keep your head up and AIM high.”
AIM is an acronym for Affirmation, Inspiration, and Motivation.
The word affirmation comes from the Latin affirmare, originally meaning “to make steady, strengthen.” Affirmation is about asserting facts strongly, to yourself AND to others. The first thing I did when the pandemic started was to make powerful declarations.
- I vowed to be a stronger leader to support my team, clients and my family.
- I promised myself that I would use this time to finally get things done that I’ve been putting off for no good reason (like finally finishing my second book).
- I recognized that this time of little to no social commitments was an opportunity to strengthen my product and service offerings (I re-tooled my website for Wild Web Women) and optimized my marketing, operations, and administrative practices for both WMT and WWW.
In addition to making positive affirmations, I wrote them down to stay positive and proactive. While you cannot control everything, you can choose to control your choices and actions.
The mind is for thinking, not storing.
In these times, I have re-tooled the ways I found inspiration. I was working nonstop and had to find ways to stay mentally stimulated, inspired and creative. Inspiration isn’t just seeking inspiration, it is also about being inspiring. Inspiration is also about offering emotional support or encouragement. Be inspiring to others AND to yourself. Own your awesome.
- Write down things and topics that inspire you. Don’t try to impress anyone, simply write down what rocks your world (for me it’s things like food and chilling with my fur babies).
- Next, write down ways that you can inspire others. It can be as easy as taking time every day to be supportive in online communities, writing helpful social media posts or making a more concentrated effort to live by example.
If you have the motivation to grow, know that that growth means change. Nobody grows cuddled up on the couch sipping tea and watching movies! Running a virtual business for almost 15 years (my team and I work out of 5 different states, all from home) I am so grateful that we have working from home mastered, and because I love the work I do and have deep relationships with my clients and team, I still feel more motivated than ever to work hard to not just survive, but to thrive in these times. If you are not feeling motivated, this is an opportunity to re-evaluate and retool.
Our company has thrived in these times and our clients have as well.
While I can’t predict what the future holds, I do believe that, to a certain point, we can control what happens within our own life as long as we don’t lose sight of our AIM.
