Let’s face it: sometimes life as an entrepreneur grows a bit stale. This rings true whether you’re raking in the dough or you’re struggling to make a dime.
Once you start your own business, it’s natural to be laser-focused on bringing in cash-flow and little else. While the end result may mean that you can keep your company afloat, sometimes our personal growth suffers. Given the ever-changing nature of the modern economy and the fact that technology is evolving so rapidly, it’s crucial that today’s entrepreneurs never let themselves stagnate.
But what can you do about it? How do you combat the creeping feelings of apathy and exhaustion?
The solution is to take the steps to keep yourself sharp. Any combination of the following strategies are fair game to finding your footing and ensuring that your skills as a business owner don’t fall to the wayside.
Set Goals and Don’t Just Settle
While every business owner should have goals in mind in terms of their productivity and profits, sometime it’s easy to rest on our laurels and accept our current numbers as they are. Conversely, the benefits of challenging yourself to reach a loftier goal in terms of sales will ultimately push you and your practice to overachieve and ultimately break new ground.
A prime example of goal setting in action is the Tim Sykes Challenge which encourages newbie traders to step up their game and take their profits to the next level. Challenges encourage accountability and provide people that extra push that they otherwise wouldn’t take themselves.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should burn yourself out, nor should you hope for some unrealistic monetary goal (think: doubling your profits by next month). Instead, think of goal-setting as a means of motivating yourself and your team.
Take Opportunities to Travel
The benefits of business travel are well-documented. From gaining new perspective and forming potential partnerships to simply getting away from the office, taking a trip away from your normal stomping grounds every now and then can breathe new life into you and your business.
For example, you may consider traveling to meet a potential partner to boost your business or discuss possibilities face-to-face. Likewise, you can attend some networking events to meet some fresh faces and get new ideas concerning your industry. Even if you aren’t the biggest fan of business travel, there’s no denying the opportunities afforded by networking when you keep an open mind.
Crack Open a Book
Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of using business literature to distract themselves from growing their bottom lines. That being said, take time to keep up with authors and influencers in your industry beyond the blogosphere.
A simple goal such as a book a month won’t keep you from getting down to business and you’ll learn a thing or two along the way. Not only does long-form reading boost your mental health, but also allows you to delve deeper into concepts that articles and blog posts only scratch the surface of.
In short, keeping yourself sharp requires you to raise the stakes on yourself as an entrepreneur and keep an open mind to new ideas. The more time you take to ensure your personal growth as an entrepreneur, the more likely your professional life will prosper as well.
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