When you're running a small business, there are often times when you feel a bit down about it.
Perhaps you haven't had a great month; maybe your customers aren't paying or something else has gone wrong.
Whatever has happened, it's fairly easy to get de-motivated; so easy in fact that my business mentor offer says to me "show me an entrepreneur and I'll show you a manic depressant" - what he means is that sometimes you're on top of the world and other times you hit rock bottom.
Most people who run a small business will definitely know what I mean.
So when you're down, what do you do? Here are my top five tips on how to get re-motivated and start loving running your business again.
1.
Most experts will tell you that you have to set goals in your business.
After all, if you don't know where you're going, how do you know that you've got there? But having a goal doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to be motivated about achieving them.
So if you're not excited about going after your goals, have a think about whether the goals you've chosen are right for you.
They should make you feel passionate, excited and want to get up in the morning - if they don't, think about changing your goals and chosen new ones that make you feel this way.
2.
To find goals that make you feel excited, grab a piece of paper and draw where you'd like to be in 10 years time.
Think about your personal life as well as the business.
Don't worry about your drawing skills - pictionary is not my favourite game either - just get some thoughts down.
Does it make you feel motivated? If not, keep going until it does.
Then draw where you are now and have a think about what you need to put in place to get you to your new goal.
3.
Another exercise you might like to try is to close your eyes and imagine you're standing in front of a door with a shopping basket in your hand.
Now open the door and go into a room where everything you've ever wanted is on the shelves.
All you need to do is reach up and grab them.
What would you put into your shopping basket? 4.
People often feel demotivated after they've achieved a major goal in their business.
Has this happened to you? Have you reached a major milestone for your business? If so, one of the ways to get re-motivated is to set some more goals for your business.
Use the exercises above to help you get a goal that you feel excited and motivated to achieve.
5.
Because there are ups and downs in every business, try to catch the point when you start to feel down and put things in place to increase your motivation levels i.
e.
go for a walk; do something for fun etc.
If you catch the downward spiral early, chances are that you can interrupt things to improve your state of mind.
Motivation levels are really important to maintain in your business.
Remember that when you're feeling down that may come across to your customers, members of staff and other people that you're around - people may not actually want to work with you because they pick up on how you're feeling.
Improving your motivation levels just may make all the difference.
For more tips on starting or running a small business, visit http://www.
exceptionalthinking.
co.
uk and sign up for our free newsletter and monthly tips.