Entrepreneurs are probably the most motivated people on earth.  I don’t know if there is any other job description that requires more passion, energy, and commitment than an entrepreneur’s.  Do entrepreneurs even come with job descriptions anymore?

Part of the weight we carry is that we are at risk to losing some of the steam that initially got our engines going.  Motivation is important because without it, your productivity is going to plunge.  If things aren’t getting done, your chances for staying ahead and meeting your goals is probably only getting more and more difficult.

We’ve all got roller coasters that we experience.  One day we’re up high after getting a round of funding, or pushing another release.  The next we may realize that push caused a bug, which could be catastrophic to the overall survival of the startup and needs fixed immediately.  Or your investors pulled the plug at the last minute.  Anything can happen, and the motivation is going to be there one minute and disappear the next.

Without sounding too much like an AA meeting, you first should realize that your motivation will come and go, and you’re probably not going to want to be so emotionally invested that you rely upon your motivation as a source of getting things done.  What I mean is there will be times you need to detach yourself from your work.  Don’t let your emotions control your productivity.

I studied sales and selling like a religion a few years back, and I listened to a lot of Jeffrey J. Fox material, specifically How to Be a Rainmaker.  There’s a chapter he covers that talks about how all rainmakers will experience bad days and droughts, and emotions will take their toll on your attitude and productivity.  Even the best will get down and feel discouraged.  But when those times hit, you need to stop paying so much attention to “how you feel” and just flip the switch for auto-pilot.  That means you stay productive no matter what.  Forget any feeling about being tired, hurt, upset, discouraged, or whatever it is that’s sitting deep down in your stomach, and just focus on what needs done right now.

I think there’s a reason we tend to overemphasize our own emotions, and allow ourselves to be controlled by it.  A lot of us live in a society where our emotions are pampered and products are created for the sole purpose of making us feel happy or energetic.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t drink coffee, but you should discipline yourself to be at a level of productivity without any dependency on outside stimuli.

Emotional detachment is a great tactic for when you’re in a drought and feel like there’s nothing in the world that will help you out (including Starbucks).  However, if you look into Steve Pavlina’s materials, he has his own recommendation that involves a lot more soul-searching.

Steve went through a stage in his life where he tried everything imaginable to motivate him.  And while he could find ways to motivate himself in the short-term, he wasn’t able to stay motivated for long and sustained periods.  After a while, he realized that the problem wasn’t actually his motivation.  The problem was with what he was doing.  He realized that he wasn’t doing the type of work that he really wanted.  His passion was in doing something else, so he eventually changed what he was doing and the motivation came back.

For the short term, we’re always going to get down at times.  Detach yourself emotionally when that happens and reconsider your goals.  I’ll bet this year’s earnings that if you pick up any motivational book in the world, there will be at least one chapter dedicated to goals.  I would say that most of us don’t have goals right now, and that’s a problem. Just imagine what it would be like to try and win a football game without a time limit.  You’re basically doing the same thing to yourself if you’re not setting goals.  You’ll never know when you’ve made it or not, or whether your efforts result in a success or a failure.  If it’s a failure, who really cares anymore?  Just start something different, but you should at least know the result of your work.  If anything, your goals will motivate you to either achieve and succeed, or fail and move on to bigger and better things.

If, however, you’ve been struggling with whatever it is you’re involved with for a long time, and you truly can’t find any source of motivation, think real hard about what it is you’re doing.  If you’re scratching your head right now (or banging it against a wall), consider looking at some of Steve Pavlina’s articles on how to find your inner passion.  For most of us, we probably need a reassessment of our own goals, or simply a temporary detachment from our emotions.

About the Author

Jared Tame is an entrepreneur who has worked with hundreds of clients on website design, marketing, and sales, and currently works with StartPal providing high-quality, low-cost website design and e-commerce solutions to small businesses and startups.