To our beloved entrepreneurs: How to keep going when your light goes out.

In each and every person there is a fire pushing them to do what they love. So what happens when this flame extinguishes? How do you carry on?

Step 1 - Accept the situation

Have you ever felt jealousy or envy for those who found their passion and motivation early enough that they are able to commit to one career from such a young age? Whether it was an aspiration to own a medical practice, some sort of agency or become an ornithologist. To each their own. You can’t help but feel a sting when you yourself have no clue what you want to do for the rest of your life. The daunting feeling of looking back when you’re older questioning whether you made the right decision or not, and if it’s worth continuing, can embed fear in anyone.

Or perhaps on the contrary, you knew exactly what you wanted from day one. Marketing, communication and creative direction all inspired you since you were young, so you pursue it and you love it! And then after some time, you lose your zeal. 

Step one is accepting the situation for what it is. You lost the motivation. The battle just doesn’t feel worth it anymore and you don’t see the point to all of this hard work. Worse than that, you tell yourself that even if you do succeed, it won’t fulfill you. Every entrepreneur faces this kind of situation at some point, and often more than just once. That being said, what you do next is pivotal. 

Step 2 - Check your surroundings

Now that we’ve acknowledged the situation, how do we change it for the better. How can we learn from the struggle and form a creative opportunity? We will start with external changes.

1. Surround yourself with the correct people. At BRACT, we believe kindness and compassion are the most relevant traits to maintain within a workplace. Kindness breeds kindness. Start by checking who you are surrounded by. Employees, friends, colleagues, etc. Do they have the same ambitions? Do they work as hard as you do? Do they keep learning, fighting, as much as you do? Are they truly able to support your success but also save you from failure?
   

“Who and what we surround ourselves with is who and what we become” - Karen Marie Moning 

2. Be honest with yourself. Admit if you have hit a roadblock and tell yourself that it’s okay. In her Ted Talk, best-selling author Caroline Myss makes an interesting statement:  “Liars do not heal”. You can tell yourself one lie, but it will snowball into bigger ones and eventually there’s no coming back. Acknowledge the problem at hand. Where does it come from? Are you fully responsible for it, or is the actual economic situation the main cause? Allow it to consume you for approximately five minutes. Take a seat, take a breath and move on. Nothing is truly permanent.

As entrepreneurs we have the impression that 100% of our failures are due to our own mistakes, when many external factors can contribute to them. We neglect the fact that when you own a company of any kind, there are other people involved. Now, we’re not playing the blame game. As a team, everyone has to take the fall. That being said, finding consistent problems externally may call for a change in employees, colleagues, or, as we said previously, environment. If you resonate on the fact that you no longer have the strength to continue, you will never get it back. Learn to let go and you’ll be able to see the changes necessary to move forward.

3. Take a step back and observe your surroundings. Something around you may have been your inspiration in the past, but no longer has the same effect. That’s ok. We are human beings constantly changing, evolving, questioning ourselves and our purpose. As soon as you accept the change, the sooner you’ll be able to take action.

Taking action can also take place in, well, a place. Your office, your location, your home. The only way you will see change is to enact change. Remove people,  onboard new ones, change the atmosphere, and it will feel like you finally turned the lights on.

Step 3 - Take action

So, we’ve come up with a list of potential solutions to help you continue on your path to greatness and success.

Switch the message, the clients, the team. Ask yourself, in any and every aspect: is there still a return on investment? Specifically in terms of your product, your team, your message and your purpose. Are you still growing? Did you meet the expectations you set for yourself? Did you reach the goal you had set for yourself? If you reached the goal, set a new one. If you haven’t yet, pivot the direction you’re in or take a risk and try something completely different. Caroline Myss forced her audience to ask themselves how many of their biggest fears actually came true. And vice versa, how many of the incredible things that occured in their life did they actually have a part in. She reminds us to never take the safe path and never to look backwards for guidance. There is no room to grow behind you. “Don’t look for over to chart new” (Caroline Myss, 2017). 

Remember why you started. And if you are unable to, find a new reason to continue. And once you do, continuously remind yourself of how much power you have. You are not the same person anymore. You grew, and growth isn’t solely calculated based on successes if you learn from your failures, too. 

So, who are you now? How can your experiences help you to understand the situation? Do you see repetitive behavior? Do you keep hiring the wrong people, or are you stuck because of your limiting beliefs? We often forget how much knowledge, power and capabilities we have on the back burner.

If you’re feeling stuck, please remember the impact you have on the world. Sometimes you have to keep going not for yourself, but for others. Do you remember “It’s a Wonderful Life” by Frank Capra? Despite going through a stretch of time not knowing how, or even if you should continue, you have to wonder how life would be if you hadn’t made every decision you did. What would things look like if you weren’t here? Now, this doesn’t mean an angel is going to appear and convince you that everything happens for a reason and that you are meant to be here at the exact moment you’re reading this. But it does mean that you have to figure out for yourself what exactly is going to reignite the flame inside of you to help you carry on. Find a strategy to get you back on your feet and use it. 

If you need help, ask for it.

We all need support at some point, that’s mainly why we live in a world full of people.  There is absolutely no shame in asking for help. When you need something, and there is a resource to provide a solution to your problem, the most intelligent thing you can do is utilize it. BRACT is not here to take creative control and completely change everything you’ve created. We work side by side with you to find the absolute best solution to help your business succeed and bring you peace of mind. All while simultaneously helping you get your flame back. 

A marketing agency such as ours can help you redefine your goals and ambitions. Our Audit is made exclusively for entrepreneurs like you. We dive into your world to see where the problem stems from. Maybe an adapted strategy for a better understanding of your target can simply help you to reconnect with your audience. That way you’ll be able to develop products and services your target may wait for a long time.

References: 

“Choices That Can Change Your Life | Caroline Myss | TEDxFindhornSalon.” Performance by Caroline Myss, Choices That Can Change Your Life, YouTube, 3 Apr. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KysuBl2m_w. 

Goodrich, Frances, and Albert Hackett. It's a Wonderful Life. 1946.