by India Butler
You did it. You really did it.
You’ve started your very own business and you’re walking your own path now.
But it’s not always as easy as we think. Or maybe you didn’t think it would be easy at all.
- How do you stay motivated?
- How do you stay focused?
- How do you keep the drive that spurred you on to launch your business in the first place?
I’m going to share with you a series of pep talks that I needed to hear (and still often do) when I started my business.
By the end of this, you’re going to feel like a fire has just been lit within you and your energy.
5 of the Greatest Pep Talks Ever
“It’s easy to forget that we do. It’s easy to get caught up with trends. It’s easy to lose our own voice. But it’s worth remembering and repeating: Everyone has a story to tell. What’s yours?” – Kate Bingaman-Burt
“We all need some bravery in our lives. Fear of failure cripples creativity, leaving you staring at a blank page unable to start… So one has to be brave in order to create. Being brave is being afraid but doing it anyway. So… be brave! Be strong and be creative!” – Helen Dardik
“I spent much of my life until my late thirties lamenting mistakes and harboring regrets. Somewhere in there, I learned that what made me feel better each day was embracing everything about my life, including the things that didn’t go well. This simple perspective shift changed everything for me and made it much more possible for me to feel happy every day. It also helped me take more risks, because even if I failed, it would be worth it since I would learn something new that made me a better, smarter, more compassionate person. I came up with this phrase to remind myself and others of this way of thinking. This is the fourth piece of artwork I’ve designed with the phrase since 2008.” – Lisa Congdon
“In Dr. Carol Dweck’s book Mindset, she states that there are two types of people in the world: those with a fixed mindset and those with a growth mindset. The fixed mindset sees oneself as unchangeable: you are born with all the personality, intelligence and potential you will ever have. The growth mindset is the opposite: you can grow in every area of your life. I realized this battle of mindsets in myself before I had ever heard of this book; at some point I realized: If you want to be a great artist, you can’t just go with the flow, you have to make waves!
My dad always says “You are infinitely more capable than you think.” I’ve found that when I believe that my potential is infinite and go after what I really want, amazing things can happen. Don’t hold onto limiting beliefs about your own potential. Use that energy to gain clarity on what you really want, and go after it.” – Andy J. Miller
“This is sort of like saying ‘dreaming isn’t just for sleeping.’ I feel like having dreams (goals) is imperative for creatives, or for any human for that matter. Having a dream or goal is something to work toward. Dreams give us a reason to put our best self forward, and from there we get energy. Dreams also give us hope when things aren’t going so great. I think the coolest thing about dreams is that we can nurture them and keep them close to our heart ’til they grow big enough to become a reality. That’s magic to me.” – Sarah Walsh
When I’m feeling really drained of motivation and energy, there’s one quote in particular that gets me moving without fail every single time:
“In order to become the 1%, you need to do what the 99% aren’t willing to do.”
