THE Q & A SERIES - Staying motivated

Hi Emily,

Is there anything in particular you can point to that has helped you stay motivated in your business when much of the work is self directed? On days when you'd rather rest, what keeps you going?

Thanks,

Amber
- Sydney, Australia

Hi Amber,

As you may have noticed, this is my first email in a while. If you read my last email, you will know that my dad passed away unexpectedly a few months ago. It was a huge shock to my family (he was only in his mid fifties) and we have been dealing with the grief ever since.

I was lucky enough to be able to take the time I needed off work and am slowly easing back into things. It now feels like the right time to get back to writing my weekly newsletter. I love creating this email and it has been an incredible way to connect with makers in our community. At a time when we are all struggling to connect with our loved ones due the restrictions most of us are all living with, an email series like this seems like a small but important way to connect with all of you.

I thought this would be a good question to restart the series with, as finding motivation is something I have been thinking about a lot lately. I am sure there are a lot of you struggling with it too as we are living through fairly difficult times at present. In my experience, it can be easy to find motivation when all is well, but at times like this it can be difficult. This rings very true for my personal experience over the last few months and although I don’t think I am an expert on it, I do feel like I have learned a few things that helped that I’d be happy to share with you.

I’ll be talking about motivation as it relates to my business, but I’d hope this could apply to whatever you are currently working on - whether that’s a business too, learning a new skill, working towards a goal or sewing a handmade wardrobe.

TAKE A BREAK

This may seem counter-intuitive, but the first thing I want to talk about is taking a break when you need to. I think it’s easy to get caught up in the “hustle culture” of doing more, more, more, rather than taking a pause when we need to.

I found there were times in the last few years that I have accidentally gotten swept up into this way of thinking (as it can be difficult to avoid this messaging that surrounds us and sometimes you don’t even realise you’re doing it), but losing my dad made me realise that I can stop if I need to and nothing is going to collapse.

A few months ago I felt like I didn’t have time for anything, then suddenly I needed to stop everything, and I did. I spent 6 weeks doing not much more than watching Netflix and I realised that life (and my business) went on. It was a difficult way to learn that we can stop and take a break if we prioritise it.

All this is to say that we are living through a very difficult time. Maybe it’s not motivation that you need right now, but a break. Inspiration and motivation seems to slowly seep back in with time (well at least that is what happened to me).

I am now being careful about what I re-introduce into my schedule. I definitely don't have the energy to do all the things that I used to do, so it has been a good lesson in boundary setting and getting clear about the things I really want to do and the things that I have to say no to at the moment.

Read / listen to / watch things that inspire you

Apart from bingeing on Netflix, I did read a lot during my break and have continued to do so. At first I couldn’t stomach my usual go-to motivators (business and self-development books), so I started with fiction.

Eventually I started gravitating back to business books and found these really helped me to re-focus and get back into the habit of thinking about actionable things I can do to grow my business. I think sometimes you can get distracted by the busy day-to-day work, but business books generally make me take a step back and look at the business from a different perspective.

I have also been listening to the podcast How I Built This a lot lately. Hearing about the struggles of other entrepreneurs is a good reminder that it takes a lot of work to have a successful business and there are ups and downs for everyone.

RECONNECT WITH YOUR MISSION

I think that it can be easy to lose motivation when you have lost track of why you are doing the thing in the first place. Whenever I set goals, I always make sure to write next to it the reason I’m striving towards this particular goal. At the time "the why" seems obvious, but in the weeks and months that follow, often I can lose sight of the why and having it there to refer to is helpful when I need to get back on track (more about my goal setting process can be found here if you are interested).

One of the books I read recently is Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller, and I really enjoyed that it forced me to reconnect with my mission and remember why I created In the Folds in the first place. Simply put, my mission is to help you make clothes that you are going to wear, love and cherish. As soon as I re-focused on that, I felt more inspired to keep serving my customers and making a difference in my own little way.

Now when I look at my to-do list, I’m thinking about what will make the greatest impact in line with that mission, that I'm able to get done today. Taking it one day at a time like that is a good way to break down big goals, but is also all we can do - especially at the moment when the future feels particularly uncertain.

CONNECT WITH PEOPLE THAT ENCOURAGE AND INSPIRE YOU

I am lucky enough to have some incredibly inspiring and creative people in my life. When I’m struggling to get in a groove, I have found making a phone call or catching up with one of these people helps a lot.

Getting a second set of eyes on the problem can also be hugely beneficial, and if you have friends from different industries / areas of focus, they can often suggest things you have never even thought of. Also hearing about other people's struggles can give you a change of perspective as you approach what you are facing. The last three months have been particularly hard in my personal life and having amazing people around me is the thing that has been getting me through.

LOOK AT THE PROGRESS YOU HAVE MADE

It can also be a good idea to look over things that remind you of the progress you have made already. Working on a handmade wardrobe? Make a list of all the pieces you have made in your wardrobe, or the skills you have learned that you didn’t have 12 months ago.

I think reflection plays a huge part in feeling motivated and making sure you are celebrating the wins along the way, rather than just continuously moving back your goal post. For me, I always find looking through the hashtags for my patterns very inspiring. To see that there are people using my patterns to make beautiful garments that are bringing them joy and they are wearing proudly and sharing online feels like a huge win. I also have a file in my inbox called “for smiles.” Each time I get an email from a happy customer I put it in there. Sometimes if I’m feeling low or forgetting why I’m doing this, I look there and it reminds me of the people I’m serving.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW

Learning something new can sometimes be a good way to inspire you or motivate you. It might be related to the thing you are struggling to motivate yourself to do, or something completely different. Recently I have done this by reading business books, doing an online course, listening to podcasts about things I'm interested in, but don't know much about, and even getting out my old sketchbook.

FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT

I didn’t feel like working 6 weeks ago, but there came a point where I just had to (hello bills that need to be paid and a small business that I run on my own) and I decided to just get back on the horse and fake it till I made it.

I think we all dream of showing up to work everyday absolutely loving what we do and overflowing with inspiration and energy, but unfortunately it’s not like that a lot of the time (even when you are doing what you love), and I feel just getting started is often the hardest bit. Once you are on your way, things feel a lot easier and you are reminded of what you love about it.

Lately I have been telling myself that I only need to get through a few hours of work in the studio, and normally by that point I am in the zone and want to keep working. But if I’m not, I’m giving myself permission to say that’s okay too (which takes us back to point number one about taking a break if you need one). A few hours of important work feels like a greater achievement than eight hours of faffing about.

I hope this helps some of you get back on track to do the things you want to do. But as I said, if it doesn’t, that’s okay too. Give yourself some time to just rest or relax - the days are difficult enough to get through at the moment without the added pressure of a never ending to-do list. The motivation will come back, it generally does if you give it time.

Happy sewing!

Emily

ASK A QUESTION

resources mentioned in this issue

How I Built This podcast can be found here.
Making a plan for the year / quarter. Post can be found here.
Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller. Book can be found here.

P.S. Would you like to know what the Q & A series is all about? This page tells you a little bit more about the motive behind the series. Past issues from the Q & A series can be found here.

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