Getting Motivated

You'd have to be superhuman to feel motivated every moment of every day, and if you're running your own business or life has just dealt you a challenge, maintaining a high level of motivation is a challenge in itself. I find there are two ways to get an injection of motivation - listening to someone whose energy is high and has great ideas, and motivating others myself.

Recently, I dialed in to a teleseminar by Bernadette Doyle, marketing guru and coach. Bernadette is very inspirational, even though you know she is selling a product whilst passing on tips and advice. At the end of the call, I felt really fired up with ideas and motivated to raise the bar in my own business.

However, I get an even greater boost of motivation when I'm presenting to an audience or working one to one with clients. Last week, I facilitated and presented a "Whatever Next...?" style workshop at the Gerrards Cross Springboard, an invaluable facility for people who have been made redundant, run by dedicated volunteers every Monday evening. After a frustrating day working at my desk, I got a huge boost from standing up and motivating an audience, and receiving the positive feedback at the end of the evening. I get the same burst of energy when I've been working one to one with a client, who has arrived uncertain and directionless, and leaves buzzing with ideas and enthusiasm. I feel as much gratitude to them as they do to me. What a great job!

So, if you're struggling with your motivation, go and find someone who you know will re-energise you and vice versa, whether it's a friend or a motivational video on-line. Or give me a call and book a coaching session, and I promise to get you back on track and buzzing!

New entrepreneurs of the recession

Being made redundant will mean something different to everyone, from your worst nightmare to something you've always dreamed of. For those who have been hanging in there, hoping to be let go so that they can start on the project they've had simmering away for months now, it's a chance to get cracking, hopefully with the cushion of funding to tide them over. To others, it can feel like the end of the world and they will be plunged into insecurity, financially and personally. It hardly needs saying that we are living through challenging times, and the media ensures we are all existing on the edge of fear, if we are not already consumed by it.

Whichever way you look at it, we all need to be more creative - about how we spend our money, what we do to enjoy ourselves (and that doesn't have to involve spending) and how we earn a living. The greatest entrepreneurs in the world are, without exception, creative in their approach to business, building and developing new and innovative companies offering something different and exciting. It is my belief that there will be many new entrepreneurs born of this recession. They don't all have to become new giants of the commercial world - you don't need to be quoted alongside Richard Branson to be an entrepreneur. The definition of the term from its French root, is 'one who undertakes'. To me, this means someone who is prepared to take a leap, be different, have faith in their dreams.

So, if you find yourself 'redundant', remember that it is not you who is 'redundant', but the job, and you are so much more than your job. And if you are the director of a company which is having to let people go, consider how you can help them to discover the entrepreneur lurking inside. In my next month's newsletter, I will be giving advice on what to do with your Great Ideas and who can help. To sign up to receive this newsletter, visit my website or email me direct at amydeane@springtolife.co.uk.

Get Busy Living - The Power of Hope

It is such a glorious day today, one of those clear blue sky days when you can't help but feel uplifted, when hints of Spring and warmer weather are everywhere. In the same way that a dull rainy day can bring you down and everything takes that little bit of extra effort, the healing warmth of the sun makes anything feel possible. Hope springs! With very little attention, you can feel that actual physical flutter of excitement inside - or is that just me...?

Where would we be without Hope? We need Hope to keep us going through the wintry days of the year, and of Life. The promise that things will get better, that bright days and new adventures lie ahead. A message to anyone who has just had news of redundancy - don't despair! It may feel like the end of the world now, but this is an opportunity for something new and hopefully the best thing that's ever happened to you.

One of my favourite films was screened (again!) on TV this week - Shawshank Redemption - and I couldn't resist watching it. Despite the awful violent episodes in the film, Shawshank Redemption is ultimately about Hope, and about Love. At the end of the film, when Morgan Freeman's character, Red, is sitting on a bus on his journey south to meet up with his friend, he reflects:

"I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain."

Red had Hope because on the 'outside' he had a friend, he had someone who loved him, and he had Hope of happiness, something to live for, even though he didn't know what the future held.

If you feel that your future is uncertain, remember that uncertainty isn't all negative. It just means that you don't know what it looks like yet. If you need some help working out how you want it to look, I can help you. Have a look at my website and give me a call if you're ready to 'get busy living'!

www.springtolife.co.uk