How to Maintain Your Business Passion

I love sitting in a dark room and watching a candle flicker. The dance of the flame mesmerizes. It enthralls. But after a while, if it is not fed, it slowly diminishes…until it is no more.

The fires of passion are no different. They need to be fed if they are to continue. As an entrepreneur, you absolutely, positively have to find a way to do this.

Don’t forget that one of the most valuable traits you bring to your business is your passion. After all, it was your passion that drove you to create your business in the first place. Without it, there would be no business at all.

Do You Have What It Takes?

When you started your entrepreneurial endeavor, I bet you were driven by missionary zeal. We all were. In the beginning, passion was easy. Everything was so exciting. You felt so sure you would succeed.

But as time drug on, things inevitably changed. Situations become a little more difficult than expected. That’s when you had to stop and ask yourself hard questions, such as “Do I really want it?” and “How Badly?”

Those are tough questions because they are questions of passion. When it comes to passion, you cannot “fake it until you make it”. Either you have enough of it or you don’t. And, if you want to stay in business, you must maintain it. After all, the intensity of your business passion will determine how far you can go in the long run.

Beware the Routine

Perhaps nothing will kill passion more surely then falling into a routine. This is true for life in general. Relationships can get stuck in a rut. Hobbies can grow old. And, yes, your desire to pursue your entrepreneurial dreams can turn into disillusionment.

Unfortunately, routines are inevitable in business. After all, you have to get into your groove in order to gain momentum. That means that your specialty—that which you once found invigorating—can eventually turn into something that is draining. Sooner or later, you will have to ask yourself, “Do I really want to keep doing this? Is it really worth it?” If your answer to those questions is “yes”, then you will need to make changes in order to keep moving forward.

The first thing you should do is remind yourself of your “why”. You’re in business for a reason. Did you start because you wanted to be independently wealthy? Was it to have more family time? Are you promoting a cause? Sometimes reconnecting with that reason will be enough to keep you going.

But don’t stop there.

After that, you will need to inject novelty back into your system. Novelty itself is exciting and rewarding to human beings (as I note over here). And the best way to do that is to “Always Be Learning”.

Always Be Learning (ABL)

You began your entrepreneurial journey because you encountered something that vitalized your life, and then you found a way to capitalize on it. Through that initial, vitalizing experience, you birthed dreams of a new future for your life. Now, your business is your way of making your dreams come true.

You continually need to recapture that sense of “freshness”. You need to find someplace you can encounter new ideas, new inspiration, and new approaches. Luckily, there are many out there available on the internet hoping you will pay attention to them. Here are a few.

Books

Okay, this one is a gimme. I assume you have a personal library revolving around your niche. But today’s great insight is the “old way” of doing things tomorrow. Keep your library growing and up to date.

Blogs

Not all blogs are created equal. Honestly, I find a lot of them to be mostly fluff. But keep searching, because many are jam-packed with value. Go out and find those meaty ones, bookmark them, and visit them regularly. If your competition has a blog, you will definitely want to follow it. Watch it for insights about what your target audience is looking for through its content.

Webinars

They are all over Facebook, and they’re free. Admittedly, they can be hit or miss. But overall I’ve gleaned quite a bit of value from them. When you sign up for one, they will more than likely request that you select an air date and that you be there on time. But the reality is that most of them will send you a playback if you miss the broadcast. In fact, I tend to sign up and not worry about the air time. If they send me the playback, I’ll watch it when I have free time. If they don’t, I figure they didn’t want me to watch it very badly in the first place.

Online Courses

These are becoming more popular by the minute. You can purchase them at places like Udemy, Mindvalley, and The Great Courses. Whatever niche you’re interested in, you can probably find a free or pay course offered by a coach.

Conferences

Do you like networking? This is a great way to do it. When you meet people face to face around a topic, conversations birth new ideas. For some people, there’s nothing like face-to-face collaboration.

Online Discussion Groups

If you are not a fan of the face-to-face approach, you don’t have to let that keep you from connecting with like-minded individuals. Perhaps one of the greatest achievements of the internet is how it enables people to connect regardless of where they are. Whether on Facebook or a privately-hosted forum, there’s a place for you.

Write an Ebook

Have you heard the saying, “the best way to learn is to teach”? Well, it’s true. When you write an ebook, you enter the wonderful world of teaching for whoever reads it. As you write, you will discover all the holes you have in your knowledge. You then know what you need to research to fill in those gaps. Plus, when you’re finished you will have something you can either give away or sell (hint, hint).

Hire a Coach

Owning your own business can feel lonely at times. Coaches have a special place in the life of an entrepreneur. They act as a sounding board, offer an outside perspective, and help you to set and achieve goals. If you are looking for a marketing coach, I recommend you contact Heather.

Plan to Maintain that Business Passion

Now that you’ve made it this far, I hope you are thinking, “Yeah, I’m going to commit to always be learning.” If so, great! That intention will get the ball rolling.

But getting it rolling and keeping it rolling are two different things. Eventually, something more pressing will come up, and you will push learning off to another day…then another…and then…well, it just stops happening.

You can prevent this by blocking off time on your schedule. Simply write “ABL” in there and then protect it. What if someone wants to have a call during your ABL time? Tell them, “I’m sorry, but I already have an appointment at that time.” It’s true. You have an appointment with yourself.

Don’t neglect your business passion. You have to keep the fires fed. Your business relies on it.