Motivating Oneself - Essay Example

According to Denny (46), the driving force propelling people toward various kinds of decisions, actions, and behaviors is motivation. In any activity, motivation is an important precondition of an individual successful performance in any activity. Best performance is achieved when an individual knows why work should be done. In the case of entrepreneurship, one has to motivate oneself. In entrepreneurship, there is no boss figure to ensure one does the job and to assign new tasks like in the case of employment. The questions asked include how does one stay on track? How does one keep himself or herself moving even when feeling lazy? How does an individual push himself or herself to grow, be able to take risks, and become better even when things are not going on well? According to Chandler (54-56), there are several tools used in motivating oneself. This includes heroes, role models, and rivals. Heroes are people who others aspire to become, those looked up to, and whose actions are admirable. In having a hero, an individual will be pushed to be able to keep high standards in one's actions. In addition, it helps one to ask himself or herself how the hero would respond when feeling low or dispirited. In having heroes, entrepreneurs are kept on the right track when having doubts about what is supposed to be done. Moreover, they will find a source of strength when they require it and be motivated to perform at their peak. The second tool is the role models, these are people whose characteristics are admired by others and everyone tries to imitate. Entrepreneurs can have many role models who excel in different fields. Thirdly using rivals in motivating oneself. Rivalry is a powerful driver that keeps one moving; it makes an individual entrepreneur more innovative and even pushes him or her forward. Rivals exist in different industries and or in the field of work hence, it is a powerful motivator. Entrepreneurs will first have to identify who their rivals are and be able to find out more about their progress and successes. In doing this they will manage to push themselves to be able to outdo their own rivals. Entrepreneurs should choose who their best competitors are, the ones they admire most and keep them in their minds as the standard that they are required to beat. The rivalry will always keep entrepreneurs focused and pushes them to work harder than they have done. They will not be lazy, or contented, and even when being congratulated for any good work they have done, they will always be having their competitors drive them more and more. In order to improve their own business entrepreneurs will use information from their rivals as a motivator. Rivalry is perceived in a friendly manner, it requires the entrepreneur to be able to choose the strongest competitor in their field and place them as benchmarks by which they will measure their progress. An entrepreneur will always stay motivated, regardless of a motivating principle. It could be a hero, a rival, or even a role model because deep in them they have their own targets to attain to excel and be able to succeed. According to Denny (48-49), for an individual to motivate oneself, confidence has to be built. To be able to build confidence the following factors are considered. They include being able to get rid of unnecessary excuses, an individual using the picture power, not fearing to fail, an individual considering his or her own appearance, and being able to keep a record of the past success, and an individual should also become a positive realist. In addition, entrepreneurs should learn to motivate themselves through goal setting. Goals are always extraordinary in that few people are able to decide what they want. By an individual accurately conceiving and believing, they are able to achieve. Goal setting involves listing one's desires, selecting an appropriate goal, and an individual being in a position to use his or her subconsciousness.