It is so easy to get accustomed to going with the flow so that it becomes harder to stop and ask yourself searching questions.  To assist you in determining what motivates you in your online business, here are seven questions I will encourage you to ask yourself.  I tried to be honest with myself when I did my check-up and was a little surprised at my own answers to some of these questions.

1)  Are you channeling an interest, a hobby, or area of expertise into an online business?

2)  What skills, training and strengths do you have professionally that may give you a headstart in starting your online business?

3) Do you believe that to succeed in your online  business it will take hard work?

4) Do you desire the freedom to make your own decisions and enjoy flexibility while working from home?

5) Do you have the discipline to set a schedule and stick to it?

6) Is your determination strong enough to prevail against disappointments and discouragements that will inevitably arise in your business?

7) Are you ready to stop trading hours for dollars so you can earn an income even when you’re on vacation? And are you willing to do what it takes?

Bonus question:

Do you believe that it’s harder going it alone and that it’s important to build your support group – your peers and a Mentor?

I’d like to  encourage you to change ‘you’ to ‘I’ so that you take ownership and really get to the root of your motivation.

I’ve often heard people say that “So-and-So did not motivate me” or that the presentation did not motivate them to take action.  These expressions would suggest that someone or something external is responsible for their motivation.  Nothing could be further from the truth!

Effective motivation comes from within!  You can be encouraged by others; you can be moved to take action; you may even become excited by a dynamic speaker or presentation, but in the long run these are only temporary.  How does this affect your online business? What motivated you to start your online business?  What motivates you to stay in business? You have to be your own motivator; you must be convinced that what you are doing harmonizes with your deep-seated reason for being in business and will fulfill your goals or your purpose for your business.

During my years in Direct Sales, I built a team of like-minded women (and one man) who wanted to own their own businesses. Many times women attended dynamic presentations of the Marketing Plan as my guest, and many times one of my guests would become extremely excited about the possibilities presented, which were always presented in a legitimate, practical way. Many of these women would impulsively make the decision to start their business but did nothing further following the meeting, or started and in short time stopped working in their business. They realized that although the possibilities for making money, enjoy flexibility and being their own boss exist,  it takes hard work to see results, and it was more work than they were prepared to do.  Their motivation was not from within but they were just led on a temporary wave of excitement.

Like a fire that blazes quickly but goes out from lack of good, solid wood to keep it ablaze, if we are not motivated from within we will fail to experience success in our online business, because as sure as night follows day, we will have discouraging moments and experience challenges.  Our inner motivation is what will keep us working to overcome these times.

Do you agree?  What keeps you motivated on those days when nothing seems to be going right?  Please share your thoughts.

Motivation is a powerful tool that acts as a force to propel you to do things that otherwise someone may have to compel you to do.  How do you feel when you have to do a task because it is expected or demanded of you?  Quite a different feeling, I would venture to say, than when you do something you enjoy doing.

Starting to work from home may have seemed to be the solution to a particular problem, but are you now doing something you really enjoy, or are you doing something that’s convenient?  I believe that in order to be an effective “boss” to yourself, you have to be doing something that you want to do and love to do.  Otherwise, what will serve to motivate you to work in your business and not procrastinate?  If you do not have internatal motivation and there is no immediate penalty for not doing it, you’re likely to procrastinate or not do it at all.

Working from home may provide your family’s main income or it may be the second income for the family.  However, to be successful you must identify what you really enjoy doing so that you will be motivated to make a success of your business and not allow procrastination to sabotage your business.