9 Ways to Get Your Business Mojo Pumping Entrepreneurs have to keep themselves motivated. When your mojo dips, taking care of yourself is the first order of business.
By Sherrie Campbell Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
If you are feeling depleted, overwhelmed, stressed-out, frumpy, tired, bored or lethargic, you have lost your mojo. Once you lose it, it can be challenging to find the motivation to reclaim it. To be successful you cannot allow yourself to entertain this negative state for too long. Making small life adjustments can release the magic of your mojo so you can once again feel more energy and enthusiasm for your life and business.
1. Drop the rope.
Address your stress. Examine what areas of your life or business are overwhelming, and lighten your load. In tug-of-war, the harder you pull the harder the other side pulls. Stress often responds that same way, the more you do to decrease it, the more you provoke it to increase. Learn to drop the rope.
When you stop tugging, and accept where you are, you will reconnect with your rational thought process helping you find practical solutions for your business challenges. The more you react to life as if it is an emergency, the more stress you feel and the less effective you are.
Related: How to Curb the Stress Factor at Your Startup
2. Make work enjoyable.
Let go of being so serious all the time. If you are passionate about something, then find the joy and vitality in committing to working hard to follow through on your business goals. Having fun is an essential element to having strong mojo. When your attitude is great it is infectious to other people. Make sure to use your attitude to improve the overall emotional climate of your workplace.
When you get in a funk, think about your passions, goals and dreams and envision all them coming to fruition. If you can see it, then you can achieve it. Do not look at goals head-on. Imagine you are five stories above them, where you can see all that can be achieved in your business by simply enjoying what you do and keeping an attitude of success.
3. Move your body.
Looking and feeling physically great is essential to your mojo. Confidence has much to do with success. Nothing can bring you down more quickly than not liking how you look. Considering mojo is based in energy, being physical in whatever way you find motivating, fun, competitive and nurturing are essential to your success.
There is no psychological medication out there that can do more for your mood and stress than exercise. When you move your body, you increase your brain power and your ability to think in new ways and innovative directions. Being physical is a time to get into that zone where you are moving your body but also clearing your mind to generate new ideas. The more alive you feel, the more vigor you will have available to ride the tides of success.
Related: Exercise Isn't Just Good for You. Your Startup's Success May Depend on It.
4. Electronically unplug.
Truly, it can wait until tomorrow. When you are done with work, take a certain amount of time to completely unplug from the world of electronics, including TV. Take advantage of being present for your children, partners or friends for at least few hours each day.
There is no better way to add to your mojo than through the experiences of being loved and loving in your personal or professional life. Unplugging allows you to breathe, to take a break, to reconnect with those you love and, most importantly, to reconnect with yourself.
5. Be fabulous.
When you are at work, look around you. Most people are not model perfect. All people and businesses have their imperfections. Even so-called perfect business people tend to get down from time to time in the pursuit of their goals. Drop comparisons and stay laser focused on what you want to achieve.
Make every day count. Take care of yourself, eat healthy, get rest, and work your a$$ off. When you embrace your life, approve of who you are and what you have to offer, you exude a charisma which draws people and opportunity your way.
6. Hang out with the elite.
Surround yourself with those who motivate, inspire and make you better. Energy is contagious, so spend time around those you admire and adopt their success habits as your own. Surround yourself with people who lift you up, see the best in you and can help dig your best efforts out of you.
Rid your life and business of the Debbie-downers, the lazy complainers, the gossips and trouble makers. These negative energy of these people have the power to deter you from your own goals and aspirations.
7. Be healthy.
The best way to keep your mojo is to treat your body like a temple. You need stamina and brain power to climb the latter of success. You cannot get there if you fill your body with too much alcohol, fatty/sugary foods, medications or not enough rest.
To raise your mojo, treat your body with respect. What you feed your body, also feeds your brain, so eat positive mood supporting foods. The following 10 foods are great mojo foods: salt is known to decrease depression; oatmeal keeps blood sugar levels balanced decreasing irritability and lethargy; salmon and tuna have fats which elevate mood; chocolate stimulates serotonin and acts like an anti-depressant; whole grains have amino acids which keep mood upbeat; lean meats have high levels of tyrosine which help increase focus, motivation, and energy levels to combat stress; bananas are high in magnesium giving you a feeling of relaxed well-being; shellfish and seafood have the selenium responsible for feelings of happiness, it reduces anxiety and gives you more energy; milk is an excellent "feel great" food because the calcium and tryptophan help reduce stress and anxiety; and spinach, with its high levels of folic acid, helps ward off depression and anxiety and also reduces the harmful effects of stress.
8: Think positive.
To keep your mojo pumping you must have a disciplined mind. In an undisciplined mind fear is louder, more intense and immediate than the desire for self-accomplishment and contributing to others. For this reason you have to discipline your thoughts the same way in which you discipline an out of control child.
Fear and negativity are the thieves of mojo. Accept that fearful and negative thoughts are a part of life and an essential part of success. Redirect your thoughts to positive. Look at everything you have to be thankful for and live as if you have nothing to lose.
9. Put compassion into action.
There is nothing that can make any of us feel better than to positively contribute to the lives of others. In whatever way you can, helping others is a great reminder of the good person you are.
When you have money, love or time to give, and you share it with others, your own happiness and fulfillment increase. It makes you feel good about who you are as a person, in tandem to seeing the impacts your giving has on the quality of the lives of others. It reminds you that we are all human.
Give, care, and contribute. Money can buy happiness when you spend it on someone else.
Ultimately, the world is your oyster. Mojo has nothing to do with age. It has everything to do with passion. It has to do with feeling and being intelligent, vital, energetic, charismatic, successful and powerful. Your mojo is an internal characteristic and is created and maintained through your work ethic, passion, compassion and success.
Related: 6 Ways to Do Well by Doing Good
