When You Don't Want to Do It All
Happy Monday, Tribe! Can you believe it's June 1st? Like, what is this world? I don't know about you, but quarantine life literally feels like we're in a time warp. Time is flying but dragging at the same time. It’s crazy! I hope that you're counting each gratitude in life right now, especially since a lot is out of our control.
For me personally, I’m just so grateful for my health. I’m grateful for my marriage and my home. When we take the time to count our gratitudes, it’s amazing how much happier we become. When things are out of our control, counting our gratitudes can be difficult, but it’s so stabilizing once we see that we do have things to be thankful for.
But we all get in slumps sometimes, and if you find yourself bummed out, maybe with working at home or the things you have to do, I’m here to give you a Monday pick-me-up! We all go through periods of laziness, and for entrepreneurs, this attitude is especially common when we feel overwhelmed. Sometimes, we just don’t want to do the things we need to do. On Episode 88 of The Jenn Kennedy Show, I walk you through some practical steps to shift your mindset and better understand the roots of lazy behavior.
Are You an Entrepreneur or a “Watcherpreneur?”
Sometimes you just don’t want to do what you gotta do. It’s Monday morning, and you’re looking at the list of everything you need to accomplish that week. Some of it’s easy, some of it’s hard, and you just don’t feel the motivation to do any of it. First of all, that’s OKAY. Take a deep breath - there’s nothing wrong with you. Literally, everyone goes through moments like this where lifting a finger feels like moving a mountain.
This feeling is especially common in entrepreneurs, just because we have SO MUCH STUFF to get done. We sometimes get a mindset of “I just don’t want to do it.” You know that feeling. And trust me, once you get past your slump, accomplishing your tasks is going to give you SO MUCH energy and happiness, but to get out of the slump, we first have to understand WHY we want to.
Here’s my question for you. Are you an entrepreneur or a watcherpreneur? An entrepreneur is someone who tackles every task, every email, every zoom call with a grateful heart because that task is one step closer to a greater impact and income. A watcherpreneur is someone who wants to be an entrepreneur but chooses watching others succeed instead of themselves. They look at what they have to do and choose not to do it, either out of self-doubt or lack of motivation.
As I said, we all go through these “watcherpreneur moments,” but what’s important is that we remember ourselves who we are in those moments. You may be tempted to just tackle the little things, and let the hard things fall by the wayside. After all, if you do the little things, you are technically being productive, right? Hmmm, not exactly.
Avoiding the Hard Things Only Makes the Easy Things Harder
As human beings, our brains are inherently lazy. We naturally want to take the easy way out or the path of less resistance. We crave instant gratification, and we love to cut corners.
When I was a little kid in gym class, I absolutely hated running. My gym teacher would make us run around the gym countless times, and every time I would secretly try to cut the corners. My teacher would usually pick up on it, and he’d blow the whistle, putting me back in line. And even though I got in trouble, I tried to cut corners every time. Running was difficult for me, so I naturally wanted to make it easier.
Sometimes when it comes to business, entrepreneurs are stepped to focus on the simple tasks rather than the big picture, difficult tasks. And while the simple tasks also need to be completed, we can’t use them to procrastinate on the big things. If we do that, then those simple tasks will start becoming monotonous, and soon, sending an email feels like going on TV.
Avoiding the hard things only makes the easy things harder. When we approach our difficult tasks head-on, our productivity increases, and we see real results in our business.
The importance of Understanding your WHY
But how do we find the motivation to accomplish those difficult tasks? It’s simple — return to your WHY.
Why did you start this business? What people are you serving? What is your impact? What lifestyle do you want to live? And why is all this important to you? When you answer these questions, you remind yourself of why you started and why this all matters.
Maybe you’ve returned to your WHY, but you’re still feeling unmotivated. This is when you ask yourself, “Is it just laziness or is it something else?” Fear can be one of the greatest anti-motivators. It keeps us from action, usually because we’re afraid of failure. It puts us in a scarcity mindset and limits our full potential. So, if you absolutely don’t want to do something, there’s a high chance that you may have some insecurities surrounding that thing.
For example, maybe you’ve wanted to increase your outreach on social media, but you’ve put off posting on Instagram. You’ve been able to do other things, much harder things, but making an Instagram story just feels impossible. This is when you ask yourself, “Am I afraid of showing up online? Am I afraid of being judged?”
If your answer’s yes, don’t panic — realizing the WHY behind your fear is an essential step to overcoming your fear. After you do this, you can pinpoint your insecurity and work on that directly.
So this week on this fresh, beautiful Monday, I want you to ask yourself where your resistance is coming from. Why aren't you excited? Why aren't you diving into it? Is it fear? Is it laziness? Or maybe it’s just because you don’t enjoy the task.
Sometimes, there are tasks that you just don’t like to do, and here’s the good news: you don’t always have to do them. When your business grows, you’ll have the resources to have a team who accomplishes tasks while you can work on what you love the most. It all goes back to understanding your WHY. When you remind yourself of your WHY, your driving force behind your business, what impact you want to have, and what income you want to generate, then you’ll leave laziness and fear behind!
Looking for Support?
If you’re struggling to find motivation or maybe dealing with insecurities, it’s SO helpful if you have a mentor, coach, or an accountability partner to keep you on track. When we get isolated, our growth is stunted - people need people, and we work best when we’re working with other people who share similar values.
If you don’t know where to start, start with me! I LOVE getting your DMs on Instagram and I will reply to every single message. I love being social. I love connecting with people. So if you are struggling with productivity or resistance, I invite you to share that with me. If you need help with something, let me know. I’m here to serve each and every one of you.
I’m also launching the Impact to Income Academy, the perfect place to break out of resistance and pursue your dream career. My job is to take you from feeling stuck and insecure to becoming a confident CEO who makes the money you know you deserve. My hybrid coaching program will teach you how to strengthen your online presence, impact more people, and scale your business to 6-figures and beyond. It’s possible during a recession and after. I just did it, and now I’ll show you how you can do it too!
I hope that this episode motivates you, encourages you, and helps you reflect on your purpose! Remember, I am always here to support you! Love you, guys!
