Where do Entrepreneurs Find Motivation?

Being an entrepreneur can be very trying at times and you find yourself trying to dig deep within yourself to find the motivation to continue. There is a lot information out there that we can consume to help us uncover meaningful insights about how to find and keep motivation.

So I thought I would take a look around to see what some of the smartest people have to say about motivation. I love listening to TED talks because there all under twenty minutes so they don't take up too much of your time but deliver a massive amount of information. Check out these four TED talks that dig into the subject and provide useful advise you can take back and implement into your own life and business right away.

1. "The Psychology of Self-motivation " by Scott Geller

Scott Geller talks about the research behind self-motivation and how to inspire yourself and others to go beyond. He says there are three questions to ask to make that happen:

Can you do it?
Will it work?
Is it worth it?

Scott says that if you can answer "yes" to each of those questions you will feel competent. The feeling of competence leads to motivation. He goes on to say that there are "four C's" that can fuel self-motivation:

Consequences
Competence
Choice
Community

It's a great talk, give it a listen

2. "The Skill of Self Confidence" by Dr. Ivan Joseph

Dr. Joseph, who is a college soccer coach, says that without the skill of self confidence, you are useless as a soccer player. His definition of self-confidence is - the ability or the belief to believe in yourself to accomplish any task no matter the odds, no matter the difficulty, no matter the adversity. The belief that you can accomplish it.

He believes it is a skill that can be trained. The easiest way to build self-confidence is through repetition. We want to be in a situation where we have done this a thousand times. The problem with repetition is that many of us bail after the first bit of failure.

The other is self-talk. We all have this negative self talk. There are already enough people telling us that we can't do it, why do we want to tell ourselves that? We know for a fact that thought influence actions. So, why do we want to say that negative self-talk to ourselves?

How do you build self-confidence? Get away from the people that will tear you down. He gives an example where he wrote himself a brag letter, where he has written down the things he was proud of. You also can build up self-confidence in others by giving praise to positive behavior. It's a wonderful video. Give it a listen.

3. "How to Believe in Yourself" by Jim Cathcart
Somewhere deep inside, you know what kind of person you were designed to be. Jim uses the example of an acorn. He says, if you want to produce great acorns, think like an oak. Think like the person you would like to become.

The acorn has three parts - the stem, the cap, and the seed. The stem represents it's connection to the past. All the other acorns that have come before are encoded in that stem. The cap holds on to the seed until the seed is ready to grow on its own. The cap represents your coaches, your mentors, your role models, your parents, etc. The seed of the acorn holds not only your potential but also the potential of every future generation of acorns that will spring from that acorn.

We need to respect our nature because we are part of a continuing chain that carries a legacy and a responsibility. We need to know things about ourselves that most people don't discover. For example:

Know how you are smart.
In what ways are you smart.
Know how you come across to other people.

If you spend one hour a day studying your chosen field, in 5 years you will be a national expert. Transforming yourself and the world around you.

4. "Programming Your Mind For Success" by Carrie Green
Being an entrepreneur can be a very lonely place to be and it requires a lot of motivation to keep moving forward. A lot of our motivation comes from the programming of our mind. So I thought this TED talk would be useful.

Carrie starts by explaining how our decisions start from our mind along with a flood of self talk and programming. Most entrepreneurs feel completely alone and lost. Some will crumble from that and start the negative self talk. She talks about how she spent so much time thinking negatively and feeding that negativity.

Then she decided to change things. She discovered what she wanted to achieve and why she wanted to achieve it. She had to figure out the kind of person she had to become to make it happen and then she had to program her mind to make it happen. She had to program her mind for success.

You have the power to take control of your thoughts rather than letting them take control over you. If you can get your mind to be certain that you could make something happen, you will always figure out a way.

What are your favorite TED talks about motivation? Share your thoughts in the comments.