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In this video Debbie and Alice speak on different tips for motivation and remaining focused. 

​Debbie Drum:    Let's go. Do you find it hard to get motivated and focused sometimes? If so, what do you do to snap out of it and get what you need done?

Alice Seba:    Of course. Everybody does, right? I think I'm getting it more now. It's funny. When I was first starting out, I really wanted it. I kept at it. I did whether I wanted to or not. I was motivated because I'd see those little successes, because I was doing stuff, right? I was learning, getting some money coming in, learning to build on that, so I was motivated to keep going. But on those times where you feel like, that's enough, don't sweat it. I mean, if you've got client work to do, you might have to come up with some solutions really fast. Perhaps hire someone to help you or figure out that, because you've gotta get that stuff done. You don't want to keep your clients waiting, but really give yourself a break sometimes.

We're our harshest critiques. We're the bosses to probably ever have. Sometimes we think that we have to do more than we really have to. I remember I used to have these crazy to do lists, and I'd have to do so much detail on products, or launches, or getting content out, but if I really looked at it, I could've honed that down to just a few things that I needed to get done. Don't overload yourself. Work on building a team, which I think we had a lot of questions about outsourcing, so we'll get into that, because I went, if you were one of my customers, and you've been in my Facebook group, you know that in the beginning of this year, I went through a real big phase of being totally unmotivated.

I didn't want to do anything. I was doing the bare minimum, but thankfully, over the years, and I didn't start out that way, that's right, because a lot of people say, “Well that's because you already have all of these people working for you,” but I started out with nobody working for me. I built a team over time, and I have a system in place where we're regularly publishing products, and getting them out there, right, and other than planning the products, I have very little hand in making sure they get out there.

If I don't feel like doing anything, my products are still gonna get out there, my customers are gonna be taken care of by our support, and all of that stuff, so it's something you want to work towards so that you can have those lack of motivation times, or something happens where you have to take care of a family member, or your dog who just wants to snuggle, and you really want to snuggle with your dog rather than working, then you're ready for it.

Debbie Drum:    Yeah. I mean, what you said in the beginning is the same for me, too. When I first started, I would work literally 14 hour days. I would wake up at 5:00 AM. When I had a full-time job, I would wake up at 5:00 AM, work 5:00 AM to 8:00 PM, and then a little bit throughout the day, during my full-time job work, and then at night, and once you get to that actual transition where you are making some money, and maybe you went full-time, and you developed these systems, and processes, what happens is, is you get a little bit tired, and then you're also a little bit older. I started in 2010! I had a lot more energy.

Alice Seba:    You were just a baby.

Debbie Drum:    Yeah, and for right now, I can't sit for long periods of time.

Alice Seba:    Actually, that means you started at probably about the same age as me, right? That's funny. Yes.

Debbie Drum:    Really? I was 30.

Alice Seba:    Yeah. 30. I was about 30. I think I was 30. Yes! I was 30!

Debbie Drum:    Wow! That's another thing we have in common. I can't sit for a long period of time without the bones starting to hurt, and things like that, so you have to work around that, right? We all experience that, as well, and I talk a lot about this in my business, and fitness, and moving around, staying in shape, getting up, stretching. You can't sit for long periods of time, and if you are sitting, make sure that you are being productive. It's very easy to putz around on Facebook for 35 minutes.

Alice Seba:    I never ever do that. Ever. Ever.

Debbie Drum:    It's a combination of work, and also a little social, too, and then whatever, but yeah, I mean, you do have periods of time where you get burnt out. I certainly do, and hopefully you have though, by that time, some systems put in place where you are starting to make some money, starting to make some passive income, starting to plan more, starting to plan your months out more so that you have projected income, things like that, which give you the ability to take a little bit of a break, sometimes, when you don't feel like working.

Alice Seba:    I love the exercise thing, because I wanted to add another piece to it, too. Several years ago, when I decided I'd like to get into better shape, and exercise, I did martial arts. I started with karate, and stuff like that, and then, the last year or so, I became very addicted to yoga, and both those activities, and it doesn't even matter if you're doing weightlifting or things like that, there's a lot of the similar things, because it requires that consistency, developing of habits, focus, right? Martial arts and yoga require a lot of focus. Yoga, I love it because it makes me ... I'm calm. Things that used to make me anxious, don't make me so anxious anymore.

Debbie Drum:    Like forgetting your laptop battery?

Alice Seba:    Yes. I forgot my laptop battery, and she thinks I'm crazy for this five day trip, and she thinks I'm crazy that I wasn't totally upset about it, and I'm like, “Well, whatever.” I did have stuff to do! It's not like I couldn't do nothing, but I worked around it. I learned to use a Mac laptop today because I forgot my charger. Every problem has a solution, which is another thing I said today.

My daughter get stressed out about these little things, and she gets so worked up, and I'm like, “Just stop for a second. Everything can be solved. There's always a solution, and if you can just stay calm, and keep figuring that out. Don't let those little things upset you or get you unmotivated, and make you not want to continue, because you can figure out how to keep going.”

Debbie Drum:    Yeah. Another thing. I know that there's books about this. There's methods that you can do, like work 25 minutes, stop working for 5 minutes, and I'm sure people here can name those methods.
Alice Seba:    The Pomodoro or something?

Debbie Drum:    Exactly.

Alice Seba:    That's too structured for me but, yeah, a lot of people swear by that. If it works for you, yeah.

Debbie Drum:    Sometimes, if you really don't feel like doing something, and you just say, “Alright, I'm gonna do it for five minutes,” and then it turns it an hour, and then you've got an hour's worth of work done, which is great. It's just something that I do. I'm like, I'm gonna sit here, and do it, and then you're just in it, and you finish it.

Alice Seba:    I guess I actually do a form of it. Maybe I'm lying. It does work for me because, sometimes, I'm involved in some Facebook groups for fun, and some of them are so compelling, that I say, “Okay! After I've written these three emails, I can go check what's happening in the group.”

Debbie Drum:    Reward! Right.

Alice Seba:    I usually do it more task based than time based, that I have to do these things, and then I can go do that.
Debbie Drum:    Yeah, I like that. Task based. Exactly but, yeah, the little rewards system that you do. I mean, don't reward yourself too much with food but, sometimes, food is a good motivation, right? Going out eat some sushi later, but you can only go if you finish this, this, and this. To be your own boss, to be an entrepreneur, you have to learn those skills anyway. You have to be self motivated. It's not gonna happen if you don't get the work done and, in the beginning, probably some of you here are just beginner and just starting out, maybe just entering this world of your online business. I don't know when you started to develop a team, but it took me a while.

I did a lot by myself. I also took on a partner, as well, so we shared a lot of the work, but you're not always gonna be able to hire somebody to do everything for you in the beginning. We can't all be Alice.

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