The Benefits of Taking Action: Tips for All Entrepreneurs and Aspiring Entrepreneurs to Stop Being Hesitant and Beat Discouragement While Improving your Well-Being
Meet Skye, you’ll be as impressed as I have been.
I met Skye in Margaret Bourne’s Blog It Better Society on Facebook and this collaboration is the beginning of a fantastic friendship! As we grow with our blogs, we have discussed many things including the benefits of taking action in entrepreneurship.
In fact, taking action Step 6 on my 6-Step Checklist to Escape the 9-5 but vital at every stop on your journey. I have it as step 6 because it needs to be ongoing. Skye's tips below are for active entrepreneurs as well as aspiring ones.
The goal: encourage action. Also: help you to stop being hesitant and beat the discouragement that can come with new ventures and stepping out of your comfort zone.
Skye Sauchelli is the owner and author of the personal development blog: Thriving and Inspiring. She is passionate about helping you thrive withing yourself so you can out and inspire positive change in the world. She's a wife, cat and dog mama, beach girl and (we have this one in common!) chocolate lover who's forever on a quest toward wellness in every aspect.
Using a mental health lens, she inspires through real talk and honesty! Dive into her post below and be inspired.
Note: As a blogger, I use affiliate links sometimes! I may receive commission from purchases on links I share, but it does not change your price.
RELATED: Are you action-oriented or do you need a bit of assistance? If you want to get started on a plan, book a call with me here and write: take action in the booking notes!
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I was working my 9-5 feeling really stuck.
I wasn’t being challenged and was pretty darn bored. Even though I was making the industry standard salary for my education, I was feeling unfulfilled. What could I do? Leave that job where I’d accrued vacation days, where I was in good with my boss, well liked by my colleagues, and comfortable?
Know the feeling? Then you’re in the right place, friend.
After reading this post, you’ll feel encouraged because you’ll learn how to address hesitation and stuck-ness in taking action. You’ll learn how to beat discouragement so you can remain optimistic when working toward something you want. This will allow you to reduce stress, improve wellbeing, and make progress toward goals.
So let’s dive into what taking action looks like!
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Addressing Hesitation and Stuck-ness and What to Do About It
I’m going to be blunt with you because I care. You’re likely not taking action because you’re scared. Scared of change, failure, or challenge.
It’s important to identify exactly what scares you.
Journal to help you figure it out:
What are the cons of taking action and which makes me most nervous?
Write about the worst case scenario if that fear came to life.
How capable do you feel of handling that worst case scenario?
Describe how you would handle the worst case scenario.
Photo by Prophsee Journals on Unsplash
Special note: It's totally okay to be hesitant to take action toward something new. You are normal! Feeling stuck is normal!
But what to do about feeling stuck? How should you handle being hesitant to take action? Two simple words.
Tiny action!
When we look at the long-term goal, like obtaining a brand-new job or leaving your 9-5 to pursue entrepreneurship, it can be incredibly overwhelming. Your destination can seem miles away from your current position. And honestly, as it should! We SHOULD have big goals!
The key to getting unstuck is to take one tiny action every day!
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A tiny action is one thing that only takes a few minutes of your time. Something that’s totally doable and not overwhelming.
I’ve found the best way to get unstuck and to overcome hesitation is to break up my big goals into much smaller ones (I call this chunking goals, read about it here on my blog). Then I break those short-term goals into daily tasks.
For example, I have a big goal of becoming a full-time blogger. In my planner, I’ve broken that big goal into 4 quarterly goals, and each quarterly goal into monthly goals. Then, for each day of the month, I plan ahead and write out SMALL tasks I can complete.
This specific tiny action will get you unstuck. If you know that all you have to do today is ONE thing, you’re more likely to do it!
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How to Not Get Discouraged When Taking Action Backfires
Discouragement comes when your plans don’t fall into place, when things don’t work out as expected. (Tying emotions to our expectations is a dangerous game.)
So where does that leave us?
I’ve got ya’ covered with 6 tips to beat discouragement!
1- Celebrate Small Wins
You know what this means, but do you put it into practice? Do you truly honor the moments where you’ve accomplished something tiny, even if there’s much more to do?
I just learned the meaning of this when I got comments to show up on my blog. Doing that revealed an error message. Instead of being discouraged about the error, I chose to shift my perspective and enjoy that I did something that had been stumping me.
Image by Mohammad Shahbaz Ansari from Pixabay
2- Get Support to Rally Around You
There’s nothing like feeling a sense of community that supports your accomplishments!
I found this support in Facebook groups, and it brought me out of a discouraged state! Not only did I get to hear about others’ successes, I got to ask questions to help me reach my goals.
I encourage you to seek out like-minded entrepreneurs to rally around you.
RELATED: Join Margaret’s FB group here or the Free At 50 community here and jump into communities to move you forward and help you in many of the ways Skye discusses!
3- Ask for Help
Once you have support, reach out!
Ask questions to get the answers you need to reach those goals. You’ll feel so encouraged to know you’re not alone.
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
4- Refer Back to Your Journal for Encouragement
If you don’t have a journal, get one! Start recounting your progress and wins! When you’re feeling beat down, you can flip back through and remember the progress you’ve already made!
I make special notes in my planner, simple words like “Did it!” or “Yay, figured it out!” in a fun color to celebrate small wins. This will be encouragement to you at a later point.
RELATED: Start celebrating by getting a planner here!
5- Take a Beat and Come Back Tomorrow
When you take action and it “backfires”, discouragement can grow into bitterness. My best tip is to put everything down and step away. You may need a ten minute breather, or a whole day to separate yourself and cool off. Space creates clarity, and in clarity, there is creativity!
6- Be Prepared for Barriers
This tip sounds a little Debby-downer, but know that your path toward what you want, your next step, your big goal… it won’t be without trial.
If you know going in that you’ll really have to work at it, you’ll be less discouraged when one small thing trips you up.
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3 Benefits of Taking Action Today
1- Reduces Stress
When you take tiny action, you are slowly chipping away at your goal. That continuous, slow progress reduces the stress you’d feel if you tried to tackle a goal without breaking it down.
When you're stuck in a cycle of inaction, you have time to think of all the things you aren’t doing and get stressed about how to do them. Starting is hard, but the longer you wait to start, the more stressed you'll feel.
Action creates momentum and momentum pushes you toward your goal by checking off daily tasks and meeting goals. Of course you’ll feel less stressed if you see you’re making progress!
2- Improves Wellbeing
Taking action actually causes your brain to release dopamine, a reward chemical.
Dopamine is one of a few “feel good” chemicals called neurotransmitters that your brain releases that can improve your mood along with serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. All of these boost your mood!
Completing a task triggers a release of dopamine to improve your mood and mental health!
3- Helps You Make Progress Toward Your Goals
Tiny actions accumulate into continuous progress. If you want to leave your 9-5, make it your business to do something every day to help you reach that goal! ANY progress is GOOD progress.
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Let’s Bring it Home
You’re normal for feeling stuck or hesitant to take action toward what you want in your career. Tiny action is the way to go, one small thing every day toward what you want.
And when you take action but feel discouraged, you now have 6 tips to challenge discouragement. Plus, you’re clear on why you should take action- there are some worthwhile benefits like reduced stress and improved wellbeing!
So get out there and solidify your goals so you can start taking action to get where you want!
For more encouragement and inspiration on topics like personal development, faith, and wellness, check out my blog, Thriving and Inspiring!
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