As I get more involved in my mentoring journey, a common question that keeps popping up is "how do I stay motivated during discouraging times before I see any signs of success in my journey?" It's a good question because I believe most of us have been there before.
I recalled when I first started out as a retail banker, there was this dark period of my life where I felt like a hamster running an endless rat race. My mood swung along with whether I hit my target for that month. During down times, I'll fall into this unhealthy state of mind where I'd start telling myself I'm not suitable for a people facing role as an introvert and that I'm better off using my degree doing admin.
In fact, I felt so depressed by the lack of progress, I tried to leave the industry during my 2nd year in banking. Thankfully I didn't if not I wouldn't be where I am today.
So how did I navigate through that period and ensure that my career grew progressively year on year? In this article, I'll break it down.
You need to know your ultimate end goal
For anyone to produce the grit required to endure through difficult periods, we need a strong reason. Having an aspirational goal is a good start. A lot of times, people don't know what they want. Through trial and error, they may find out what they don't want and along the way by elimination method move closer to what they do want.
In my opinion, the end goal needn't be crystal clear from day one but we need a general idea of the direction we are headed. In my case, these are my needs:
I knew I wanted to have the means to take care of my family
I didn't want to worry about finances
I must enjoy what I do
I will feel fulfilled if I could stretch my capabilities year on year.
When one has a clear criteria, it's easy to decide during hard times whether to stay or to quit depending on your options available.
Enjoying the process is important
Alvin Poh once shared this thought exercise with Gabriel Wong, "imagine you have a monetary goal ($xxx) and imagine you can get it tomorrow. Would you still want to go through 10 to 20 years of grind and purpose in order to get to that number?"
I found this question intriguing. On one hand, if we are doing what we are doing solely for the money, then we won't actually see purpose in the grind, in the learnings and the transformation process beyond subsistence. During hard times, every alternative will look like a greener pasture because we don't have a good reason why we are enduring the hardship since we aren't earning the money.
For those who chose to go through the process of transformation, it is easier to double down during hard times because there's a deeper purpose beyond money why we are opting into this hardship.
By the way, choosing to endure hardship is an option we sign up for.
If we sign up for it, we need to accept we are a work in progress. At the beginning we are supposed to suck. The fun is in the overcoming.
Have pride and professionalism in your work
One important trait that helped me tremendously through my struggles is having a certain pride in my work. I hold myself to a certain standard because my work represents me.
The beginning of every kind of skill mastery is the toughest. It is in periods of struggle and no results where we get tempted by short cuts and fast money. It is also in these periods where we feel down and potentially less motivated to put in effort in our output. This is where holding ourselves to a certain work ethic and professional standard helps to police this behaviour. At this point of our career, the motivation to do a decent job does not come from the daily task but the desire to protect our reputation. Even if a particular job may not suit us, we don't want to be remembered for bad working attitude.
Here's one interesting point I wish to share. If we stay consistent in doing a good job even when we don't feel motivated, our consistency usually will overtime translate to better results and an uptick of fortunes.
Your learning style matters
Of course, to enjoy such benefits, we need to be sure we are implementing the correct practices. Practicing flawed approaches will result in perfecting mistakes. In order to learn well, self awareness matters. We need to know how we learn.
Some people learn from experiences, some people learn from self discovery, some people learn by copying, some people learn by asking questions, etc...
When we are confident of our learning approaches, it's easier to find the right environments to put ourselves in and with that, it provides us with more confidence that life can get better.
Motivation is connected to hope
In order to feel motivated and energized in the things we do, we need to believe we can improve our lives doing the things we do. In other words, we must feel there is HOPE.
If we feel that doing the same series of activities is going to produce a same set of results and we are stuck, it'll often lead to frustration and a lack of incentive to work harder.
This is why we need pockets of encouragement. Putting ourselves in an environment which suits our learning styles naturally would increase our odds for success which would definitely make us more hopeful!
Celebrate small wins
One thing I learn when I was starting out was no matter how hard life seemed at that time, there will be days and periods where I had something at work to cheer about.
I recalled my joy finding a client who entrusted me with business after 8 rejections at a roadshow. It was 8:30pm when my hard work finally paid off.
It could be as simple as clients merely commenting that I was different from the other industry practitioners they met and they appreciated me for it.
Perhaps it was a client who entrusted me with my biggest portfolio I was managing at that point of time.
(Note that this win might be my biggest deal but might pale in comparison to those of my peers at that point of time. It doesn't matter. To give an analogy, I might fair badly for PSLE but still graduate with a degree but another person who might score well for PSLE may not. Where we start doesn't define us, where we end is more important.)
My point? We often focus too much on how far we are away from our goals we neglect the everyday events that give us a reason not to give up. We should celebrate these tiny seemingly insignificant events because a big win is formed by many small wins.
Find stories of successes from people like you
When we are feeling demotivated, perspective matters. I enjoy finding success stories within people who have similar journeys with me. In my view, having a vision of how the successful version of me looks like helps me to find purpose in enduring the hardships.
Many people avoid seeing success stories during down periods because it makes them feel incompetent. That's why perspective is important. One chooses to find hope in the success of others, another sees it as an insult to their ego.
Again, I can't emphasize the importance of hope when one is down. It is the only thing that keeps people going during adversity. If we genuinely feel there's no hope, we would stop putting in effort and channel our energies into something else.
Summary
To wrap up, finding motivation before obtaining success is heavily tied to a belief that our future can be better than it currently is doing the job we are presently in.
In order to stay motivated, we should...
Have clarity in our ultimate end goals
Ensure we truly enjoy our work and the process of becoming
Channel our motivation into preserving our reputation by developing pride in our work and holding ourselves to a certain professional standard
Self reflect and gain awareness on our learning styles so that we can put ourselves in environments that increases our odds for success
Create pockets of encouragement so that we can continue to focus on the narrative that the future can be brighter than it currently is
Celebrate small wins
Find encouragement in people who have achieved success with similar journeys with ours because it means we can do the same.
I truly hope that this sharing can shed some light in how I found grit to endure the tough times and ensured my career progressively improved year on year. If you are feeling demotivated, I hope this article managed to give you renewed hope!
After reading this article, you might want to share more about your challenges or ask more questions, feel free to drop me a message.
Be sure to share the article if you feel this information is helpful. You will enable a lot more people to learn more about financial planning as a career.
About Janice
I specialize in portfolio optimization (ensuring you get maximum value for every dollar you put in) and retirement planning. I am also building a team of financial advisors who are committed to help responsible individuals attain their goals without misallocating their resources. Do reach out if you would like to explore a career with me.
Clients look for me primarily to outsource their retirement planning needs so that they can focus on other aspects of life that interests them. Many of whom are very good in earning their incomes in their respective professions and wish to ensure their monies continue to work harder while they focus on what they are good at. Refer to client testimonials here.
I've helped many clients who are referred to me reduce the costs they are paying for their insurance or help provide solutions when they deem they are stuck with huge commitments bought when they were younger but unsuitable for their present life stages. You can reach me at 94313076 or my social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
Disclaimer: The content created are based on my personal opinions and may not be representative to everyone or any organisation. If you have any doubts or queries pertaining to insurance or investment, please seek professional advice from a trusted adviser in an official setting. You may also reach out to me if you do not have a present adviser using the message box under 'Let's Talk'.
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