Vision is a powerful motivator | In The Know Magazine
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Vision is a powerful motivator

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Brett Riley-Tomlinson

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mage of male hand drawing businessman walking up the stairs towards success over grey background

I believe one of the key qualities of any business owner is motivation. As someone who suffers from anaemia and fatigue, motivation is an area that I find the easiest to get, and to lose—especially at this time of year.


For me, waking up is a little more difficult; my concentration span is not as long, and I find it harder to be the same business owner as I am in Spring and Summer.


Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my company is going through the biggest growth period our team has seen since before Covid. Maybe it’s the fact I’m getting married, moving house and changing my car, all at the same time. Whatever the reason, however, motivation is not something I can afford to lose.


The second you start to lose motivation, you begin to lose your energy—and then it just becomes a downward spiral. If you allow yourself to feel unmotivated, you tend not to achieve what you planned that day, which has a knock-on effect…you feel like you're always catching up (which is a common feeling in business anyway).


Recently, one of my friends asked me how I keep myself motivated in a stressful environment and when I have a million things to do at once. For some people, being in such a situation makes them moremotivated. These are the people encouraged by deadlines. I am not one of those people.


With regards to my friend’s question, the answer was simple. Vision. I have a vision of how I want my future to look, and if I want to achieve that vision, I need to work harder than I may believe possible to get there.

Business person in orange shirt presenting at a white board

Brett Riley-Tomlinson

Business person in orange shirt presenting at a white board

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Yes, I'm moving house—but that's because I want to start a new chapter with my family, and with mortgage rates so low and my continually-increasing income, now is the time to do it.


Yes, I'm preparing for a wedding (my fiancée is doing most of the work here, admittedly). I’m trying to get in good shape and save money for that. But we’ll enjoy the wedding of our dreams, and I'm marrying my best friend, who I’ll be spending the rest of my life with.


Yes, I'm changing car and it's stressful—but I'm doing this because I want all the benefits of an electric car and to save on my outgoings, as my current car costs me a lot.


Yes, my business is growing, and I need to work longer hours to manage it through this period—but this will provide me with the financial freedom to further grow the business and to earn the income I need to have the lifestyle I want. When we weren't growing during Covid I had to work hard just to survive.


Yes, I'm knackered when I wake up and I often want to do nothing more than press snooze when the alarm goes off—but the future I want is not going to come my way if I do. It's going to come because I’m motivated by what I need to do.


Never forget the power of a vision, in business and in life. When anything becomes a little too much, I sit back and remember my goals. I remember the reason why I'm doing this and suddenly I feel motivated; with this extra energy I’m far more productive.


We all love to press snooze on our morning alarm, but by doing so, all we’re doing is making the difficult part of our lives longer. Get up, work harder and smarter, and achieve what you want to achieve. Then, when you’ve done this, you can snooze that alarm in the morning without any guilt.

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