Who Motivates YOU?

Failure motivates me. With that being said, so do accomplishments. When something doesn’t go the way I hoped it would, whether that be a wedding, phone consultation, launch party or even just daily life, I want to try again to make it better. I don’t believe everything can be perfect and I definitely don’t believe that just because I try again, I’ll get it “right” the first, second, or third time. When I don’t book the bride I was dreaming to book, whether it’s because of the venue, her personality or other vendors that have been booked, I try my hardest to understand why. If there is a specific reason given to me that I’m able to fix or give, I’ll do it. I also understand that sometimes it’s just not meant to be and for the most part, it’s for the best.

When I don’t do things to the standards I have for myself, I push again. I even tried to run a week ago outside for the first time in months, and let me tell ya…I didn’t even make it far enough for my Apple Watch to register. This meant that two days later I was doing it again, and that time I ran a mile in 9 minutes. I like to prove to myself more than anything else that I can do things. The approval and praise of other people is great, as well as earning money or a title but that’s not the most important thing for me. I set my goals low, but they are huge. I have very big dreams for myself but they are set for the future. I don’t try to accomplish these in a short amount of time or exceed my goals because it’s not healthy, mentally or physically.

I wrote a blog post in January about my five goals for the year and it’s May 1^st and I’ve accomplished 3 out of 5 of those. The first one was keeping an organized work schedule, which so far has been the easiest one. I knew I could do this but having it written down and out for the public to see, makes me more accountable and it’s been amazing! The next one was to open a business banking account and I did this in November. The amount of stress it has relieved has been so worth it! I can keep everything for my business on one card and in one account meaning that transferring money and keeping so many different excel spreadsheets is no longer a part of my life. I can see what money I have for the business and where I can use it efficiently which has allowed me to reach my 3^rd goal of buying a system to keep contracts, invoices, inquiries and all the details for each wedding organized. I did the free month trial of Aisle Planner and fell in love. I feel more professional, organized and can be taken more seriously when talking to new brides.

With just those 3 goals being met, I am more confident in my business and having confidence in myself motivates me as well. I think it’s important to be motivated by yourself because as I’ve mentioned in the past, you can always depend on yourself. I will always be here for me. I have so many people in my circle that push me, help me, pray for me, encourage me, and are proud of me and I consider myself so blessed because of them. They motivate me as well, but in a different way. If I only depended on others to be motivated, I don’t think I would be where I am in my business. We are the only ones who really know what we need to hear or what we should be doing in this crazy small business industry. We have expectations for ourselves and we not only want to meet them but exceed them, especially the second time around.

When I look back on my very first solo wedding, I think it went so well. There were no issues, the venue was gorgeous, the bride was so happy, I made great vendor relationships and I was so proud of myself. So for every wedding since then, I’ve tried to do even better than that first one. We’re our biggest critics but we are our biggest motivators. So while seeing people my age, or a year or two younger or older, meeting these amazing goals in their photography, planning, videography, etc. businesses is encouraging and motivating sometimes, it can also be so hard on me. I get jealous or wonder why I haven’t been able to do that yet. I think, if only I was (blank) or I had only done (blank) which isn’t the motivation I want to use for my business. So my biggest motivator is myself. What about you?