What to do when you feel like giving up.

It happens more regularly than any business owner, freelancer or entrepreneur would care to admit. For me it happens weekly, not daily anymore… which is progress I guess :)

So the steps I take when I feel like giving up, look a little like this:

• What am I trying to achieve? What were my objectives when I started out?

  This is an important question to ask yourself because you might have already achieved them OR you are working on the wrong thing in order to achieve the goals you set for yourself when you first started. Both things require change. If you are still working towards the same objective then it’s likely the way that you’re feeling means that you’re so so close to achieving what you want.

• Am I just bloody knackered?

  Have you been pushing and pushing but feel like you’re not getting anywhere? Everything works much better when it’s switched off and on again. It’s time to take a step back, clear your brain and focus on looking after yourself. Burnout can make you think you’re ‘failing’ when actually, you just need sleep, water and probably some vegetables.

• Ask for help

  I know, it’s hard to do, but you must. Find yourself a friend, colleague, family member or community of people (like Wild) who understand the struggle and ask them if they can help, or feel the same. Once you realise you’re not alone, you’ll begin to feel more powerful and in control.

• Tough love

  After everything else, ask yourself if you’re really enjoying this anymore. We’re self employed for a reason - to be able to choose the life we really want, you’re in control of how you want to feel on a daily basis. If you’re dreading work more often than not, then it’s probably a good time to take a longer step back. Perhaps a permanent step back.

  For me this is the bravest step of all, acknowledging that you’re not having a good time and that things need to change drastically is the key to having everything you ever dreamed of.

Once I realised that I have true autonomy over everything that I do, meaning I can make changes to my business if things aren’t working, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.

We have been conditioned to think that working means doing the same thing until you retire, that a business, project or new venture needs to look the same at completion than it did at conception. This is untrue.

And just because you have had to stop and take a step back, or reassess, or even eventually change the business model completely, you don’t stop being an entrepreneur.