Entrepreneur-tips-The-Lifestyle-Edit-2

Make it happen. The phrase that we are confronted with by every inspiration board, motivational speech and many a positivity post on the ‘gram. But what is ‘it’, why do I want it to happen and how the hell am I supposed to make it happen all by myself?

The concept of making it happen is daunting, especially when it confronts us so regularly. And the pressure to be a #femaleboss might seem like a lot, regardless of what life stage you’re in. Since we can’t always seek solace in a bottle of wine and binge-watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, figuring out a way to manage the pressure and get stuff done is unavoidable.

The tips below aren’t just useful for all the entrepreneurs out there. As someone starting my career fresh out of university, keeping the faith is just as important (and often just as difficult), so for all the days when grown-up life is just a little bit too hard, these are just some of the things I make sure to keep in mind.

Love your #goals: Set yourself regular goals, whether it’s for that day, month, year or even three years. By figuring out exactly what you want to achieve within a certain time frame and breaking it down into manageable chunks, the bigger tasks will seem much more achievable. Short-term daily goal have a tendency to turn into one long, muddled to-do list, so avoid this by making them as specific as possible. By breaking up your days with short-term goals, you’ll find yourself achieving those big lofty goals without realising it.

Entrepreneur-tips-The-Lifestyle-Edit-1Celebrate every goal, big or small: It’s not easy to find one positive thing at the end of every day, but you can definitely find something to celebrate at the end of your working week. The best thing about setting goals is that they can be set entirely for you, by you, so you can set the pace.

Surround yourself with a great team – and even with your competition: It’s pretty much impossible for you to go at it alone (as we say here at TLE HQ: ‘team work makes the dream work), so the best thing to do is to surround yourself with the best of the best. Gather a team that shares your vision and that will help you to realise your ambitions. Equally, identify the skills or qualities that you lack and find people who hold them to make your support network as strong as possible. They will make you, and your business, better. Or even just for the company – working from home can be isolated, and during my months of freelance life, I surrounded myself with fellow freelancers so I could discuss ideas and simply be motivated to get dressed.

If you are starting out alone, try and find a mentor who can guide and challenge you as you learn more about your business: Let’s get real, starting out in any industry is hard and most of us have no idea what we’re doing at first, so could all do with a little guidance. Having someone by your side that has been through a similar experience can only be a positive. Plus, they are bound to provide valuable, honest feedback about your ideas.

Get Inspired: Whatever first inspired you to start pursuing your career or business venture will always be there, so returning to it as often as possible will help keep you focused. Even more importantly, staying inspired will help whatever you are creating to be the best. Searching for inspiration from all corners of the Internet and IRL will keep your work well-informed. If I look online and see content that I wish I had written, I get more enthusiastic about persevering with my own work and pushing myself to think outside the box.

Allow Time To Breathe: Like I said, the breathing part is important. Give yourself a break and find explore the best ways for you to relax. For some it’s a hardcore workout, for others like me, it is a four pack of Brewdog’s finest and back-to-back episodes of The Real Housewives of New York. Avoiding burnout is key, so while pressure is good, don’t let it overwhelm you to the point that you can’t function. Burnout is brought on by immense stress, so be sure to acknowledge when you need a break rather than running yourself into the ground. And most importantly, give yourself time at the end of each week to celebrate your achievements. As they say, it’s about the journey, not simply the end goal.