Every network marketer has felt it at some point – they just don’t feel like doing the work today or even this week. They may say, “What motivation?” These feelings stem from one of two things:

1. You’re just not motivated to work or do your Power Hour
2. You’re feeling deflated because you either can’t get ahold of people in your network or you’ve been rejected. 

These feelings are totally normal. Even the most successful network marketer has felt the same thing at one point in their careers. The difference between them and everyone else is they dealt with it and then moved on. They moved past those feelings to either do the work anyway, or they took it as a signal that they needed to rest for a day and then went right back at it. 

Motivation Block #1: Losing sight of goals

Motivation isn’t a lasting thing. Zig Ziglar famously said, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing, that’s why we recommend it daily.” If you’re like most people, you’re highly motivated in January after you’ve set your goals for the year and you are fired up to get started on the path to achieving them. By April, though, that motivation is like Elvis – it’s left the building, possibly in a spangly jumpsuit. You’re left with a growing list of customers, prospects, and distributors to contact, but you’re just not in the mood to get started. In fact, sometimes, you want to do anything other than your Power Hour, especially when it’s a beautiful, sunny day. 

“Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.”

– Emory Austin

On the days you’re unmotivated, there’s no song in your heart. However, like the quote says, you have to sing anyway. That means putting in the time to work on your business. Your business isn’t some 9 to 5 job that you clock into and out of at set times. You can clock in and out whenever. You also don’t have to put in a full eight hours. To reach your goals, it only takes an hour or less. That’s only an hour of your time to spend connecting with your network and growing your business. That’s not a lot, is it? In fact, it’s a totally manageable amount when you really want to be elsewhere – at the beach, on a hike, shopping, anywhere but in front of your laptop doing work.

Why are you feeling unmotivated?

When you’re just not feeling it, take a moment to figure out why:

• Are you tired? Not getting enough sleep has an impact throughout the day. Our minds are working overtime, which causes us to feel as if we’re just not thinking straight. 
• Are you burned out? You have a busy life outside of your business. Many of us have the tendency to burn the candle at both ends leaving us feeling burned out when our busyness catches up with us.
• Are you overcommitted? If you have a hard time saying ‘no’ you may find that you’re overcommitting yourself.

The specific reason for feeling unmotivated may vary; however, it likely falls into one of the above categories. 

How to boost motivation

Get a boost of motivation to get back on track.

Take a break. Rest is critical for success, even though it seems counterintuitive. Too many network marketers think that if they work around the clock, they’ll become more successful. Take a day off to do what you want, whether it’s taking a nap, doing yoga, or another relaxing activity. Just be sure to return to work the next day; after all, too many days of rest will make it much harder to return to the task at hand – building your business. 

Say ‘no’. Practice in the mirror if you must, but get in the habit of saying ‘no’ to the things that don’t bring you closer to your goals. Many people, especially if they have the tendency to be people pleasers, automatically say yes to everything, whether they want to do it or not. They may feel that if they don’t volunteer to do it, it won’t get done. Sometimes that’s true. However, if something doesn’t align with your priorities or bring you closer to your goals, why invest the time in it? Because when you choose to do the unimportant thing, you take vital time away from the activities that matter, such as spending time with your family, pursuing your hobbies, and working on your business.

Review your goals. Do you remember the goals you set in January? Chances are, if you’re like most people, you haven’t reviewed them since you set them. Take a moment to review your goals. Remembering your intention and your reasons for setting them will help you rekindle your motivation to achieve them. Talk about a surge in motivation!

Motivation Block #2: Feeling unloved

Network marketing is all about relationships, specifically building them and serving your favorite people. When you work from the heart, you give 110% of yourself to your customers, prospects, and distributors. You check in with them to follow up, connect with them when you say you will, and truly enjoy helping them. 

Although most people will appreciate such care and concern, there are folks who may not respond to it in the way you expected. They may reject your services and attention outright; they ignore or ghost you, or they don’t respond in the manner in which you expected.

For example, let’s say you’re following up with a prospect who seemed super into your business when you spoke with them last month, but now seems to give you curt, one-word responses to your messages. Or, worse yet, she doesn’t respond at all. Perhaps you’ve even seen her out and about and it feels super awkward – do you say ‘hi’ or do you duck behind the nearest person and flee the scene? You wonder if it was something you said or did. Sometimes you end up making up an elaborate story about why they’re not really responding to you.

Or perhaps, they rejected your offer to join your team and you’re feeling offended. Don’t they understand that you’re not the typical network marketer and you value them as people? Do they care that you can help them and make their lives easier? Don’t they see how much you care?! 

When you were just starting out, you may have imagined that everyone you knew would flock to you and your business. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way. In fact, more often than not, other people won’t have the same level of enthusiasm for your business that you do, and if they do, they’ll be your biggest advocates. The trick is to not become disappointed when people’s reactions don’t match your expectations.

Rethink rejection

Rejection, like failure, is part of business. Not everyone will love your product or service. Not everyone has to be on board with your business. According to the Pareto Principle, 80% of your business will come from 20% of your network. You don’t have to woo everyone; just the people who are likely to buy from you or join your team. 

“In one minute you can change your attitude and in that minute you can change your entire day.”

-Spencer Johnson

When someone rejects your offer, they’re freeing you to connect with other people who may love your business and your products/services. In reality, they’re encouraging you to reach out to more people.

Similarly, when they don’t respond to you right away, try to remember that they lead busy lives as well. Maybe they’re busy with work or school activities. Or maybe they’re in the midst of dealing with something heavy in their personal lives. They’re not deliberately ignoring you; they just haven’t had a chance to respond. It’s not a slight against you or your business at all. 

How to build your business when you’re not feeling motivated

“If you believe business is built on relationships, make building them your business.”

– Scott Stratten

Follow up with your best people. When your confidence is low, check in with your advocates and favorite customers, prospects, and distributors. Connecting with them is sure to lift your spirits and help you feel better about yourself and your business. 

Continue to connect with the people you haven’t heard from. Follow up with them when your Teamzy Dashboard tells you to and eventually they’ll respond. 

Tap into your advocates. Focus on your top customers and distributors and continue to deliver great service. Don’t forget to ask them to introduce you to other great people like them who may be interested in what your business has to offer. 

Stay Motivated with Teamzy

Teamzy helps you stay motivated by taking the guesswork out of your business. Know who to message today and even get ideas to get the conversation started. Login to learn more.