MOTIVATION - A Tough Challenge

MOTIVATION –  A Tough Challenge


By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – March 2010

Arland Gilbert says “When we accept tough jobs as a challenge and wade into them with joy and enthusiasm, miracles happen.”

My workshops are growing with momentum.  More and more people are attending – more and more people are ‘getting it’ and more and more people are understanding what they need to do.  Some of the people who attend are thinking about starting out on their own, some have just started and ironically many have been in business for many years.  They all still keep coming and they all still keep sending their friends, family and colleagues.

Going out on your own is tough – it’s one of the hardest things that you will ever do and yet it is one of the most rewarding things that you will ever accomplish!  I know – I did it and one of the miracles that I experienced is the fact that I am a statistic – a great one.  This year marks my 12th year in business and I can see how I’ve grown, not only as a small business owner but as an individual too.  With each step that I have taken, my confidence has grown.  With each obstacle that I have overcome, my self esteem has improved.  With each new client that I have won and/or retained my focus and resolve has strengthened and I know that I am in it for the long haul and believe me there is nothing that I would rather do.

Each time I stand in front of the delegates and I say “make sure that this is what you want to be doing, be sure about the fact that you are ‘in love’  with what you are doing, because your hours will be very long, you will work weekends and public holidays and it may be a long time before you take a holiday again and if you are not in love or passionate about what you are doing, you will begin to resent it.”  Make no mistake – I mean every single word of what I am saying and your passion for your product and/or service is what will get you through the day.  Your passion for your product and/or service will often mean the difference between putting one foot in front of the other and falling over and staying there.  Your passion for your product and/or service will often be the reason why you get up in the morning and start again.

Many of the delegates look at me as though I have lost the plot, but I know – you see, I have been there.  I have taken that long, often very lonely walk, into starting a business.  I have been so weary, bone tired and exhausted that I have felt as though I am running on the memory of what ‘fumes’ smell like as opposed to merely on empty, yet I have continued to put one foot in front of the other because of my belief in my product and the service that I render.  I am more passionate about what I do today, than I was 35 years ago when I started doing it and although many of those years were spent working for others in a corporate environment, I was still doing what I love – my product and my service are still fundamentally the same.  My belief in what I am doing is the same (if not greater) and certainly my passion is greater!

Yip, I’m pretty sure about that – I love what I do – and as challenging as it may get from time to time – there is nothing out there that I would rather be doing.

I see it every day!  I see the miracles of new businesses starting, with passionate people!  I see those new businesses growing and succeeding every day, I see people in love with life and brimming with joy at the possibilities of who and what they can become – what do you see?

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za