It’s another Expert Briefs, where I ask really smart business owners to answer your burning questions.

This week I asked our panel of experts…

“How do you get your mojo back when it's flown the coop?”

I think you'll find the responses interesting.

---

Terry Dean of My Marketing Coach says:

I’ve lost my mojo multiple times over the years.

Here are 3 ways I’ve attacked it head on… and got my mojo back when it all feels lost.

#1 – Take a Break

Often it’s the day-to-day activities and the overwhelm that sucks the life out of you.

You’re so dug into the projects you’re working on that you don’t feel you can come up for air.

The best thing to do when you’re in that situation is to take a break. Stop staring at the problem. Get out and do something fun.

It could be as short as a few hours out of the office to watch a movie or go to lunch. Or it could be a weekend trip… or even an entire month break from your business.

Step out of the stress and the day-to-day activities. Look at the problem from a different situation and remind yourself what it is you love about what you do.

That leads us to the second part…

#2 – Focus on your Vision

During your break, take time out to look at your plan. What is your long-term vision?

Too many internet marketers are running their business by the seat of their pants. You’re overwhelmed because you’re taking on a whole bunch of activities that aren’t essential to your vision.

Eliminate all the unnecessary activities you added simply because they sounded like good ideas at the time.

Automate as many day-to-day activities as possible.

Delegate everything that’s outside your expertise or below your ‘pay grade.’

Where do you want to be in your business 12 months from today? Once you’ve written that down in detail, work backwards from there to what you want to accomplish in the next 90 days.

Then create a weekly and daily growth plan to take another baby step toward your vision every day.

#3 – Join a Passionate Mastermind Group or Find a Mentor

Enthusiasm is contagious.

And online marketing can be a lonely business if you allow yourself to be isolated.

Find others who are passionate about what they do. Share ideas. Grow together.

Hold each other accountable.

Avoid the complainers! Don’t keep participating in any forum, group, or club where it quickly becomes a pity party of how hard it is out there.

Some people have a ‘recession mindset’ while business is booming all around them.

Either find a mastermind group or connect with a mentor proven to help others move forward.

---

Lou Bortone of Video in a Day says:

How do you get your mojo back when it's flown the coop?

I ‘recharge my batteries' by attending (or speaking at) industry events and conferences. Despite being an introvert, I love the camaraderie that comes from events like NAMS, where we get to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. Of course, the shenanigans that often happen after the sessions are the most fun and really help to restore my mojo when I've been running on empty!

---

Lain Ehmann of Crafting Your Business, Step-by-Step says:

For some reason, people think they have to “feel it” to be productive. I think the difference between a professional and a hobbyist is that the professional shows up whether their mojo is in the house or not. Just think of Celine Dion – do you think she tells her sold-out crowds in Vegas, “Nope, sorry. Just not feeling it tonight.” Emotions are a transitory thing. Some days I feel like sitting down to work, and some days I feel like curling up under my covers and reading junky novels. If I give in to the latter too often, I'll be in big trouble!

That being said, I can get burnt out at times. After a big event, I need to give myself time to physically recover and to reconnect with my family, who have been surviving on mac ‘n' cheese for the past week. A day or two of down time can re-charge my batteries and get me ready for the next big project.

I also can get zapped if I'm spending too much time doing the tasks and projects best left to someone else (like customer service). If I'm feeling blah day after day for an extended period of time, usually this is the reason; I've been doing soul-sucking work, rather than soul-fulfilling work. Then I have to realign my task list to better reflect the projects I'm excited about.

---

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

Sometimes I lose my mojo and sometimes I lose my vision… both have a similar effect on me. I grind to a halt and feel stuck.

When I lose my mojo for business, when it all feels like it's been said or done before, I seek to spend time with newcomers. They see everything with fresh eyes and ask great questions. This lights a fire under me and before I know it, my mojo is burning brightly again.

Ideas for getting in touch with Newcomers:

1. Volunteer to be interviewed by a new blogger or podcaster.
2. Spend time answering questions on Forums and Facebook Groups.
3. Take on a Mentee or Intern
4. Offer an Open Phones Day. Here's How: Open Phone Lines Training

When I have mojo but lack vision on where to go next, I seek to spend time with successful contemporaries. They shine a light on my potential and make me realize I'm bonkers to not live up to it. With a little brainstorming and planning, my forward vision gets a jumpstart and I'm off and running again.

Ways to connect with Contemporaries:

1. Go to Live Events like Exposure and Profit or NAMS
2. Join a Mastermind Group. Example.
3. Start a Podcast, maybe even try the Round Table Format. Example. List Building Roundtable
4. Attend a Business Retreat like Beachpreneurs.com

We call get stuck now and then, but we don't have to stay there!

---

Kristen Eckstein of Free Book Promo says:

It happens to all of us. I lost my mojo. Writer’s block was in full force. And my deadline was less than 24 hours.

I did get it done (about 10,000 words), and Author’s Quick Guide to Having a Successful Book Signing was released on time. WOO-HOO! So how did I do it? How did I get my writing mojo back?

• Accountability—My coach issued this challenge to me, and she checked in to see how my progress was going. That lit a little fire under my behind…
• Mastermind—I’m part of a small mastermind group and we had our bi-weekly check-in meeting Wednesday morning. Telling them what I was up to helped renew the spark of excitement I had when the project was brand new two weeks before.
• Left-Brained Activities—Some might call it procrastination, but during my “off kilter” time I played in the kitchen with raw food recipes (and ate a LOT of chocolate), put together office furniture, ran errands, worked out and pretty much did everythingexcept write.
• Right-Brained Activities—When I felt my mojo start to return, I fostered it by playing with LEGOs, playing with my cat and playing with food (a left- and right-brained activity).
• Chocolate—I ate a LOT of chocolate! Raw cacao has energy and creativity-boosting properties, so I ate a ton of it. 

The fact is, all writers, entrepreneurs, artists—well, pretty much everyone who’s ever embarked on a large project like writing a book—loses their mojo once in a while. No one can say when your mojo leaves, how or when it will return. Mine hit suddenly around 9pm on Wednesday night, after a full day of the above activities. Having a coach hold me accountable was huge. She’s pushing me to go further than I think I can, and celebrating when I surprise myself. My mastermind group does a similar thing and offers support with like-minded people. And combining left- and right-brained activities opens the neurological pathways between the two hemispheres. Of course, my personal opinion is chocolate is what really did it. 

---

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

When my mojo flies the coop, I chase it down and tackle it in a few different ways and drag it back, even if it's kicking and screaming.

Yes, it happens to ALL of us. Like my friends above, I've been in this business a long time for TEN years (since 2004) and I've definitely had my on and off periods of time.

My friends touched on many of the things that I was going to mention, so I'll come at it from another angle.

1. Avoid loss of mojo in the first place. Have a vision and understand that what you do impacts other people. If your #1 goal in business is to profile AND make the web and the world a better place, then by not running your business, you aren't making the web and the world better. Right?

2. Take your vitamins. Seriously – good vitamins can really affect your entire mood, energy levels, and overall outlook on life, the universe and everything.  I keep mine sitting on my desk, so that I remember to take them every day. I notice that when I forget, I fade.

3.  Have people dependent on you. I have my team (assistants, customer support, writers, designers, etc), business partners, my family, my coaching clients, and even my dogs dependent upon my success. I don't have the luxury of crawling into bed too long before I have to get my butt up and get busy getting things done.

4. Allow for the down times and don't beat yourself up when they happen. Forgive yourself as you would forgive others. Don't get into a spiral of “I suck… ” because it doesn't help you to get back on your feet.

5. Keep track of your progress. With my coaching clients, I always recommend they create a spreadsheet or notebook of “Where I am Now” so they can track their progress. Otherwise, if growth is slow and steady, you may not realize that you're moving forward unless you have a way to look back. It's kind of like with weight loss. If you haven't seen someone in a year, and they've been losing 1-2 lbs per month, they may not realize how different they look, but you sure will.

6. Have some happy reminders near your desk. I have cards and printouts by my desk from people who have taken the time to send me words of love. These are from past coaching clients, friends whose lives I've touched through my work, and colleagues. I pick those up and reread them from time to time when I need a boost.

7. Most importantly – have some recurring income streams in place. When my mojo runs off – I have enough passive income streams and recurring revenue streams in place that I don't have to panic. I can take a break and not freak out about it. It's ok and that's a great feeling for me. I hope you have some in place as well. If not – please listen to the free audio on the top of this page to learn why it's so important to me that you start adding income streams today. Passive Income & Recurring Income Training

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. If all of the above fails, write a blog post about getting your mojo back and then you'll talk yourself into getting your stuff done. Busted. 😉