This article has been fully updated for 2026
I have a question for you today. An important question.
The question is this. Does your business energize you and excite you?
Well, it should do.
In fact, it HAS to!
Seriously.
Here’s why energy and excitement are essential
It’s impossible to build a truly successful business, unless that business fills you with energy and excitement.
Think about it.
- The energy is what keeps you moving forward. It’s the essential fuel that powers every successful business owner.
- The excitement is what brings that energy. It’s also what the marketplace needs to feel, whenever they have an encounter with you or your business. It’s highly infectious. It inspires people to hire you, buy from you and recommend you.
And that energy can be yours. If you want it.
Choose energy. Choose success!
You can choose to either create an inspirational business, or carry on like 99% of small and medium-sized business owners, in a business you love, which doesn’t love you back.
Small business owners suffer more stress, work longer hours and work harder, than they would do if they were an employee. They work themselves harder than any boss would, with none of the perks of being a salaried employee.
And that’s nuts!
New clients often tell me they would see other business owners, who were brimming with energy, enthusiasm and ideas, and wonder how those other business owners managed to be so motivated.
Usually, they blame themselves for not being a very self-motivated type of person.
Thankfully, they discover they’re 100% incorrect.
Any business owner can become highly-motivated and energized. However, it isn’t going to happen while they’re working in a business that’s zapping their energy or failing to inspire them.
An exciting example
Last year, I wanted to pump even more excitement, and fun, into my creative thinking work.
So, I created a £15,000 bounty offering. If an artist or large company in the creative industries has an expensive problem, I’ll eliminate the problem fast, for £15,000.
I don’t pitch the service to anyone. It’s here on my creative thinking website, which attracts artists and senior people in the creative industries every day. A reader sees the service, fills in the form and sends it to me. If I know I can solve it in a day or so, and they are credible, I solve it.
So, every morning when I check my email, I have the excitement of knowing I might have another, very quick £15,000 project. It doesn’t happen every week or every month. But that buzz of excitement is there every day.
Clarity is the key
All that energy only comes, when you are clear about what you want from your business AND how to achieve it. This massively improves the way you think and feel about your business. That’s because you know what you want, know how to get it and can see progress toward it. I see the impact this has on business owners all the time. I’m telling you, it’s transformational!
The challenge you need to overcome, if you want to access that energy and excitement, can be summed-up in one word.
Settling.
Settling: the destroyer of dreams
Most small business owners have spent so long with their daily grind, that they unconsciously start to settle for things the way they are. Sure, they hope things will improve. Occasionally, they’ll try something new. But they find themselves with the same core problem. So they wrongly blame themselves for lacking the motivation or energy.
To turn this around, you must refuse to settle.
- Stop LOWERING your lifestyle goals, so that they fit around the limitations of your under-performing business.
- Start INCREASING your effectiveness, so your business provides everything you need, and more.
Here’s the best part.
You are in control
You don’t need to settle for anything.
You are the boss.
You get to build whatever kind of business you want. You choose how enjoyable your work is. You get to decide what you earn, where you work, where you live, the number of hours you work and the quality of your clients. You get to choose how interesting and fulfilling your work is.
Next steps: make the decision to stop settling. Then, do something about it.
IMPORTANT: If you want to make more sales, boost your profits and grow an amazing business, this will help you!