I think it’s fair to say that sometimes being an entrepreneur is hard and lonely. You have a different mindset than many of your friends and family members, you are always having to hustle, the business is always in your thoughts…you have clients who won’t (or can’t) pay, you wonder if you are doing everything you can to grow your business and you often work from home at really weird hours. It is normal to feel discouraged or in a slump occasionally. Everyone gets motivated differently but here are a few resources to help get you up and excited again.

1. Get out. We talked about this earlier

but it sometimes helps to get out and actually be with people. Even if it is dragging the laptop to your local coffee shop. Or, because you may not have real co-workers, find a freelance group that works together. Most major cities have these opportunities. Try Meetup.com under Freelance to see if there’s a group for you. It’s nice to be with people who speak the same “entrepreneurial” language as you.

2. Read The Dip by Seth Godin

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. Seth will remind you that slogging through the tough times is what differentiates successful businesses and people from the others. Pushing through “the dip” is crucial and he’ll walk you through the how and why.

3. Add these blogs to your blog reader (like Google): Steve Pavlina, Good Vibe Coach

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, Genius Catalyst (be sure to sign up for Michael’s newsletter-killer content), Jonathan Fields The Salton Sea

, and Escape from Cubicle Nation. Trust me. At least one of these blogs will offer you a gentle boost each day.

4. Visualize yourself as powerful, successful, motivated and happy. Get to what that FEELS like. Hey! You can call it new-agey hocus pocus but professional athletes do it! They spend time working with their coaches visualizing sinking that putt, slam-dunking that ball, winning that gold medal. Why shouldn’t you?

5. Take a day off. It is soooo easy to think and do for your business 24/7. Don’t. I find the fastest way to do this is to absolutely not open the computer at least one day per week. I don’t check email. Period. And I spend that day however I want. Our brains and hearts need a break. Give them one!

Now c’mon readers. We need more than these five ways! Share your favorite books, blogs, tips on putting a bit more pep in our entrepreneurial step!  

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There is so much juicy goodness in the form of free training and motivational videos on the Web! You can listen to top speakers who charge hundreds or thousands of dollars, all for FREE. Here are some of the best I’ve found:

1. Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 Rule

for PowerPoint

2. Seth Godin’s Sliced Bread

(all about standing out in the marketplace)

3. Richard St. John’s Success is a Continuous Journey

4. Richard Branson (Need I say more?)

5. David Allen on Getting Things Done

6. Tom Peters (founder of personal branding) on Gain Respect by Giving It

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7. Lisa Irby’s Creating a Wordpress Blog (ALL of Lisa’s YouTube videos about online marketing are excellent)

8. Gary Vaynerchuk’s Enormous Talent is Not Enough

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9. Pam Slim on Escaping from Cubicle Nation Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem movie download Grow Your Own psp

10. Keith Ferrazi’s How to Turn a Contact into an Ally