Leading By Example

Today I should have been heading to National Conference for Thirty One’s 15th Anniversary.  Instead, I am at home struggling with so many things.  Health issues were the main reason for not going but right now it is hard to wrap my head around it.  I’m ready to sit on my pity pot and feel sorry for myself.  The truth is 95% of my downline is not attending conference.  So as a leader, I need to take the lead and show them how to make the best of what many would say is a bad situation.

National conference is when the NEW Fall/Winter products are debuted.  The holiday line is showcased.  Upcoming specials and incentives are highlighted.  As a leader, I get to see what is coming in the new year to help us as consultants grow our business.

So, it is time to step up.  To show my team despite the setback of not being a conference, we can run our business successfully and create excitement for our customers.  I need to remember: “Leaders are in front of the pack because of what they do.  They take the lead!”.  Are you a leader with your direct sales company?  Do you want to be?

Here are three ways leaders stay at the front of the pack:

Leaders lead by example!  Your team members will follow your example.  Set the pace for your team by consistently selling and sponsoring.  I tell my team consistency is the key to success.  Consistency for you and your business may not look the same for me and my business. When you remember the “speed of the leader determines the pace of the pack,” you will be inspired to model those actions you are encouraging your team to take.

Leaders employ discipline!   I’m not always disciplined BUT I do have a routine which I adhere to every day which helps.  Leaders understand success requires daily action toward goals despite the demands of other obligations.  Develop the skills of organization and time management so you can make the most of the time you invest in your business.  Jim Rohn said it best, “Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do.”

• Non-Party Plan Leaders:  It is easy to lead when your calendar is full of events, appointments, and meetings.  When your personal business is strong, you have places to train new Consultants. When you have a strong personal business, you are confident, excited, and unstoppable. I know I am!  If your personal business is not where you want it to be, take a look at your calendar.  Go back to the basics which made you successful!
• Party Plan Leaders:  It is easy to book more parties and recruit more Consultants when your personal calendar is full.  When you have a strong line up of parties, and vendor events you have a place to train new Consultants.  When you have lots of parties, you are confident, excited, and unstoppable. If your party schedule is not where you want it to be, take a look at your calendar.  Pick the days you want to hold parties and use the time to get on the phone.  I know it can weigh 500-pounds but it will make a difference.

Be willing to:

• Use a time management system which works for you – paper, digital, whatever!
• Schedule time to work on your business. Set aside time for specific tasks and get them done!
• Release time wasters.  Does binge watching a TV show bring you closer to your dreams?  Can you postpone scanning Facebook until you have a full schedule of business?  No, scanning Facebook will not book parties for you!  Do you spend a lot of time talking to friends about your business?  It is is not the same as doing business.

Leaders hold themselves accountable for their success!  Take responsibility for the results you achieve through your business.  If I am not happy where my business is, it is no one’s fault but my own.  When we place blame on others or make excuses for missed opportunities our power is diminished and it takes away from our ability to lead others.  Embrace life’s lessons, learn from them, and then let go so you can move on toward your remarkable future.  Letting go is hard but it is the only way we can more forward.

Be grateful for the mess of success; it’s more fun than the desert of loneliness.  I’m going to celebrate the awesome year I had over the next few days.  I’m going to stomp on those inner gremlins who want to play the comparison game.  I am going to lead my team to success as we launch the fall selling season.  What about you and your team?  What are you going to do?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Commitment Creates Miracles

Thank you Patty Lennon for the inspiration and tips for today’s post.

Every month I set goals both personally and in my business.  Sometimes they are achieved while other times they seem too far to even consider.  As many of you know earning Thirty One’s Leadership Incentive trip was a goal which had eluded me for years and this year, I was committed to earning it and guess what I did.  What was the difference this year?  This year seemed so much easier than the past.  The requirements weren’t any easier, in fact, some would say they were tougher.

Then I received an email from Patty which shed some light on to what it was which made the difference. So, if you are looking to change any aspect of your life this process has worked pretty consistently for Patty (and now for me).

1. Decide to succeed.

There is a goal you are striving for right now which is deeply personal and vital to you. Remove the possibility of NOT succeeding from your mind right now. This means each time you fall down, you get back up because any failure is temporary.

I wanted to earn this trip as a gift for hubby for our 5th wedding anniversary.  I wanted him to experience my “pink bubble” so he would understand why it is so important to me.  So, in my mind success became inevitable. I was no longer willing to NOT succeed. Which leads to …

2. Get Support.

When you are reaching for a goal you have not achieved before whether it’s growing your business to a new level, changing your health or improving your relationships you will do far better if you have help.  Who can support you in achieving your goal?

I shared my goal with my team, my customers and basically anyone who would listen.  They celebrated and encouraged me with each “star” earned.  My accountability partner pushed me to keep going even when Negative Nellie stopped for a visit.

3. Don’t Give Up.

Whatever goal is most important to you right now it is critical you not give up, especially if the goal is related to your business. In my business most things fail the first time – whether it’s a new message, promotion or marketing campaign. It is NORMAL.  Everyone falls down. Your choice (and the choice which defines those who succeed) is whether you get back up.  Everything is possible when you make the decision to succeed. No matter what happens do not give up!

So now LIT is earned, what is next for me and my business?  I will admit the last two weeks have been a struggle to get back on track.  I actually thought the roller coaster ride of earning the trip would keep me motivated but the truth is, it isn’t.  So I am working on a new goal.  Of course Thirty One has helped by adding another incentive – Wishes Come True…. 

I am going follow this same process again in my business.  PLUS, I am going to apply it to my weight loss journey to see what happens.  I am just 18 pounds away from being back at goal weight so it is non-negotiable.  I want to celebrate reaching my goal and not look back.

The truth is “the Divine will light your path with miracles to make it easier as you go.”  Send your positive energy into the Universe.  What is your goal?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

Simplify Your Life

Monday morning…..

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Do you have a hundred things going on –  work, family, social life, daily responsibilities, goals, and the list goes on, right?  Has the day just started and you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all?

I admit on a regular basis I can be a ‘hot mess” from my desk to the dust bunnies under the coach.  I  love to de-clutter and organize.  Having two in the house who like to save “just in case” can make for a lot of “stuff”.  I working on a room at a time (okay so maybe a closet/cabinet at a time) cleaning things out.

Sometimes we overcomplicate our own lives. I know we don’t mean to, it just happens. So for 2017, we are going to work on clearing the clutter – emotionally and physically.  Once the clutter is gone, we can embrace the many blessings the Universe has for us.  So, let’s start with some basics:

CLEAN AS YOU GO

Don’t let the dishes pile up in the sink.  Make the bed right after you get up in the morning. Open the mail as soon as you get home – tossing junk mail which is mostly what we get, creates a smaller pile to read later.  Doing things “as you go” will keep things neat and believe it or not, you won’t have to spend a lot of time constantly cleaning.

RE-EVALUATE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS

We all have them – toxic relationships.  The people who suck the energy from us, are negative all of the time or just aren’t good for you. Don’t be afraid to cut ties with people like this. Your time is precious, so you want to spend it with people you care about, and people who make you feel good about you.

UNSUBSCRIBE

OMG!  You will be amazed at the difference this makes in your life.  Honestly, how many hours do you spend deleting messages from your inbox? I have actually started to unsubscribe to lists instead of just hitting delete.  By unsubscribing, you are also coming off lists to get things from their “associates”.  You know more junk emails instead of junk mail.  Unsubscribing will make your inbox neater and so much easier to read.

DE-CLUTTER

Get rid of old things like clothes, dishes, electronics, magazines, furniture you no longer need- donate what you can.  Too many material possessions sitting around can make you feel drained and can complicate things,  taking your attention away from what matter’s most.

WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS

I’m not talking about HUGE goals, I mean the small daily ones. I now put in my planner and block time for – reading, cleaning tasks, calls to make, errands to run and  general life stuff.  I limit myself to 3 tasks in my business and 3 tasks in my home.  It has helped me to increase my focus and get things done.

FORGET MULTITASKING

I was the Queen of multitasking.  You know what, it is stressful and ultimately unproductive.   You can get so much more done when you focus on a single task by time-blocking and scheduling your work.

CREATE A MORNING ROUTINE

Are you always running out the door in a rush?  What if you got up just 15 minutes earlier every morning?  Getting an early start could give you more time to sit down and write out your to-do list, prepare lunch and getting ready for the day.

RE-EVALUATE YOUR COMMITMENTS

What matters most to you?  Home life, social life, work, side-work, family, hobbies, friends, worship? If you are doing something you don’t love or it doesn’t give you value, give it up – if you can.  This one can be tough but it will make the most difference in your life.

SAY NO

Don’t feel obligated to say “yes” when it is something you don’t feel like doing? “NO” is a sentience all by itself.  There is no need to explain yourself – if you don’t want to do it, just say no.

Life is crazy – we constantly feel like we need to be connected or doing something.  We look back at a simpler time in our lives and say “what happened?”.

Some where along the way, we stopped valuing our time.  Life is too short, it is time to do the things we want and we like doing. Not saying “yes” to spending time with people we don’t necessarily want to be around. De-cluttering, getting rid of anything  which doesn’t serve you will help you simplify your life and feel more at peace.

Lots more tips and tricks on simplifying your life this year…

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

World AIDS Day 2016

This day every year makes me emotional as I reflect on the lives of those who lost their battle, those who continue to fight and those who unfortunately will still contract HIV.  For those who don’t know my story, you are probably wondering why this has such an impact on me, right?

When I first entered recovery, I was on PTI (Pre-Trial Intervention) and had to do community service.  They handed me a book and said “pick something”.  I selected the South Jersey AIDS Alliance and the rest is history.  It was then I started what would become a 15 year commitment to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.  From Case Manager to County Director to Advocate and County Ryan White Grant Manager.

For me, I am reflecting on the lessons that I learned when I worked for the South Jersey AIDS Alliance. As a new “inexperienced” Social Worker and a recovering addict, I was the “crazy white lady” stepping into Bridgeton wanting to help the world. Yes, many of my clients thought it and willing shared as we got to know each other.

I didn’t the people who walked through our doors as “diseased”, “hopeless” or less than. I saw them as people who because of their bad choices were sick. “There by the grace of God go I” was a constant reminder for me since I too had made bad choices over the years.

So what could I do in a little office (actually half a duplex) with little funding, the only paid staff, a handful of volunteers (who in many cases were also clients) and a heart to save them all. In the early years, AIDS was not a “manageable disease” for many it was a death sentence. It took babies from their mothers, it took moms and dads from their kids, it took people from all walks of life – yet no one talked about it. I can remember the first few funerals where the family said “they died of cancer” because they did not want their loved one to be remembered for the stigma of HIV/AIDS. This was the world I dedicated a large portion of my professional life to. Belinda grew up joining me in this battle to end the stigma of HIV/AIDS. She played with kids who were HIV-positive, she shared her toys, she helped with fundraising, as well as sorting and delivering holiday toys. She, too, grew up with a passion for helping people.

Fast forward to today, where little is spoken about HIV/AIDS unless a celebrity says the words. It is now a manageable disease so we seldom hear the prevention message. There are medicines, so why worry, right?

We aren’t there yet – we are close. There are still 1.1 million people living with HIV in the US today. Only 1 in 4 people are making their way through the obstacles called health care and medications. Let’s not be complacent. Let’s continue to share how HIV can be transmitted.

Today is in honor of those who lost their fight, and those who continue to fight every day. You blessed my life more than you will ever know. Thank you for allowing this “crazy white chick” to be a part of your lives.

The theme this year is “Leadership, Commitment Impact”.  What will you do to make an impact?  Consider donating to agencies who help improve the quality of life for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Are You On the Road of Uncertainty?

Happy Friday!

Over the last few weeks, I have felt some uncertainty.  My inner gremlins have been bumping around trying to get out.  Why?  Change…. changing the way I run my business.  Changing the way I do things at home.  Changing my diet due to health issues.  Wondering what I should be doing as a result of all of these health challenges (#mswillnotdefineme).  Change creates doubt and fear, who is with me?

So, today I want to talk about changing uncertainties into positive action.  Whether you are growing a business, running a household, starting a new job or just a new eating plan – uncertainty surrounds us.  First, know that you are NOT alone!  Fear and doubt creeps in all of the time, it is how we handle that makes the difference.

Remember the feeling of being ready to move forward in a challenge?  Everything made sense.  You were ready to conquer the world.  You set a goal and achieved it.  Nothing could stop you.  Hold onto that feeling?  Then something happens to shake that world up.  A weight gain.  Life challenges.  Your business slows down.  You get laid off from your job.  Fear and doubt enters the picture.  Those positive feelings are replaced with doubt.  Now, not only are you uncertain about a specific situation, you have uncertainty about your life.  Right?

Let’s kick “uncertainty” to the curb…..

1. Set a goal. Look at the potential that surrounds you.  Healthy eating is a chance to try new foods.  Expanding your circles if growing a business is a chance to meet new people.  Exercising is a way to get healthy and meet new people.  Look at the long term effects of what this change can do for you.  The goal should be attainable with a little bit of a stretch.
2. Admit to yourself and some one else (friend, hubby, mentor – you pick)  that you are at this place of uncertainty. I know, scary right?  It means letting someone else know you have fears and doubts.  It will also help you to step out of your comfort zone.  It’s time to dig down to the root of the uncertainty so you can move forward.
3. Make a plan.  Make the action steps in the plan, manageable.  A little bit of a stretch but nothing that will paralyze you with fear so you don’t move forward.  Want to eat healthier?  Eliminate junk food from the house & substitute it with something that you can grab and munch on.  Maybe just start with portion control.  Want to grow your business?  Talk to new people who can help you expand your circles like: a teacher that has a school to fish from or a banker that has an entire branch and more to fish from or a preschool mom or worker that has an entire sea of committed moms and employees that would want to raise money or refresh their school or a principal who knows her staff supports her interest, and would support a fun teacher appreciation party of fellowship and fun!
4. Commit to the goal and the action steps in your plan.  You know you can do it. Take it one day at a time or maybe even one hour at a time.  Whatever it takes, stay committed to achieving your goal.  Have fun and be consistent.
5. Your efforts must be continuous. Don’t push hard for a few months or a few days and then let things fizzle.  Yes, life gets in the way BUT you can do it.  When you push hard all the time, you will overcome the obstacles.  New struggles will creep up but since you have achieved success once, you will be able to do it again.

What steps will you take this weekend to KICK uncertainty to the curb?  I would love to hear from you…

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!