Is your Business Swim Suit Ready?

Everywhere I turn, people are on a mission to get “swimsuit ready”.  We start thinking about the warmer weather around Easter, by Memorial day the reality hits, by mid-June school is over and then July 4th – the official start of summer (at least on the East Coast) SMACKS us in the face.

I know I shutter at the thought of bringing my winter body out of hibernation and squeezing it into pieces of nylon and spandex.  Despite the weight loss there is still a lot of skin.  I actually fit in last year’s suit just not happy about the excess skin hanging around.

I know, what does tho have to do with getting your business ready for summer, right?

If I’m being completely honest, I actually love being in the water and have ever since I was little (young not size – LOL).  I just let the way I look and what people will think take over.  So I usually avoid the pool or sit on the sidelines all covered up worried about what others will think.   

Think about your business for a minute.  As a direct seller, I have always heard “the J months are the worst” and yes I have talked about it ALOT!  We send encouragement to others and share with our teams, to face their fears, put themselves out there, not worry what others think and to serve people even when it seems scary or uncomfortable.  But do we practice what we preach?

What would we be teaching them if we just hid and never put ourselves out there? Think about all the missed opportunities we would have.  Think about the other people who may see you and think, “If she can do it so can I.”

To be brutally honest – just like your body (or at least mine), your business may never be swimsuit “Ready”.  You will probably always have doubts, insecurities, or even question if people will look, stare, and point at you for thinking you can actually ROCK your business.

The bottom line is you have a passion for what you do.  You have people to serve. There are people who need you – yes, they need exactly what you have to give RIGHT NOW not when everything is 100% perfect.

Because let’s face it… nothing is ever going to be 100% perfect.  Are you waiting for perfect?

We have two choices in our business AND this summer:

1) We can sit on the sidelines watching the rest of the world having fun, making memories, launching businesses, and serving others.

OR

2) We can STOP waiting for perfect.  We can suck it up, put our businesses out there and ROCK it stretch marks and all!

Start today putting your business out there, whether it’s perfect or not.  Be a walking billboard with your products.  Start connecting with other people, growing and serving. We aren’t getting any younger and you’ve got a lot of people who need your voice and your message!

I know, I get it – you still feel like your business is not ready, right?  Share with us what’s holding you back.  Let us be your cheerleaders!

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

March Madness

WOOHOO!  It is Monday morning and I am ready to conquer the world.  Okay, so it may be a slight stretch but I am ready to get into the spirit of March Madness.  No, I am not talking about basketball… I am talking about Thirty One’s March Madness.

If you haven’t heard yet, Thirty One has an AMAZING opportunity for hostesses this month.  Are you ready?

That’s right with a $500 party you get DOUBLE hostess credits so instead of $90 in FREE products you are gong to $180!  Talk about a shopping spree!I know, no time for a party right?  The house is a mess and no time to clean.  No room to have my friends over. None of my friends live close.  Too busy.  No money.  I have heard all of the reasons why you can’t have a party and get FREE stuff BUT for just 31 minutes of your time on Facebook, you could have a party.  Yes, you heard me right.

My new Facebook parties have me LIVE with you and your friends for 31 minutes highlighting all of the products you want to see up close. A personal shopper coming right into your home.  Here is how it works….

• I will send you a hostess packet for our party within the next 14 days.
• You share the catalog with friends and family to gather some outside orders.
• You will send me a guest list of 20 people who you want to attend with their snail mail address.  I will send them a personal paper invite with a treat.  Of those 20, you will pick 10 people who are a must have at your party.  Those individuals will receive a mini  catalog with a bonus option for helping you collect orders.
• Once I have the list, I will set up you Facebook party.
• We will do some posts on the party before it starts
• The day of the LIVE party, I will tell everyone how to earn tickets to win
• We will go live at the designated time for some fun and games.
• We will close your party within 48 hours of the LIVE event

Easy peasy, right?  No fuss. No mess.

The best part is all of the NEW items in March at Thirty One

#1 – March Customer Special…… I LOVE this special.  Some of our most popular bags from the NEW Spring catalog on sale

#2 Close to Home Tray is BACK!  This product sold out in 23 days when it was introduced during the holidays.  It is back with two options for personalization.

#3 – Celebrating Teachers and Nurses.  

#4 – You asked for it, we have it!  The NEW Softball icon..

Can you thing better than being a hostess in March?  Maybe it is starting your own business with one of our Spring Enrollment kits…

  

Not only do you get paid to party BUT you will also have the chance to get up to 4 of these amazing kits for FREE each month for the first four months.

So, who is ready to join in the fun?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Procrastination And Perfectionism Go Hand-in-Hand

 

Thank you Glynnis Whitwer and Proverbs 31.com for today’s message…

Years ago, I naively thought I was decent at decorating, until people started re-doing my efforts. Whether at church or work, if I was assigned the setup of a table of any kind—snacks, desserts, book sales—someone would come along behind me and re-arrange the items.

It happened so often, that I just stopped trying. I’d laugh it off, and ask to be assigned something else. It’s hard to face a weakness. And because I so desperately want to be good at decorating, it hurts.

When I take a step back, I can see that my standard for decorating is ridiculous. I’m comparing my home, my income, my resources and my style to others who are truly gifted in this area. Logically I should see those comparisons and my personal expectations aren’t fair, and give myself a break.

Only there’s this critical voice inside me that says admit defeat and give up. In a quiet little hiss it says things like, “You’ll never be happy with the results … someone will come along behind you and do it better … you aren’t artistic … if you can’t do it well, just forget it.”

That voice has a name: Perfectionist. And it’s not my friend.

One would think that the desire to do things well is an asset. And it is. But perfectionism isn’t the pursuit of excellence. It’s the pursuit of perfection.

Excellence is possible is some things; perfection is possible in nothing.

Excellence pushes us to do our best; perfectionism pushes us to be the best.

Perfectionism is the enemy of learning and growing and enjoying areas of life where we haven’t achieved mastery. And we procrastinate addressing those areas for fear of feeling unsatisfied, critical, and discouraged.

Procrastination and perfectionism go hand-in-hand for me. And one of my most memorable bouts with perfectionism was when I was writing a book on procrastination.

It was amazing what other tasks I chose to do rather than write. They were all things I’d procrastinated, but apparently dreaded less than writing that book.

I scheduled a medical screening I’d put off for years, made a copy of a car key that required a special locksmith with a special machine, and decided to start excising again.

But write? I was paralyzed by the thought of it. Seriously, why did I tackle a topic that only very intelligent people with lots of degrees and initials behind their name wrote on? I’m no expert!

The more I researched the topic, the more I became so consumed over what to include in the book, that I couldn’t start. Visions of people thinking they’d wasted their money just about made me sick.

Then it didn’t help that I’m friends with someone who has had three books hit the New York Times best-seller list. And although I know I shouldn’t compare my success with hers, the impossibility of writing a best seller made me want to call my publisher to quit multiple times.

Finally, I had to admit I wasn’t going to write a perfect book. And I’m not the perfect person to write on this subject. But I have been called by God to do it. So, since He is MUCH smarter than me, I decided I better sit down at the computer, ask for His help, and start writing, trusting God to lead me.

This was not a one-and-done conversation I had with myself. Each chapter, I had to face that same high expectation and those same fears. What if I left something important out? What if I quoted a study that was debunked a year later, only I didn’t know it? What if a psychologist reads this and posts an angry comment on Amazon?

The perfectionist bully taunted me with dire consequences throughout the entire process of writing this book.

So how did I actually get it done? I chose to trust God.

I know that sounds simple, but it’s really true. Years ago God challenged me to trust Him, not just say I trusted Him. What a difference it makes.

Perfectionism directed my focus on the end result. But when I took my eyes off the results and put them on God, perfectionism lots its grip on me.

No longer was the burden of the results squarely on my shoulders.

Just knowing God won’t let me down gave me courage to start. And He’ll do the same for you. Here is some truth from His Word:

Psalm 9:10, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

Isaiah 42:16, “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”

When we are faced with a challenging assignment, one where we doubt our ability to do it perfectly, we can choose to trust God will not fail us. Assured of God’s faithfulness and His love, we can proceed with confidence, giving the work our best efforts.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Make a Clean Sweep

Okay, you can stop laughing now because for those who know me they know I am NOT the “cleaning queen”.  I am always amazed at the similarities between reducing clutter in our home and our weight loss journey.  The truth is when we reduce clutter – mentally and physically – we lighten our journey.  Who doesn’t want to be lighter, right?

Organizing your physical space – as well as your mental space – can banish distractions so you can focus on things which really matter to you.  What matter’s most to you?  For me, in addition to my faith, family and business…..my health and weight loss journey has become something which is in the top 5 of my “what matters’ most” list.

Did you know a chaotic environment can leave you open to making unhealthy food choices?  According to a recent study, disorder leads to stress and stress spikes your body’s cortisol levels which in turn may make your body hold onto excess weight.  Hmmm.. can I use this as a reason if I don’t loose any weight this week?  So, a clean sweep not only helps you to get organized BUT it also promotes healthy behavior like eating fresh fruits and veggies, moving your bike to the front of the garage instead of buried in the back and having a serene bedroom for a good night’s sleep.  Plus all of this moving around is exercise (yes, I went there) so you are getting double benefits.

Physical space is often easy to unclutter because we see it every day.  What about making a mental clean sweep?  This isn’t always so easy.  Here are some tips to help you on this project:

1. Write Down Your To-Dos.  No matter how good your memory is, we all forget things.  Lately, I forget more often than I care to admit.  The thing is when we record tasks and reminders on paper or on a digital list (if you are tech savvy), you free up your brain space.  When you free up your brain space of your to-dos, you have space to get creative, dream and work on ideas floating around waiting to be discovered.
2. Create Email Folders.  I know this may be a no-brainer for some but I know people who keep everything in one “general” folder then spend countless hours searching for things.  A waste of time and energy.  I have have become more specific with my email folders – bills (to pay & paid), upcoming events, follow-up, potential hostess, team news, and the list goes on.   When was the last time you went looking for an email only to find oodles of them and you couldn’t find the one message which told you what time to be at a meeting?  Make folders which work for you then as you read an email – delete, move to an action file or save.  The key is to not touch an email more than once, if possible.  I used to use this same theory in my office – it saved me moving papers from pile to pile and getting nothing accomplished.
3. Speak Your Mind.  Yup, I struggle with this one.  In a perfect world, I would be comfortable telling others when I feel slighted, bothered or angry.  Since we don’t live in a perfect world,  I have a hard time speaking my thoughts especially if they don’t agree with others in the room.  If you are good at doing this – AWESOME!  Keep it up.  If you aren’t, why not try speaking your thoughts out loud in an empty room.  Sounds silly right?  The truth is when you voice your opinion, share your feelings and hear yourself out – you can let go of the feelings continuing on with your day.  Believe me, this does work.

Now, it is your turn… what steps are your going to take to organize your physical space?  Need some help, ask me about an “organizing session” and let me help you with a difficult space.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!