The last day of the month and the crunch is on, especially if you are in direct sales. Maybe you are stalking your back off to see if you made your numbers. Maybe you are taking last minute orders from customers who forgot to order (retiring product or thermal special). Maybe you are looking at the scale and thinking, next month I will do better. If any of these are you, here are some thoughts from an article that I read about the similarity between business and weightless/ fitness goals.
Are you successful in your business? Do you wonder how you can get back to exercising (or maybe even start)? Are you tired of trying to loose weight? Maybe this will help
1. Results don’t happen overnight.
When I started my direct sales business, it was busy at first because of the excitement of sharing new product. When I started my weight loss journey, I was excited when I lost a few pounds. The excitement kept me moving forward and I never really thought that success wasn’t happening overnight. I was willing to put in the work because I saw results. I reached goals by taking it one day at a time. I was willing and continue to be willing to work hard to reach my goals, no matter how long it takes.
2. Success requires a complete plan.
Okay, so I tried “winging” it in weight loss and in my business. No plan written down. The results were disastrous. I ended up making unhealthy food choices and my business was stuck. So what did I do differently to reach some of my goals? I joined Weight Watchers for a plan. To have someone tell me what I could and couldn’t eat – worked. I mean after loosing 108 pounds why would I consider anything else. As for business goals, I now have a plan on what I want to accomplish each day, each week, quarterly and annually. I mean how many of us would walk into a job every day without some kind of a plan. No matter what your job, you have a plan (or a routine). The same is true about weight loss goals.
3. Step away from your comfort zone.
On a daily basis I step out of my comfort zone in my business. I am willing to talk to new people, try to new ideas and open my mind to learning from others. So why don’t I do the same thing in my weight loss/ exercise journey. I tried the gym for about 2 weeks faithfully. Then I got bored. Actually I didn’t see results. I tried to ride the stationary bike consistently. I didn’t see results. Do we see a pattern here. Refer back to #1. I have done what is comfortable (the same things) and expecting different results. Insane, right? I stepped out of my comfort zone with Weight Watchers so why is exercising so different. FEAR! Yup, that sums it up. So just like when I let FEAR run my business, letting FEAR run my exercise program will get me the same results – STUCK!
4. Make your goals attainable.
It’s important that you always set goals that are reachable. This isn’t to say that you should create easy goals just for the sake of hitting them — but they need to be feasible. Maybe a little out of reach that will require stepping out of your comfort zone. This is a struggling point for me in my weight loss journey and in my business. I see the BIG picture and want it NOW. I mean can’t someone just wave the magic wand and make it happen. The truth is that when I started working towards attainable goals in my business and my weight loss journey – I reached those goals. So, why do I struggle so much when it comes to exercise? Anyone have a magic wand or a crystal ball so I can SEE what exercise I will like and stuck with?
5. Embrace the lifestyle.
I have always been willing to get up early for work – I mean what other crazy person would make a 4-hour round-trip commute to work then work 40+hours and be on call 24/7 if they weren’t willing to work. I still get up early and am in my office by 6:30AM. I embrace my direct sales business the same way. Hubby says on most days that is all I talk about. So I embrace the lifestyle of my business. Eating healthy and following Weight Watchers is a lifestyle too. I have embraced that or I wouldn’t be able to keep off the weight that I lost, right? Here is the kicker, I just haven’t been able to embrace the exercise lifestyle. Can’t or won’t? It is a lifestyle that ignites my inner gremlins of not being good enough as or not coordinated enough. I know that if I want results I have to embrace the lifestyle which simply means adding it to my calendar and stepping out of my comfort zone. Are we seeing a pattern here?
My challenge to you, if you are struggling with both of these areas in your life – set a goal that is attainable in each area and be prepared to work to reach that goal no matter what. Baby steps to get started. If you have success in one of these areas and not the other – apply the same principles from the successful area to the unsuccessful area and see what a difference it makes
Share your thoughts, I would love to know what you think.
Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!
Hope Wissel 