Thankful Thursday: Focus

Today I am thankful for having focus….

Life with MS can be difficult – not usually physically for me but mentally.  Focus is defined as “a center of activity, attraction“. On any given day brain fog makes focusing on anything next to impossible.

Since stopping my Co-paxone (the doctor said it wasn’t helping with the change in diagnosis), I find I am having more days where I can focus.  On those days Negative Nellie and Doubtful Debbie pay a visit and I don’t need to tell you what happens then.  A mini-pity party starts and NOTHING gets done.

Some days, I loose focus because I try to get too much done in one day.  Sometimes I just wake up in a fog.  I keep a list in my planner and am grateful I am able to tick off more things getting done.  I love seeing the pink highlighter line meaning I have completed a task.  Some days I squirrel.  Yup, I have a plan and then get side tracked by something else.  Now, it could be something which also needs to be done BUT instead of being grateful to get another task done,  I look at the fact I am behind schedule.  Tell me I am not alone, right?

I listened to a John Maxwell program where Les Brown talked about focusing on what we have and not what we don’t have.  When we do this, we will get more done.  WOW!  What a way to change perspective.  Instead of thinking about all of the things I don’t get done and how behind I am – cleaning, errands, making phone calls, creating new angels, shipping orders, following up with customers, etc. You get the picture right?

I need to STOP and think… I am blessed to have customers to call, people who want to place orders, the ability to create things and a space to do all of this in.  The truth is the more I focus on the negative, the worse things get.  So I have asked Negative Nellie and Doubtful Debbie to leave. I am ready to restart my day with a change in my focus.

I never lose sight of my overall goals but when I focus on what I don’t have versus what I do have, they seem unattainable.  Life may toss you a load of lemons but it is what you do with them that makes the difference.  Will you make lemonade and share with everyone or will you grumble about the fact that it takes too much time and energy to make the lemonade?

What are you focusing on this morning – what you have or what you don’t?  Change your focus and see what happens.

Have a blessed day!

 

Spread Too Thin

Thank you Logan Wolfram  for today’s message.  

“I know I don’t look it…but I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”  Bilbo’s words from Lord of the Rings rattle in my head. You’ve probably felt the same way at some point too, right?

Even the basic demands of life can leave us feeling over extended and stretched out. You spread thin across jobs, spouses, children, church, extracurriculars, and whatever else wants to suck time and energy away from you. Sometimes what’s left of us is so thin it feels as if we have become nearly translucent. Eventually, to avoid anything that requires more, we began to avoid anyone who wants more too.  All the spreading thin will eventually scrape away even the good parts life. When you have nothing left to give, if you give at all, people just get whatever is left over.

But here’s the thing, you may look ok. The pieces that are visible from the outside appear put together. But instead of running your life, it seems more accurate that life is running you.

I know you get this. You’re living and loving and doing your thing and somehow find yourself in a place where you hardly even know what’s happening anymore. Life isn’t happening with you, it’s happening to you.  One day you’re doing the planning, and then something weird happens and all the planning is now the ruling factor of your life.  Jobs, kids, spouses, sports, carpools, church, friends…it is all too much and you become mechanical in your execution of tasks or you shut down completely.

I get it friend. I burned the candle at both ends for a long time.  Somewhere in there though the candle broke in half and I found myself burning both sides of the candle at both ends and whatever was left in the middle got burned up.  Which really means that I burned out.

And what probably burned me out more than anything else was when I inadvertently started burning bridges that I didn’t even mean to set fire to at all. I hurt friends because I didn’t make time for them. I felt alone because I was so overwhelmed that I disconnected myself from the people and activities around me that I loved. I stopped doing things that I enjoyed like art, or creative projects, even cooking dinners that tasted good.  But dinner wasn’t the only thing that had lost it’s seasoning, my entire life had begun to feel that way too.

When it comes to making extra space for neighbors or friends or even just one more person, sometimes it feels like you just can’t.

2 Corinthians 12:5 reminds us that we need not boast about ourselves, except about our weaknesses.  Because it is in our weakness, that the Lord makes us strong. In a very area of his life where Paul struggled and asked the Lord to remove the struggle, Jesus said to him “ “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” He goes on to declare that he would “boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.^⁠1“

I know what it is to be worn out, spread too thin, stretched beyond my limits, and I know that’s not the way you want to begin a new year either.

Scripture is full of people who felt not enough and spread thin across too much. But as we begin to search the Word of God to find more in our thin places, it seems most often the greatest thing God asks is that we trust Him even (and especially) when we come up short.

He asks us to offer what little we have to him so that He can make much of our offering. And in doing so, He makes much of His goodness to us. In the places where we have little, he promises to make more. In the areas we feel weak, when we lean into Him instead of ourselves, he promises to make us strong. He takes the moment we come with little left to give and blesses us with a Kingdom kind of leftovers that aren’t so much all that remains, as they show God’s abundance, excess, sufficiency, and strength.

Maybe spread too thin is the very place that God wants to show us exactly how much abundance there is for us? That instead of trying to spread ourselves over the world around us, we can uncover what can be when we spread our lives across the abundance that is the Bread of Heaven himself.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Fall into Thirty One

I know that we are in the middle of the summer.  I know that we have been dealing with extremely HIGH temps.  I have not totally lost my mind…..

The truth is that August brings Thirty One’s NEW Fall/Winter catalog.  I have been sitting on it since I came home from National Conference.  I didn’t even open the boxes with my FREE products because everyone knows that I stink at keeping a secret.

So, here it is……

#1 – August’s Customer Special will help you get ready for Back to School!  The special is spend $35 and get either a Cinch Sac, a Wander Tote or the Go To Tote for 50% off.

#2 – Going to the beach or sitting around the pool? Doing things with the kids? Share the catalog and you will be surprised at how fast those orders come in.  Did you know that just 6 orders of $35 will get you FREE and discounted products? 

If your party hits $600, you can get this AWESOME Hostess Bundle.  A Deluxe Utility Tote PERSONALIZED (yup, that is new), a Top a Tote (yes, more newness) and an Essential Storage Tote.

#3 – Thirty One is so much more than a purse.  It is so much more than just a GREAT $99 pink box full of AMAZING products.  From my upline, the Beacon of Hope team to my personal team, the Rays of Hope – our mission is to #impactasoul.  Whether that is just a random act of kindness, fundraising, helping someone find financial freedom or fill in what every matters most to you; we are hear to help.

In addition, when you enter $600 in orders every 30 days for the first 4 months, you get to pick ONE of these AWESOME bundles. That is an additional $150 in FREE product in the first 30 days on our StartSwell program.  Better yet, if you enter a $1,000 in orders during that same period; you can get some additional perks:    

Thirty One LOVES to celebrate, encourage and reward their consultants for doing what we do every day.  Now through September 30th, you can also earn DREAM REWARDS! You collect points based on your sales and new team members with the chance to earn up to a $1,300 gift card!

So for a $99 investment you will get LOTS of FREE product, a gift card AND you earn commission. You will get paid to have fun and #impactasoul.

Not sure if any of this is for you?  That is okay, check out my VIP customer page by clicking HERE!

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

 

 

 

Thankful Thursday

Today I am introducing my new “GIVE BACK WITH ME” program.  Before you skip over this thinking it is just another sales pitch, please give me just a moment of your time.

I want to share with you a story – for those that follow my blog, this may be a refresher but I think it bears repeating….

Many years ago, when I was struggling in my addiction someone made a difference in my daughter’s life. They didn’t judge her because of the bad decisions that I made as a mom. They didn’t judge her because of where we lived. They didn’t judge her PERIOD. They opened their arms and their heart to her. I decided that when I was able – I would make a difference in the lives of other children. There are many children who are struggling because of no fault of their own.

Yes, I am a recovering addict of 25 years.  Yes, I made some horrible decisions that made an impact on my daughter.  I am blessed that she has turned out to be an AMAZING woman who now makes a difference in the lives of others everyday as a Social Worker.

When I was with the South Jersey AIDS Alliance, I started a children’s program that was once a month. This was a time for kids to be kids.  There was art and music therapy.  There was games.  There was gifts.  All designed to take them away from the stress of their lives – yes, kids have stress too. They worry about their parents.  They keep secrets about bullying.  They often learn early how to survive when things are tough.  And unfortunately, sometimes they are never allowed to be a kid.

As I moved on from SJAA, kids remained my heart.  Wanting to make them feel special.  Wanting them to know that despite the craziness of life, they could still be kids.  Now, I am blessed to have my own business and I have the chance to bless others.

To me, the greatest success I can have in my business is knowing that I did what I could to make a difference in another’s life.  I know that may sound like a lot of “fluff” but that is what gets me up every day and keeps me mouthing.

Every month from nominations received by YOU – my customers, my readers, my friends and my family – I will send a “You are AWESOME” zipper pouch to a child that YOU want to bless.  I will select 1 child per month.  The zipper pouch will contain some goodies as well as a letter as to why they are receiving this gift from YOU!  Nominations can be made monthly through my blog page

Won’t you help to make a difference in the life of a child?  Complete the form below:

Name(required)

Email(required)

Name of Child You Want to Nominate(required)

Mailing Address

Why are you nominating this child?

Submit

Δ

OR email me at HopeWs31@gmail.com with your nomination…

In addition, every month a local organization will be the recipient of a monetary donation.  I will donate a portion of my commission every month to that organization from YOU my customers.  I am so excited to be kicking this off in August

Let’s bring hope and a smile to a child, reminding them that they are special and worthy.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Want to Up Your Social Media Game?

Yes, I have been in Facebook jail (very recently)!  The truth is that I was trying to connect with potential customers which is a great thing BUT I did it the wrong way.  Yes, there is a wrong way!!!  CLICK HERE for a great article on “How to a voice Facebook Jail”

What I realized is that when I am truly visible on social media, I automatically avoided Facebook jail.  It was when I started to “compare” and “copy” what others were doing, I landed in jail.  Lesson learned!  Continue to stick to the social media basics taught to me by my business coach, Desiree Wolfe and the results will roll in.

Here are some tips that will help you get visible AND stay out of Facebook jail.

1. Consistency

Remember the old saying “practice makes perfect“?  When being visible on social media, consistency is the name of the game.  It is the key that unlocks the door to increased visibility AND an increase in building connections with potential customers.  Think about it — who are you most likely to check out someone who comes across your newsfeed every day or one that you haven’t seen a post from in three weeks?

Consistency tip: Create a social media calendar that outlines a consistent posting schedule… and stick to it!

2. Branding.

Branding yourself across all your social media accounts is important in establishing a successful online presence. Basically, this means all your channels should give off the same vibe!  Everywhere you see me – you will see the same consistent message “Rays of Hope” making a difference in the lives of others and Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!  

Branding tip: You are so much more than the products that you sell.  Share your passion and the sales will come.  Believe me, it does work!

3. Utilize hashtags.

Hashtags are a key element in gaining new followers! So, be sure to tag all relevant topics so other users can find you and you can find them.

Hashtag tip: On Instagram, input hashtags in the first comment under your caption so they won’t clog up your followers’ feeds!

4. Complete your profile.

I know that privacy is HUGE and you want to be careful what you share.  I get it.  Keep your personal page, personal.  Have a business or public page so people can find you.  Then be sure it is in tip top shape! Ensure your picture, bio, and other fields are filled in and informative.  Update them monthly.  Check mine out and be sure to “LIKE” my page while you are there.

Profile tip: Your bio should be short and concise, but it should also tell users what your account is about, where you’re located, and why they should follow you!

5. Engage.

Social media allows for users to connect with people we wouldn’t normally run into on a day-to-day basis, so take advantage of it! After all, you’re all in this together, so utilize ALL networking and collaboration opportunities!

Engagement tip: Follow similar profiles, comment on other user’s feeds, interact with your followers, and don’t be afraid to ask them what they want to see!

By following these tips, you will be authentic and as a result won’t land in Facebook jail.  It may take time to see the results – don’t get discouraged.  Consistency will pay off.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!