There Is Only One Way To Lift The Weight

There is only one way to lift the weight

I recently started weightlifting.  I have never done this in my entire life before.  I was inspired by a friend who had made dramatic changes to his body.  It's been about six weeks, and I have been consistent six days a week, without fail. 

A few of observations in this new little life experiment:

1.  I absolutely love how I feel when I lift.  It is funny that I spent thirty-three years of my life not feeling this way. I exercised before, but it was only ever cardio.  My willingness to experiment and try something new has led to an incredible discovery of something that I truly enjoy.

2.  I love the feeling of small incremental -+growth.  It feels great to be able to lift more than I did the week before.  I don't really care what the other guys in the gym are lifting.  That isn't my concern.  I get in my own zone and it feels great.

3.  There is only one way to lift the weight.  There are no shortcuts.  I can't will my way to lift more weight than my muscle strength will allow.  I can't wish, or hope for anything other than what I can do.  The sheer "weight" brings reality to awareness really quick.  If I want to be strong, if I want to build my body, there are absolutely no shortcuts.

Your business is exactly the same way.  The more you engage in it, the better you will feel about it.  As you see small growth that growth will make you feel great.  You will get in your own zone, realize you are on your own path, and focus on your own unique goals.

Exactly like the reality of the weight, there is also the reality that there are no shortcuts for you to build your business.  Wishing and hoping will ignite your desire and your passion, but it is your feet that must get moving to build your business.  There are no shortcuts.  Just like there are no shortcuts for me to lift additional weight.  I have to put in the hard time.  I have to be consistent, every single day, and if I do then I will get stronger and stronger, slowly. 

Your business is exactly the same.  If you are consistent, day by day by day, it will grow.  You will see that growth.  You will feel great, but you can't build it by only putting in a little action, on inconsistent time frames.  You have to be consistent.

There is only one way to lift the weight. 

www.flamelesscandlescanada.ca    

The Ripple Effect

The Ripple Effect

Small changes or actions that are implemented in your business and consistently applied can have a positive ripple effect on many other aspects of your business and life.

For example, the small habit of each day visualizing the successful achievement of your goals, and "feeling" what it feels like to accomplish these goals will put you in a positive state.  This state will ripple into action in your business.  However, the ripple effect doesn't stop there.  The positive ripple continues to your personal life, where you are a more positive person and therefore able to better handle personal challenges and make relationships magical.

Another example is the small action to making a couple phone calls each day to market your business or train your team.  This action, if consistently applied over time, will not only build your business, but it will give you more courage.  Courage in turn will give you confidence. Confidence will help you massively in your business because as you speak to others about what you do you will convey passion and excitement and no fear.  Again, this will impact your personal life in a very positive way.

Another positive example is the habit of each day making contact with your downline.  Genuinely praising their victories, reaching out in a sincere way to add value to them (however they need it).  When you do this consistently, it will ripple into your business.  You will feel motivated to build your business when you are helping others with theirs. You will feel positive about your business because you are expressing positivity in others.  You will have a habit of looking for the good things in life because you have been challenging others to do the same.

Small dis-empowering actions, or negative belief patterns, can have the same ripple effect.  For example a habit of complaining when things go wrong in your business will put you in a negative emotional state.  When you are in a negative emotional state then you will have less resilience to deal with trials and challenges in your relationships and personal life.

When either small action (positive or negative) is sustained over time there is a magnification of the ripple. The longer you sustain it the greater the magnification.

So start today.  What is a small action that you can do each day in your business?  This will form a keystone habit and over time will produce massive results.

www.flamelesscandlescanada.ca

The Power of Compounding

The Power of Compounding

Have you ever had this experience:

You don't see someone for a very long time, and when you do, they have changed their appearance in a positive way.  But that change is very noticeable - such that one of the first things that you say to them is "wow, you look great!".

We see great changes from a distant. They are immediately visible to us because our frame of reference for the individual is based on a different image. However, to the person who is undertaking the change, the results aren't visible immediately.  They are the product of many many small and consistent actions that are applied over time to create great results.  When the person who is changing themselves looks at their growth, day by day, the results aren't immediately visible to them.  The visible change is noticeable when you compare the results, after a period of consistent action, from what they were like when they started to what they are like at the end.  But what drives the change are small, consistent actions applied over time.  Habits, therefore, can have the most powerful effect over our life, and the changes we want, than anything else.

Our businesses are exactly the same.  You don't often see immediate results from the day to day actions that you consistently take.  However, when you carry forward these actions every day over a long period of time then growth is noticeable to people whose frame of reference is what your business looked like at the very beginning.

This is the principle of the Compound Effect - the reaping of huge rewards from a series of small, smart choices that are consistently made (and built into habits).  Even though the results are massive (when looking back from the beginning), the steps, in the moment, don't feel significant.

In your business, doing the little things (the daily calls, the meetings with your team) may not feel significant in the moment, and they may not yield immediate results in the day.  However, if you consistently apply these actions.  If you do them every single day for a significant period of time then you will see massive results. 

So what little actions in your business can you start doing every single day?  Keep at it and reap the compounding rewards.

Consistency

Consistency

There is no key to success in our business more important than consistency.

Here is a pattern that we unfortunately have seen over the years with consultants who don't get the results they want and get stuck growing their business:  They aren't consistent in their actions.

They will get fired up at convention, spring sprint or a team meeting.

After the event they will make goals, and renew their commitment to achieve.

But when you track the consistency of their actions six months after the event they don't align with the desire in their hearts.

Having passion and belief and excitement is critical.  You can't succeed without it.

But passion, without taking consistent action is like flooring the gas pedal with the parking brake still on.  You're not going to get very far without doing damage to the vehicle.

Without consistency your recruits, leads, parties, opportunities will start to dry up.  Without consistency your attempts at online marketing will be a waste of time and money.

So how can you be consistent?  One of the ways that Meghann and I have learned is to track certain daily actions that we do, and ensure that they take place each day.

We did this when we were still working at other jobs.  We just had to sacrifice certain things (TV) to get them in.

If you aren't taking daily action in your business then your WHY power isn't strong enough.  Even a small action, a half an hour a day, will have a massive compounding effect over time.

There Is No Magic Bullet In Direct Sales

In my coaching calls over the last couple of months I have noticed an observation that i wanted to share.

It seems that when a consultant isn't experiencing the results that they want in their business a combination of the following factors are generally present:

1.  They are not working their business every day.  They will often work their business in fits and starts.  They will work often a couple days in a row, or a long day on a weekend (for a show or party) but consistent applied action every day (even it is just an hour) generally isn't there.

2. They haven't been able to move past their friends and family.  When they first started the business they had a spike in sales (related to parties or sales with their friends and family). They may have even had a recruit or two (generally from friends or family) but after a couple of months they start to stagnate.  However, they have not done anything significant, other than a few sporadic actions, to move their business outside of their friends and family. 

3. They stick close to what they know, and what is comfortable.  They will do actions that are easy (like post statuses on Facebook), or talk to friends and family.  But they won't often move outside of their comfort zone. if they do, it is usually on an experimental basis (like they will go take a couple actions that scare them, go do a couple calls) but if they don't get the results that they want quickly then they will retreat back to where they are comfortable.

4.  When I show them a document like this one

http://www.articlesbase.com/mlm-articles/unique-marketing-ideas-for-your-scentsy-or-party-plan-business-6033222.html

They have rarely even tried more than 10% of the ideas on here.  Also, they haven't spent a large amount of time experimenting with strategies found within the training center.

5.  They underestimate what it takes to be really successful in this business

6.  They get down or discouraged far too easily.

7.  They haven't been working their business for that long. 

Here is the TRUTH about this business:  It is the best business in the world.  You can make a professional income (heck you can make a Rock Star income).  You can have ultimate freedom.  You can have a life of contribution and excitement.

Here is the CATCH about this business: It is HARD.  There are no shortcuts.  There is no magic bullet.  You have to do things that scare you.  You have to get outside of your comfort zone.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is misleading you and doing you a disservice.  If you believe anyone who tells you than you won't have to work your butt off, overcome your fear, be consistent every day, you are bound for disappointment. 

You don't become wealthy by taking a few safe actions here and there on a home based business.  There is no magic bullet.

Passion

You won't be as successful in this business as you could unless you are passionate about what you are doing. Passion is what bring out your energy, creative drive, persistence, tenacity.

What is something in your business that you are passionate about?

Are you passionate about the products?

Are you passionate about the freedom to work from home?

Are you passionate about leading your team?

Are you passionate about the chance to contribute in a real way to the happiness and success of others?

What makes you passionate in this business?

Once you identify what it is that makes you come alive, you need to make sure that you revisit it in your mind often. What you focus on is what you will feel.

If you focus on the problems, the challenges, the times parties don't go quite as well as you'd like them too then you will feel down. If you focus on what makes you passionate, if you remind yourself of that daily, then you will feel passionate.

When you feel passionate you will find yourself taking next level action. When you do that you will experience next level results.

Channel Your Passion!

Learn To Quit

In order to accomplish your goals there are some things that you'll need to learn to quit. Think about the following:

- What "non-essential" work (busy work) do you engage in each day just out of habit. Just because you are busy in your business doesn't mean that you are effective.

- What bad habits do you have that hurt your business (complaining or blaming others when things go wrong, excess TV or personal internet usage)

You will not be able to build the business of your dreams without some form of personal sacrifice. Every successful consultant has had to sacrifice something to get their business to the level that it is.

What are the things you need to sacrifice in your life to get the things that you really want?

What are some things that you could quit today and it would really help your business?

One of the most powerful methods I've learned to make effective use of my time, and quit doing the things that don't contribute to my long term goals and objectives, is to actually "track" the effective time that I tally in a given day.

For example, I write down a list of "effective" actions that I could take in my business on a given day. Then, as an experiment, I will track the actual amount of time that I spend engaging in an effective action during that day. When I first started this exercise I was amazed how much time I would waste, and how little time I was actually spending on doing effective things that would move my business forward in a real way.

Once I was aware of it, I could change it. You can't change anything unless you are first aware of the problem. I continue to track now all the time. I have also taken to "super-focusing" on actions that are the most effective usages of my time. I have found that the more that I can super-focus on the most effective actions, the best results I get.

Quit doing things that don't add to your goal. Start doing more things that do. It is really that simple.

Feel the Pull

Each day I have a habit.  It is one of the first things that I do in the morning.  I go down to my office and I turn on Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Over the Rainbow".  Ever since my first trip to Hawaii in 2010, hearing this song immediately puts me in an empowered and positive state.  While the song is playing I visualize.  I visualize the successful accomplishment of my ultimate goals (long term), and then I visualize the successful accomplishment of my short term goals.

When I visualize I try to create a picture in my mind as clear and vividly as possible.  I then take the visualization a step further.  I ask myself the following questions:

• How do I feel, having successfully accomplished this goal?

• What does the successful accomplishment of this goal mean to me?

Then, in my mind, I answer these questions, and I experience the feeling of the successful accomplishment of my goal.  I experience the feeling of what the goal means to me.

By the time this exercise is done (and it lasts only the length of the song) I feel a tremendous PULL in my life.  My vision for what I want my life to look like is pulling me.  Willpower is no longer necessary.  I don't have to convince myself of anything.  I am being pulled.  The vision is so clear, so compelling, and so vivid that it creates an incredible force in my life.  The power of pull. 

It hasn't always been this way.  Up until a couple of years ago my daily habits were like most peoples.  I would wake up and immediately I would think of all the things that I needed to DO.  My to do list would control my mind and my schedule.  But here is the problem.  When I was directed by what I needed to DO, this created anxiety in my life.  I would get stressed very easily.  I would get frustrated very easily at all the things that I needed to DO that I didn't want to do.  I would plan my life based on my to do list, but I never felt the passion, the excitement and the energy of the pull that I now feel.

When you are being pulled by a compelling vision you don't feel fear or anxiety, you feel excitement and anticipation.  The key however is that you have to experience it first in your mind or order for the power to manifest.  You have to feel what it feels like to successfully accomplish your goal.  Once you have felt that your mind will work like a tracking device, a heat seeking missile, pulling you to the vision that you have already experienced.

All it takes is a simple habit and a pattern of conditioning for this to work.

You have 5 minutes each day to do this. 

Stop the dis-empowering pattern of the TO DO list.  Don't be passive in your life.  Don't let stress and anxiety of what needs to be done control you.  Create in your mind a clear and compelling vision of exactly what you want, and then feel the pull.  When you feel the pull you will work into the night without fatigue.  You will wake up early, excited and engaged to take the necessary steps you need to make the vision in your mind a reality. 

Embrace Failure as Education

Be Where You Are - The Power of Purpose

We have entered into the busiest season in our industry. These months can be exciting because we see all our hard work throughout the year start to payoff.  This can be very exciting but sometimes distracting.

Every single day Meghann and I look at our vision boards, at the things we want to accomplish in our life; and we visualize the successful accomplishment of these goals.  We see it in our minds as if it has already been accomplished.  We then try to “feel” what it feels like to accomplish these goals because we know that when we can experience the feeling, an excitement is created which gives us motivation to push and fight towards our desired outcome. 

We have discovered however, that our best results, in a given activity, come when we are completely focused on that given activity.  We get the best results when we immerse ourselves in the moment of what we are doing – when we actually are (both in our minds and our bodies) exactly where we are supposed to be at that time.  Therefore if we are doing a party, then our entire focus is on that party and making it the best party possible.  If we are doing a recruiting night then our entire focus is on the recruiting night and the needs of the people who are attending.  If we are training our team then our entire focus is on the training and the needs of our team.  

If we start to focus on our goals during an activity then we lose purpose, we start to act on results, and our actions are never as passionate, enthusiastic and effective as when we get off results and stay on purpose.  Each action that you undertake in your business has a purpose.  If you focus on that purpose, not on the results of your action, then ironically you will often get the best results.  

This principle is known in psychology as “flow”.  When you induce periods of flow you will also find that you enjoy the actions more then when you are engaging in actions with a focus solely on the results that you hope to obtain from the action.  When you immerse yourself in the party, and engage fully with the participants you will find that you start enjoying parties.  The same is true even for some of the activities that you may not particularly like. One of the primary reasons you dislike them is because you are focused on an externality – a result or consequence of the activity.  When you get off result and focus on purpose then the enjoyment of the activity always enhances.

This principle isn’t just related to direct sales. If a professional athlete has his mind on something else during the game, he will never perform at the same level as the person who is immersed in the game.  A pilot who isn’t immersed in the details of a flight poses a potential risk to her passengers.  We all know that there is nothing more frustrating than being in a relationship and trying to connect with someone whose mind is obviously elsewhere.  

So as you work your business this fall season, be exactly where you are when you are there.  Don’t be worried about personal promotions, pay cheques or incentive trips when you are doing a party.  Just do the best party that you can.  Don’t be worried about hitting a recruiting goal or becoming a superstar director when you are talking to someone about the business opportunity.  Just focus on them, their interests, their concerns, their needs.  When you build this behavior into a habit ironically you will find that it will propel you closer and closer to your goals then when you focus on results. 

The Power of Keystone Habits

 Our life is a reflection of our actions, that is, we are the sum of all of our behaviors. Whether we realize it or not, most of our behaviors are habits, in that we act every single day, in a certain ritualized method.

It has been attributed to Aristotle the quote "men are what they repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit".

Habits control your business. You may have empowering habits that are propelling you to success. For example you may have a habit of taking new action every single day in your business. You may also have a habit of looking for the opportunity that exists in every circumstance.

You may also have dis-empowering habits that are hurting your business. Many of the dis-empowering habits that people have are subtle, but can have a powerful negative effect. For example, a common dis-empowering habit is to immediately complain, try to point blame, get discouraged, or think negative when an obstacle or trial shows up in your life.

Not all habits are equal. Certain habits (both positive and negative) can have a trickle down effect on all of your habits and therefore all of your actions and your entire life.

A keystone is a central stone at the summit of an arch, locking the whole structure together, or the central principle or part of a policy, system, etc., on which all else depends.

Keystone habits are "small wins" (or the steady application of a small advantage) which lead to other small wins. Small wins start a process that over time can change everything. Small wins fuel transformation changes by leveraging tiny advantages into patterns that convince people that bigger achievements are within their read.

Here are some common examples of keystone habits (or small wins) that, if consistently carried out, have a positive trickle-down effect on all of your actions.

- Consistent exercise despite a busy schedule;
- Daily visualization of the successful accomplishment of your key goals;
- Daily expressions of gratitude for blessings in your life.

What are some keystone habits that you can put into your business and life today?

The Pendulum of Life

Life is a lot like a swinging pendulum. On the one side of the pendulum is happiness, fulfillment, excitement, variety, interest, and on the other side is the POTENTIAL for failure, risk, disappointment, criticism.

If the pendulum stands still and doesn't swing then nothing happens. Sure you don't have failure, you don't have any risk, you don't have any disappointment and no one says anything bad about you; however you also miss out on all the excitement of life, the fulfillment, the variety, the interest and the happiness.

YOU CANNOT SWING A PENDULUM ONE WAY.

Think about this for all aspects of your life. In every relationship there is a risk that your heart can be broken. When you raise a family there is the risk that children will make bad choices that cause pain to themselves and others. However you don't run away from a relationship or a family because you are scared of the POTENTIAL pain. You are willing to take a risk because you want the other side of the pendulum.

Now think about your business. On the one side is financial freedom, excitement, fulfillment, success, but on the other side is the POTENTIAL for rejection, criticism, failure and disappointment.

Unfortunately we see many people who let the pendulum stand still. They don't want the failure or the rejection or the disappointment so they don't take massive action. However, what they fail to recognize is that by making this choice then they are also missing out on the other side of the pendulum - financial freedom, fulfillment, excitement, success.

My advice - swing that sucker high!!!!

The less you are scared of the "bad side" of the pendulum and are willing to charge ahead (who cares if you fail anyway, failure is never permanent unless you accept it as such) then the pendulum will eventually swing to the good side.

That is the universal law - If you are willing to push the pendulum to the "bad side" then it will inevitably swing the other way!

Changing Your Story About Failure

We've been conditioned our whole life to believe that failure is BAD. Ever since we were kids we've been taught not to fail, to avoid failure at all costs.

What if I told you that this attitude is actually hurting your business?

What if I told you that this attitude will actually hurt you as an entrepreneur?

If you are absolutely paranoid about failure you won't take risks, if you don't take risks you'll never experience great success.

Tom Watson, former Chair and CEO of IBM, had a great quote about failure "The key to success is massive failure".

Are you confused? Are you trying to figure out what I mean?

Here is the key: Failure is nothing but experience. Good judgement is the product of wisdom and experience. Wisdom and experience is often the product of learning from your mistakes and bad judgement.

Mistakes and failure are often the only way to learn.

So accept that failure is part of the process, and quit being worried about it. Better yet, try and fail as quickly as possible so that you can learn as quickly as possible.

If a party doesn't go the way you want - good! Because now you know where you could have done better and you can put this into play next time.

If a recruit doesn't join when you ask - good. Because now you have experience, you can ask yourself, what can I change about my presentation to make it more effective in the future.

Don't be scared of failure, but rather embrace it as learning!!

Go for some PDA!

Public Display of Accountability That Is :)

Now that we are all brave, and we aren't scared of failure (remember, it doesn't exist anyway - there is no such thing as failure, there are only results. If we want different results we just take different actions ) we can now start to amp up the challenge tips!

Want to Turbo Charge your current goal? Here is a great strategy!

Go for some PDA (Public Display of Accountability)!!

Once you have gone on the public record and stating what you want, there is REAL effect on your psychology. One of the most powerful things I ever did was to actually publish "My Dream Life" on my public blog (that has hundreds of followers). Once I did that I knew that I couldn't go back. I had to give it the best that I could. If anyone is interested in what my dream life looks like - here it is!

http://toinspirewithin.com/2012/09/18/the-art-of-designing-a-life/

Why wouldn't you go for a PDA?

There is only one reason - because you are scared!!!

DON'T BE! THERE IS NO REASON TO BE SCARED OF ANYTHING!

There is power in trying. There is power in dreaming. There is power in taking a shot. Remember there is no such thing as failure. There are only results. If you don't get the result you want, take a different action.

Use each other, personal blogs, spouses, partners, close friends. Go for some PDA and watch the effect it will have on you!

Personal Responsibility Formula

There is a powerful effect on your life when you accept 100% responsibility for your business, your life, and what you are going to be and do.

Here is a little formula that I have learned that helps me to remember the power of personal responsibility in my life.

E + R = O

Event + Response = Outcome

So any time you don't get exactly what you want, you have one of two choices:

1) You can blame the event (E) for your lack of results (O); or

2) You can instead simply change your responses (R) to the events (E) - the way things are - until you get the outcome that you want (O)

NUMBER TWO IS THE MORE EMPOWERING CHOICE

If you don't get what you want, when you want it, then change your response (R). Change your thinking, change your communication, change the pictures you hold in your head (your images of yourself and the world) and change your behavior (the things you do). That is really what you have control over anyway!!