The Many Crowns of Womanhood

I am adding a new crown to my womanhood. But let’s quickly recap some the crowns I already have the pleasure of wearing- I am a Daughter of God, a daughter, a wife, a friend, a musician, a volunteer, a Stephen Minister, a mentor, a business woman, an outdoor sportswoman, an equestrian and a coach. There are many other titles I wear, but for the sake of time, I won’t mention them here. This summer however, I will receive my greatest earthly crown, I will become a mother. Technically, I believe I became a mother the moment I conceived, but since I’m not actually juggling parenthood yet, I will wait to call myself a mother until I have my baby girl.

The moment I found out I was pregnant, I knew my life was about to change. Already, my number one priority is my little girl. Everything I do, everything I eat and drink, I know it’s affecting her and I have to be careful. I’m enjoying being pregnant, for the most part, but I can’t wait until she arrives.

But her impending arrival got me to thinking how lucky I am. I am incredibly fortunate to be able to work from home and raise her while being a stay at home mom. How awesome would our country be if every mom could raise their child from home? Obviously, not all women want this lifestyle and that’s okay! We need the working professional woman out there. But I know a lot of women who would give anything to be able to be home with their child.

The reasons for the path I have chosen, working from home, have evolved so many times. Well, it’s happened again and I have an even bigger passion, I have an even bigger WHY! I would LOVE to help other mothers learn to do what I do so they can fire their bosses, fire their nannies, and work from their homes while raising their children at the same time.

So, I am BACK in the blog arena and I’m here to help all of the moms out there who want more!

We should be able to wear all of the crowns that we own. We should be able to be business women, wives, mothers and we should be able to pursue our own passions all at the same time. We as women are multi-taskers and we can do anything we set our minds to.

Stay tuned for tips and tools of the trade that can help you become a successful stay at home mom who is STILL a business woman pursuing her life purpose.

Think of Amelia

Tags

Amelia Earhart, Brave, Business, Tenacity

Tenacity – the quality or fact of being very determined; determination

When I think of tenacity, I think of, my hero, Amelia Earhart. In everything she was tenacious and courageous. Her groundbreaking achievements, both in aviation and for women, should be a constant reminder that each one of us can be courageous and tenacious in everything we set out to do.

Your challenge for today is to courageously take on whatever life may bring you, good or bad, and tenaciously rule the day.

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity.” Amelia Earhart

Attitude Check

Attitude – manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind

A positive attitude can turn any situation into a good situation. You’ve heard it before, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it.” Your response is everything and your response is 100% up to you. You have total control of how you react in every situation. You may not have total control of how you initially feel in a situation, but if you stay positive, you can, more than likely, CHANGE the way you feel.

Obviously, today your challenge is to assess your attitude in every situation and if you feel yourself responding negatively with a bad attitude, CHANGE your attitude. You will feel better and so will everyone around you. You may just make someone’s day go from bad to great!

Feel the Fear

Tags

Business, confront your fear, Courage, fear, feel the fear, just do it, no fear, The Wizard of Oz, word of the day

Courage- is the ability and willingness to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Physical courage is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, or discouragement.

Courage. Is there something that you’re scared of? Is there something you’ve been putting off because you’re afraid of what might happen? Is there something you’re not doing because you’re afraid of failing?

Today’s challenge is to be courageous, FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY! If you fail, get up and try again. That in itself is the most courageous thing you can do.

If you don’t think you’re the kind of person who is courageous, remember the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz. He never believed he had courage until he faced his fears and found out that the courage was inside him all along.

“Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the “ape” in apricot? What have they got that I don’t got?!?!?!”

Your Most Valuable Asset

Tags

asset, Business, fake it till you make it, gratitude, mental mindset, positive, practice

If you had to guess what your most valuable asset is, what would it be? Your house?Your stocks? Your investments? Your bank account? Your business?

Your biggest and most valuable asset is YOU. You can grow yourself daily! Your mental mindset is vital to your success. Grow daily by reading positive things daily! When disappointments come your way, how do you behave? Do you behave negatively or positively? Is your glass half empty or half full?

If things aren’t going your way and life sucks and seems to be going down the tubes, PRETEND that it doesn’t bother you and that everything is okay! Fake it till you make it! It works.

If you’re filling yourself with positivity, day in and day out, it will get easier every time something goes wrong.

Don’t hate the struggles! We all worry that something bad will happen, but every time something bad DOES happen, later on, aren’t you better for it in the end? Struggles strengthen us, enrich our character, and enhance our being. Your struggles today are your GIFTS of tomorrow.

If you are feeling down about a situation, go be a blessing to someone else and you will be lifted up.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to start blogging one word and one definition daily. Read the word and definition over and over until you have it memorized. Then try to implement that word into your life that day. If you wish, let me know how it’s going! FB me or comment on the Business Success in Heels No Less! FB page, or comment below the blog.

Todays word will be GRATITUDE. Gratitude- The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness

To get you started on a way that you can implement this into your day, make a gratitude list. It’s hard to be negative when you’re thinking about all of the things you’re thankful for every day.

Become your biggest asset and practice positivity daily!

Compose Your Life and Sing Along the Way

Tags

Business, Network Marketing

Composing a song is a lot of things, but in many ways for me, it’s a metaphor for control. Every choice is mine- the lyrics, the melody, etc- As a child I had neither a sense of the world, nor my place in it, but art taught me that ones vision can be achieved with sheer force of will. The same is true of life, provided one refuses to let anything stand in ones way.

As an adult, Network Marketing has invariably taught me the same lesson. Whatever your dreams may be for your future, they can be achieved by sheer force of will ONLY if you push forward through every obstacle to the very end.

It is important to approach everything you do in that way, because otherwise, you’re sure to quit. Notice I didn’t say fail. It is okay to fail as long as you continue to try because eventually, you will succeed. Just ask Thomas Edison or the Wright brothers.

Sometimes in the Network Marketing Profession, it’s very difficult to continue with what needs be done if all you have heard are big fat NO’s. That is why most people quit and say Network Marketing doesn’t work. Network Marketing isn’t EASY, but it’s SIMPLE. The person who talks to the most people wins. That’s it.

I will freely admit that I used to be the annoying person who thinks Network Marketing is a joke. Like you’ve heard from me before, I’ve watched my dad jump in and out of a ton of companies, so I had a bad taste in my mouth. Then, I found a product I could stand behind that I believe in fully and I did my homework on the industry. Network Marketing is the purest form of business and sales there is and it’s something that EVERYONE does everyday, they just aren’t getting paid to do it.

My husband and I have just recently moved to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl where we continue to work from the comfort of our home, 1/2 a mile from the ocean. We are truly living the dream and it’s solely because of our efforts in the Network Marketing Industry. It CAN be done. We wanted it – we got it. We believed it – we got it. We worked for it – we got it.

What do you want? Will you get it?

Make a dream board for yourself for 2013. Put pictures of things you want by the end of the year and see what happens. At the same time, make a dream board for 5 years and one for 10 years in the future. What will you have in 5 years? What will you have in 10? Tape some pictures to the boards and look at them everyday and watch what happens.

Dream boards are visual motivators and they WORK.

Compose your life the way you want it, after all, it is yours and yours only to create. Just don’t forget to sing along the way 🙂

Don’t Let Your Dreams Be Dreams

Tags

Business, Dreams, Network Marketing

What if money were no object? What would you be doing with your life? Would you be working the job you are working now? If you could be anything your heart desired, what would you become?

When you were a kid you dreamed BIG DREAMS, didn’t you? You believed you could be anything you wanted to be or do anything you wanted to do. But somewhere along the way, when you were forced to wait to use the bathroom until you had permission from your teacher, when you were forced to stand in line and move like a robot throughout your school hallways, when it was hammered into your head that the only way to be successful is with a college degree, when you realized that there are no jobs to be found even with your college degree while your head is freshly filled with rules and beliefs of a society trying to conform you to their expectations, when you’ve worked hard for 40+ years to find out that the retirement you were looking forward to has vanished, only then do you finally realize that all of your dreams as a child died amongst the rules, regulations and beliefs of a society that’s completely and utterly broken.

But everyone realizes there must be a better way. So some buy lottery tickets, some head off to Vegas in hopes of winning “big” and some just work their butts off for the next big promotion. And yes, maybe you will win the lottery or win “big” in Vegas or get the promotion and become CEO of a major corporation, but is that the norm? Does that even happen 20% of the time to 20% of the people?

Nothing ever worth having comes without a little hard work. And anything worth while takes time. Network Marketing is the business model of the future. Read the papers, watch the news, Americas business model is broken and we need to find a better way. But news flash: Network Marketing is NOT the lottery. It’s hard work and it takes TIME. You won’t get rich over night, but if you work hard you will create WEALTH in a few years, depending upon the amount of time and effort you put into it. It’s simple. Do the work, be rewarded with results. Or, as Ben Franklin would say, “A sleeping fox catches no poultry.”

I’m always hearing people say that money can’t buy happiness. Well, I understand the concept, but I don’t totally agree. When you reach the point where you are no longer struggling financially, and you are able to be free of time constraints, you will find that you are afforded the ability to attain those childhood dreams.  Why would you deny your childhood self of any dream you may have had? Maybe your dreams have changed, but why would you deny your present or your future self ANYTHING?  Money may not buy happiness, but it doesn’t hurt to have a decent amount of disposable income.

So what are your dreams? Are they worth stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something different?

My husband often says, “There is freedom or there is security. You can have security once you have freedom, but you can’t have freedom if you settle for security first.” We are willing to do unconventional things in order to be on top of the world later and that’s what Network Marketing is for us.

I truly believe that anything is absolutely possible and I also believe that Network Marketing is a vehicle that helps entrepreneurs follow through with their dream(s) in a very realistic way. And… not to get all “self-help” on you, but any dream you have, IS possible. It doesn’t matter if you fall while you’re reaching for it! Get up and try again! You WILL get there. Don’t believe the people who tell you that you can’t. They are the ones who can’t and they are forcing their misguided beliefs onto you.

Can’t is a four letter word. Once and for all, let’s take that horribly annoying word out of our vocabulary! When I was a gymnastics coach, I would sit my team down in the beginning of the year and do a little run down of the rules. The biggest rule was to not say the word can’t. I told them that it was a “bad four letter word” and if I heard it uttered even once, we would have to do the drill they liked the least. At the end of the year I always had a very successful and positive team!

As my childhood mentor says, “We don’t need no stinkin thinkin round here!” And CAN’T is definitely “stinkin’ thinkin’.”

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you may or may not have done in the past, EVERYONE deserves to have their dreams come true. So don’t let your dreams just be dreams, make them your reality.

Invaluable Lessons from Behind Your Own Front Door

Tags

cats, Loss, Love, Pets, positive

Well, I’ve finally found my way out of the deep, dark hole I fell into at the beginning of last week. I’ve been debating on whether or not I should write this blog entry, but after careful thought and after the right amount of time to come to terms with everything, I decided this is something that needs to be written, being that most people unfortunately go through different versions of what I went through last week multiple times throughout their lives.

Many of us are dogs lovers, cat lovers, horse lovers, or just animal lovers in general. Our pets give us a love that’s almost impossible to find anywhere else. They love us completely for who we are, not how we look, how successful we may be, or for any reason that is superficial. Our pets love us unconditionally, through the good and the bad, without ever expecting a thing in return. They are completely selfless in every way and we are always better off because of them.

I’ve had Mango since he was a little orange rescue kitten in 2006. We bonded immediately and quickly became inseparable. He’s been with me through everything, the worst days and the best days. He was always there when I needed him, to lay on my chest, or curl around my head every night when we went to bed. He followed me everywhere with his little motor running and his raspy meows telling me whatever he thought I needed to know. His favorite thing was kisses on the head and he loved for me to sing him his little songs I made up just for him.

I never thought I would be the cat person I’ve become because of him. But he wasn’t just a cat, he was my best friend and my little boy who I loved more than anything in this world.

I won’t get into all of the events as they happened, as it’s still too hard for me to re-live and my whole goal here is not to depress anyone anyway. But in a nutshell, we found out Mango had Acute Kidney Failure on Monday, March the 18th and he died peacefully in my arms the following day.

Losing my best friend so suddenly, especially Mango, who has been with me through so many changes in my life over the last 7 years, was probably one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with and I’ve been essentially in mourning for a week. But when you’ve had a pet that’s affected you like Mango has affected me, and one who is always right there in everything that you do at home, it’s only natural to feel that great sense of loss. And I do believe that the capacity to grieve honors the memory of the departed, and is a measure of the depth of our love.

Last week, I was very depressed and somewhere in that depression I realized that, now more than ever, I needed to “practice what I preach”. So I started “positive self-talking”. If you’ve read some of my other blog entries, especially “Your Mind is a Battlefield”, you’ll know what I’m referring to. I’m not going to lie, it was incredibly hard to do this when all I wanted to do was lie on the couch and cry, but through my husband forcing me to watch positive spiritual messages and through making myself think positive thoughts and think about how lucky I was to have Mango for 7 years, I believe I was able to pull myself out of the “deep, dark hole” I was in a lot faster than I would have been able to do without all of the positivity.

In everything I use positive self-talk and it’s helped me in innumerable, immeasurable ways. Through business, through my personal life, and now through the loss of my little buddy, I wouldn’t be where I am today without it. It’s not always the easiest thing in the world to do, but like everything else, it becomes easier with practice.

No matter what you’re going through, try to think or speak positively about every situation. You can speak virtually anything into existence. If you can make your mind believe something, it will eventually prove itself to you. It’s a constant battle, but it’s absolutely possible to be in control of your thoughts and your mind.

We should all learn to be a little more like our furry friends. We should love more selflessly, we should be content with life as it happens, and we should be happy about the smallest things. Our pets have a way of teaching us many lessons that we’ll remember long after they’re gone and what better way to honor them than by learning and becoming the best person they always thought and knew we were from the beginning.

Here’s a little slideshow/video I put together as a tribute to Mango-

The Race to the Finish Line- Steps to Making the Journey Count

Tags

15K, Network Marketing, Running

This past weekend my husband and I ran together in my first 15K, here in Jacksonville, Fl. It’s an annual event, not to mention the largest 15K in the country, that’s held next to the St. Johns River that runs through the heart of the city.

My husband has been a runner for years and convinced me to try it in early 2012. I was skeptical at first because I have always hated running. When I was a young gymnast, I hated vault so much that my coach would have someone run behind me until I finally started sprinting on my own. Throughout my life, in every sport I played, running was a punishment, not something to be enjoyed. But, I took my husbands advice, tried it and was hooked and in March of that year, I ran in my first 5K in Austin, TX.

Between moving back to Florida, working our business, and planning a wedding, we continued to run weekly that year, but not as consistently as we should have or might have wanted to. January 2013 rolled along and Dan decided he was going to start training me for the 15K in March. I was fairly worried at first because up until that point, I had only run 3.3 miles at a time.

Training meant 5AM workouts at least 4x a week. So we started working our way up, running 20 miles a week in some form or another. Saturdays were our days to push up, in the beginning starting with 4 miles, then 5, then 6, then 7 and finally 8. There were times that I loved every minute of our runs and there were times I absolutely hated it. If anyone asks me, I will tell them I have a love/hate relationship with running. Mostly love, but sometimes when you’re on that last mile and your legs feel like they’re about to explode and everything in you is telling you to quit, there’s not much love to be found there.

Finally, it was race day. All the preparation, the training, the eating right, was about to pay off. There is nothing like the excitement before a race, especially the River Run. The adrenaline of 20,000 people is incredibly invigorating. As we crossed the starting line and began to run, the excitement and the adrenaline of the people around you seemed to help carry you forward. In this race there are two bridges to run across, one in the beginning and one at the end. The first bridge is a piece of cake, you’ll see a picture of my husband and me standing in front of it at the end of this blog, but the final bridge is known to River Runners as the “Green Monster”. At the end of the 8th mile you begin the long, excruciating trek over the Hart Bridge which leads you to the finish line and concludes your final 1.3 miles.

I jokingly told my husband and a friend that ran with us, that there is no runners high after running 9.3 miles. Of course there really is, but not until you can breathe again and the blood begins rushing back to your brain.

While I was running through the streets of downtown Jacksonville during the race, with people cheering us runners on along the entire way, I started thinking back over our 2 months of training leading up to the race and realized how similar all of it is to Network Marketing. You start out slowly by yourself and begin building a solid foundation, continuing to push forward until finally reaching the last leg of your race where the momentum of the people in your network are all but carrying you through to the finish line.

In the beginning, it feels like it’s all you and it is! When you’re building your Network Marketing business you are the only one who can do it. Many people believe they need to find the ONE person who will make them the big bucks, but it doesn’t work that way. You need to be the person you want under you and you will eventually find the people you’ve been looking for somewhere along the way. Network Marketing is not the lottery. It’s hard work, just like distance running. If you’ve never run before, you’re not going to be able to go out and run a 15K. It’s just not going to happen. You have to slowly work up to it and train your muscles and your mind to be able to do it.

While you’re running in your race of Network Marketing, there will be multiple bridges along the way you’ll have to cross. Running up them will be the hardest part as you’ll feel like quitting the entire way up, but once you finally get to the top you have a beautiful birds eye view of where you’ve been and you’ll feel as though you’re flying as you race down the other side towards the finish line.

In the end, the reward of accomplishing what you’ve set out to accomplish feels really good and remembering the journey along the way is even better. I had a blast training for the 15K. My husband pushed me to my limits, but we had a fantastic time together every day that we set out for our runs. And each time I’d conquer another mile, it felt pretty indescribable and well worth all of the effort I was putting into it. Network Marketing is no different. The reward at the end is AMAZING, but the journey to the finish line is pretty great. You meet a lot of wonderful people, you learn about yourself, you set and reach multiple goals and when you fail, as you inevitably will, there is always someone there to pick you right back up, dust you off, and give you the encouragement that you need to start again.

Your Mind is a Battlefield

Tags

Business, Life, Women

Your mind is a battlefield and this is especially true for women. Have you ever heard someone say, that if you could open up a man’s brain it would hold a bunch of different compartments and if you opened up a woman’s brain it would look like a plate of spaghetti? Being a woman, I am inclined to think that there may be some metaphorical truth to this humorous notion.

We gals have a lot going on in our heads, let’s face it. We are great at multitasking and we are infinitely better at doing so than the opposite sex. But with the ability of multitasking comes the unavoidable stream of thoughts, both positive and negative, that flood our brain 24 hours a day. It’s hard to get done what needs to be done when you’re letting negative outside influences re-channel the positive direction your brain should be heading.

In my experience, insecurity runs rampant in all women, especially in those who find a hard time admitting it. We tend to go by feelings rather than facts which most of the time can get us into trouble. If we learn to control our thoughts and our feelings I believe we would be a much happier, much more successful gender. However, that is far easier said than done. With all that goes on in our brains it seems as though negative thoughts are always invading us in multiple ways and these negative thoughts should be considered an attack on our mind. The only way I’ve found to fight back is to throw positive thoughts right back in that general direction. The more you do this, the better you start to become at controlling your thoughts and ultimately your mind.

It’s a long hard process, but it can be done. Whenever those thoughts start creeping in your head, “I’m not good enough, she’s prettier than I am, they are more successful than me…etc” Fight back and say, “I am the BEST! She is pretty, but so am I! I am successful and am in good company!” Start letting the positive influence your life rather than the negative.

If you’re wondering how this will help you in your business, stop wondering and just try it! Like I’ve said before, and like plenty of others have said before me, your thoughts become words, your words become actions, your actions become your reality.

Your mind is a battlefield. Fight back, regain control and you will begin to see your goals and your dreams fall into place.