Cheat Sheet: Success

"Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil."
~ J. Paul Getty

We aren't all going to strike oil in our lifetimes but we all have hopes and dreams pinned to one or more home businesses that we are working at making successful.

Have you achieved your desired level of success? If not, there may be some wisdom to the term "fake it 'till you make it"

Successful people wake up each morning planning for success, work towards success through the day, reflect on that success in the evening, and then plan for the next days success.

Although not every successful person lives exactly the same as the last there are some strong similarities in how they work for their success.

1. Successful people get out of bed each morning ready to accomplish something. It's easier to stay in bed for a couple of rounds of snooze button smash but getting up with a positive and determined attitude will go far in making you a success. That ten minutes you just wasted could have been spent sending emails or marketing your business on a forum.



2. Successful people never stop learning. The world is changing, successful people know that to get left behind is fatal. We see this by the way that the world wide web has changed network marketing. If you don't evolve you cannot be successful.






3. Successful people expect more of themselves. Every day brings new challenges and possibilities. Successful people embrace them and face them head on. Are you happy with your home business only supplementing your 9-5 job? If you want more you can't be content with mediocrity.







4. Successful people exercise. They move, they get fit, they understand you have to feel good and look good to succeed. Exercise boosts brain power, puts you in a better mood and makes you look great. Plus you can meet a new group of prospects at the gym or running in the park.





5. Successful people have little time for television. It's called a boob tube for a reason. The more time spent in front of the idiot box is less time spent reading, exercising, learning and achieving. After you are done working for the day allow yourself to 'veg out' and unwind, but don't let TV steal your time. Time is money.



6. Successful people compliment others. They realize that they didn't get to where they are without help. They appreciate and acknowledge that help. In turn they will value and nurture others. James D. Miles famously said: "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." A successful person knows that there is potential gain everywhere and from everyone.



7. Successful people listen. When you spend your time talking it's much more difficult to listen. To the untrained eye, sales is all about talking. However, the successful salesperson knows that sales is 99% listening. Successful people know their audience and the way to learn about your consumer is to listen louder than you talk.



8. Successful people plan. They look at what they want to do, decide if it can be done, and then outline the steps to accomplish it. Setting goals and planning your steps will take your business to a whole new level of success.




9. Successful people expect more of you. Successful people have a difficult time understanding mediocrity, even more difficulty understanding why others settle for it. Surround yourself with achievers and you when you are feeling low they will lift you up.


10. Successful people make the effort and sacrifice to get what they want. It's easy to dream but much harder to give up the two hours of TV each night or sleeping ten extra minutes. Starting your own home business can be the most difficult and rewarding challenge you ever face (next to raising children) Be ready to sacrifice your time, your money, your comfort to make your vision a reality.


Your dreams of success ARE achievable with hard work and dedication. There is no such thing as 'get rich quick'. There are no 'secrets to make you fabulously wealthy'. It's all common sense, hard work, and the ironclad will to succeed. 

A Healthy Terrain

The healthiest crops grow out of healthy soil.  Regardless of whether you grew up in Kansas, Brooklyn or the Moon you KNOW this essential truth about good soil. 

Many believe that our bodies work the same way.

How?

Meet Antoine Béchamp who believed that living entities called "microzymes" created bacteria in response to host and environmental factors; he did not believe that bacteria could invade a healthy host and create disease on their own. (credit: Wikipedia)

Wait, what?

Haven't we been taught in elementary school health class about how germs work?  The germ theory of disease refers to the discovery in the late 19th century that some infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms, small organisms too small to see without magnification, that invade the host. (credit: Wikipedia)

Germs invade the host and we get sick.  Soooo the logical conclusion is to create antibiotics and vaccines that KILL THOSE GERMS!  Right?

Well, not exactly.

Bechamp (among others) believed that the "germs" couldn't create disease on their own but that a healthy 'terrain' could prevent the invasion. 

I, personally do not want to be invaded.  At least not by germs.  I also don't enjoy the idea that I am helpless against the microorganisms that float around our lives just waiting gather enough forces to attack.  Really? 

What would happen if a country didn't work at defending it's borders but instead just tried to fight the enemy once they had begun occupation? 

I will tell you what...the country would lose more troops AND civilians fighting an adversary that had already started buying real estate and joining the PTA. 

Doesn't it make more sense to fortify your defenses before the enemy strikes?

Doesn't it?

SHAPE Diva Dash

On March 6, 2013 I committed myself to 'running' a 5k with some co-workers at the SHAPE Diva Dash in Boulder which was going to take place on May 4th. 

I haven't run since middle school and I was one of those people who said 'If you see me running there is probably something after me.'

Fact is, I hadn't even been walking.  I mentioned in my last post that exertion was causing me pain especially in my hips.  I would wake up in the morning hunched over and shuffling around like Baba Yaga.

 

 

I am also not the brightest bulb in the pack so I chose a ridiculous motivational tool like signing up for a 5k with my coworkers acting like I was a frequent runner and strutting about the office. 

 



 

I kept planning to go walking and I even downloaded the Couch to 5K guide, which is excellent by the way.  I bought a new pair of running shoes (Saucony) and bought the cutest pair of yoga pants which make my butt look amazing even without working out.  I wore these around the house and acted like a runner.  I told my husband that wearing the right clothes is the first step in motivating a person to exercise.  (He didn't fall for it).

 

How would I make the transition from this:

 

To this:

 

 



 

If I Can, So Can You!

I'm going to confess my deep dark secret once and for all....I'm kind of lazy.
(Although this probably is not a big revelation to the people that know me.)

I have a job that I work hard at and I have five kids, three dogs and three cats.  Caring for all of these things and keeping a house will drain anyone and the idea of working out was kind of like the idea of visiting Egypt: I really want to do it someday...but this is not that day.

Also, to be perfectly honest, I would hurt like hell after exerting myself.  My back and hip pain had been getting progressively worse over the years--likely due to the pregnancies and carrying around children all day.  As I have gotten older the pain has been more frequent.  Like daily.  Getting out of bed in the morning I felt like I was in worse shape than my 83 year old mother!  I took ibuprofen daily. 

So, like most women, I had a nice list of excuses (or if you rather, reasons) for not being active.  For spending far too much time on the sofa instead of on my feet.  I was freaking exhausted and in pain.  What are you going to do? 

I will tell you what I did...

I signed up for a 5k!

Good grief!  What was I thinking?  I hadn't run since middle school.  I got winded walking up a flight of stairs!  I weighed the most I have ever weighed (not pregnant) and it was settling around my midsection.  I was beginning to add knee pain, joint pain and high cholesterol to my list of ailments.  I knew I had to do something or I was heading down the fast track to a heart attack. 

But a 5k???

Motivation, baby!  I know my limitations mentally and lack of motivation was a huge barrier on my road to health and fitness.