My Business Retreat

My company's home office is doing a "tour" - making several stops around the country to do big training meetings. There isn't one close to me this time; the closest is an 8 hour drive. I hate to miss corporate sponsored events, in fact, I never have missed one! Even when I was on bedrest during a pregnancy I managed to find a way to be there. But I had to debate long & hard about this one.

With the support of my sweet husband who said I should go and is taking time off work to stay home with the kids, I decided to make the drive. I'll drive over the day of the meeting & go to the meeting that evening. But the part I'm most excited about is that I'll stay overnight which will give me some time after the meeting to have my own little "mini retreat" before returning to the chaos of my life at home with 2 little kids! It just seems like I don't ever have an extended period of time to just think with a clear head, so I am really looking forward to it & will make the most of it by using that time to really focus on my business & get a plan ready to put into action!

I actually should do this on a regular basis, even if its just escaping to Panera Bread for the evening to do some goal setting. Do you ever get the chance to do a mini or BIG business retreat?

Having Fun Again

Do you or your team members ever reach a place where you grow tired of & are lacking the fun aspect of your business. I think its a personality thing. I have some team members who are always so energetic and always loving their business. But I know that I have personally struggled at times to find the "joy" -- but that is really something that has been part of my personality since I was young. I remember my mom talking to me and telling me that I needed to exercise & set some goals & she was right that those things always made a difference when I was feeling "down".

So, if you're feeling "down" in your business or need to help a team member get positive again, here's some ideas that I've come up with:

• If its the success (or lack of) that is discouraging you, you might want to consider taking it to the next level and really putting a "working plan" into action. I really find that when I'm not having success I lose the motivation & when I do have success it motivates me even more & definitely makes my business more fun.
  
• listening to or reading business/motivational materials every day
• doing customer calls & hearing from the customers how much they're loving their loving their products
• what have you had fun with in the past? Whatever it is, get back to doing more of it!
  
• regular contact (in-person is best) with other demonstrators (like meetings!)
• the way I feel about life in general - if life is exciting & fun, then business will be the same; if life is difficult & drudgery, then business tends to be that way as well -- goal setting & making time to exercise & read the scriptures every day keeps me on track on the "life" end of things so I can be excited about business as well
• re-evaluate your goals & set an action plan for accomplishing them - a lot of times for me I get discouraged when I feel like I'm running around in circles & not accomplishing everything, by writing down my goals & reconfirming what I need to do to get there it gives me clarity & helps me to make sure that the things I'm doing will help me to progress . . . it gives my actions purpose!

What can music do for your business?

I had this thought this morning as I was working out to an aerobics video. In the middle of the workout, a new song starts playing and the "instructor" starts laughing (while working out) and shouts out, "Ooooh, this is my song!". It creates such energy & even for me doing the workout in my living room, I get an extra boost of energy & that's my favorite part of the workout.

So, I was thinking about how music can make a difference in life & in business. Here's a couple of thoughts:

• I've heard that its smart to play some upbeat energizing music as you drive to your parties to help you arrive full of energy even if you've had a trying day at the office or at home before leaving for your party.
• I was listening to a teleconference recording the other day & the speaker suggested that you pick a song that represents your vision for what you want your life to look like, thanks to what your business can do for you. Close your eyes, play that song & visualize the life you want & then play that song once every day and you'll subconsciously visualize your vision again -- even if the song is just playing in the background. Here's my vision song:

How do you use music in your business?

Could one "aha" moment change your business?

It did for me! I recently had the great opportunity of meeting with Carole Warga, a trainer with RI Training. We played the Residual Income game that they have available & I had a HUGE aha moment! I realized that I needed to spend time every day in personal development . . . listening to or reading training & inspirational materials. So, I started implementing this right away - after all, I have a ton of recordings saved to my computer from over the years that I've never listened to. I put some on my mp3 player & started listening to them as I take the kids out for a walk each day.

Adding this to my day as been transformational in my business! All of the discouragement I was feeling about it taking a while to get things up & running again after my move across the country has vanished. On top of that, business seems to be just magically appearing for me . . . I have my first home party in Colorado booked, I found a new customer (someone who actually came to me), and even got a fundraiser going back in Maryland; and that's all on top of the 3 catalog parties that were turned in to me this month (2 from Maryland and 1 from Arizona) that included several new customers!

If you haven't had an "aha" moment in your business lately, you could probably really use one to energize you & give your business a boost. You can look for those little moments in everything you do throughout the day, as you listen to motivational materials, or even while you search the internet for new ideas.

Please leave a comment & share an "aha" moment that you've had in your business!

Dose of Inspiration!

One of my favorite sources of great inspiration for life & business is http://www.simpletruths.com/.

They have amazing books with great life lessons, most of which are perfect for business & working with a team. But they also put out free short movies with some of their books. Here's the one I got from them today . . . I think you'll like it!

http://www.finishstrongmovie.com/

Exercise Your Business!

Do you have a morning exercise routine in your schedule? For the last 2 weeks, I've gotten a new routine as I'm going to the local high school track to workout each morning. Here's some business benefits I'm seeing:

1. I get up at 5am and am home by 6:30, which gives me an hour & a half to get some work done before my baby wakes up! By getting an early start & starting my day out with exercise, it also makes me more productive for the rest of the day.

2. I wear t-shirts from past years' company conventions to work out in. Today, someone stopped me and said, "I've been wondering what 'Convention' your shirts are from?" which opened a business conversation for me with someone new!

3. Today, I took along an mp3 player with some business educational & inspirational recordings. I'm starting my day out thinking about my business, the creative juices are flowing, and it helped my workout time go by a lot faster. This is the ultimate in multi-tasking! Your body gets the benefits of exercise & while you work your business!

Start an exercise routine today & see what it can do for your business!