This question “For the sake of what?” is one that all business owners ask at some point. It doesn’t matter whether your business is in direct sales, if you are a professional coach or some other self-employed entrepreneur. There is a time when this question will be the question whether you are fully aware of it or not.

It’s a seemingly large and provocative question. As you read it, I wonder what’s happening for you in this moment? Where does it take you? You might be pondering your answer or perhaps, you are about ready to hit delete because the question seems overwhelming or irrelevant to where you are in life/work right now.

Wherever you find yourself, I invite you to sit and stay with me. Your answer to this question is crucial to your ongoing success in your life and business.

Yesterday was a perfect “real life” example of this for me. I blocked the entire day to work on administrative projects for my business, which I’d been resisting for months. With deadlines looming I could no longer put it off. Several times throughout the day I noticed that I was drained so I got up and walked around to shift my energy.

Quite frankly the work was sucking the life out of me so my thought was “thank goodness this isn’t my daily life anymore!” I also wondered if it would actually be easier to be an employee doing only work I love rather than dealing with these non-delegatable administrative items for my business.

When I asked myself  “for the sake of what?” I was able to reconnect to my greater purpose for my business. The excitement around my deeper why gave me the energy to get back to my computer and work through “the list”. Today I am energized, celebrating and moving forward with clarity and freedom.

Not bad for six hours, huh?

So what about you. What will you do with this question?

Will you say “yes” to discovering your answer? If you need help, schedule a free information session to find out how professional coaching will support you. My book chapter in Direct Selling Power will also help you in the discovery.

Take some time to think about the question for yourself. Knowing your answer will give you clarity and guide you in a focused direction in the choices you make and the activities you engage, improving the results you achieve in your life and business.

I’d love to hear what you think. What’s next for you? Share your comments at the blog at www.shannonbruce.com.

Photo compliments of Photoxpress © Dariusz Kopestynski

In my expert call for the Direct Selling Telesummit, Sallie Meshell asked me this question: “Sometimes people listen to these calls, but then don’t take action, so what is the one action step you suggest the listeners take to incorporate your information into their businesses?” Before I share my answer to this question, I want to give some background to set the stage for my response.

My message in the book, “Direct Selling Power: Expert Advice to Accelerate your Business“ is not a traditional message. Essentially, it’s a message of “slowing down” in order to “speed up”. After coaching women in the industry for 7 years, along with being a leader in my own direct sales business, I’ve come to realize how vital it is to understand who you are in business and the unique values, mission and success you wish to create, not just for your business but also for your life.

You might be wondering why I see this as so important. Let me explain further.

At some point in your business you’ll go through a transition that requires you to reevaluate and assess where you’re headed and what you really want. These transitions could be as exciting as learning how to balance your life and business because of your team expansion and your rising up to the next level of leadership. It could also be the result of a lull in your business where you aren’t achieving the results you desire or envisioned.

Whatever the case, it becomes a crossroad point of choice inviting you to “slow down” in order to “speed up”. During this “slowing down” point, you need to look inward to gain the internal clarity and truth that is right for you, helping you make purposeful choices that will keep both your business and your life thriving.

What happens if you don’t look inward at this point? You run the risk of:

• Becoming overwhelmed and scattered which causes you to feel fragmented.
• Working harder with less impact yet expecting different results (aka “insanity”).
• Experiencing diminished results at home and in your work making you feel ineffective.

On the flip side, as you slow down and work through the exercises from my chapter “Ignite your Passion & Live with Purpose: A Guide to a Thriving Life and Prosperous Direct Sales Business”, you’ll come to understand your personal values, identity, mission, purpose and personal definition of success.

These filters provide a point of reference for making conscious, intentional and empowered choices that will bring internal peace and joy and greater results with less effort. In essence, your slowing down actually propels you beyond!

The truth is every business owner (and woman for that matter), needs to continually reevaluate and assess to make sure you’re on track to the inspired life you desire. After all, Alice in Wonderland was told, “If you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there.” Why not be proactive, rather than reactive?

My answer to the question Sallie asked was simple:

• Block time in your calendar today by scheduling a non-negotiable appointment with yourself in the next few days.
• During this time, evaluate on a scale of 1-10 how satisfied you are in your life and business.
• Once you have your answer, decide what changes will improve the quality of your life and business? If you’re already at a 10, what more is possible? If you’re less than a 10 what action step will bring greater impact and fulfillment?

I assert that this time with yourself is not optional but rather a non-negotiable. Yesterday I actually shared, “Self care isn’t selfish; its essential to live out who you are completely.” What do you think?

We’ve all heard the quote that the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. What’s the intentional step you’ll take today? Share your comments at the blog and contact me if you’d like a recording of yesterday’s call.

Enjoy your time to yourself; may it propel you into all that you hope for and imagine!

Photo Courtesy of PhotoXpress © Gale Distler

Remember that commercial years ago where  a woman is overwhelmed and frustrated by the many demands for her attention? She finally took a stand and declared “Calgon, take me away!” This woman was really onto something that I think bears repeating. Her declaration points to the truth that we all need to step away from the chaos and demands of life to slow down, pause, breathe, check in and reassess.

So what about you? Could you use a “Calgon” break? Permission granted…Go for it! Maybe it’s not a bubble bath, but it could certainly be a ten-minute break to breathe or go for a quick walk. Or how about sitting down to eat your lunch at the table rather than “on the go” or standing up?!

At some point, you will get caught up in the “doing” and “serving” others through your business and your life that you barely have time to think, let alone feel.  Some of you might press in and push through, while others shut down and just stop all together. In either scenario, you’ll reach the point where you are ineffective and unproductive forcing you to reevaluate.

So what’s the answer?

The answer is this: give yourself permission to pause. Take a quick assessment right now and contemplate the following questions.

• What are you currently experiencing internally? Are you at rest inside? Or are you feeling chaos within? Name what you notice.

Once you tune in to what’s happening in your internal world, take a look at what’s going on externally by answering these questions.

• What’s working?
• What’s not?
• What really matters?
• What changes are needed?

Your answers to these questions will reveal some powerful truths. However, you’re just scratching the surface at this point.

There are actually deeper truths that need to be accessed.  This internal wisdom will actually help you on the front-end to be proactive in your life and business rather than reacting to the shut-down or burn-out that comes after you hit the proverbial wall.

When you give yourself permission to glean this inner wisdom, you’ll discover your true identity and life mission which reveals your purpose. With this information, you have filters for your choices and you can design a path to the life you’re intended to live. This keeps you anchored in peace while achieving greater impact and tangible results with less effort in both your life and your business.

There’s actually a coaching journey that can help you tap into these deeper truths. It’s called The Destiny Project and this week it went virtual under one website location with it’s own unique brand, identity, mission and purpose. What’s really cool about this journey is that it provides enough structure to keep you moving forward, blended with enough process that takes you deeper into the learning of who you truly are at the core.

Many say they don’t have enough time to dream because there’s too much to do.  How about you? What do you think?

What if the question isn’t how can you afford to dream, but rather the question was how can you afford not to? I invite you to contemplate this in your “Calgon” moment as you exercise your permission to pause.

Post your comments at www.shannonbruce.com; I’d love to read your thoughts and be sure to check out the new website because it’s pretty amazing! Thanks Michael Warden and Josh Tilton.

Photo Provided by www.photoxpress.com, Copyright Julia Britvich

Imagine that you have a navigational device that guides your choices and gives you insight as to which direction to take in your life and business. What would it be worth if  you could experience inner peace, ease and joy on a consistent basis, and that your life and business were thriving with greater impact and less effort? Oh, how I want this for you!!!!

A compass points true north and helps you “stay the course” as you navigate your way outdoors. The same is true of a values compass which helps you discover your own internal “true north”. This values compass  becomes your barometer for making heart-centered decisions, actions and choices that increase your fulfillment and positively impact the world around you.

How do you  know if you’re honoring your values and following your internal compass? Think about a time in your life when you were alive, energized and your life seemed to flow with minimal effort. In this scenario, you likely have a key value that is being honored. Now think about a situation where you were irritated, angry and struggling. Chances are you have a core value that was not being considered.

Your values are the voice of your heart and give you insight into how you are wired and what matters deeply to you. If you aren’t clear about your values, you are missing a vital piece of information that will help you overcome obstacles, discover who you are and take action toward your inspired life vision.

I challenge you to make time to discover (and rediscover) your values by listening to my interview with Marcia Brixey on the topic of Transformational Goal Setting. This audio recording is a 2 for the price of 1 so to speak, because you’ll learn your values AND how to use your them to set meaningful heart-centered goals. Be sure to download the handout because this is vital to the learning.

Your values are fundamental and foundational to aligning your life with who you are created to be, and this is not a one-time activity. One of the participants in my training class last week said, “even though I’m coaching with you and have been through The Destiny Project journey, I am taking away that my values are evolving and changing as I grow and learn. I need to pay attention to this daily.”

Oh how true this is! I am so passionate about this message on values that  I am boldly asking you to share this post, my blog and our team newsletter with your friends, family and colleagues and invite them to sign-up. As Ghandi said it so eloquently, “Be the change you wish to see in this world.”

A journey to a 1,000 miles begins with a single step; what’s your next step?

The Direct Selling Education Foundation is now sponsoring the 2010 Money Wi$e Women Get Smart Teleseminar Series. All calls are now FREE!

Tune in January 12th from 5:30-6:30pm Pacific when Marcia Brixey Interviews Shannon Bruce about:

“The 5 Keys to Unlocking Passion, Purpose and Prosperity:A Transformational Approach to Goal Setting “

Click Here to Register and you can listen live or download to listen to at your leisure.

Please share the Get Smart Series with others — through email, blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.

For more about this exciting partnership between Money Wi$e Women Get Smart and the Direct Selling Education Foundation read the full press release.

I’ve been spending my time this new year preparing for three talks I’m doing over the next week. It won’t be a surprise that the theme for all of these conversations is about setting meaningful and purposeful goals for 2010.

Over the past several years, I’ve realized that traditional goal setting doesn’t work. These goals set from the head are hollow and lack the inspiration to stay committed.

It’s really about setting goals from the heart and the core of who you are. Without an emotional connection, your goals are just good ideas that are externally driven by have to’s, ought to’s and should’s. They look great on paper but leave you feeling unfulfilled when achieved, or worst yet, beating yourself up because you didn’t do anything to accomplish them.

Goals must be connected to your values which is about what truly matters to you. Beyond that, your goals need  a “doing” element and also a “being” aspect that flows out of who you are authentically. After all, you’re not a “human doing”, you’re a “human being”!

So where do you start?

1. Take a new approach to goal setting. Make a choice to set your goals based on your values. To learn more about this transformational way of setting goals, join me when Marcia Brixey interviews me on Tuesday, 1/12/10 for the FREE Money Wise Get Smart Conference call.
2. Reflect on what you really believe, desire and want. Check out my friend Michael Warden’s blog as you ponder his provocative question, “If someone examined your daily routine for one week, what would they say you truly believed about life?” This will actually give you insight into your core values.
3. Create the story you want to make in 2010. Develop your goals from this powerful, heart connected place. Be sure to read Donald Miller’s Blog “Living a Good Story, An Alternative to New Year’s Resolutions”.
4. Attend one of my upcoming training conversations on the topic. Learn more about this new approach to setting powerful and purpose goals this year.

If you want to know if you’re chasing after the right goals, sign up for our monthly newsletter and receive your free report on the topic.

So what will your story be for 2010? I’d love to hear so share your thoughts at the blog.

Here’s to the amazing story of your life this year!