Archive for Values & Priorities
Schedule an Appointment with Yourself – Today!
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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
Calgon Take Me Away–Permission to Pause
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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
What do you need today? Guest blog by Joan C. Webb
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A special thank you to to Joan C. Webb for writing this week’s blog post as I spend time with my daughter for Spring Break. This writing is adapted from Devotional #162 in Joan’s book, It’s A Wonderful Imperfect Life: Daily Encouragement for Women Who Strive Too Hard to Make It Just Right.
What do you need today?
Some of us need to stop thinking and do,
while others need to stop doing and think.
Some need to stop asking and give,
though others need to cease giving and ask.
Some of us need to stop crying and smile,
yet others need to stop smiling and cry.
Some need to stop confronting and give in,
while others need to quit compromising and confront.
Some of us need to stop waiting and run,
though others need to stop running for awhile and wait.
What do YOU need today? Share your thoughts and comments at the blog.
A special thank you to Joan for sharing her wisdom and insight. For more about Joan and her work, read on: Joan C. Webb, a recovering workaholic and burnout victim, communicates a message of freedom and renewal. She is a free-lance writer/editor who has authored or co-authored ten books including her recent release It’s a Wonderful (Imperfect) Life. Joan has a passion to set people free to become who God gifted them to be and from what holds them back. Her work includes writing, coaching, facilitation and speaking. Joan and her husband, Richard, enjoy living in the sunshine in Chandler, Arizona near their daughter and son, their spouses, and their seven energetic grandchildren (three boys and four girls.) For more about Joan visit her blog at http://www.joancwebbblog.com/
What are your 3 Non-Negotiables? by Lori Radun, CEC
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What do these three scenarios have in common?
- Your 1st grader comes to you and says “Mom, can I get a cell phone please?”
- Your three year old cries for cotton candy for breakfast.
- Your 14 year old assures you she can drive and begs you to drive the car by herself.
Hopefully, in all cases, you would say “Absolutely not!” There would be no negotiating whatsoever with these situations. The limits are set for very good reasons. A six year old is too young to have a cell phone. Cotton candy is not healthy for breakfast. It is against the law to allow a 14 year old to drive a car. There are other situations, with your children, where some amount of negotiating may be allowed. You may bend the rules a little because there is no real harm in doing so. But, as the parent, you decide the limits because you know what is best for your children.
Protecting your time and energy is handled in much the same way. You decide what limits need to be put in place to protect two very valuable resources. What happens when we don’t set boundaries with our time and energy? We over commit, overwork, oversleep, run late, and ultimately, get overstressed. Putting three non-negotiable limits on your time and energy help you to honor some amount of structure in your life. These three limits are designed to help you make healthy choices for your life so you can optimize your time and energy. The three non-negotiables are never or rarely negotiated.
Some examples include:
- I will go to bed by 10:30 every night during the week.
- There is a limit of only 1 extracurricular activity per child per semester.
- I will not exceed 45 hours per week working.
Think about your time and energy. Is your time being spent on the activities that are most important to you? What robs you of your precious energy? What limits would help you get the most out of your time and energy?
Weekly Action Opportunity:
Decide your 3 non-negotiables. Write them down and post them on the refrigerator. Honor and protect them just like you would your children.
A special thank to my friend and colleague Lori Radun, who is our guest blogger while I am away from the office. Thank you Lori for the inspiration to get clear on our “non-negotiables’!
Lori is a certified life coach and founder of Momnificent! Lori’s mission is to empower moms to minimize stress, create high quality relationships, balance their many roles and take action on what’s most important to them so they can have magnificent lives, families and businesses. To join her community of magnificent moms, visit www.momnificent.com.
Practicing the Art of “Being”
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I’ve spent the majority of my life “doing” rather than “being”. After all, there are places to go, people to see, and things to do, right?
This approach to life fell short for me over ten years ago when I made the bold and courageous decision to leave behind the security of my steady paycheck. I quit my “Corporate” job to pursue my entrepreneurial dream because I was exhausted and burnt out from all of my “doing” for the sake of what?!
Little did I know that I would find myself going through life transition upon life transition, starting with my divorce and the subsequent hurdles of my daughter’s health struggles.
Because of these changes, I was challenged to find answers to the questions of “Who am I?” and “What’s next?”
I could write a book on the topic and some day I just might! In the meantime, the key learning is that I am a “human being”, not a “human doing”. Out of this paradigm shift, I have reaped the benefits of living a heart centered life and I am committed to supporting women like you to do the same.
For those of you who are “do-ers” (which is 99.9% of the women out there), here are some practical next steps that will help you “to be”.
- Slow down and breathe fully. Repeat multiple times during the day!
- Go for a walk in silence. A little bit of exercise, a chance to be and not just “sitting still”.
- Get up early in the morning before everyone else wakes up. Drink your coffee in silence and breathe some more.
- Stop talking and listen. Pay attention to others and to your inner voices, your body, etc.
- Read my blog article “On the Verge of a Break Through” for more insight.
Learning to “be” is essential if you want to find inner peace, joy and greater purpose. It’s a huge shift from the crazy-making world we live, yet so worth the perseverance and commitment to find it.
So what else would you add to this list? Share your comments at Facebook and the Blog…And then, breathe and “just be”!
