STILL WITH PURPOSE!!!

Purpose – schmurpose! LOL 20 days down and I've spent most of it rather down … but not quite out... due to some of life's unexpected troubles. :( But, as usual, it's not going to stop me from moving toward my goals! The damages are reversing, healing, returning to normal, slowly.

And I am still moving ahead WITH PURPOSE! I am determined that even starting my business month 33% behind (so to speak) will not keep me from building my business!

On the green front... we are doing LOTS BETTER at eating REAL FOODS! I found a few new blogs to follow in this effort of avoiding processed foods more:

100daysofrealfood.com and foodformyfamily.com and eatingrules.com

If you have any interest at all in eating less processed foods, more organic foods, or more local foods you may find one or all of these very helpful! :)

Same for SPARKnEarthlyBest – no progress to report, but no backsliding either!

And with ANDEE365 – Wow! Have we been 'thru the ringer' and then some! It wasn't fun. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. :( However, we have had some extensive family discussions about the things that have happened and the things that could yet happen. These have resulted in a number of things improving around here. But there are still some “issues” to resolve ~ aren't there always such things in large families? LOL So, we move ahead! We go forward WITH PURPOSE! We take stock of where we are at; where we want to go; and which path(s) we want to take to get there.

I do have to say this: In the last 20 days I've talked to a number of locals and met some really nice people! This makes me look forward even more to what's ahead as I seek out more and more of the people of my little town and help them understand what a wonderful thing I have for them with my company! :) There are lots of hard-working folks around here who are barely getting by and really struggling to find that “something” that will help them get to the next check, help them get to feeling better so they can do more to meet their families' needs, and give them hope for a brighter future. Before long they will all know! I can't wait to share what I have with all of them!!!

I close with this:

"Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

~ Steve Jobs (Feb. 24, 1955 – Oct. 5, 2011)

Incentive!

The other day I read a quote from Theodore Roosevelt.  He said, "It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort."


Failure is something I have experienced a number of times. 
I failed at marriage: ended up divorced after nearly 20 years.
I failed at school: unable to complete all my classes.
I failed at parenting: none of my kids are doing better than I was at their age.
I failed at pregnancy: eight times the outcome included babies that would never come home.
I failed at having a career: didn't finish nursing school.
I failed at having a home business: 11 times with different products, methods, companies, etc. never making an income to sustain my household.


However, Albert Einstein once said, "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."  The same could be said of a person who never failed at anything.


In my new business, began on June 1st this year, I feel like I've made a few mistakes already, like I've encountered a few failures.  I have failed to meet the goals I set for every month since then.  There are certain levels I want to reach.  Levels I must reach if I'm to dig up out of this cavern of poverty!


Yesterday I was feeling very discouraged by this! :(  There are all sorts of ideas running around in my head!  Things to do to promote my business; things not to do!  Things that hold me back; things that push me forward!  I keep hearing voices in my head from people who love me telling me that this is something I will never be able to do!  I'm not good enough!  I'm not smart enough!  I don't have what it takes!  And then there's countless, well-meaning folks who tell me times are tough now, people don't want to invest in a home business, no one has the money to buy your products, or just that making a commitment to buy every month (even though they will do so anyway for inferior products bought at the local Wal-Mart store) is too much to ask. Whatever it is exactly, the point is repeatedly made that this isn't going to work - for me.  It never has in the past, so why should it now?


Is now really any different than any of the times in the past when I've tried to build up a home business?


YES!!!
It really is different this time!


This time I am passionate about everything connected to what I'm doing in building this business!


The company I'm partnered with this time is truly ethical, not wanting anyone to get hurt in building this business or in just using their products or even in any other aspect of a person's life.  They are ALL ABOUT really enhancing people's lives!  They want everyone to be able to have a life that's better than the one they have now, before learning about this company!  The products they make are used by people everyday.  You probably would use at least 10 of them daily just in the normal sort of stuff you do each day!  Some I know use twice that!!  While it's true that anyone they help to succeed in building a business with them will help their business to grow, it's also easy to see that's not why they do all that they do!


It's also different this time because I'm at a different stage in my life now.  While my service to God and my ministry of sharing His Good News is and will always be a priority for me, I still must have some means to support my needs in life.  Relying on SSI isn't going to cut it all by itself!  Maybe it might have at some time in the past, but even the federal government recognizes in their own standards for measuring poverty that the amount provided on full SSI payments is below the poverty line!  The only way one person could survive on that level of income is if their housing is subsidized, and their food is subsidized AND all the medical care is fully subsidized!  This certainly is not where I saw my life going before becoming disabled!!!


Perhaps some see the physical side of my disabilities as reasons this will not work for me.  And yes, they will cause some limitations for me.  But so much of this business can be easily managed by phone or online; neither affected much by my physical issues.  My brain certainly is still intact! :)  I remember first coming to terms with not being able to ever do certain things again and wishing there was some way I could use all my knowledge to make a living.  Going back to school wasn't an option then, though it is now perhaps.  I do see my limits making it harder for me to stand up in front of a group of people for any length of time.  That's something I would love to be more able to do as I feel what my business has to offer can easily be presented to groups of various sizes and interests.  When the time comes I'm sure I'll find a solution to work around my limits in that regard.


People don't always understand my situation though.  I try not to take it personally or to be offended.  Still, invisible disabilities can be very challenging to live with.  But I am determined in this endeavor!  I will survive these mistakes and failures and I will go on and keep on trying one idea after another until I do succeed.  Failure is inevitable but it doesn't have to be forever.  Success is inevitable as long as one does not give up after failing!


Aside from digging out of the cavern of poverty... and that could be incentive enough for many... and aside from being determined to never give up my goals... which many feel are crazy and totally unreachable... and even with all the great incentives offered by the company... like extra cash, iPads, trips, double bonuses, etc... my biggest incentive is in knowing that by doing this, by succeeding in this particular business I will accomplish more to help others in their lives right now than in any other business I could possibly choose to do or become educated in right now!


All those failures I mentioned above have all become things that I've turned around and found the silver lining within and I've used those experiences to help others in many wonderful ways over the years!  I'm a survivor - since before I was born - and I will continue to survive and I will succeed!!!                                                                               

Success

We have just a little over 5 days left to this month.  Will I meet my goal of 8 new customers?
(I'll let you know on the 1st) ;-)


It's not so easy building up a new business from nothing.  It is great to have mentors and know that others before me have succeeded.  But I do wish I could find someone who did so with as many challenges to their efforts as I have been dealing with lately!


The other day I came across a video highlighting 7 very important things to building your own business.
1. FAITH
2. GOALS
3. ACTION
4. CONSISTENCY
5. BRANDING YOURSELF
6. BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
7. DEVELOPING YOURSELF PERSONALLY


So, in giving some thought to all these things and asking myself if I have these or if I am doing these, here's my own personal results.  Those of you that know me, feel free to add in your thoughts here too, or in a private email. :)


1. YES!  I absolutely do have faith that I can do this new venture successfully.  


2. YES! I have goals and little goals to help me get to the bigger goals.


3. Yes, and No. This is one area I need to adjust, not because of inaction as much as the actions I've been doing have so far not brought me to my goals as fast as I want, so I must make some adjustments.


4. No! It's true! I have not been consistent in my actions.  I need to be setting appointments every day not one or two days a week.  I have to find more time somehow.


5. This one made me wonder if I actually have my own personal brand - something that everyone knows is me!  There are many things I do or have done that others know me for; but is there any one thing that would stand out like a 'brand' such as Dell, or HP, or Toshiba (all computers I've had - and all well known by others for their computers).  This one needs more thought, and/or work.


6. Relationships I've got - hundreds of them, mostly minimal.  If I'm going to be good at my own business I should be building those relationships; get to know those people better.  To truly be building relationships I should probably be finding new ones as well - have a variety of relationships with people at various stages or different levels of involvement.


7. YES!  I am always seeking more knowledge!  Learning anything new is exciting to me! Taking all my knowledge and adding to it is a big part of what makes me ME!  If I can inspire others, I should inspire myself! (working on it) ;-)


OK, out of 7 "essential parts of success" I have 3 without a doubt!  I have another 2 that are coming along nicely but have room for improvement! There is 1 that is needing to be developed from scratch.  Then there is one that I'll have to do some more thinking about.  From a purely mathematical point of view I'm at about 75% there! 


If I look at like Success is 100% and Failure is 0% then I'm much closer to Success than Failure - and THAT is a very positive thing, don't you think?!