Time Out!

Sometimes I feel I write this blog just as much for myself as for you, my visitors. I have been extremely busy lately. Learning new things, figuring out new WordPress plugins, and gadgets and widgets. I’m almost at the point of burnout.

You can only burn the candle at two ends for so long.

Last night, while laying in bed, unable to sleep because my mind was still going a thousand miles an hour, I remembered this story below. I love motivational and inspirational stories. Lately I’ve been putting them into custom greeting cards and sending them to my customers, team mates, friends and family.

So here’s the story …

The Mayonnaise Jar and Coffee

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar… and the coffee…

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.  When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.  He then asked the students if the jar was full.  They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.  He shook the jar lightly.  The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.  He then asked the students again if the jar was full.  They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.  Of course, the sand filled up everything else.  He asked once more if the jar was full.  The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.  The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, ” I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.  The golf balls are the important things – your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.  The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.  The sand is everything else – the small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.  The same goes for life.  If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.  Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.  Play with your children.  Take time to get medical checkups.  Take your partner out to dinner.  Play another 18.  There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.  Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.  Set your priorities.  The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.  “I’m glad you asked.  It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

That really puts things in perspective, doesn’t it? I’d really love to hear your thoughts.

Gosh, don’t you just love her? She is such a kind-hearted, wise woman with such a witty sense of humor. I don’t remember who sent the article below to me, but I just felt I had to share it with you.

Don’t break the elastic!

In April, Maya Angelou was interviewed by Oprah on her 70+ birthday.. Oprah asked her what she thought of growing older. And, there on television, she said it was ‘exciting…’

Regarding body changes, she said there were many, occurring every day…..like her breasts. They seem to be in a race to see which will reach her waist, first.

The audience laughed so hard they cried. She is such a simple and honest woman, with so much wisdom in her words!

Maya Angelou said this:

‘I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.’

‘I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.’

‘I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.’

‘I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life.’

‘I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.’

‘I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back…..’

‘I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.’

‘I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one…’

‘I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.’

‘I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn..’

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’

We all have certain people we admire and look up to. I invite you to share some of yours in the comment box below.

There’s a reason it’s called NETWORK Marketing. You are not all by yourself. It’s about a large group of people doing a few simple activities over a sustained period of time. In other words, it’s about a lot of people doing a little consistently over time. It’s about leveraging yourself.

Don’t think you have to sponsor this large group of people all by yourself either. You only need a handful and then teach them how to get a handful. And so on. Over time you, and your handful of people, that you started out with, will have build your large network.

You can talk to any one of the top leaders in any company and they will tell you that they only sponsored a few people themselves. And those few built their network marketing organizations. Remember, it’s about a lot of people doing a little over a sustained period of time.

One of my favorite books is ‘The Slight Edge’ by Jeff Olson. In it he tells the story of ‘The Water Hyacinth. It goes something like this…

Although a single plant can produce as many as 5,000 seeds, the method it prefers to grow is by doubling itself. It can cover an entire pond in 30 days. However, for the first few weeks you won’t even notice it is there. On day 15 you may see maybe a square foot. On the 20th day you may find a dense little patch maybe the size of a mattress. On day 29 half the ponds surface will be open water. But, on the 30th day the whole pond will be covered with a blanket of the water hyacinth. You won’t even see any water.

So you see, just by doubling itself, this amazing plant covered a whole pond in as little as a month. It’s pretty much the same principle in network marketing. We double ourselves, and then again and again and again until we have a very large network of people who all do a little to contribute to the whole.

It’s not hard. It just takes time.

Many people give up to soon. If they would just have stayed the course, they would have reaped the harvest of the seeds they were sowing.

Don’t give up! Stay the course! Get a few. Teach them to get a few and help them teach those to get a few. And you all do just a few simple activities every day over a sustained period of time.

I know, I sound like a broken record…but there is a point to it.

I invite you to leave your experience in the comment box below.

I was cleaning out some files to make more room on my hard drive and came across this poem by Jim Rohn. I thought it would make an excellent tribute to one of the greatest mentors of this century. So here it is…

“I wish for you a life of wealth,
health, and happiness; a life in which you give to
yourself the gift of patience, the virtue of reason,
the value of knowledge, and the influence of faith in
your own ability to dream about and to achieve worthy rewards.” _Jim Rohn

I have listened to a lot of leaders in my 10+ years in network marketing. Only a handful have really inspired me. Jordan Adler, my upline in SendOutCards is one of them. I listen to him every Monday when he makes his team call and then I listen again to his recordings. Jordan has the ability to paint pictures in my mind. Very vivid pictures. He makes me think. He gets my imagination flowing. He truly inspires me.

Here’s what he shared on one of his first calls of the year and I would like to share it with you.

2010 can be your best year ever. Begin to imagine what life is like living each day without regard to what things cost. Imagine what life is like knowing that when you spend your money it comes back again next month whether you go to work or not. Your bank account is overflowing. Each month, you give excessively to your favorite charities. You see money as a life giving tool that can help people. You feed your source of inspiration by donating your time to worthwhile causes because you have the time and you don’t have to work quite so hard to make your money.

You are in your perfect home with your family.
You are taking the dream trips you have always imagined.

You practice saying ‘yes’ instead of ‘we can’t afford it’. That nagging underlying fear doesn’t exist any longer. You are free. You feel empowered and alive. You have money set aside to secure your future. You have money to invest and to play with. You have more than enough money to live your life exactly the way you want it.

Money isn’t everything but it certainly makes life easier.

Let those pictures run through your mind. Imagine it to be reality. Imagine it in the present. You’re sitting at the beach feeling the warm sun on your skin and the sand between your toes. You hear the sound of the waves and the wind in the palm trees. It’s real. At this moment it is very real.

Have you ever imagined something and then it became reality? Your imagination is a very powerful tool. Keep using it to make your dreams realitiy. Imagine the life Jordan painted for you…because you deserve it!

“If you can DREAM it, you can DO it.” ~Walt Disney

Who inspires you? What does your dream life look like? Leave me your comments in the box below.

Do you make choices in life, or do you react to it? Below is a beautiful story of making choices. I hope it will inspire you…

We Have Two Choices

Jerry is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone asks him how he is doing, he always replies, “If I were any better, I would be twins!”

Jerry is a natural motivator. If an employee is having a bad day, Jerry is right there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Because of this attitude he has several waiters who have followed him around from restaurant to restaurant.

This really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “What’s the deal with you? Nobody can be that positive all of the time! How do you do it?”

Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, ‘Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’ I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.”

“Oh come on, it can’t be that easy,” I protested.

“Yes it is,” Jerry said. “Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react. You choose how people affect your day. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line is that you choose how you live your life.”

I thought about what Jerry said for a long time.

Soon thereafter, I left the area to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about Jerry when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?” I declined, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the

robbery took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied. “Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.”

“Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked.

Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, ‘He’s a dead man.’ I knew I needed to take action.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Well, there was a big, blonde nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Bullets!’ Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’ ”

Jerry is alive today, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that day that we always have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Now you have a choice: you can forget this story, or you can choose to let it make a difference in your attitude and your life.

Author unknown

They say, “Attitude is Everything.” I totally agree. Every morning when I get up I make a choice. I can make it a good day or, I can make it a bad day. It’s totally up to me and my attitude. I can greet the new day with a smile, or I can greet it with a frown. I can be negative, or, I can be positive. As I start the day, so it will surely end though.

I came across the video of Zig Ziglar below and would like to share it with you. It’s one of my favorites.

Zig Ziglar: Attitude Makes All the Difference

The Entrepreneur’s Prayer

As I awaken with the gift of yet another day and prepare for the tasks at hand, I offer up this most ardent prayer.

I pray for continued clarity of purpose so that I may hold my vision steady and keep my focus on the needs and success of others, which in turn shall bring me success.

I pray for the wisdom to epect abundance in my life, that it surrounds me and is available for the taking and to be shameless and unapologetic upon its receipt, for I deserve abundance.

I pray for a cheerful countenance, be it clear or cloudy skies and that I may radiate and infect others with my positive attitude.

I pray for the trust of others that they may recognize my sincerity and true intentions so that we may move forward together.

I pray for the strength to fend off adversity and use my desire and determination as both weapon and shield.

I pray for the courage to carry forth my convictions during the battle of business and to resist temptation to a quicker monetary result when such temptation compromises things for which I stand.

I pray that I may be used as lightning rod to collect the amazing ideas already present in the universe and when blessed with such inspiration, that I may be able to apply my talents and abilities to turn the power of thought into measurable advancement of my goals.

I pray to retain my childhood wonder so that I can recognize and revel in the small miracles of each day that others may miss.

I pray for an infinite supply of self-confidence  for it alone fortifies faith, strengthens my resolve and conquers the largest enemy I will ever face…fear.

I pray for a compassionate spirit and the patience to offer those  who seek my advice and my help, my full and undivided attention.

I pray for good health and a feeling of well being, and the continued desire to improve those areas of my physical life I may be neglecting in the name of my spiritual and entrepreneurial advancement.

I pray that today is a day of excellence and at its conclusion I can acknowledge and be grateful for the forward motion I have made and the growth I have experienced.

I pray most of all for the understanding and support of those closest to my heart, my family, that they will equate what may seem like endless hours of apparent pre-occupation with affairs of business to what is at the very core of my being, that which drives me, for once I achieve what I have set out in its fullest, I will become that more complete being I strive to be.

It is for these things I pray, for I am an entrepreneur.

By Ilka Flood

Just like you are what you eat you also are what you think.
If you are thinking about debt and how on earth to pay your
bills that’s exactly what you get more of. More bills and more debt.

Turn it around and think of abundance. Create vivid pictures in
your mind of what you would do if you had no money worries.

What would your life look like? What house would you live in?
Be as specific as you possibly can. What would it look like?
Picture every room, the floors, the carpet, the furniture, the
pictures on the wall. Imagine your beautiful back yard with
flowers and trees. Just gorgeous. Imagine your family and
friends on your new deck having a good time at your grill party.

What car would you drive? What model? What color. Imagine
the smell of the leather seats. Close your eyes. Can you see
it parked in the drive way of your brand new house?

Picture yourself eating out at a very expensive restaurant. Pick
your favorite entree from the menu without scanning the right column.

Where would you go for vacation? Picture yourself already there.

Next time you feel blue and discouraged find a quiet place and
think about what your life would be like without money worries.

You think anyway…might as well think BIG!

1. Broke People think everything is too good to be true.
Successful think that getting a job sounds too bad to be true.

2. Broke People give up when things don’t go their way; a few disappointments and they are onto something else, saying things like “it wasn’t for me.”
Successful People work harder and become more determined when things go bad, and understand that you have to take the bad with the good to make it.

3. Broke Peopl always have an excuse.
Successful people say “it’s my fault” and refuse to make excuses.

4. Broke People think that not getting what they want is OK.
Successful people are disgusted at the thought of not getting what they want and will do whatever it takes.

5. Broke People always have to talk it over with their broke friends to make sure no one will make fun of them if they make a decision.
Successful people think for themselves and could care less what their broke friends think.

6. Broke people are never coachable and teachable.
Successful People are always learning, even when the money starts coming in.  They never stop learning from those who were there first.

7. Broke People are scared of others.
Successful People trust in others and know that other people are crucial for their success.

8. Broke People are always procrastinating; they would rather talk about it, read about it, think about it, but never seem to do anything.
Successful people hate doing anything but getting it done.

9. Broke People are glad when the day is over.
Successful People love when the day begins.

10. Broke People think rich people are lucky.
Success People put themselves into a position to be “lucky,” and then work hard to make the “luck” show up.

11. Broke People work by the hour.
Successful People work by the month.

12. Broke People want to know that after 1 hour of work they have something to show for it.
Successful People find broke people who think this way and make them their employees.

13. Broke People get excited they just got hired.
Successful People think it’s interesting that someone could be fooled that easily.  They’re amazed that broke people never consider that they are selling themselves at wholesale while the Successful Person is reaping the retail rewards.

14. Broke People complain a lot.
Successful People are thankful that no one shot at them today, they didn’t have to fight in a war, and that they don’t have a job.

15. Broke People are too concerned about what other people are doing.
Successful People are only concerned about what they can be doing to get more done.

16. Broke people think that if no one is doing something, it must suck.
Successful people think that if no one is doing something, it means more money for them.

17. Broke people think that if everyone (all 200 people at a meeting or on a conference call) are all doing the same thing, it must be saturated.
Successful people think that broke people who think that way aren’t too bright.

18. Broke people think it is OK for other people to live where they want to live, drive what they want to drive, and do what they want to do.  Broke people are OK with the fact that they can’t do these things.
Rich people get sick just thinking about being average.

19. Broke people think that other people’s opinions are worth more than their dreams.  Rich people know that their dreams are worth more than other people’s opinions

Moral of the story:  To be successful, find out what unsuccessful people do, read, watch and think…..and don’t read what they read, watch what they watch, do what they do or think how they think!

(Author unknown)