New Year's Resolutions

It’s 6 days in to the new year. So how are you doing with those New Year’s Resolutions? Are you still keeping them, or did you throw some of them overboard already?

Statistics show that “45% of Americans usually set New Year’s Resolutions;  17% infrequently set resolutions; 38% absolutely never set resolutions.”

I’m afraid I belong in the second category. I very infrequently set resolutions.  I always vow to do better next year, … but then, oh well.

I am also very good in breaking them. Not on purpose of course.  I have every intention to stick it out, but then reality and life set in.

The two most popular New Year’s Resolutions are …

1. Improving your health
2. Improving your finances

While pretty broad I think those are great goals to set for ourselves and they are on my list again this year. Along with two others…

1. Simplifying my life and business
2. Keeping my focus

Let’s see how I will do as the year progresses.

What I like about starting a brand new year is that I can leave the old one behind. So no matter how I did, how bad I might have messed up or how many of those New Year’s Resolutions I may have broken, it doesn’t matter anymore. I can start with a clean slate.

Years ago, when our boys still played competitive ice hockey, there was a Bauer Hockey commercial which to this day remained my favorite commercial ever.

It went like this…

“If I give you a clean sheet, what will you write?
Will your words be long and graceful, or short and sweet?

Will it be poetry, or just plain English?
If you have something to say, say it now.

For soon, always too soon my sheet will be filled.
And this chapter will end sure as the next will begin.

… With a clean sheet… you authors … and a million possibilities.”

I absolutely love this!

You can apply this to anything you wish.  A new career, a new day, a new month and definitely a new year as well.

Before you lies a brand new book with 365 clean, bright and empty pages.

What will you write on them?

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. I would love to see your feedback in the comments below. (This is a DOFOLLOW blog and you will get some link juice back for commenting.) Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions this year?

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Building Your Network Marketing Business is Not a Sprint - It's a Marathon

Are you building your network marketing business going full speed like you would run a sprint?

I’m back in the saddle again after an enjoyable break. I cheated a little and did not totally keep away (from the computer) like I had planned originally but I did take it very easy. And I took a lot of time to think. I guess, I really needed that. Both, the break and the time to think. I was going full speed ahead, always afraid I’d miss something if I didn’t and I lost myself along the way.

I am a very competitive sort of person. I hate to be left behind and I hate to lose. I am also very driven which, I guess, goes right along with being competitive.

Take time to smell the daisies while building your network marketing business.

I used to keep insane hours, working from when I first got up until going to bed. Notice, I said “used to” because there will be some changes from here on forward.

“Working” didn’t mean 12 hours of income producing activities. A lot of the time was spent on learning new things, growing my list and driving traffic to this blog. While these activities eventually mean income, they will take time.

Building your network marketing business takes many different activities. There are a lot of pieces to the  puzzle. Each one of them important to make the picture complete. But it is not a sprint. It’s a marathon.

Before I went on break I had drawn out my goals for the rest of the year. Going over them again now, I realized that I have set my deadlines very tight. Too tight. On purpose, because I wanted to reach my goals faster. But why really? Just so I can prove to myself that I can do it? Nonsense. I’ve proven that many times over. The first time I was 10 years old. I think it’s time to “live a little.”

You can’t run a marathon from the start to the finish line like you would run a sprint, at your top speed. You would never get there. You will have to pace yourself through the 26 miles, taking in some water along the way to keep you hydrated.

I know that some of you reading this blog post are just like me, building your network marketing business going at it at full speed. I know, because  I read your blogs. If you can keep it up through the finish line good for you. But the likelihood is pretty slim. Most likely you will get burned out and maybe even quit.

Slowing down is perfectly okay. You don’t have to prove yourself to me or anyone else. The only person you are accountable to at the end is YOU. If you are reaching the goals you have set for yourself and you are happy with your accomplishments then that should be good enough. The important part is … to reach the finish line.

Are you pushing yourself too hard building your network marketing business just to prove to yourself (and maybe even someone else) that you can do it? That’s the way I am, but I am trying to change. When someone tells me I can’t do something, I am bound and determined to prove them wrong. Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

To Your Success!

Ilka Flood
The EnlightenedNetworker

P.S. If you found value in this post, please share it with your friends. Be sweet – retweet!

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Self-discipline Key to Achieving Your Goals

Achieving your goals is a lot easier if you practice self-discipline on a daily basis.

Let me explain what I mean by that.

I got up this morning and looked at my “To Do List” for today. It’s not very long, but there are some items on it which I really dislike doing. However, they are important tasks that I need to do in order to move my business forward.

Now, would it really make such a big difference if I just skipped today and had some fun instead? At first thought, no, probably not.

BUT … who is to say that I wouldn’t feel like skipping them again tomorrow? What if tomorrow, I feel the same way as today and I just don’t feel like doing them … again?

That would set me back two days in achieving my goals.

Well, okay, two days. Big deal! What’s all the fuzz about?

I will tell you what the fuzz is about. If I skipped today, and tomorrow, then skipping another couple of days down the road won’t be such a ‘big deal’ either. Do you see a pattern here? It’s the pattern of mediocrity.

Temptation, the mother of breaking the rules …

Just think about it this way. You are on a diet and your kids want you to bake some brownies. You stir up the ingredients, pour the mix in the pan and stick it into the oven. Nothing to it, right?

However, after just a short while the aroma of the baking brownies fills the air and you can hardly wait until they are done.

You think to yourself, “I’m only going to have one. One little brownie isn’t going to make much of a difference.”

You take your first bite and that brownie just melts in your mouth. “Hmmm, delicious!”

“Okay“, you say, “let me have just one more. One more little brownie isn’t going to do any damage.”

And there, in an instant, you blew your diet.

The next day you get on the scale and find out you just had undone what you had been working on so hard all week. Was it worth it? I doubt it.

If you give in once to your temptations, it’s easier to do it a second, a third and a fourth time and so on.

That’s where self-discipline comes in.

You can’t give in!

You’ve got to stick to the plan you’ve laid out to achieving your goals.

You do have a plan, right? I’m sure you’ve heard the saying,  …

“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”

Or, … “If you aim at nothing, you’re sure going to hit it.”

Did you know that only 3% of adults have written goals and plans how to get there? And, they earn more than the other 97% put together.

That is why achieving your goals first requires writing them down on paper and then the self-discipline to work on them on a daily basis. Without skipping even a single day. Of course setting realistic goals makes them a lot easier to achieve.

This post was inspired by a link that dropped into my inbox this morning. An exert of Brian Tracy’s book:

“The Power of Discipline – 7 Ways It Can Change Your Life”

Enjoy reading it. I am sure it will help you in achieving your goals. It sure saved my day.

To Your Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. You don’t have to share this post, but if you do, you might just encourage someone to sticking to their plan and achieving their goals. So please go ahead and click the Re-Tweet and Facebook Share buttons above. Thank you!

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"Rinse and Repeat" Formula for a Successful Network Marketing Business

So, just what is this formula for a successful network marketing business?

It’s been said, that our habits predict our future. I believe that to be true. How about you?

Have you ever noticed that the more you do something the better you get at doing it? You can take anything in life and you will see that there is actually some truth to it.

Remember when you first learned to ride a bike?

You were wobbly. You knuckles turned white because you were holding on to those handle bars for dear life. You prayed that your dad (or mom, or whoever was holding on to the bike to keep you stable and give you support) wouldn’t let go.

You practiced every day and every day you got better. And then came the day when you were practicing again, and you turned around and there was nobody holding on to you anymore. You were riding that bike all by yourself.

At first that scared you and may have caused you into ‘wobbling mode’ for just a few seconds. But then you regained your confidence and you were enjoying the ride. A proud feeling of accomplishment came over you. You did it!

Now when you get on a bike you don’t even think about what you are doing. It’s just automatic.

It can be the same in your network marketing business.

You may be totally overwhelmed, pulled into different directions. Everybody and their brother telling you what to do and how to do it. (You’re in wobbling mode.)

But when you get really down to it, it’s quite simple. Just like riding a bike. Focus on the basics.

There are certain tasks that you must accomplish every day in order to reach your goal of running a successful network marketing business. Some of them may be new to you and may require a certain amount of practice. But by practicing them every day, you will get better.

“Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment.” ~ Zig Ziglar

So what’s the formula for a successful network marketing business?

1. Identify the tasks you absolutely have to do every day in order to move your business forward.
2. Do them in order of priority. (Life happens, so do the most important tasks first, just in case.)
3. Practice those tasks that need perfecting.
4. Rinse and repeat

Stick to that formula no matter what. Put your blinders on if you have to in order to keep from getting distracted. I know there are many distractions out there. All I have to do is open my email inbox and there are tons of them…But…

Repeating important activities that move your business forward on a daily basis is the key to a successful network marketing business.

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit.

I don’t know how they came up with 21 days but it seems to work. So write down what you need to do every day. Do it for 21 days and see what happens. (Of course keep going after that.) There is power in positive habits.

Just keep your focus right on your target and you will get there.

Bye for now, I’ve got to go do some rinsing and repeating.

To your successful network marketing business,

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. If you found this article helpful please share it with your friends. Thank you!

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Productivity Advice from Jerry Seinfeld

We all have certain tasks that we should be doing on a daily basis. But for some reason or another we don’t.

Deep down we know that doing these tasks would not only help us become a better network marketer but they would also greatly improve our business skills.

There’s a great story about a young comic who met Jerry Seinfeld.

He asked him if he had any tips on how to improve his jokes as he was still learning the ropes.

The answer Seinfeld gave him was genius, not for the fact that he told the young comic to write every day (which he already knew), but because he told him to write every day, even if he didn’t feel like it.

Seinfeld then went on to reveal his own secret technique that he uses to stay motivated and pressure himself to write every day.

He told the young man to get a calendar that shows a whole year on one page and hang it on a wall where he can see it. The next step was to get a big red magic marker.

Then he told him that for each day he does his task of writing, he should put a big red X over that day.  After a view weeks he’d see a chain and that chain would grow longer and longer. He said, “you’ll like seeing that chain especially after you get a few weeks under your belt.  Your only job next is not to break that chain.”

“Don’t break the chain.”

What a great psychological motivator. It get’s you keep going because you start to like seeing that chain unbroken. And so, tasks that may be difficult for you (or boring)  but beneficial for your business will get much more exciting and the chances increase that you’ll actually do them.

I will try that out.   How about you? There are a few tasks I should be doing on a daily basis. But for some reason it’s more like a hit and miss.

Oh,  in case you are wondering why I titled this post “How To Become A Better Network Marketer  … In Less Than 30 Days.”  Because I don’t think you would like to break your chain of X’s after a couple of weeks, would you?
(You can download a printable calendar. Just google printable calendar.)

If you like this post don’t forget to retweet it and share it with your friends .

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1. An affirmation is a positive statement affirming your being in the state of having already accomplished the goal.
2. So many affirmations out there. Why not create your own? Start with the words “I am” and remember to use present tense.
3. Remember, affirmations CHANGE things. They Release the Brakes (and the breaks) and change your limiting beliefs.
4. Remember to state affirmations in the positive. Affirm what you WANT, not what you don’t want.
5. Affirmations program your subconscious mind.
6. Keep your affirmations brief and repeat it often! Carry it in your pocket. Post-it to your steering wheel. Send it to your own voice mail.
7. The Law of Attraction is INTENSIFIED by affirmations.
8. Include an action word for your affirmations (ending in ing).
9. Include at least one DYNAMIC emotion or feeling word in your affirmations.
10. Use affirmations to greatly accelerate your success.
11. Make affirmations for YOURSELF (not others).
12. Use affirmations to create the life you DREAM of.

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