A Time for Reflection

As 2014 draws to an end it feels right to use this time to reflect.

I joined Arbonne on Friday 13th June 2014. As soon as I joined I went all out, doing everything I possibly could, working so hard, driving at it constantly, then I burned out. By September I was exhausted, unmotivated and deflated, but I kept trying to plod on, very much hit and miss. I managed to arrange an Opportunity Meeting which was incredible I am so pleased I stepped out my comfort zone. That was definitely a huge achievement for me.

When I signed up, I got the business straight away. I could see exactly how it worked, I understood the concept completely. I set my goals, I was going to be DM by the end of Aug, AM by the end of Dec, RVP by July and NVP by the following Dec - Yep! In just 18 short months I was going to be an NVP! I mean, I completely understood it, so that was it... right?

It's a wonderful life for a VP

Well, clearly not. It is 31st Dec 2014 and I am still a consultant! Huh? How did that happen? I knew the business, I got the concept, I was saying all the right things! So what went wrong? The short answer, me! I went wrong! Like I said, I knew what to do, and was saying all the right things... but I wasn't doing them, well at least not consistently!

These past few months I have learned an awful lot about myself, and I have had to be really honest with myself. I am very good at talking the talk, I know what I need to know, I say what I need to say, I just don't seem to do what I need to do! I am a creative person and my mind wanders... all the time! I start things with great intentions, I have my plan, I get going then and like a little child I get distracted, forget what I was doing and why.

So, now it is time to be honest, look at myself, see who I am and what I have to work with.

My weaknesses are procrastinating, being easily distracted and struggle with attention. My strengths are being able to plan things, making lists, and knowing what I need to do. I love to help others and making people smile, I enjoy being with people and like to experience new things, although I do struggle with change. I am not great with large groups of people I don't know, I get shy and deep down I worry what people think of me.

I can sit here and easily make long term goals, I have done it before. I know how look at where I want to be and know what I need to do to get there, I have done it before. But also knowing that I procrastinate, get distracted and struggle with attention, it is obvious that it will not work... for me. I have done it all before!!  The definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result!

I have decided to still make my long term goals, but I have also made really short term goals across various aspects of my life, and I mean really easy weekly and daily goals. Nothing that will take up loads of time or concentration but little things that will keep me on the right track.

Just before Christmas, I was up at 6am reading my book before work and it was so easy... I stopped because I stopped... no excuses, I could sit here and blame Christmas, but in reality, Christmas did not stop me reading I stopped because I was being lazy and used Christmas as an excuse!

I am starting that again. Getting up at 6am, making a herbal tea, snuggling on the sofa in pure silence and indulging in a chapter of a great book. Once I finish Think and Grow Rich, I will probably re-visit The Slight Edge again!! I have a few more books on my list, but welcome all your recommendations, so please feel free to comment which are your 'must read' books!

Definitely loving all these books!!

My next thing is to listen to an audio every day to keep myself motivated. Every time I listen to something or watch a YouTube video I get such a buzz! One of my favourites is Sarah Dunning at the 2013 AAC - watched that so many times!!

 

 

I am also going to set small goals for talking to new people, having one to ones, and doing workshops, parties and meetings. I am not going to say "I will have 8 one to one presentations, 4 events this month" because like I have said, I did that, and it just didn't work... for me! Small weekly goals, talking to people and booking various activities. Making sure I am having conversations.

 

I have an awful lot of new contacts from my stalls, they filled out forms from which I have information about them such as, their skin type/issue, their current products and regime, if they are interested in new products and of course their name, number, email and date of birth. I have training booked in with my upline today, training booked with one of my consultants for Saturday and a lunch with my upline on Sunday.

 

I am very much looking forward to 2015, learning, growing and developing. I can't wait to meet the person I will be this time next year.

 

Happy New Year everyone!!!

 

 





Don't wait for things to happen. Make them happen!

I will be the first to admit, I have, in the past sat and waited for opportunities to come and present themselves to me. Expecting them to come right up to me and say "Hi there, I am a great opportunity!" and I have come to realise, that waiting around for something that probably won't happen is just plain boring!

I decided to book a some stalls for Arbonne at a few local events, mainly for exposure. I had my very first stall and I had done a few mock ups at home so I knew how to set up, I had a plan in place and was ready! I got to the event, excited and ready to go. As we walked through, it was a large hall, I was being taken to my allocated space and we were guided further and further towards the back... to a tiny room in the back of the hall! 

Planned outfit for the day.

Planned stall layout

 

All packed up and ready to go!

It was not the best location and the other few stall holders in the room were not best pleased at all, and it was visible. We set up and I was still excited, the doors opened and I was stood in front my stall, remembering all my days on the sales floor 'Acknowledge, smile and be accessible' everyone else at their stalls were sat behind massive displays, barely visible, moaning and groaning with miserable faces!

Ta'dah!

 

It was a very slow start, in fact so slow I wondered if there was even anyone here, so I popped my head through to the main hall, which was bursting with people. No one really came through to the back, literally a hand full of people who didn't even really look at anything. The other stall holders were getting more and more fed up, just sitting there. I decided it was time for action!

My original table collapsed in the middle, so had to get two other tables which were too long for the table cloth - Cue creative stall set up to try and hid it a bit!

If the people were not coming to my stall, then I would go to them! I had a small box full of little samples and a batch of my business cards. I went in to large hall and mingled with the crowds, I struck up conversations, spoke to people about their skin, gave them a sample to suit their needs along with my business card and told them my stall was in the back room.

After about 10 minutes, I headed back to the little room, which was now packed and the majority were people I had spoken to! There was 8 stalls in there including mine, there was a lovely lady next to me, selling gorgeous jewellery and she was very engaging and sold a few items the other 6 stall holders stayed hidden, plonked behind their displays... I didn't see them engage with anyone!

I stood in front of my stall, with my box of samples and spoke to people. I had products open on my table so people could smell all the gorgeous, fresh smells. People tried products on their hands and took samples, business cards and brochures away. I even had one lady say how lovely I was, and how nice it was for me to take time to talk to her and that most people who hold stalls just look bored! It was such a huge confidence boost for me, especially as this was my first one.

My gorgeous Consultant Maria - AKA wifey!

 

All in all, it was a fantastic day. Did I take any orders? Nope! Did I book any events? Nope! Did I get anyone's details? Nope! Did I learn a great deal and was it worth while? Heck YES! I could have sat back, and waited for people to waft through and have my energy sucked out of me. But I didn't, I did not wait for an opportunity to talk to people... I made the opportunities happen. I was pro-active and didn't let a teeny little thing like a poxy back room stop me from my main focus of exposure and conversations!

I also came away with ideas on how to get details, and promote a bit more about events people can host. I am excited for my next stall, I can put my new ideas in place, amend some of the things that didn't work and do more of the things that did.

Embracing failure and moving forward!

FAILURE! Yikes, what a scary word! We have all  been brought up to view failure as the worst thing in the world. We seem to spend our lives trying so hard not to fail at anything, basically, living our lives trying to do the impossible!

If you learn every time you fail, then it was not a failure, it was a lesson! Hmm, Lesson, now that is a better word! I like 'lesson' and I can tell you now, I have had many, many lessons! I have even had a few 'duplicate' lessons as I did not learn the first time!

I posted a while back about a great opportunity that was given to me, and at first it all seemed fantastic, an opportunity I could not pass up! It was a huge, massive and very important 'lesson' I learned that I was not super woman, that I couldn't do everything. I learned that sometimes I have to come first and that it is okay for me to say no! I learned to embrace the lessons life was giving me!

One particular lesson that was very difficult, but extremely necessary, was an event I had planned! I contacted about 20 people and invited them all to my house for a fabulous evening, I had 10 people wanting to come and 6 confirmed that they would definitely be there! On the night 6 turned to 4 as 2 people were unable to make it!

Setting up for a fun, pampering evening!

I wasn't put off, I was still very positive about the evening, I set everything up, got the nibbles out, opened up the lovely bottle of fizz I had bought, and waited! I waited some more! I waited for about 30-45 minutes and decided to call the 4 ladies who had not arrived. Not one single person answered my call, and not a single one showed up! An hour late, I was on the phone crying my eyes out! And I don't mean a little tear, I mean full on, huge lump in the throat, soaking wet face, chin quivering sobbing!

While talking on the phone, I realised a couple of things. firstly, that I wasn't actually crying because no one showed up. I was crying because I felt so worthless, that people could just pass me off and not even care enough about me to just send me a little text. Secondly, after the first blubbering, self pitying realisation, I then realised, the world had not stopped! It did not come to a grinding halt, and life as we know end! No, it carried on, like it is supposed to do!

Now, talk about a lesson, eh? So, what did I end up doing? I packed my stuff away, poured myself a big glass of the lovely fizzy stuff, and sat down with the nibbles, did I mention the nibbles were Mr Kipling French Fancies and Mini Battenbergs!!! YUM! I put on car crash TV (The Housewives of...) and thoroughly enjoyed myself! I had a chilled, relaxed evening. I regathered my energy, my positivity and now I am so grateful for that lesson. It has been incredibly valuable to me and not to mention necessary!

So, moving on from that, I decided to take it right the way back to basics! Back to the start. I started with me! I picked up my book, and began to read 10 pages! The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. I did a bit of self development every single day. I took a step back and looked my my life. I decided that the Pre-School opportunity was not for me, not now any way. Although again, I did learn a lot of new things! Especially about myself.

I made a plan for my day, making sure that I did a little something everyday, that put me in a positive direction, and not just with my Arbonne business, but with my health, money, children, husband, house, every aspect of my life. Now that sounds like a lot, but it is surprisingly easy.

I have gone from 'Being Arbonne' through and though, eating, sleeping, drinking, breathing it, to a quivering mess, overloaded with stress, anxiety and fear of failing to being calm, doing little bits of everything, everyday. I am 'not' Arbonne, I am Emma, I am a fun, happy person who likes to help others and spend time with my family. I am abitious and always strive for a better future. I use Arbonne as a vehicle to ensure I remain all these things!

I have recently watched a few training videos, and put these in to practice. My business is moving in the right direction, I have somethng in my dairy every day, whether it is a one to one meeting, follow up, product event, Zoom conference or simply a 'text day' I make sure I do not over load my day and will limited myself to a maximum of 2 pieces of Arbonne activity a day. I also ensure I read every single morning, and do some form of training everyday.

Just recently I sat and decided to make my vision board, properly! I did sort of have one, but on my computer and to be honest, it wasn't great, but it was a start. I also have my affirmations that I say, out loud, everyday, several times a day. I even randomly tell them to my husband, who at first rolled his eyes.... Now he is working on his own vision board!!

Here is what I have, so far! 

It's been a while!

Okay so it has been a little while since my last blog and my life has been crazy busy and I have been pulled in all directions! First of all I have my 'day job' which as you know is my Childminding, then I had the incredible opportunity to take joint ownership of a local Pre-School, and then there is Arbonne and my Kidney disease!

So, I had an awful lot of work to do these past few weeks with the new Pre-School, getting the legal stuff sorted and getting it running with the other new owner. I have had so much paperwork to sift through and revise, a new website to create, sort out Payroll, looking at the finances for the year and go on a marketing drive!

As well as that, my kidneys are also not behaving terribly well, I have been getting a pain on my left side and apparently a scan in January 2014 showed that my left drainage tube was slightly dilated, at the time it was nothing to worry about as although it was more dilated than normal, it was within normal parameters and causing no issues... In fact, I wasn't even told about this until a couple of weeks ago! So with me new symtoms I am now being sent for another scan! I have felt so unwell recently and with all the work for the Pre-School and my childminding, Arbonne took a back seat!

Everything Arbonne stopped! Training, reading, talking... I mean everything and as the days went on I became less and less interested. Until I woke up and realised almost three weeks had gone by! I was feeling crappy, unwell and quite frankly I was a miserable moo! Then my lovely husband talked to me about re-joining the gym again, to get my energy back up, encourage me to eat healthy again - I have bit a litt bit (a lot) naughty lately!

So, last week I had my induction and this week I have a training session. On top of that, I have also written out a weekly plan... A time table for my life... starting at 6am when I get up right through to 10.30pm when I go to bed, I have clearly marked out times for certain things such as, Pre-School work, Childminding work, Arbonne work, gym, rest breaks, family time and READING!

I have started to talk to people about Arbonne again, even arranged two product events, and will be arranging a 1-1 presentation for this week. I have made sure that my goals are realistic and I am making sure I am not over doing it!

When I first started Arbonne I went in all guns blazing, I was like a walking, talking, bottle of pure concentrated Arbonne-ness! I lasted a long while as well, but I burnt out! I was so fixed on getting to this level by this date, and that level by that date, and I gave myself incredibly challenging targets and began to make myself ill trying to get to them!

Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying don't set challenging targets, or don't aim for the next level, I am all for setting targets and having somewhere to aim for, but I am now realising that it is not all about just having a target, you need to have clear direction on how you are going to get there.

Imagine deciding you want to drive somewhere you have never been before, you get all packed up, load the car, get in and drive... You have no idea which direction to go, so you just wing it! By doing this you might very well get to where you want to go, but chances are you will keep trying, keep getting lost then lose heart and give up!

Now imagine, you are going to the same place, you have done your packing and loaded your car. You have then also planned your route, you have a clear guide on where you are going and how you will get there! There may be roadworks and diversions, but by following your plan, and taking on board the advice for the diversion, you have a much better chance of reaching your destination.

I have done my time table - my route plan, I know what I need to do and when and I also have clear breaks so I don't 'run out of fuel' and break down.

I have now revised my targets and I will be DM in December.

Amazing Things Are Happening!!

Argh, I am so excited right now! There are just so many incredible things going on in my life right now! I went away on holiday to Cornwall to re-charge my batteries and spend time with my family at the end of August. We stayed in a little apartment right in St Ives, literally 30 seconds to the sea front! While we were away I made the most of the quite times and read the best book I have ever read, it was Jack Canfield's How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be.


Snuggled on a comfy sofa, a cosy blanket, a glass of something fizzy, a box of chocolate and a great book!!

As I read the book I started to put some of the things in to practice, and instantly felt more positive, like not task was ever to big and no dream was unreachable. It really is an incredible book and I highly recommend it (Ahem, bit of word of mouth advertising there)

Since reading the book something really crazy happened! As most of you know I am a childminder by day. Towards the end of last year I helped out a local pre-school and became chair person on their committee, the pre-school was going through a transition, from being charity run needing a committee, to a limited business with two directors. During my time as chair person I put in a lot of work doing various things and offering advice. The charity pre-school closed and the business one opened.

Although my time as a chair person was voluntary and I was happy to give my free time, I knew it was not a long term arrangement and I wanted to show off my skills in the hope that should they need my services again, I can contract to them. I often sat and imagined what I would do if I were to run the pre-school. Then one day out of the blue I got a random phone call from one of the directors asking for a meeting - I remember thinking that he was going to offer me a contracting position helping with their back office and paper work - I was so wrong!! Due to several factors within the business they were being faced with two options 1- to close or 2-hand it over to someone else! Can you see where I am going with this?

Myself and another lady were offered the business, completely outright. Not to buy it - they were going to give it to us, lock stock and barrell! The days that followed were crazy! We had several meetings, went through the books, and all the numbers, looked at all the legalities, had a meeting with my accountant, which brings me to now! We are just about to meet with a solicitor and get a contract drawn up and then take over directorship of this business!

So, what I am saying is, before I read Jack Canfield's amazing book, I had sort of already been going what he teaches, and amazing things really did happen! Since reading the book and having this amazing business offered to me, I started to really focus on my Arbonne affirmations, imagining myself in the position I want to be in, really going for it and putting myself right there, in the moment! Just doing that has given me so much drive and with the recent development, it has really made me realise that the phrase 'Put it out the universe' is not just a phrase at all, it is an incredble tool you have to learn in order to really grow!

And speaking of growing, you can't grow unless you put yourself outside of your comfort zone, always, constantly stretching and last night I did just that! Getting the news a while ago that my upline Tamlyn and Andrew were flying over from Australia and here to help consultants was absolute music to my ears. I wanted to host an Opportunity Meeting and wanted Tamlyn and Andrew to present it. I found out they were getting the UK for Wednesday 10th - So booked them... For Wednesday 10th - No rest for the wicked my dears!

I had been building myself up as I really wanted to welcome everyone and introduce Tamlyn and Andrew. I was so nervous, but I knew my 60 second story and kept thinking 'just do it, you're feeling nervous and scared and that is great - You are stretching your comfort zone' Then a day before the meeting, I saw a post on facebook from Scott Campbell, who is Tamlyn's sponsor, he was saying he was also coming to the meeting to help present! I could literally feel the excitement build up, kind of like shaking fizzy drink bottle, I was fit to burst!

So, Wednesday came and it was my day off. I had planned on preparing and going over everything, but instead ended up having a good few meetings for this new business, then it was time to collect my kids from school, then cook, tidy the house, pick up Mark from the Train Station and before I knew I was on my way to the meeting. In car I was going over my 60 second story saying out loud. I got there and as everyone started to arrive my heart was beating faster and faster!

Telling my story! The nerves were intense - It was AMAZING!

Regional Vice President Tamlyn and National Vice President Scott

It got to 7.30pm and I knew I had to do it. I had been saying to myself 'stretching my comfort zone - I will be an ENVP one day - I talk all the time, this is no different!" I stood there, the room went quite and all eyes were on me, I was shaking inside, my heart was pounding through my chest, my palms were sweating, my knees were trembling - What was this feeling? Fear? Nerves? Anxiety? No! It was the feeling of my comfort zone being stretched like never before - It felt AMAZING - I can't wait to feel like that again!

Amazing people!!!

I introduced Tamlyn and Scott and they were both increbile, they literally just bounced off each other and their personalities were infectious, these are definitely two people I look up to... now a while a go I would have said something like 'I aspire to be like these people' but actually, I don't! I aspire to be the best me I can be. I don't want to be anyone else but me because I know I can do anything!

So can you!

Somethings things just happen that you can't explain!

When I started this blog, I said I wanted to share my whole journey, the good, the bad and the ugly - So far it has all been pretty good! Which is fantastic, a few minor wobbles here and there but nothing major! Until this week!

Those of you who follow my blog will know that I work over 50 hours a week and right now it is the 6 weeks summer holidays, so every single weekday I have at least 4-5 children a day, for at least 10 hours a day! Add to that all the Arbonne work I have been doing and there is a lot of working hours being clocked up! And again, those who follow this blog will know I also have failing kidneys to contend with!

Last week I planned a party for Friday night and invited over 20 people... yes TWENTY people and not one single person came - Some had genuine reasons which I totally understand and others just point blank ignored me! It felt like a huge fail. But I decided to register with Zoom, and play about with it, navigate my way round and try to record my 60 second story - It was terrible!

Roll in to the weekend and the people I had planned one to ones with cancelled, so Mark and I went out on Sunday and did some cold market prospecting - It was so much fun and the buzz was incredible, but it soon died down as we went in to the week.

On Tuesday I had a product event for someone which, actually that went incredibly well, I met some lovely people and the host got £211 worth if fabulous products for £65! I got home really late and the next day I felt so ill, I felt so down and really actually just wanted to cry. I was getting mild anxiety attacks which would not go away and getting worse throughout the day. That evening I went to an opportunity meeting, we were supposed to be taking prospects... but they cancelled, Mark and I went anyway!

I got some really good advice, I then went home and instead of doing what I normally do, which is reach for the laptop and do more Arbonne before bed, I actually did nothing - I watched Celebrity Big Brother as a fellow Arbonne Independent Consultant is in it and I wanted to see if I could spot any Arbonne products!

This morning I got up and felt a bit better, but still not quiet myself - I felt like I had lost my Arbonne spark! That is until the strangest, most bizarre thing happened... I got a notification from Facebook to say someone had accepted my friend request - but the thing was, I had not even sent a request to this person. I had not spoken to them for so many years and only knew them for about 1 year! It was totally random!

I messaged him and said that I had the notification but I had not sent the request, he told me he had literally just had the request come through. I honestly have no idea how or why it happened but to cut a long story short, we got chatting, I told him about my business and I am just about to host a Zoom meeting with him!! ARGH - Talk about not prepared!

This has not just given me my spark back, this has just lit a huge box of fireworks and I am fit to explode with excitement. Now, I know he may not sign up, but actually, the fact I feel like this again, I am so over the moon! Even if this was meant to happen just to help me get back on track then, to me that is amazing - If however he does see the huge potential and signs up, then WOW! I will be utterly speechless! (There is a first time for everything)

One thing I have learned now though is, that it is okay to step back and take time to recharge. In fact not only is it okay, it is really important. Even the Duracell bunny needs to recahrge his batteries now and then!!

Your 60 Second Story

Following on my latest blog about personal growth, I was talking with my husband about his own 60 second story. He tried to write it out one evening but it was just not coming together, it was not working at all! So he decided to come away from it and leave it for a while.

Then yesteday while we were out, we got talking and I scribbled some scruffy notes, on what his 60 second story could be like, then Mark took my paper and pen and began scribbling away - he was on fire. Afterwards he read it out it and, well, here it is...

Writing out his 60 second story - so engrossed I think he forgot he even had a beer in fron of him!

I work in IT and I am married with two childen. I started working in London recently and I am enjoying the new job, but I am finding that the days are extremely long and I am now missing out on my children.
I looked in to started my own business before and I am inspired by entrepeneurs such as Lord Sugar and Richard Branson. I love the way their business started from nothing and gradually grew in to multi-billion pound businesses.
Currently my wife works as a childminder but suffers from Kidney Disease which will eventually result in her having a transplant which I would love to be able to donate to her. She had been looking for other ways to supply an additional income, as you know, one income is just not enough by today's standards.
My wife was introduced to Arbonne by her sister. I must say I was skeptical but decided to support her nonetheless, even attending her first one to one, which is where I realised I might just be able to do this with her. After all, I don't want to be left behind!

 

See... didn't even touch his pint - now that is dedication for ya!

Ahh, aint he just a diamond! It is incredible what sitting down and really thinking about your story does. Following the pattern of 2 positive sentences, a but, then how you found Arbonne! It is not long, or boring, it does not waffle on and is straight the the point. Now when I am put on the spot again, I will know my story, and my husnband will know his!

Tell you what, take some time out, think about your own story and share it in the comments below, I would love to hear them and it is the perfect opportunity for you to really think about what you are saying!

Looking forward to seeing your comments :)