Yesterday was a very difficult day to get through. I woke up to the news that my niece had given birth to her first child 7 weeks premature. She only lived 46 minutes. This was something that we had expected. A few months ago it was discovered that the child she carried had Trisomy 18, a chromosomal disorder where there are three of chromosome 18. The majority of these babies do not survive birth and those that do will most likely not live to see their 1st birthday.
You would think that knowing that this was coming would make it easier. I am sad to day that it did not. I spent the day holding back the tears. We chose not to tell our 6 year old what had happened. She doesn't see her cousin enough to connect that she was pregnant. Our middle daughter on the other hand is dealing with guilt because so far her child that is due in December is healthy. She knows she shouldn't feel guilty, but she does. She finds herself asking how can she take joy in her impending parenthood when her cousin, who is married to a close friend of her husband, just lost their baby?
I did take the day yesterday to deal with all of this so business did not happen for the most part. I did attend my networking and mastermind group meeting but that is pretty much it. I also took my daughter to her not back to school co-op picnic as we prepare to begin co-op classes next week.
Life does go on for those left behind and even if we believe that families will be united in the next life it does not make the loss any easier to bare.
Each day that passes may not lessen the pain but it does create a distance from it. The distance allows us to manage the effects of that loss, but that loss will always be felt.
The end of my day got no easier as while I was at my networking meeting one of the members received news that her 95 year old mother had passed away. The news was received, but she still had children to pick up, work to deal with and life in general. As much as it would be so much easier to shut down and just not deal, for the most part we just don't have the luxury of doing so.
So the moral of this lesson is that loss happens in our lives. The pain that results from that loss is real, but life must go on. We still have responsibilities, we still have relationships that must be tended and we still have a life to live. Its ok to pause while we process our grief but it can't be all encompassing or you may never come back from it. Focus on who and what is left behind. Put one foot in front of the other. Someday down the road you will find that you have survived and your life has continued.
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Friday, September 1, 2017
I have a team! Now what?
August was an interesting month for me. I had some really big goals but I was unable to meet them. It was all beginning to seem like nothing that I was doin was working and I was getting nowhere fast in my business.
Two days after my birthday my education company announced an additional incentive to help us with recruiting. I promptly let the 2 people who were interested in joining the company know. That day I got my first team member. She was in the middle of buying a house and moving so I gave her some space to get settled so I haven't met with her yet to get her started. Yesterday was the last day of the month. I emailed the other person who had been interested a final reminder email of our incentives and that they were ending and by the end of the day I had my 2nd team member.
The first 3 months are very important to a new direct sales business. That is when you will have access to the fast track bonuses which will help to build inventory or income. A successful 1st 3 months will often be the deciding factor in keeping a new team member. That being said those first 3 months are crucial to you as a leader in building each team member.
So now that I have team members what should I be doing? The very first thing is to have a meeting with them. Either in person or by phone depending on how close they live. That 1st interview is so important in determining how you can best create an action plat to help your new team member meet their goals.
Finding out why they joined and what their goals are in their business is vital to your successful leadership. You can not help a new team member achieve their dreams if you do not know what that is. Yes your goal may be to reach the top of the company pay scale, but your new team member may just have a goal to make $500 more a month. Your job as a leader is to help them reach their goals not your goals.
As a leader you must realize that it is up to you to make sure that your team members have all the information, tools and encouragement that they need to reach their goals. Once you have done that you can not do the work for them. Don't waste your energy on a team member that doesn't follow through or keep commitments. Put your energy into team members who are putting forth the effort. As long as they are working a plan to grow their business, be available to help when its needed. Otherwise check in with those team members who seem to lack commitment, but wait for them to decide that they are ready to commit to growing their business and meeting their goals.
Just like raising a child, raising a team member is a process of helping them learn and grow until they are independent enough to do things on their own without you holding their hand. Yes that means putting a lot of time and energy into building that new team member and then slowly backing off as they gain more confidence and skill. Encourage them to incorporate a program of personal and professional development.
One more thing while you are expending energy to develop new team members and growing their business, don't forget to expend energy on building your own business. Most direct sales businesses require team leaders to be doing a minimum amount of sales in order to receive team building bonuses. Direct sales is all about sales. So the money might be in building your team, but the money isn't there if you are not all making sales.
I am excited to embark on this next stage of my personal and professional development. Helping others reach their goals is a new challenge for me and I can't wait to help others be the best that they can be.
Two days after my birthday my education company announced an additional incentive to help us with recruiting. I promptly let the 2 people who were interested in joining the company know. That day I got my first team member. She was in the middle of buying a house and moving so I gave her some space to get settled so I haven't met with her yet to get her started. Yesterday was the last day of the month. I emailed the other person who had been interested a final reminder email of our incentives and that they were ending and by the end of the day I had my 2nd team member.
The first 3 months are very important to a new direct sales business. That is when you will have access to the fast track bonuses which will help to build inventory or income. A successful 1st 3 months will often be the deciding factor in keeping a new team member. That being said those first 3 months are crucial to you as a leader in building each team member.
So now that I have team members what should I be doing? The very first thing is to have a meeting with them. Either in person or by phone depending on how close they live. That 1st interview is so important in determining how you can best create an action plat to help your new team member meet their goals.
Finding out why they joined and what their goals are in their business is vital to your successful leadership. You can not help a new team member achieve their dreams if you do not know what that is. Yes your goal may be to reach the top of the company pay scale, but your new team member may just have a goal to make $500 more a month. Your job as a leader is to help them reach their goals not your goals.
As a leader you must realize that it is up to you to make sure that your team members have all the information, tools and encouragement that they need to reach their goals. Once you have done that you can not do the work for them. Don't waste your energy on a team member that doesn't follow through or keep commitments. Put your energy into team members who are putting forth the effort. As long as they are working a plan to grow their business, be available to help when its needed. Otherwise check in with those team members who seem to lack commitment, but wait for them to decide that they are ready to commit to growing their business and meeting their goals.
Just like raising a child, raising a team member is a process of helping them learn and grow until they are independent enough to do things on their own without you holding their hand. Yes that means putting a lot of time and energy into building that new team member and then slowly backing off as they gain more confidence and skill. Encourage them to incorporate a program of personal and professional development.
One more thing while you are expending energy to develop new team members and growing their business, don't forget to expend energy on building your own business. Most direct sales businesses require team leaders to be doing a minimum amount of sales in order to receive team building bonuses. Direct sales is all about sales. So the money might be in building your team, but the money isn't there if you are not all making sales.
I am excited to embark on this next stage of my personal and professional development. Helping others reach their goals is a new challenge for me and I can't wait to help others be the best that they can be.
Thursday, August 31, 2017
What is Uniqueworldmom?
I came up with the name uniqueworldmom a few years ago. As a woman with old fashioned views and an ability to look at issues with an open mind, I felt that my worldview was truly unique. As a Mom I also raised my children with this perspective and continue to teach my youngest daughter this way of looking at the world.
When I first started this blog it was about writing about whatever caught my fancy. Then I abandoned it for years. When I took it up again my purpose changed and as I wrote consistently it continued to evolve.
So here it goes. What is Uniqueworldmom? This is the brand that I have chosen. This brand houses 2 direct sales companies that are very different and 1 blog.
My first direct sales business is what started me on my current journey. I found Plexus a year and a half ago and these health products helped to change my life and my perspective. I felt so much healthier and had so much energy that I chose to share the product with others. This company has such a culture of self improvement that it also began a program of personal and professional development that has increased my self-confidence and led to me submitting my first guest blog post. It was accepted and I once again decided to take up my blog.
My second direct sales company was begun when I decided that I wanted something different than what I was already doing. I went looking for a new company by starting with the well established companies. When I didn't find something that appealed too me I went looking at start-ups. Growing up in a household of educators the early education products of Fundanoodle Learning really resonated with me and I made the decision to join very quickly. This journey is an amazing one as I work to help shape a company that has so much potential.
My blog is not meant to be a recruiting tool or a sales tool. You will find that I don't write much about the companies that I sell products for. That is not my purpose. I have had a lot of struggles in my life. I have had and continue to have a difficult journey in the direct sales industry. I write in the hopes that others can see themselves in what I write and might walk away with some kernel of inspiration that will allow them to keep trying. I want to inspire others that even if they are struggling it is not the best option to give up.
Business is not the only part of my life, so from time to time I write about movies I have seen, books I have read and other things that I am doing. I am a mother and a homeschooler on top of everything else. I do try to keep my political and personal belief system out of my writing, but sometimes there is just something that I have to write about and its not meant to offend or promote my views. Sometimes I just feel so strongly I just need to vent. That being said I hold very strongly to my views and opinions. They were formed after much research and experience not at the whims of the media or political party. I am neither Republican or Democrat. I think that politicians are pretty much corrupt no matter how you look at it.
So if you can see yourself even a little bit in this, I hope that I can inspire you to be your best self. Please subscribe and share this with those you feel it could help as well.
When I first started this blog it was about writing about whatever caught my fancy. Then I abandoned it for years. When I took it up again my purpose changed and as I wrote consistently it continued to evolve.
So here it goes. What is Uniqueworldmom? This is the brand that I have chosen. This brand houses 2 direct sales companies that are very different and 1 blog.
My first direct sales business is what started me on my current journey. I found Plexus a year and a half ago and these health products helped to change my life and my perspective. I felt so much healthier and had so much energy that I chose to share the product with others. This company has such a culture of self improvement that it also began a program of personal and professional development that has increased my self-confidence and led to me submitting my first guest blog post. It was accepted and I once again decided to take up my blog.
My second direct sales company was begun when I decided that I wanted something different than what I was already doing. I went looking for a new company by starting with the well established companies. When I didn't find something that appealed too me I went looking at start-ups. Growing up in a household of educators the early education products of Fundanoodle Learning really resonated with me and I made the decision to join very quickly. This journey is an amazing one as I work to help shape a company that has so much potential.
My blog is not meant to be a recruiting tool or a sales tool. You will find that I don't write much about the companies that I sell products for. That is not my purpose. I have had a lot of struggles in my life. I have had and continue to have a difficult journey in the direct sales industry. I write in the hopes that others can see themselves in what I write and might walk away with some kernel of inspiration that will allow them to keep trying. I want to inspire others that even if they are struggling it is not the best option to give up.
Business is not the only part of my life, so from time to time I write about movies I have seen, books I have read and other things that I am doing. I am a mother and a homeschooler on top of everything else. I do try to keep my political and personal belief system out of my writing, but sometimes there is just something that I have to write about and its not meant to offend or promote my views. Sometimes I just feel so strongly I just need to vent. That being said I hold very strongly to my views and opinions. They were formed after much research and experience not at the whims of the media or political party. I am neither Republican or Democrat. I think that politicians are pretty much corrupt no matter how you look at it.
So if you can see yourself even a little bit in this, I hope that I can inspire you to be your best self. Please subscribe and share this with those you feel it could help as well.
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Who is Uniqueworldmom?
I wanted to take a couple of days to talk about who I am and what the purpose for my blog is. I have done a little bit in previous posts, but I wanted to really talk about who I am and why I do what I do.
I am a 47 year old woman who claims 7 children. I have one foster son who turns 29 next month. I have 22 step-sons who are 26 and 25 and then I have 4 biological children ages 23, 20, 19 and 6. Yes we had a surprise late in life baby.
When I was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up I always said that I wanted to be a Mom. I was never taken seriously and then next question is no what career do you want to have and the answer would always be the same.
Yes my values and views can be considered old fashioned. I have even been called sexist. I was raised to believe that if you are married and have children your first priority is to be at home to raise your children because they are the future of society. That didn't mean I felt that women were inferior or that what women did was less important than what men did. In fact I felt like what women did was often more important than what men did. Men supported and protected the family, but the women were the heart and soul of the family.
Family is the core of the meaning of life. Our children are our legacy and the whole purpose of marriage is to create a family unit. Marriage to me is not the end result of a relationship it is the beginning. It is not an expression of love. The sole purpose of marriage is to create and raise children. Based on that description you can deduct that my belief system is conservative.
That being said. I was raised with Judeo-Christian values. I believe firmly in those values, but I also believe that we were given free agency. Everyone has the right to exercise that free agency and we don't have a right to judge others for doing so. That doesn't mean that I won't stand up and say that I believe that certain laws are wrong. I just won't judge a person for not living the same values that I do.
I believe that things like drugs and prostitution should be legalized, regulated and taxed in order to protect the innocent and provide revenue. Prostitution has been around forever and is not going away. If we legalize it, regulate it to ensure the health of the providers so that diseases are not spread and brought home to innocent victims we will free up the legal system to deal with more important crimes. We can not legislate morality. Likewise for drugs, our laws are confusing by having some drugs like caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and marijuana legal but making others illegal. Why not legalize it all. Regulate it and then tax it. By regulating it you insure that the drugs available will at least not kill someone on a first time use with a small dose. Criminal organizations whose sole industry was in these two areas would have to find other ways to do business or go legal.
So my world view is a little different than most. I still believe that keeping the Sabbath Day holy is an important commandment even though the 10 commandments were done away with by Jesus. The commandments of Love God above all other things and Love thy neighbor as thyself replace them. The key words in both of these commandments is Love and we should show that to all humankind.
Now that you know a little about my views, I plan to talk about the purpose behind this blog tomorrow. Hope you come back and read it as well.
I am a 47 year old woman who claims 7 children. I have one foster son who turns 29 next month. I have 22 step-sons who are 26 and 25 and then I have 4 biological children ages 23, 20, 19 and 6. Yes we had a surprise late in life baby.
When I was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up I always said that I wanted to be a Mom. I was never taken seriously and then next question is no what career do you want to have and the answer would always be the same.
Yes my values and views can be considered old fashioned. I have even been called sexist. I was raised to believe that if you are married and have children your first priority is to be at home to raise your children because they are the future of society. That didn't mean I felt that women were inferior or that what women did was less important than what men did. In fact I felt like what women did was often more important than what men did. Men supported and protected the family, but the women were the heart and soul of the family.
Family is the core of the meaning of life. Our children are our legacy and the whole purpose of marriage is to create a family unit. Marriage to me is not the end result of a relationship it is the beginning. It is not an expression of love. The sole purpose of marriage is to create and raise children. Based on that description you can deduct that my belief system is conservative.
That being said. I was raised with Judeo-Christian values. I believe firmly in those values, but I also believe that we were given free agency. Everyone has the right to exercise that free agency and we don't have a right to judge others for doing so. That doesn't mean that I won't stand up and say that I believe that certain laws are wrong. I just won't judge a person for not living the same values that I do.
I believe that things like drugs and prostitution should be legalized, regulated and taxed in order to protect the innocent and provide revenue. Prostitution has been around forever and is not going away. If we legalize it, regulate it to ensure the health of the providers so that diseases are not spread and brought home to innocent victims we will free up the legal system to deal with more important crimes. We can not legislate morality. Likewise for drugs, our laws are confusing by having some drugs like caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and marijuana legal but making others illegal. Why not legalize it all. Regulate it and then tax it. By regulating it you insure that the drugs available will at least not kill someone on a first time use with a small dose. Criminal organizations whose sole industry was in these two areas would have to find other ways to do business or go legal.
So my world view is a little different than most. I still believe that keeping the Sabbath Day holy is an important commandment even though the 10 commandments were done away with by Jesus. The commandments of Love God above all other things and Love thy neighbor as thyself replace them. The key words in both of these commandments is Love and we should show that to all humankind.
Now that you know a little about my views, I plan to talk about the purpose behind this blog tomorrow. Hope you come back and read it as well.
Monday, August 28, 2017
Dreaming Big Versus Dreaming Small
First of all I want to apologize. I blew it. I let my birthday and the fact that nothing seemed to be moving in my business get to me. I shut down for the last week and did absolutely nothing. I have no excuses. I just did it.
I got back on the train today and got back into my routine by starting a new business book. As I began reading I would like to say I had an AHA moment.
Every time that I have started up on an entrepreneurial journey. I have started with the idea of it would be nice to succeed. It would be nice to have extra money. It would be nice to be able to afford some nice things. Does this sound like a solid dream to you?
As I began this journey in March of 2016 I did my dream statement. It was all about getting out of debt, having money to educate my youngest, having the home of my dreams and driving a brand new car straight from the factory off of a car lot. In reality I had the attitude that I had enough to get by and while having nice things would be nice, my dreams were pretty small.
Those dreams have morphed a little bit as the circumstances of my life have changed. Still my dreams remain small. The largest dream is of being financially independent.
Here is what my dreams lack. Anything of substance. I have no dream trips, no dream car, no dream house in mind. I don't seem to have a comprehension of the kind of life I could have because being closer to 50 than 40 I have had the same lifestyle my entire life. In fact my lifestyle is a bit less than the one I had in childhood and that is saying a lot.
Is it any wonder that I am having a hard time holding on to the desire to continue in the face of obstacles?
Its time to stop thinking small. I need to be thinking about how I would live my life if money were no object. I may even have to do a little bit of research into what is out there. I may have to get over some fears in order to create a picture of a dream existence. Its hard to dream big if you have no exposure to a lifestyle outside your own. Its time to stop being oblivious to anything outside of my own little world.
I have a tendency to see things in the world that I can't have right now and convince myself that I don't want them and don't need them so why bother going after them. Do you think that might be hampering my success a little bit.
In order to succeed big you need to dream big. You can not create a new reality if you can not visualize a new reality for yourself. This is something that I am learning. If I can finally grasp this concept, maybe I will finally have a chance.
I got back on the train today and got back into my routine by starting a new business book. As I began reading I would like to say I had an AHA moment.
Every time that I have started up on an entrepreneurial journey. I have started with the idea of it would be nice to succeed. It would be nice to have extra money. It would be nice to be able to afford some nice things. Does this sound like a solid dream to you?
As I began this journey in March of 2016 I did my dream statement. It was all about getting out of debt, having money to educate my youngest, having the home of my dreams and driving a brand new car straight from the factory off of a car lot. In reality I had the attitude that I had enough to get by and while having nice things would be nice, my dreams were pretty small.
Those dreams have morphed a little bit as the circumstances of my life have changed. Still my dreams remain small. The largest dream is of being financially independent.
Here is what my dreams lack. Anything of substance. I have no dream trips, no dream car, no dream house in mind. I don't seem to have a comprehension of the kind of life I could have because being closer to 50 than 40 I have had the same lifestyle my entire life. In fact my lifestyle is a bit less than the one I had in childhood and that is saying a lot.
Is it any wonder that I am having a hard time holding on to the desire to continue in the face of obstacles?
Its time to stop thinking small. I need to be thinking about how I would live my life if money were no object. I may even have to do a little bit of research into what is out there. I may have to get over some fears in order to create a picture of a dream existence. Its hard to dream big if you have no exposure to a lifestyle outside your own. Its time to stop being oblivious to anything outside of my own little world.
I have a tendency to see things in the world that I can't have right now and convince myself that I don't want them and don't need them so why bother going after them. Do you think that might be hampering my success a little bit.
In order to succeed big you need to dream big. You can not create a new reality if you can not visualize a new reality for yourself. This is something that I am learning. If I can finally grasp this concept, maybe I will finally have a chance.
Friday, August 18, 2017
Book Review: The Speed of Trust
I just finished reading the speed of trust by Stephen M. R. Covey and son of Stephen R. Covey author of The 7 Habits series.
At first I thought this book was by the 7 Habits series which is why I decided to read it. Thankfully the author realized this would be an issue and quickly established his own credibility with the readers.
This book is an interesting read that if understood and read can have a direct impact not only on your business, but your personal life as well.
The impact of trust or lack of trust affects every aspect of your life, from your own self, to family and then ultimately work.
I highly recommend you read this book and develop the cores and behaviors that it talks about.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Free Speech and political correctness
I try not to get very political in my blogs. Taking a side has a tendency to alienate those who do not hold your same views. If your view is unpopular then you run the risk as being seen as a fringe element or a crazy.
I was not overly fond of any of the candidates of the last presidential election. I had a hard time deciding on who to vote for or even if I would vote. Ultimately I chose a candidate that aligned the most with my views even though he only aligned with some of me views. The candidates I didn't vote for didn't align with my values at all.
That being said a president was elected and sworn into office. At every turn he has had the voice of opposition instead of the support of the American people.
I was greatly disturbed by the events that happened in my State last weekend. Even more so I was disturbed by the aftermath. There were two groups of people with extremely opposing views that were involved in violent altercations and in the end there was some deaths and some injuries.
There are some that wish to place blame on one side because of their views. There are some who wish to place blame on the other group because they incited the violence of the other side and then there are those who place blame on all parties involved.
The unpopular view is the one that places equal responsibility on all of the parties. In fact there is a movement to denounce our President for taking that view.
There are those that are trying to censor any view that is deemed politically incorrect.
Here is the thing. We have a document call the U.S. Constitution. It has a bunch of amendments, but the very 1st one talks about the right to free speech. Our right to assemble and share our opinions is guaranteed by that document.
There seems to be some confusion about what free speech is. I am going to use a fictitious group of people but you can insert any race, religion, lifestyle or political party in its place.
Voicing a viewpoint is free speech. That means that if you gather together and have speeches that talk about how purple people don't belong in our country and shouldn't have rights, that is guaranteed by the constitution. Even if you don't agree with it.
Now in that same assembly a speaker goes on to say that they need to go after the purple people through violence then that is not protected. It is considered inciting violence or a riot.
If a group of people or an individual decide to use violence in any manner against those purple people then there is a law against each type of act. Examples would be assault or murder. With people who hold animosity against one particular group of people there can be additional penalties added by labeling the crime a hate crime.
The very act of inciting violence against people who are considered part of hate groups could be labeled as a hate crime.
You see the laws either apply to everyone or they apply to no one. You can't say that violence against one group is okay because what they believe is unacceptable and then think that violence against you is not ok simply because your views are widely held. Violence is not ok, no matter who is doing the violence or who the violence is against.
This may be an unpopular view. It may bring me in alignment with the president. It may even cause people to not use my business, but I hold fast to the Declaration of Independence that states "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equally"
I may not agree with someone's viewpoint or opinions, but I will defend their right to hold them until the day that I die. I have generations of family members that have fought to protect those very rights. I will not turn my back on them.
I was not overly fond of any of the candidates of the last presidential election. I had a hard time deciding on who to vote for or even if I would vote. Ultimately I chose a candidate that aligned the most with my views even though he only aligned with some of me views. The candidates I didn't vote for didn't align with my values at all.
That being said a president was elected and sworn into office. At every turn he has had the voice of opposition instead of the support of the American people.
I was greatly disturbed by the events that happened in my State last weekend. Even more so I was disturbed by the aftermath. There were two groups of people with extremely opposing views that were involved in violent altercations and in the end there was some deaths and some injuries.
There are some that wish to place blame on one side because of their views. There are some who wish to place blame on the other group because they incited the violence of the other side and then there are those who place blame on all parties involved.
The unpopular view is the one that places equal responsibility on all of the parties. In fact there is a movement to denounce our President for taking that view.
There are those that are trying to censor any view that is deemed politically incorrect.
Here is the thing. We have a document call the U.S. Constitution. It has a bunch of amendments, but the very 1st one talks about the right to free speech. Our right to assemble and share our opinions is guaranteed by that document.
There seems to be some confusion about what free speech is. I am going to use a fictitious group of people but you can insert any race, religion, lifestyle or political party in its place.
Voicing a viewpoint is free speech. That means that if you gather together and have speeches that talk about how purple people don't belong in our country and shouldn't have rights, that is guaranteed by the constitution. Even if you don't agree with it.
Now in that same assembly a speaker goes on to say that they need to go after the purple people through violence then that is not protected. It is considered inciting violence or a riot.
If a group of people or an individual decide to use violence in any manner against those purple people then there is a law against each type of act. Examples would be assault or murder. With people who hold animosity against one particular group of people there can be additional penalties added by labeling the crime a hate crime.
The very act of inciting violence against people who are considered part of hate groups could be labeled as a hate crime.
You see the laws either apply to everyone or they apply to no one. You can't say that violence against one group is okay because what they believe is unacceptable and then think that violence against you is not ok simply because your views are widely held. Violence is not ok, no matter who is doing the violence or who the violence is against.
This may be an unpopular view. It may bring me in alignment with the president. It may even cause people to not use my business, but I hold fast to the Declaration of Independence that states "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equally"
I may not agree with someone's viewpoint or opinions, but I will defend their right to hold them until the day that I die. I have generations of family members that have fought to protect those very rights. I will not turn my back on them.
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