Why Resolutions Are Just So Hard to Keep You Ask?? 

Well just about all of them. Why? Well we've been taught to believe that it will only take us 21 days to make those new routines a habit. But it takes about three times that. According to research it takes 66 days to get into a habit of a new routine without having to think about it. That's well into March.

Every January we see this influx of folks signing up and heading to the gym. As a certified personal training it's a boom... for about a month. People in our society want fast results. We want dinner in a hurry. We want to lose 10 pounds tomorrow. We want to look ten years younger overnight. We want to be rich yesterday.

When we find out that health and wealth actually take a little work, we get frustrated and walk away. In fact 88% of you "new year's resolution" folks are going to walk away by February. And that's out of the 45% that made a resolution in the first place.

So how can you reach your goals and keep your resolution? 

I think that last year I read an article that actually covered this and I truly believe it from my practice as a life coach. So here are those tips.

1. Keep Your Energy Up: When you are feeling low energy you will make excuses. You really are just tired often times when you say you don't have the time. Make sure you are getting enough sleep, good nutrition and exercise to keep aligned to those items you want in life.

2. Make the Right Goal: Don't say you want to lose 10 pounds if it's not a good fit resolution for you. If you don't hit that goal you'll be depressed and walk away. Say "I'm going to lose 2% of my body weight this month" or "I am going to drop a dress size this year"... make it something you can strive to attain. And align your goals to your priorities and your purpose. It's like the network marketing business. Those that get into it to "get rich" are either scummy and prey on people's desperation, or walk away when they have no passion for the product. Go for the things you love, you cherish and will enhance your life experience. Go for the things that make your family better, and give you joy.

3. Be S.M.A.R.T: You've heard me no doubt talk about setting specific goals if you've known me long enough. Goals need to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. I've been connected with what Vanderbilt Children's Hospital has been up to because of the essential oils and so here is a boring great video that you can watch to cover SMART goal setting.

I love how one programmer used the concept of Agile Programming with SMART goal planning he said:

S for specific: during each sprint planning, the team agrees on a specific set of tasks to achieve, and commits to doing them. The tasks (and the user stories), answer the questions of what do I want to accomplish, purposes/benefits of accomplishing the goal, who is involved, where it takes place, and constraints.

M for measurable: the list of these tasks, plus the movement of the tickets throughout the sprint, from development to code review to QA to release (or whatever your flow is), answers the questions of how much work and when will it be accomplished.

A for attainable: functioning Agile groups don't typically commit to something in the planning stage unless it is clearly attainable -- all the pieces are there to know how to accomplish it

R for relevant: questions like is it worthwhile, is it the right time, does it match our other efforts -- stories and tasks don't get pulled into a sprint, and committed to, unless the answer is yes to all these questions (typically...YMMV)

T for time-bound: a sprint is necessarily time-bound, be it 2 weeks, 3 weeks, more, or less.

4. Make A Plan: If you take this to your own resolutions what you can see is that you need to break it into chunks that are able to get done in 2 - 3 weeks. Make this plan, but be prepared to fail. That's part of Agile. You learn from it. Daily check in with what you've done, what was successful and what you are going to do next as you go through these action steps. My husband has pushed me into Agile over years of me trying to get away from it... but really it's a big part of what I think helps you be successful. Chalene Johnson says you should reverse engineer your goals, and I believe in that. Reverse engineer what you are going for, and then use that as your agile guide.

I believe if you look at this in the new light of longer term, smaller, realistic goals you will tip that 88% scale and we'll start seeing a lot more people reaching those resolution (intention) goals instead of feeling frustrated and failing.

Leading Your Network Marketing Business

The biggest thing for you to realize about yourself when you are drawn into a network marketing organization, is that you are a leader in your own right. Someone is looking for you to lead them with your passion and your purpose. That means there are people who are turning to you for a reason, and they are listening to what you have to say. Your conversations have much more meaning than you even realize. Without understanding boundaries and roles you will be throwing people off with those conversations. So what should you realize about your conversation?

Conversation Characteristics: 

- Every time you open your mouth, YOU create culture.
- These conversations are more important to results than most other conversations you have as a leader.
- They can be formal or informal, long or short
- You are having them already, even if you don't consciously realize it.

Look for opportunities to turn a normal conversation into a leadership conversation. Don't "vomit" up your business ... but instead lead people into it by sharing your lifestyle... with sprinklings of why you are so passionate about your business every day. Determine WHY this business is so important to you, and break it down into a short and concise elevator response.

Learning to manage your passion with clarified boundaries

When we talk about “the passion of vision,” we’re talking about a deep, sustained energy. It’s fueled by the realization of the unique contribution we have the capacity to make—the legacy we can leave. It clarifies purpose, gives direction, and empowers us to perform beyond our resources. —Stephen R. Covey

This Energy... this VISION is powered by the roles and goals that really define who you are and what you need to do. But most of us don't even know what our goals are. Without boundaries your time gets easily eating up, and the life you want becomes further and further out of reach.

What roles do you play in life? Wife, Husband, mother, business owner, teacher, daughter, friend, neighbor, volunteer? You know what they are - and some of you may be working on too many roles. You should have only six roles that you are using to define the forward momentum... think about what it would be like to wear twenty hats and get everything done in life that you need to do... how would that work??

So how can I define my roles in life to move my network marketing business forward? 

Today I'd like for you all to do the following:
1. List your roles.... as many as you can think of.
2. Assign a priority to each role, or reflect on if one role really is part of another role.
3. List any key people associated with these roles.
4. Write a clarifying statement that describes specifically how you would want to fulfill this role in your life.
5. Break it down to just 6 Roles... and let the rest go. It is hard but your productivity will flourish if you can do this, and your life will feel completely different.

Getting Over Your NOW Desire

A friend of mine shared this amazing Jim Rohn quote and it really got me thinking...

DESIRE - How does one gain desire? I don't think I can answer this directly because there are many ways. But I do know two things about desire: 

a. It comes from the inside not the outside. 
b. It can be triggered by outside forces.

Almost anything can trigger desire. It's a matter of timing as much as preparation. It might be a song that tugs at the heart. It might be a memorable sermon. It might be a movie, a conversation with a friend, a confrontation with the enemy, or a bitter experience. Even a book or an article such as this one can trigger the inner mechanism that will make some people say, "I want it now!" 

Therefore, while searching for your "hot button" of pure, raw desire, welcome into your life each positive experience. Don't erect a wall to protect you from experiencing life. The same wall that keeps out your disappointment also keeps out the sunlight of enriching experiences. So let life touch you. The next touch could be the one that turns your life around. - Jim Rohn

So are are you ready to work for your desires? 

This is not about getting something you want now, or about a one size fits all product line. I like that this company focuses in on the desires of a full nation of people. I have my products for my crazy insane athletic friends (although Franco Cavaleri would laugh and say, isn't that what WB and Empower are??) but these are products for EVERYONE. 

That's what I love. I can offer Empower to my mom in her 70's to help her not only with her hands, but with the skin cancer issues she is going through. That goes for the WheySmart as well. I can give WheySmart to my friend's kid who really struggles to get something healthy in to help with focus at school in the morning. I can give my husband something that is NOT full of chemicals to help boost his energy and fat burn every morning before work. It's a focus on long term health for all... and that isn't what all companies are providing. 

Keep in mind what you are looking for as you go through this journey. It's different for all, and there is not one road fits all. :)