Move From Good to GREAT

Women and DrinkACT – Part 1

Each day when I talk to women about DrinkACT and the fantastic opportunity it can be for them, they immediately tend to become defensive and tell me about how busy their lives are and they don’t have time to fit in another thing to their day.  What I was finding though is that I myself was becoming frustrated and even resentful of these types of answers from women.  I felt as though they were telling me that their lives were busier than mine, or that this was a phase I was going through, or even that they had more important things to do rather than hear about this opportunity that would actually provide them with MORE time to do the things they felt they needed and wanted to do. 

IT wasn’t until recently that I changed my thinking and found 5 reasons why DrinkACT is perfect for women. I use these 5 reasons in my prospecting to women as a way to squash the potential objections before they are even able to verbalize them to me.  Today I will start with reason one.

Women love variety.  Why?  Because our lives are innately FULL of variety.  AS newborns, we are all born looking very similar,  but with one MAIN difference between a baby boy and a baby girl ( I will NOT go into details as we all know what I am talking about.)  But, let’s face it, we are all very small,  shriveled up, squinty and crying little newborns.  Some of us have some hair, some of us have no hair.  But very shortly after the newborn stage is when the female begins its transformation into variety. 

Soon after we are born, our hair begins to grow.  Long locks of beautiful naturally highlighted hair, the look that we pay someone to get today, begin to appear.  This is where the variety begins.  Our caretakers may have chosen to pull our hair back into a ponytail away from our faces.  OR they may have chosen to allow our hair to frame our smiles and let it flow down by our cheekbones.  Maybe another day we wore our hair braided, beaded, curled, straight, half of it up in a hair band while the back half flow down our backs.  Typically, young boys wear their hair short and looking the same day after day after day. 

Women experience variety in the way we look every day.  We can choose to wear jeans and a t-shirt with our hair pulled back into a soft braid in the morning, then change into a pantsuit with hair down for an afternoon lunch with friends, and later that night throw on a little black dress, paint our nails deep red, brush our hair into a great up-do, glam up the make-up and are ready for a great night on the town.  That is variety.  How boring it must be for the man to choose either the blue suit or the black suit, or decide between brushing his hair or just getting away with wearing a baseball cap.

DrinkACT is a lot like a woman in that it has a HUGE amount of variety.  First and foremost, DrinkACT is involved in the four largest and most expanding industries today:  The Healthy Energy Drink Industry, The Weight Loss Industry, The Health and Wellness Industry, and now the Beauty and Cosmetic Industry.  That is VARIETY!  DrinkACT has incredible products in each of these categories which satisfies our innate need for variety in our lives. 

But even more than that, there is variety in the people we are able to talk to and share this opportunity with.  I have literally talked to hundreds upon hundreds of people all over this USA and Canada, people who have similar lives as me and those who have such different lives.  It allows me to have a variety of friends, all with different interests and hobbies, yet share in one common goal – to be successful in DrinkACT.   

DrinkACT provides women with variety.  I show them how they can break out of the mundane day-to-day chores and tasks and spice up their lives with DrinkACT.  I show them how to make new friends and business partners, how to improve their lives with a multitude of products, and how to build an income which will provide them with that free time that they are searching for everyday.  DrinkACT has variety – and women are all about variety!

Happy New Year! 

This is a HUGE proclamation that we exclaim EVERY year at the stroke of midnight on January 1^st.  This proclamation is filled with meaning, or many meanings, combined into three short words.  Maybe for some it means “Thank goodness that year is over…now onto to better things in the future.”  Maybe some are looking forward to events or activities already being planned for the upcoming year ahead, like a wedding or the arrival of a baby, or even completion of school.  And for some, the New Year is a time to make resolutions, or promises, to themselves about changes they want to make for personal betterment.  But overall, the New Year brings New Beginnings.  A New Start.  A Fresh and Clean Slate.  We even display our new calendars on this “magical” day.  (If nothing else, your calendar is NEW.)

So, what changes can you make to bring betterment to yourself and the success of your business?  Well, how about your outlook on the way you see EVERYTHING?  Well, that’s easy and quite predictable, actually.  Simply look in the mirror and carefully discern and discover the person you are today.  This is a clear indication of how you will see your world today as well. 

See, it is impossible to separate your IDENTITY from your PERSPECTIVE.  Let me explain myself with this illustration, summarized from John Maxwell’s  book “Winning With People”:

Two individuals were traveling to a grand city at separate times.  The first traveler approaches an elderly man and asks “What are the attitudes of the people in this city?”

                The elderly man asks “Well, what were the attitudes of those in the city you just left?”

                “Horrible,” the traveler reported,  “they were mean, untrustworthy, simply detestable in all respects.”

                The elderly man smiles and says to the first traveler “That is how you will find these people in this grand city ahead as well.”

Now the second traveler approaches the elderly man and asks the same question, “Sir, please tell me, what are the attitudes of the people in this city?”

                The elderly man repeats his question he posed to the first traveler, “What were the attitudes of those in the city you just left?”

                “They were fantastic people,” The second traveler exclaims, “honest, hardworking, and very generous.”

                The elderly man smiles and responds ““That is how you will find these people in this grand city ahead as well.”

You see, the way you view others in your environment is a reflection of yourself.  If you are hateful and critical person, you will view others as hateful and critical as well.  If you are a trustworthy and honest person, you will see others as trustworthy and honest as well.  If you are generous and loving, so will you see others around you.  Your attitude and behavior is a mirror image, or a reflection, as to how you will see others in your surroundings.  The same people in the same city will be perceived differently by two different travelers.  Its all based on PERSPECTIVE.

If you want to be surrounded by caring, trusting, hard working, and ambitious people, you need to be sure that you are that same person yourself.  Look in the mirror today and really evaluate the kind of person you are.  Then ask yourself “Is my own personality and outlook on life reflective of the type of people I want to surround myself with?”  If the answer is yes, GREAT!  Keep on keeping on.  If the answer is no, resolve to make that change in yourself and you will begin to view others in a whole new light.  This will, for SURE, change the way you interact in your relationships from now on. 

Happy New Year my ambitious, successful, hard working, and very kind friends!  May 2010 bring you the best that life has in store for you!

Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Nothing great has been achieved without enthusiasm.”  Is he right?  Can greatness actually be achieved  without Enthusiasm?

First things first…lets define enthusiasm.   According to Webster’s Dictionary, enthusiasm is defined as having great excitement OR a passionate devotion to or interest in a cause or subject…something inspiring zeal or fervor

Enthusiasm is NOT a cheerleader type of action but often people confuse enthusiasm with excitement.  Cheerleaders jump up and down; shout encouraging words to the team and fans, all to cause EXCITEMENT in a crowd.  They are not necessarily enthusiastic about what each play is, or how well the game is played, but instead these cheerleaders work to create excitement in the stands so that people remain excited even when things are not looking well for their team. 

However, enthusiasm is so much more than just jumping up and down, shouting your lungs out, or posing in acrobatic poses.  No one person can sustain such feeling of excitement for any extended length of time.  Enthusiasm is simply bringing pure joy into a task.

The most successful people in life have remained enthusiastic throughout their adventures. However, this type of enthusiasm  involves a person to openly express their deepest desires and feelings toward the task at hand. This can occur in many different ways…it can range from a simple smile when talking about the passionate subject all the way to maybe SHOUTING several cheers of joy, or going to a big convention event or a rally. But a person does NOT have to be loud, boisterous, or obnoxious to be considered enthusiastic; you just have to be willing to show HONESTLY your positive feelings.

Enthusiasm starts with awareness.   It only makes sense that you would  NOT be enthusiastic about something that you just don’t know much about. However, if you become aware of the cause or the business, and become aware of the reason or purpose of the activities and tasks, it will obviously be easier to develop a sense of enthusiasm towards them.  You simply cannot become  enthusiastic about something you don’t know anything about.  The most enthusiastic people in ANY cause or any business or in any organization are very WELL versed in their cause, business, or organization.

But is also makes sense that more knowledge you have about your cause, business, or organization will also eliminate any fear, worry or doubt that you may encounter.  These are obviously considered some of the greatest immobilizers in success.  If you fill your head with as much knowledge as you can about the subject, the better versed you are when problems or questions arise.  This not only builds CONFIDENCE, but it also creates enthusiasm for your cause, business, or organization.  Obviously, the more you know, the more passionate you become about the cause, business or organization.

Developing an enthusiastic attitude is important to be able to reach your goals. Even if others have long given up on the task or activity at hand, if you remain enthusiastic enough you’ll still have the inner spark that encourages you to continue what you are doing. Through enthusiasm, you can turn your life into an exciting AND MOST SUCCESSFUL journey.

Are you a glass half-empty kind of person or a glass half-full kind of person?  We hear this cliché all the time, and we probably think we know what kind of person we are.  However, have you even taken the time to  REALLY investigate yourself in all areas of life.  If you think you are an optimistic person, stop and ask yourself if you are ALWAYS an optimistic person in every circumstance that pops up in life. 

Lets face it, there are times when we all can feel like we are drowning in this world full of chaos and total mayhem, right?  More often than not, these feelings of being bogged down and burdened, or frustrated by the disturbances brought about by our surroundings can make us stressed out. These things can actually lead us to be unproductive, maybe even stagnant in our work life, home life, or personal relationships.

I have been hit with this a lot this past week.  These past few weeks have been quite the roller coaster for me personally.  I have literally stared down multiple life-changing trials and events this week and I have had to consider how to properly balance all of these unexpected disturbances in my life.  Without getting into details, I can tell you that I have experienced 2 fairly traumatic deaths, the 2^nd anniversary of my beloved father’s very sudden death, a medical issue that brought some concern and various other personal things all in these past 2 weeks that could have thrown me into a great depression and caused me to crawl into bed never to come out again.

We have all had days, weeks or even months like the one I just described, and we all have a choice in how we will handle these situations.  But one way to prevent ourselves from suffering the detrimental effects of the stress in our lives is to make optimism a part of our overall attitude.  If we choose to think positively in every situation when things are going well, you will be able to naturally allow optimism to overcome in the incredibly tough times as well. 

What is optimism?  According to Webster’s Dictionary, optimism is an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome in a certain situation.  Optimism, in a nutshell, is an attitude which keeps you going when you really want to quit.  Its knowing that there is a positive outcome at the end of the gloom and doom tunnel.  Its believing that the bumps in the road of life are NOT dead ends, but instead small, sometimes even inconvenient detours that force us to take a different route, but still able to get you to your final destination or goal in life. 

Let’s take this detour analogy a little further.  When embarking on a road trip, we are BOUND to hit MULTIPLE construction sites (thanks to the wonderful DOT!) and often have to detour our route because of an unexpected road that is closed ahead.  In these situations, we have a few choices in our attitude.  We can remain still, sit there, not move ahead and give up entirelly.  This is a defeatist attitude.  You remain frozen while other vehicles are speeding past, taking the designated detour route.  However, the defeatist just can’t seem to continue on because there was an unexpected change in the original plan.  A defeatist person will NEVER reach the final destination with this attitude. Life will keep passing this person by, leaving them in the dust of the rest of the world. 

Another option is to take the designated detour route but complain the entire way.  “Ahhh, we will never get there on time.” “This is ridiculous.” “I am sure we will get lost.”  “They never put enough signs up to tell us where to go.”  “My Nancy Know-It-All GPS can’t even figure out where we are.”   This is a typical pessimistic attitude, and frankly, it is lousy.  Who wants to be around that kind of person? 

The final option is to consider this detour as a new opportunity to see an unexpected area that maybe you have never seen before.  Possibly find a small village off the beaten path, explore a new scenic route, or maybe even finding a cute bistro to have lunch.   This is an optimistic attitude, finding the positive during the potential aggravation in the change in plans.  If you can find a positive in every situation in life, you will find yourself growing and becoming successful in all that you do. 

This may seem very “PollyAnna” to some, but it really can be an attitude changing lifestyle.  This can be the difference between living a mediocre or “good” life and living a GREAT life.  Everyone is bound to face trials, but its how we handle these trials that makes the difference.  Winston Churchill said “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”  What do you want to see? Do you want to always walk around seeing the difficulty in every situation, the gloom and doom, living a negative and grumpy life.  Or do you want to open your eyes to an inconvenience or change in life as a brand new opportunity in your world?  See this small setback as a gift…not an inconvenience.

One warning though about optimism – optimism MUST be paired with a bit of common sense.  Have you ever met a person who seems to have his or her head up in the clouds because what they are trying to achieve is totally and realistically impossible?  When you use optimism, make sure that your goal makes sense and you have to base it somewhat in reality. 

By doing so, you can be assured that more or less, by hard work and sincere effort, you can achieve your goal.  Always remember that optimism is useless if you use it for far-off dreams, like waking up to find that you are 20 years younger just by using a $20.00 face cream or that you somehow became a princess overnight.

Generally, optimism can really be a source of great inspiration and enlightenment.  It is a way for people to boost their inner strength when they feel like completely giving up.  Throughout the years, an optimistic attitude has been responsible for the success of a many individuals who, by all accounts, maybe never expected that they would achieve their goals because of the circumstances and detours of life, but they were still determined enough to move ahead with their dream.  I would even venture out to say that optimism is a trait which helped me keep my sanity during this past week when encountering these difficult times!

Being optimistic is a wonderful trait to have.  Not only can it benefit you, but it can also make you an instrument of encouragement to many others as well.  Enter every encounter in life with optimism.  Do NOT allow the possibility of defeat to enter in your thoughts. Concentrate on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses. Concentrate on your powers, instead of your problems.  Most importantly, SMILE when it hurts most.  This one simple action will change everything. 

Many times for some reason over the years, women tend to go from CONFIDENT little girls, to not-so confident, maybe even a little sheepish type of women.  I watch my daughter, 5 years old, play in a manner that we would describe as a “natural born leader.”  She confidently walks up to children around her own age, and with a huge smile says “Hi!  My name is Erica.  Wanna play?”  Without fear, the other children agree, and she immediately sets up a game of some sort, including all thekids that she just met. 

But a few days ago, while we were at the store, my daughter noticed another little girl about her age wearing those shoes with the wheels on the bottom.  Erica looked at her, and I could tell that she wanted to say hi…but she didn’t for some reason.  I encouraged Erica to say hello…but she just buried her head into my jacket instead.  I ignored it for the time being, but when we got back into the car, she said “Mommy…I didn’t want to say HI to that girl because she was so much better than I was.  I can wear roller skates but I fall down, but she was wearing them shopping with her mom…and she didn’t fall.”  God bless her little heart…we spent time talking about how she probably practiced a little longer than we have with her…and that she may have been a little older than Erica.  The important part of people is what is on the INSIDE…not the outside.  I asked her if she wanted to practice with her roller blades at home some more…but she was afraid that she would never be as good as this little girl.  That little girl in the mall intimidated her.  Erica, at 5 years old, did not believe in herself at that moment…and it broke my heart. 

I want to squash this insecurity in her as soon as possible.  I want Erica to know that she can do anything that she puts her mind too…I wanted her to know that with practice, she can be just as good as that little girl in the mall wearing the wheelies.  That is what we want to discuss on this call tonight…we want you to learn to START BELIEVING IN YOURSELF…if you don’t already. 

Insecurity can get the best of us…absolutely…but it is what we do with this insecurity that can either debilitate us or motivate us.  If you’ve spent much of your life dismissing your talents and doubting your capabilities, it may seem like an almost impossible goal to begin believing in yourself either for the first time…or finding that confidence once again. Since believing in yourself is such a vital part of goal achievement, overcoming your doubt and disbelief is crucial if you want to improve your life.

Believing in yourself is a simple matter of changing the way you think about yourself and believing in your capabilities. Remember…negative thinking is a habit, whether it applies to you yourself OR the circumstances of your life.

So, tonight, we want to discuss a simple 3 step process to develop a strong belief in yourself.  Get out a pen and paper and write these three points down…

1.      Acknowledge Your Potential.

Self-doubt is often the result of an ongoing barrage of assumptions. You assume you cannot succeed at your goals because you haven’t succeeded at other things before…maybe something like weight loss or completing a 5K run.   You assume you have no talent because your elementary school teacher once told you so. You assume you are destined for a mediocre life because you’ve never pushed yourself beyond your limits.

It’s important to understand that your assumptions are not necessarily true! You have accepted them as truth, but if you take a few minutes to really think about them, you’ll probably be surprised to realize that you may not have considered all the possible angles. I ENCOURAGE you to be willing to revisit your assumptions and then challenge them. You don’t have to change your mind about them yet, but be open to the possibility that you were wrong about yourself.

2.     Be willing to try anyway.

Even worse than making assumptions about yourself is when you don’t even TRY to do something better for yourself, simply because you have made yourself believe that whatever it is would it would be a waste of time. This is the worst disservice you could do to yourself!

Starting right now, make a pledge to give everything you do your best shot for the REST OF YOUR LIFE.  Don’t worry about whether it’s possible or not. Don’t worry about whether you’ve failed in the past or whether you’ve got what it takes to succeed this time around.

Simply make a promise to TRY – no matter what comes of it.  After all, as the saying goes… Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.

3.     Prove it to yourself.

If you really want to shatter your illusions of inability, try making a list of all the things you believe you cannot do. These may be little things or big things; it doesn’t matter. Just write down every single thing you believe you are incapable of doing involving the goal that you would like to reach.

Then, make it a point to prove yourself wrong by going out and doing them. Notice I didn’t say “doing them well.” I said simply, “doing them.”

You’ll never know until you try!

A few words of caution with this method: be sure you don’t sabotage your own efforts in order to prove yourself right. For example, perhaps you believe you can’t sing on stage and make millions of dollars and platinum records. In order to “prove” that your belief is right, you create a few tracks in a recording studio but you clearly KNOW that you do not have the voice of an angel.  IT is simply not a talent that you were blessed with.  Of course, you don’t get called by the big recording studios…simply because your talent is NOT singing, and therefore you conclude that your original suspicion was correct.

Don’t write down that you can’t survive jumping off a HUGE cliff without a parachute…don’t purposely sabotage your goal here.

Don’t do that to yourself. The idea is to move beyond your comfort zones, but NOT to overwhelm and sabotage yourself just to prove this point wrong.

But another word of caution…when you find that you CAN actually do some of the things that you found on your list of “can’t do’s”, even if it is not done WELL…you will start to re-shape your own personal image and rid yourself of the lies that you have believed for so long.  You will find yourself to be more confident, more secure, independent…successful.  You will find yourself to be the person that you never imagined you could be. 

With every positive result you achieve, you will eventually build up a stronger belief in yourself, and you can keep expanding your comfort zones to achieve more and more!  Regarding the mall story I mentioned before, Erica and I returned home that afternoon, I sat her down and helped her put on her roller blades and elbow pads and knee pads, and practiced everyday since then.  Erica is NOW confident that she CAN wear wheelies just like that other girl in the mall…and is no longer engulfing                                                                                 herself in the lie that she told herself.

This is true for you women too…Don’t believe the lies you have been telling yourself all along. You ARE important…and you are FULL of untapped potential.  Do these three simple steps often and you will find yourself LANDING ON THE MOON for sure!

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within” (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross).

“That is happiness: to be dissolved into something completely great.”  Willa Cather (Author)

To conclude this Barriers To Success Series, I will be addressing a problem that actually sounds so easy, almost like we should already know this, but in truth it can really be the most debilitating to accomplishing our goals in both business and in life. This barrier is the probably the top thing that stops countless people from realizing their ultimate professional achievements. This Barrier to Success is entitled the Fear of Fear. The word fear is a simple small four-letter word that can pack a huge punch. It has the ability to cost unsuspecting people hundreds, thousands and even millions of dollars.

Fear is normal. We all have some type of fear. Fear is a sign that you are growing and developing as an individual. When we develop as a person it involves getting outside of your personal comfort zone. Moving outside of your comfort zone usually creates some sense of tension and fear. However, fear is not the problem, the problem is how we respond to our fear.

We have an important protection instinct when we look into the eyes of fear. When we fear something that we believe can harm or even kill us, our body has two primary reactions: We choose to either fight (defend our position) or we choose flight (run like heck).

As humans however, we have an even more powerful ability to analyze and understand a situation before we react. We have the potential to step back from our fear and determine if it is actually worthy of the flight instinct. We can decide if we have maybe given this fear MORE power than it deserves. We may find that actually conquering this fear will bring us confidence, comfort, and success in the very thing that was holding us back in the first place.

In this DrinkACT business, a very typical, a very real fear for MANY women is making the initial call. We can find ourselves frozen with fear when calling leads, calling prospects, even calling your own personal friends and family. This is all because we fear being blasted with rejection. So, what do women tend to do? Women tend to put it off, maybe find something ELSE to do…not necessarily something BETTER to do… but something ELSE. Or we might make the initial call without a confident voice or stance, or possibly hang up as soon as someone on the other end answers. Women can work themselves up to a tizzy, we can get so nervous, maybe even shake while holding the phone to our ear, or worse yet…some women may not even be able to pick up the phone to even make the call. So we need to ask ourselves, is THIS the reason I am NOT making $1000 a week in DrinkACT? Is it because I FEAR FEAR? If so…lets kick fear in the butt and get rid of it so you can be successful in this DrinkACT business!Lets accomplish this in a logical way, a way that makes sense and that you can carry over fear after fear after fear. A proven way to conquer fear is to start by asking yourself a few important questions. Start by identifying a few things first and actually write them down to look at later.

1. Identify what it is that you actually fear. Most of the time in this business your answer will be a fear of rejection.

2. Identify what you could gain if conquer this fear. This positive vision helps overshadow the negative fear. You get to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

3. And finally, ask yourself what the price is to you or your family if you don’t overcome this fear.

After you have identified these three things, it is now time to desensitize ourselves and take positive action to conquer this fear. This is a difficult task for women as we, by nature, are “feelers.” But we can do this…and we can do it well. The easiest way and the fastest way to desensitize ourselves is to actually DO what we fear over and over and over again. Each time you face your fear and do what you fear most, you will actually find yourself fearing it less and less. Action is the single thing that will bring about results in your life. You can have a great business plan, but this plan without action is worthless. Taking action is the only thing that will get you closer to your goals. Action creates the positive momentum that is necessary to make things happen.

This positive momentum breaks the initial immobilizing hold that fear can have on you.

Think back to when you were first learning to ride a bicycle. Do you remember the fear you had? Sitting on the seat, and placing both feet on the pedals, balancing on two wheels. The actual fear, of course, was falling down and getting hurt. But the upside to facing your fear was riding your bike with your friends training-wheel free. And once you learned how to ride a two wheel bike, you never needed training wheels again. You conquered your initial fear and now you will always now know how to ride a bike WITHOUT fear. And as we all know, once you learn how to ride a bike, you ALWAYS know how to ride a bike. Chances are you don’t even REMEMBER the fear that you had in the beginning anymore. Now it just comes “natural” to you.

Overcoming fear is a lifelong quest, but it is absolutely doable. And remember this, there are two types of people in the world:

1. Those who try, stumble and maybe even fall, but they immediately get up and try again 

2.Those who actually fear the stumble and therefore never even try.

Which group do you think is more successful in business and in life?

Don’t let fear get in the way of you moving from good to GREAT!

“I am convinced that if the rate of change inside is less than the rate of change outside, then the end is in sight.”

This is a powerful statement for us as a DrinkACT company but even more so for us as an individual. This means that change has to happen from the INSIDE first before any changes can effectively happen on the outside.

Hence the empowerment part of this particular Barrier to Success entitled “Resistance to Change.” If we hold onto the concept “Well, this is how I have always been.” or “I don’t need to change. Things need to change around me.” or “I’m just not able to change.” “I just don’t see the need for a change.” Whatever the reason, chances of anything different happening in your life is pretty slim, almost impossible. There is a quote that reads “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again expecting a different result.”

How does this work for us as individuals? Why do I need to be willing to change to be successful?

We need to start to think of change as an event FIRST happening internally as opposed to externally. We must start really seeing our lives the way it is at this current moment and allow it to create a feeling inside of you to move from good to GREAT! Make a change in your life to get out of where you are and transition into the way your life is “supposed” to be.

Here is an illustration to help you see this practically. Think of a piece of artwork that is hanging on your wall. Is it hanging straight, perpendicular with the floor? Of course it is, or at least I assume it is. But if you look at the picture and you see that it is crooked, what happens? How does that make you feel?

If you are like me, it drives you crazy. And it drives you crazy because you know how that picture is SUPPOSED to look on the wall. It is supposed to hang straight. But, because it is not it causes duress in my head. It can be the most beautiful piece of artwork I have ever seen, but because it hangs crooked, it is no longer beautiful…it’s just plain disturbing. I know how that picture, the masterpiece, is SUPPOSED to hang on the wall and when it is not that way it becomes a distraction and I need to fix it immediately.

The key is that until we reach all of our goals we need to see our life as we see that crooked picture hanging on the wall. We need to view our lives as the crooked picture. We have to see our lives as CROOKED and it has to create an intense feeling inside, a feeling that would force us to work to remedy the situation. If we can see our lives as crooked, then our subconscious mind will ask “How do I fix this? What do I need to change to make my life look the way it is “supposed to.”

But another point to stress here is that the crooked picture didn’t just straighten itself on its own. Thats impossible. You didn’t “will” the crooked picture to all of a sudden become perpendicular with the floor again. You can’t simply close your eyes and “deem” this to happen. NO! Instead, you HAD to get up from your chair and make it happen. You had to MOVE to make that change. You had to take ACTION for that picture to become straight again.

The same goes with our lives…for instance…If your bills are piling up on your desk, but your paycheck is NOT getting any bigger, you do NOT need to be sitting there thinking there is nothing you can do and just wallow in dispair. The joy of this is that there is ALWAYS something else you can do…ALWAYS. You just have to be willing to accept that there needs to be change in your life. You need to think about how you will make a change in your life to pay these bills. The change may be to create a realistic budget and stick with it. Or it may be to cut back on going out to dinner and buying extra material that you may not really need right now, or it may be to work harder at your DrinkACT business. Maybe change the way you are doing things with this business. Change your action plan. You may need to make a change immediately in your method and even more importantly make this change in your MINDSET. Recognize the need to change, accepting this change…and and take action to create this change.
Remember, change needs to happen from the inside first. You need to be willing to recognize the need for a change in your life. You need to see your current situation as the crooked picture and allow that to create a feeling of displeasure and let it get you angry. Then, you need to get up from your chair and MAKE that change. You need to MOVE to action. The picture cannot be straightened without you taking action to straighten it. Get up and get moving.

Women have an astronomical amount of things to do each and every day. The typical woman is EXPECTED to do almost twice as much as a man in any given day. The stereotypical woman is expected to wake up first, get the kids up and prepare for school, make breakfast, clean the house, do laundry, take a shower (hopefully), plan for dinner, get groceries, MAKE meals, the list goes on and on and on. And by nature, we have a set plan. We make it almost a ROUTINE for getting these things done on time each and every day. We have a time frame that each event needs to happen. We know what time the bus comes so we know when we have to have the kids up, fed, teeth brushed, and out the door. We know what dinner time is in our homes and we know that if the chicken is not thawed out and in the oven in time, dinner will be late…forcing (with sarcasm) “severe hunger pains” on our family. We make these things a priority in our lives. We look at them as “We Must Do’s” and actually do them in the time allocated throughout the day.Why not make a plan with our DrinkACT business the same way? We need to make DrinkACT a PRIORITY in our lives. We need to fit it in under the same importance as getting the kids off to school on time or making sure dinner is ready at 6pm.

There is a saying “People don’t plan to fail, they just fail to plan.” This is true with women in DrinkACT. “Women don’t plan to fail at DrinkACT, women just fail to plan.” You wouldn’t have invested a small amount of money into this business just to see it become a failure. That is ridiculous. Instead, you invested this small amount of money into this business because you WANTED to make it a success for you.

Why not make a plan, a significant plan, to make DrinkACT a HUGE success for you, just like your daily routine.

There is another saying that I want you to remember, “There is NOTHING unless first a dream.” If you were like me, as a little girl you would dream about your life as an adult. I had my entire wedding planned out by the time I was 13 years old. I knew what kind of dress I was going to wear, how my hair would look, the flowers I wanted in my bouquet, where the ceremony was going to take place, my wedding ring, my bridesmaids dresses, the honeymoon location, everything. The only thing I needed was the guy, but that was a different thought.

I did, and actually still have been doing the exact same thing with my DrinkACT business. When I was first introduced to this opportunity, I looked into it very carefully. I then decided to invest a small amount of money into the business and learned all I could about network marketing, my DrinkACT back office, and learn how to become successful. But I also learned the art of the “dream.” What do I want to DO with this business? How much money do I want to make? What are my ultimate financial goals for this to work for me? These were all important questions that I asked myself.

My question to you is first and foremost is Do you have a dream for your DrinkACT business? Do you have a set goal in mind? If not, MAKE ONE. Set a goal today and do not stop until you reach it.

So…how do you do create a successful plan?

First, start with a vision board. My enroller has introduced me to a “Vision Board” idea, also thought of as a dream board. He finds pictures of material things that he would LOVE to obtain with his business, along with written affirmations, a lifestyle image, and other ideas that he sets his mind on when doing his DrinkACT business. This is a fantastic way of planning out your future with DrinkACT. Seeing the final goal gives you ambition and a purpose to work harder everyday.

Second, work to set small goals for yourself to obtain the things you have on your vision board. For instance…Say to yourself “I will get out 2 samples per day…10 this week.” “I will make $100 this week.” If you do that you will get out 40 samples per month – 480 samples per year, and with proper follow-up, you will have met your financial goal and most likely exceeded it.

Third, find an accountability partner. An accountability partner is essential to keeping you on track with your business. This person needs to be someone who will not JUDGE you but listens to your goals clearly and will hold you accountable to meet these goals every week. In our daily lives, we have accountability partners without even really knowing it. Again, our kids EXPECT us to get them up and out of the house on time for school, our families EXPECT us to have dinner ready at dinner time, etc. These are accountability people in our lives. We have important jobs to do each day, and our families HOLD US to them. Having an accountability partner for your Drink ACT business is NO DIFFERENT than this. We are making this a priority in our lives, just like dinner. Ask your accountability partner to hold you to the number of samples you get out per day or per week, or have them hold you to the amount of phone calls you make every day to new prospects, enrollees for coaching, or follow-ups calls. But find someone who will ABSOLUTELY keep you on track and in turn you can and should do the same for them.

And finally, create a schedule. Again, lets mirror your daily routine. You have a schedule you follow everyday to get things done. We need to do this same thing for our DrinkACT business. Decide right now what days and times you want to work on your business ONLY. Then have a SPECIFIC plan for each day and time and STICK WITH IT! Write your schedule down either in a daily or weekly planner or use the calendar in your DrinkACT builders back office…this method will actually send you reminders via email AND text messaging. The key though is to have a pre-scheduled time to work on specific areas of this business. Make this a priority so you know what times you have available to do follow-up calls, when to call new prospects, when to call your enrollees for coaching, return emails, return voicemails, listen to corporate or training calls, etc. Sitting down at your desk at your pre-scheduled times and asking yourself “What should I do first?” is NOT productive. Having a pre-scheduled plan alleviates this problem.

Taking these four steps to creating a plan to become successful will absolutely move you from good to GREAT!