Song of My Heart Demonstrators

don't say "I want to" unless you're willing to

Some tough talk today. That's ok. You don't come to my site or join my Facebook business group just for fluffy inspirational mojo and cute memes, right?

I hear empty promises all the time. "I want to do this." "I want to do that."

No you don't.

Not really.

How do I know? Because you're not actually going to even try.

No steps will be taken beyond speaking it aloud.

Zero progress will be made towards earning this thing you claim to want.

It was something you said in the moment, with no thought beforehand other than, "This feels like a good thing to say right now." And as soon as it was said, it was out of your head. I'll see you a year from now and nothing will have changed.

That "desire" wouldn't even dent a marshmallow.

You didn't go home and work on this outcome you allegedly want. You did nothing to fan the spark of this supposed goal.

You didn't write it down, or tack it to your vision board, or break down any steps to take. You never made any phone calls, or told your upline or an accountability partner, or penciled it into your planner. You didn't do any research, or Google any how-to's, or strategize your plan of attack.

Did you really want this thing? Nope. All you did was speak a wish disguised in the wording of a want.

I think our businesses would be very different if the next time we were tempted to say, "I want to promote to the next level," we actually stopped and examined how much we truly wanted that thing.

And took a moment and thought about what truly desiring something means. It ALWAYS means ACTION.

It always moves us from our parking space.

 So don't say it unless you mean it. Unless you're motviated to get in gear and actually go for it. Don't say you want to unless you're willing to. 

Otherwise all I hear are empty promises.

I'll see you next year. Where will you be?

 

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decisions, decisions

Struggling with a business decision? It's ok to take some time over it, but if you're not gaining any clarity, it might be time to sit down with a pen and paper. I recently had to do this exercise with every aspect of my business as I made changes for my health and balance the needs of my growing children. It was hard--but the insights I gained about what I want, the dead wood that was pruned off my schedule, and the streamlining of my business processes was absolutely priceless.

What are your options?
What can you rule out?
What lines up with your priorities?
What does that leave?

Three quick principles to consider when struggling with a choice:

1. Don't go over the same ground again and again. Make some decisions, no matter how small. Eliminate some of those options that are muddying the waters. Write down why you made those choices so that you don't revisit issues you DID decide already while you're trying to decide on the rest of it.
   
2. Give yourself a reasonable deadline to make the choice. Make a pro/con list. Pray about it and consult with your spouse or a trusted, business-minded friend. Then make the decision when the deadline arrives, knowing it might not be the perfect choice, but you made it with the best information you had at the time.
3. Remember--NOT making a decision IS making a decision. It's better to make it and have some measure of control than to keep putting it off until the choice is made for you. Successful business owners make quick--but not hasty--decisions. They don't dither about and dally until the options narrow themselves down or the opportunity dissipates on its own.

Can you think of times in the past where you let a decision linger until the outcome wasn't in your hands any longer? Was that a positive or negative for your business? Was that a positive boost or a negative drain on your self-confidence and leadership skills?

Be on the Boat! 9 tips for first-timers earning the Grand Vacation

I'm thrilled beyond words that so many of the demonstrators I know are motivated to work for ALASKA this year! For many, it will be their very first incentive trip. I'm working towards it, too! I've compiled a list of hopefully-helpful reminders/thoughts regarding this exhilarating jump-start period at the beginning. Read it now so you can be prepared for some of the emotions and practicalities that are going to occur during this exciting year!

It's going to be one of the hardest things you've ever done, but also one of the most fun and rewarding experiences of your whole life. My heart is with every one of you who has dared to dream this huge and audacious dream! We can do it!

Download Be on the Boat Earning the Grand Vacation

Feel free to share this handout with your teams or local support gatherings. Many demonstrators find it helpful to add an hour-long bonus session focusing on earning the trip, before or after their regular monthly meetings. You could also schedule a bi-weekly coffee date for all the demos in your area who are working towards this goal, or start or join a Facebook support group for the purpose.

Whatever you do, don't labor alone on this goal. Surround yourself with positive people and keep your eyes on the prize! The groundwork you are laying RIGHT NOW will determine how the rest of your year goes.

Good luck, and DREAM BIG!

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Grasp, Reach, Stretch: Setting goals that will get you where you want to go

MOST direct sales consultants have trouble setting good goals. They either don't set them high enough, and lose interest and focus because they know in their heart they'll be able to hit it without really trying--or they set them TOO high, with no real plan in place to actually do the steps that will be required to hit such an audacious goal.

For the last several years I've taught my Business Boosters training group this easy way to categorize and quantify your goals. I tell them to think of their goals as exercises they are doing from your office chair. Grasp, Reach, and Stretch. Every goal you set falls into one of these three categories.

• The first is a GRASP goal. "Grasp" goals are something that will probably happen anyway based on your current levels of effort, time, and energy. It is already within your grasp right there on your desk.
• The second is a REACH goal. "Reach" goals are goals that you have to stir yourself to get to. You have to extend your arms or your current level of effort, to reach them. It is on a nearby shelf or table.
• The last type of goal is a STRETCH goal. For a "Stretch" goal, you must plan ahead, get up and move, sometimes put yourself in an uncomfortable position, in order to gain the desired object. It's up on a high shelf or even across the room.

I encourage you to take a few moments to look at where you'd like to be by the end of the year (you may find the Ultimate Stampin' Goals Worksheet to be useful for this if you have not already begun a list). Multiple studies show that simply WRITING down goals increases the likelihood that they will be achieved by as much as 25%.

 

On a separate sheet of paper, sort those goals into GRASP-REACH-STRETCH categories. Be honest!

 

If you did it last year, it's automatically a "grasp" goal. If you see too many "grasp" goals, you are not challenging yourself. These aren't really goals--more like QUOTAS you hope to hit. You already know you are capable of doing this activity level in a normal year.

 

If your desire is for PROGRESS, there should be a good balance of "reach" goals. It's ok to have reach goals in every area of your business--after all, you have an entire year to work on them! The common mantra "Better your Best" is a "reach" goal. It is something just beyond the grasp of what you did last year. Where could you improve by 10%?

 

If your desire is to truly EXCEL over last year, there needs to be at LEAST one "stretch" goal. I encourage you to set three or fewer "stretch" goals in a year--after all, the point is to actually hit them, not for them to be so many or out of reach that you end up consistently missing your goals. You can always add another "stretch" goal if you have completed your current one and there's still time left in the year. But it's very important to keep our businesses in balance with all the different aspects of our lives. Too many "stretch" goals will get you in trouble in short order.

I hope you'll keep this simple way of categorizing and evaluating in mind as you work through your plans for the year. If you are comfortable sharing one or more of your "Grasp-Reach-Stretch" goals for this year or month here in the comments, please do so! Sometimes people don't even know what to work towards, and your goal might spark one of their own. We're all in this together!

Ultimate Stampin' Goals Worksheet: 2016-17 Year

I love goal-setting! Knowing where you are, where you've been and where you are going will help you set well-defined challenges for yourself. Did you know that just by writing it down, you've increased the chances that it will actually happen? Many studies have shown that goals written down are 30-40% more likely to be achieved.

Fill out the Ultimate Stampin' Goals worksheet thoughtfully and post it somewhere where you can refer to it regularly. For your convenience, I have included both the PDF handout version and the original Word document that you can customize for yourself or your team.

Download Stampin Goals Worksheet (PDF document)

Download Stampin Goals Worksheet (editable Word Document)

Dream BIG, friend! Good luck in the new Stampin' Up year!

Psst....Put "Alaska Grand Vacation" on one of those lines--let's work for it together!

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Why I love Tuesdays and you should, too

I love Tuesdays because the Weekly Updates always infuse me with fresh energy and a renewed sense of focus. I advise my team to begin each Tuesday with not only reading the updates, but writing down one thing they will act upon for each item on the list.

Successful business people don't just absorb information--they have become experts at boiling it down to what ACTIONS need to be taken, given that information. And then they follow through and DO those actions. And they do it consistently, over and over and over again, because new information and insights are ALWAYS coming at them.

When we stop acting on that new knowledge because we've let our enthusiasm falter, we lose our consistency and very shortly afterwards, our perseverance begins to fail. Right there we have lost ALL THREE of those necessary ingredients for successful, sustainable business. We are doomed.

I do not say that lightly. The writing is on the wall if you cannot turn this ship around.

The good news is, you can turn the ship around if you can regather those three necessary components. Of the three, enthusiasm, consistency and perseverance, enthusiasm is the hardest and most elusive trait. So we focus on the other two--perseverance and consistency--and know that the other one will fluctuate from time to time.

And guess what? Consistency and Perseverance get a fresh kickstart EVERY TUESDAY. Hooray for us!

So what do action steps look like?

For instance, last month a new stamp was released (this one's easy): Will you order it? Will you share about it on social media? Will you buy an extra one and create a team incentive challenge using it as a prize? Write it down!

I read the rest of the updates for that week and then I wrote down to 1. watch the firehouse video; 2. talk up OnStage to my team; 3. make a blog post this week about the Paper Pumpkin sale; 4.mention in my newsletter that the limited-edition Sale-A-Bration items are still available for now; and blog about the weekly deals.

Five steps, counting the purchase of the stamp, that give me a direction to work in, a multi-pronged approach to my business tasks, and a regular check-in time every single week. Now, I will tell you honestly that I did not get all six steps done that week. But I got at least four more of them done than I would have if I had read the updates and gone on my merry way. And I know I was a lot happier when the next Tuesday rolled around and I was ahead of the game, having followed through on my action items.

If you continue this way each Tuesday, making note of and doing at least one thing relating to each entry in the updates, you will not only stay informed and on top of things, your business will be given a boost because you are transforming knowledge into ACTION STEPS.

The knowledge is there for everyone who cares to stay informed. We all have that same opportunity.

The difference between business and hobby demonstrators is the difference between knowledge and acting upon the knowledge. Between having the opportunity and seizing it.

Every single Tuesday you have the chance to make that choice. I urge you to choose action. And you'll learn to love Tuesdays, just as much as I do.

Dream BIG, friends!

Love, Lyssa

The Dickens Principle: past, present, future

Successful business owners work on three things at once.

They work on:

past business followup;
present business prep;
and future business ideas.

Every business work day, you should do one thing in each area. You may have to do a lot more than just one thing in a particular area on some days, but it you strive to do at least one thing from all three areas, every day, you will be simultaneously working on the past, present and future health of your business.

If you've read or seen "A Christmas Carol," you're getting why I call this the Dickens Principle! Work like the Dickens on the Past, Present & Future of your business and you can't help but move forward with success. How much further along will you be this time next year, using this organized approach?

Building Years vs. Balance Years

Everybody loves "building years." The years when everything is coming together, behind-the-scenes efforts are paying off, and there are measurable leaps forward in your business. It's exciting.

But, ironically, it's easy to get off track immediately following one of those exciting growth periods. Why?

"Building years" alternate with what I call "balance" years, years when you're overwhelmed by what you took on. When you're dealing with growing pains. Sometimes ideas that were working great just kind of come to a halt for no discernible reason.

And sometimes, you're just not at the same place in your mind and heart that you were earlier.

Don't look at balance years as a temporary placeholder, or something to be endured, between building years. This period in your life is a gift, a chance to self-evaluate, to prune branches, to refine your own dreams and goals.

To stop playing catch up... and actually catch up.

Balance years are just as crucial for the long term success of your business as building years are necessary.

What are you in right now? A building year, or a balance year?

Realistically prioritizing during a busy month

As I write this, it is a brand new month and the perfect time for a fresh start. December can be NUTS. I encourage you to embrace that reality and take a few minutes to sit down and decide four things you will make a priority this month. Set yourself a goal that you can succeed at and feel good about.

My priorities this month are to:
1. Connect with my team at our annual Christmas party;
2. wrap up all the loose odds and ends from the fall, so I can start Sale A Bration fresh and clean;
3. get my personal and business Christmas cards out;
4. get my weekly e-newsletter out once per week so customers stay informed of specials and assisted with holiday gift, decor, and packaging ideas.

There are MANY other things I want to be (and will be) doing this month, of course, but if I can get these four priorities worked on, I will feel like I found a good balance between my home business and all the other directions a busy wife and mom can get pulled during the holidays.

Balance is not static. It's a pendulum, and it swings first one way and then the other, sometimes careening wildly one direction so that you over-correct in the other. The key is the keep the swing as small and tight as possible.

December is a month notorious for imbalance. Decide today that you're going into the season with reasonable expectations of yourself--and that you won't accept the burden of self-imposed guilt when you truly have done the best you can.

30-Day Business Booster Challenge: Sept 2015

Attention, enthusiastic Stampin’ Up demonstrators

who want to make progress towards a vital, growing business!

For years, demonstrators from all over the country have been asking me to share tips for success. I started this encouragement blog, and I've spoken several times at regionals, Leadership conferences, webinars and Conventions in the past ten years, but I always hoped one day there would be a way to touch demonstrators right where they are.  The 30-Day Business Booster Challenge has proven itself effective for my team and for demonstrators all around the world.

"30 days later, I am honestly astounded that I have seen so much momentum built in the past 30 days. I have been a procrastinator, but at this point, I'm waking up with a specific to-do list in mind (or written out) and accomplishing almost everything I HAVE to each and every day. I've got wonderful new ideas on how to implement systems more effectively within my business..."

"It has been a big help in shaping my thinking and making me realize my self talk is way more negative than I thought smile emoticon I haven't seen myself as a full-on business demo and compared myself to the top demos negatively and allowed myself to excuse laziness, lack of organization and productivity in myself. No excuses now! I am a go-getting business demo and I will act accordingly!"

"Thank you so much, Lyssa! This really has been helpful to both my business and my life. In part, it is helping me decide the direction that SU! will have in my life!"

 Within three days of the program's first run-through with my team,

I knew I wanted to offer it for all of you.

And I think that September 2015, the final month of the transition period before we head into the new Flex Points program, is the perfect time to make give yourself a turbo boost and make a renewed commitment to yourself and your business.

Because you deserve to see results from your efforts--and you deserve to know where to focus your efforts in an organized and efficient way.  If you've been feeling alone or overwhelmed, let's take care of that, shall we? I'd be honored to come along side you to encourage and exhort. While success looks different for each person, and my results may not be your results--there's no reason you can't start achieving successes of your own, and soon.

"I was on the fence for a few months and just wasn't sure about joining your challenge. I am SO glad that I did! You gave me the push and motivation that I needed to start an online stamp club. I've been thinking and thinking about it for two years but could never make the decisions needed to get it off the ground. You gave me the push to actually DO it. I'm happy to say that it is up on my blog and I've been marketing it on my blog, in my newsletter and on Facebook. I'm proud of what I've accomplished."

"My business and my attitude are so different from this time last year, it's like a different person. Thanks for that, Lyssa. I think the most important thing I've learned from the Business Booster is that when I focus my attention and intensity on something, with guidance and direction from someone who has been there, I can achieve amazing results."

"I loved this course. That's not to say there were not challenges. That's not to say there weren't times I was miserable (struggling with Pinterest ). But I KNOW even the things I struggled with were good for me! This was definitely money well spent, in my view, and yes, I would do it again!"

Ready to begin? Good for you!

Congratulations on taking the very first step towards energizing your business in a new and dynamic way this month, that will pay off for years to come. Just by signing up for this challenge, you are light years ahead of anyone who is still on the fence and unwilling to commit to a systematized plan.

Here's how the 30-Day Business Booster Challenge works:

Every day in September I will post a business step for you to take in building up your Stampin' Up business, in a private Facebook group. When you have completed the task, you'll reply "done" on the post. This will be on your honor and you are responsible to keep track of your "dones." I'll provide a printout for you to use to tally them up and see which ones you need to go back and complete.

The thirty tasks are extremely varied. Some will be simple, others will be more difficult. A few will have a deadline so that the finished task can be built upon with an additional task later. All of them will be valuable areas of attack for the stamping business person.

And since each day's task will be it's own post, all follow up questions and comments and any tips shared by your fellow challenge members will be neatly kept together for you to easily find later.

 "This is my second time around with this program and I can honestly say it's an amazing course and one that you can take over and over and find something new and valuable in it each and every time! It truly seemed that where I was deficient in my business was the portion of the session that spoke to me the loudest and the most strongly. I highly recommend taking it more than once!"

"I've learned enough to write a book - so many valuable tips, helpful hints, life changing information and complete game changer business practices! Thank you so very much - I hope I'm NEVER the same demonstrator again!!!"

"I've done more in 30 days than I'd done in the six months since I signed up. I've struggled to believe that I can do a business like this, but now I know I CAN!"

"I've dropped off of the last few challenges, because my BUSINESS has me so BUSY.... I'd call this a successful 30 day boost, thanks to Lyssa for the push, challenges and encouragement."

Two things about the fee for the Challenge:

Because this is an enormous time commitment for me, I charge a nominal fee of $30. Just one dollar a day for a boot camp that can change your entire Stampin’ Up business—that’s a pretty good investment!

I'm so confident that you will find this 30-Day Business Booster as motivating and useful as these other demonstrators have, that I am offering a 100% money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied at the end of the month.

Requirements to participate:

1. You must be serious about actively participating and be willing to work. Some of the challenges will be easy, others will be a stretch. Most demonstrators are able to fully complete between 18-24 of the challenges in a typical month.
2. You must be a currently active Stampin’ Up demonstrator.
3. You do not need to be a member of my downline to participate.
4. You must pay the $30 fee via PayPal invoice. Members of my team participate free.
5. You must be on Facebook. The challenges will be posted there in a private, closed group. At this time there is no option for participation outside of Facebook.
6. You must abide by the Terms of Service posted on the Facebook group. Positivity, participation, politeness and passion are must-haves!

Are you ready to kick your backside into gear and start the NEW Stampin' Up year in grand style? Let’s do this! Leave a comment or email me at Lyssa@songofmyheartstampers.com with your email address, and I will send you a PayPal invoice with a welcome and instructions.

Boot Camp begins on September 1^st. Hope to see you there! You won't regret it.