Nicholas, Meal Shake and a Lesson for Grandma

If I’ve learned one thing in my life, it’s that anything worth having is worth working for and also having the patience to wait for the right timing. I’ve also learned that almost any success in life requires a “mindset”. Our business is no different – it’s very much a “head” game. Attitude is king!

I’ve learned a lot from our five grandkids, and am constantly reminded by Nicholas, our youngest who we see frequently, that children have an incredibly focused mindset when they desire something. I’m talking laser focus! NOTHING will deter them from having what they want. They have NO reservations or inhibitions in the pursuit of what they want. They go after it with single-minded resolve. If parental permission is required to get what they want, they are relentless in their requests; they have NO fear of expressing their desire to have exactly what they want!

They will ask, beg, demand, plead with and even charm the pants off the adult to get what they want. Our Nicholas even stood on his head last night in a “full court press” attempt at getting what he'd set his heart on. And perhaps even more fascinating was the skill with which he charmed his mother into standing on hers too!! I’m so happy I wasn't asked – I’d probably have done it too, or injured myself trying! I lOVE kids! We can learn so much from them. They know to never give up until you get your heart’s desire. What a great MINDSET!

I saw it in action last night with Nicholas. He LOVES his Shaklee Vanilla Meal Shake and he was asking his Mom (my daughter) if she would get it for him. The tactics that followed were educational and enthralling to observe how he proceeded to get that Meal Shake. Guess who won??? Of course, he did! His desire to have it, his intense determination to do whatever it took, and the charm and persuasive persistence he used, definitely got him the Meal Shake - maybe not instantly - but nevertheless he did get it!

Lessons from a child:

1. “Desire” is strong weapon

2. Don’t give up after the first “no”

3. Make your desire for “whatever” stronger than your fear of failure. Be confident in your expectation of receiving what you want! Want to lose weight? Your desire to be slim and healthy must be stronger than the desire to eat that fat food. Want to succeed in business? Your desire to win must be stronger than the obstacles that inevitably show up to deter you.

4. Be childlike in your persistence and focus – keep asking. Keep trying.

Have a GREAT day today and try looking at life through the eyes of a child.

We live in such a beautiful world!

Bottle of Alfalfa Saves Western Boot

October 2011 was a great month in so many ways, but one of the highlights was a visit from my cousin Dawn from Canada whom I had never met. We had SO much fun getting to know each other, sharing family stories and of course exploring the Austin area, which meant seeing some sights, snapping pictures, eating specialty foods at restaurants with atmosphere like the Salt Lick BBQ, and a visit to downtown Austin which included a Trailer Food crawl.

Austin isn’t just the music capital of the world – it’s the trailer food capital as well so as a side note on Trailer Food – the following quote from our friend Tiffany Harelik’s Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook describes it best, “if you’re not familiar with trailer food, it is street food created by up-and-coming chefs who offer their delicacies out of re-purposed Airstreams and cargo trailers.”

Back to Western boots! I’ll get to the Alfalfa part in a bit! So during the visit, Dawn really wanted to load up on some authentic Western gear and I learned that she’s fun to shop with – a woman after my own heart - she tries on everything in sight until she finds just the perfect combination. One of the shopping trips found us in Bastrop at the Texas Boot Company for 3½ hours of trying on clothes, boots and belts! After a while, I got bored watching Dawn, so what do you think I did? Yepperooooo!!! I started trying on boots for fun!

Here’s what I discovered. Boots without zippers don’t go on easily for people with a high arch. In fact it was some of the hardest work I’ve done recently. My left foot was the chosen guinea pig and by the time I had laboriously pushed, squeezed and stomped it into ten or so boots, the pain and swelling on the top of my foot kicked in fiercely and I took some “screwitol” (more about this for a future blog) and feeling a bit better started squeezing another part of my anatomy into a series of low-slung jeans. Better luck with these…found a pair right away. Woohoooo!

I sat down with a glass of wine the delightful attendant provided, while my loving husband, not being one to see his wife cheated out of a pair of boots, went on a mission and found a pair that HE liked and demanded I have them if they fit. Sure enough they were gorgeous Lucchese python boots – ones I’d overlooked – not hard to do in a store with hundreds of boots! The desire to try them on superseded the pain in the left foot, so I stuffed my swollen foot into them and found the length was perfect - but they were tight! No problemo! Tall-guy-in-a-Stetson hat came to the rescue “We’ll stretch them out for you!” And so they did. A couple of glasses of wine later Dawn and I left with our loot.

It became painfully apparent the next day that the foot was still traumatized and the boot was not going on, nor the next day, nor the week after, nor two weeks after! Bummer! My foot was no longer swollen but refusing to enter the boot beyond a certain point. Chuck to the rescue with a brilliant idea! We take Shaklee Alfalfa for allergies, arthritis, fluid retention and you name it. What if we fed the boot a bottle of Alfalfa, said he. So he grabbed each boot and shoved a full bottle of Alfalfa down its throttle! Meanwhile we left for our Bahamas trip and it wasn’t until sometime after Thanksgiving I remembered the boots and decided to try again. Success! Both boots had responded to the Alfalfa treatment and my foot slipped in and out so much easier.

I’ve worn them three times so far and all is well – comfortable and getting broken in! Each time I put them away? They get the Alfalfa treatment!

Amazing the difference a bottle of Alfalfa can make to a Western boot!

One Dead Frog - One Deaf Frog

Happy New Year to all my amazing friends and family!  2011 was the year of the "Traveling Tripps" - we were gone a lot and loving everywhere we travelled.  Now that we are into 2012, it looks very much like we will be doing more of the same - by choice of course. We are so blessed to have this ability to travel, run a successful business no matter where we are, and spend valuable time with close friends and family.

Enjoying life and making a difference is something I've always dreamed of and it's wonderful to live that dream.

For me this is the year of "joyful accomplishment".  I'm setting out to accomplish many things - great and small.  In the journey toward those goals, I intend to be joyful not only in the triumph of success but also in the inevitable "obstacles" that will surely show up - they always do (sneaky little beasties) so best to anticipate them and know how to react in advance! They appear when least expected, but are always lurking out there somewhere to rise up and attempt to thwart our progress. I say "attempt" because it's true that only I can give permisssion to these obstacles or setbacks to stop me in my tracks!  That will not happen this year. I will be unstoppable. Invincible! And will not pause in my quests or get distracted from my goals by anyone or any unforseen "thing" that interferes. I will be joyful in all circumstances.

One of my "big" goals is to be the best cheerleader and encourager that I can, not only to my wonderful Shaklee team and to those in my circle of family and friends, but to myself. Encouraging words lift us up and make a difference. This year I will joyfully and purposely become even better at encouraging others.  Which reminds me of a great little story about frogs and how it also relates to people. People can tear down or build up with words and actions.  We can discourage or encourage with a look or one word. Let us all try harder to be encouragers to one another!

The Frog Story

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit.

When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out.

When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?"

The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

This story teaches two lessons

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them. Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path.

It is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can be so powerful. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times or to give up in despair.

Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.

S.O.S. Shut Out Static ~ Slip On Some Solitude

I remember when …………… oh my goodness, I’ve turned into my grandmother! Grandparents are masterful at telling stories that begin with “I remember when….” Have you heard any of those tales lately? Have you told any recently? Are you just too busy to sit and listen to a story – or to share one? Are your eyes rolling back into your head about now or are you curious to see where I’m going with this? Soon, I will blog a real story, but for right now, here’s a sort-of-a-story that begins with those words – after all I’m a great-grandma, so I feel I’ve earned the right ……!

I remember when solitude once existed for mankind. It was alive and well – enjoyed and appreciated. Not so very long ago, everyone knew some solitude. One didn’t have to schedule it, or write solitude into their planner in order to block off time to enjoy some of it. It was simply there – it was naturally woven into the spaces of time throughout the day. In fact sometimes one had to seek out friends and family to escape long stretches of solitude! Imagine that! It was there in abundance and while for some there was too much of it, for most of us it was a real blessing.

So what is solitude? It’s spending time by oneself, apart from other people. It’s taking intentional time alone - away from the madding crowds of people, the demands of work and family, the cell phone interruptions, the emails and texts, the social networks, computers and TV’s. It’s less about doing and more about being.

As a race we humans have scheduled out solitude and replaced it with a plethera of activities that permits no room for anything but work and continuous go-go-go. Cell phones are permanently plugged in our ears and we never log off our computers, iPads, smart phones, people are always around us and we get zero time alone. We fill in the spaces of time where solitude once lived and we’ve replaced them with work, play and people. One used to get a little solitude in the car – not anymore - the incessant cell beeps, emailing, texting and FB posts take care of that; or we fill in that opportunity for a little solitude with annoying talk radio….or some other noise......and the never-ending static energy that transforms us into the "energizer bunny" - when all the time our thirsty soul cries out for peace and quiet! In today’s world solitude and serenity is almost non-existent because we have chosen to push them on the back-burner of life. We do it to ourselves! Nowadays most people don’t know what solitude is or where it went, and maybe they don’t care, but I do! Solitude is valuable for so many reasons – including our sanity!

It’s in our solitude, in the quiet moments of the day, that we find ourselves. In our aloneness we are better able to think, to dream, to plan and to recuperate from the busyness of life and all its earthly demands. It’s where we gain perspective on life and relationships and determine direction. In solitude we are more spiritual, we develop appreciation and dwell on gratitude. It’s where we learn to be comfortable in our own being, to seek courage and encouragement. In solitude, we gain strength of resolve, inspiration meets us there regularly - and we find our sense of purpose.

It’s also where we connect with God in all his magnificence – alone on a mountain top – adrift on a great expanse of water or lost in the beauty of the woods. More importantly, in the quietness of our solitude we hear Him whisper to us.  That still small voice of God. We hear His message, His assurance and we learn His plan for us. Most of all we feel His love. While we are most alone, we are not alone at all.

The place of solitude is a special place for each of us to rediscover, protect and visit often. I encourage you to find spaces of time in your life. Shut out the endless static that deafens and dulls your senses, or stimulates you into oblivion. Instead, take time and space for some solitude and while you’re there together, may you be the best of friends.


“In solitude the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself.” Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) British writer.

“Conversation enriches the understanding; but solitude is the school of genius.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) U.S. poet, essayist and lecturer.

Being a Leader Makes Sense - and Dollars

Being a strong leader!
 
Any successful business is built on strong principles of leadership. So, what does a strong leader look like?
 
If you're an aspiring leader, here are a few things to consider:

• You have a clearly defined vision for you and your team. You help your team see unlimited possibilities
• You are enthusiastic, dedicated, purpose-driven, selfless and mentally tough
• You know you will have to do some things that are out of your comfort zone in order to attain a life of comfort
• You are steeped in teaching the fundamentals – simplicity is your motto. Following a proven path is your brand.
• You are people-oriented – you know that when you build people you build a team – and a thriving business
• You lead by example – people follow your lead. Whatever you do (or don't do) they will do likewise.
• You recognize that not everyone who contributes to your business is a leader, or wants to be in a leadership role. Whether they are customers or sharers or workers who are happy at their chosen level, each has a valuable place on your team as a whole – and contributes to the overall success of your business. Show gratitude for all participation.
• Being a leader means being committed to succeed no matter what the obstacles - and to help others do the same
• You are ethical and credible - and make decisions that are right and fair for your team based in sound judgment
• By setting a high standard both in personal and business development, you bring out the very best in individuals and the team
• You are accountable and responsible for choices you make. Snap decisions based in emotion have lasting consequences that affect not only you, but others on your team – upline and downline. Think things through thoroughly. What is the lasting effect of this decision?
• Strong leaders realize that having a stable enduring business requires patience and persistence. There are no shortcuts to long-term success.
• Leaders understand that to create a business that generates consistent monthly income beats scrambling for a one-time small incentive that is insignificant in the big scheme of things
• Leaders love and respect their team. They are strong enough and caring enough to provide tough-love coaching when it is in the best interest of an individual or the team as a whole.
• A successful business is a lot like life – you reap what you sow….you get back what you put in. Don’t get distracted by minutia – keep on sowing!
• There is no greater compliment to a leader than gaining the love and respect of their team

If you identify with the above and are an aspiring leader, AND you love the idea of a home business that provides fun, friendship, amazing benefits like good health, time freedom, cars, free vacations and a lucrative income, maybe it’s time to take a closer look at the Shaklee business model.


Visit us at http://imagineabetterlife.com






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