Summer overwhelm!

That’s what this blog post was about 5 minutes ago. 5 great tips to help you (and me) avoid the overwhelm and feel accomplished in between dealing with kids running in/0ut of the house, cars breaking down, baseball tournaments, dance & cheer practices, parades, summer camps and life slapping you over the head (or as some say, God laughing at you because you tried to plan something without consulting HIS schedule).

But it’s gone. Missing. Disappeared.

And that brings me to my REAL issue. I am really struggling with this 30 day blog challenge. I am just not sure, with everything in my life, that I have the attention span to do something for 30 days.

And if that’s true, how could I possibly expect myself to be any more successful than I am now???

I am pretty sure that as difficult as it is, it is very important for me to learn how to stay focused to the end of a project. In fact, as I write this, I am sure that my team will LOL (laugh out loud, for those of you without kids) when they read this.

So here is my public commitment. I WILL complete the 30 Day Blogging Bonanza that I created a few weeks ago. (I will even commit to TWO extra days to compensate for last weekend which flew by without a post from me.)

And I can already tell you it does everything I said it would.

• I am now getting 2-3 times more new subscribers everyday than I was before.
• I am getting great comments on Twitter, Facebook and my blog about the short articles.
• I am making new, cool friends.
• And I have cool people calling me up wanting to do business with me! (that’s money in my pocket)

So it works. I know. And I will continue.

How’s it going for you?

PS. What tips do you have for warding off the “summer overwhelm”? It would be great to hear YOUR thoughts and perhaps it would jog my memory for the 5 cool tips I thought of, wrote in a cool blog post, then lost and promptly forgot…

What’s your mission? What do you do for your peeps?

What’s your purpose? WHY do you do that for your peeps?

Where are you going?

A few weeks ago, I shared some insights about success. But there’s an important question that begs to be asked.

How do you know if you are successful?

There are four things you must know in order to be successful.

First, you must be clear about your mission. Your mission is that thing you do. It can also include who you do it for. For some, a mission can be small or large. It can be life-changing for one or for many. In business, it is the thing that leads the company. In life, it creates a feeling of accomplishment.

Second, you must connect with your purpose. This is the “why” you feel motivated to do what you do. If you lose the connection with your why, it’s difficult to move forward.

Third, have a vision. This is the ability to use all of your senses as it relates to your mission and your vision. Think about your vision–what do you see yourself doing? Can you see the work that you do? Can you hear the reaction of the people when you do it? Can you feel the excitement that these people have when they work with you?

Finally, know your values. How do you do what you do? These are the things that direct how you function in your business and who you enjoy doing business with. Check out this list of values to identify your top 3-5.

These are the things that can help you become successful in all aspects of your life. But mostly, they can help you recognize your success and celebrate it.

Today life hit me. It started last night at around midnight when my 16 yr old called to say that she had wrecked my car. She was fine but my car wouldnt move.

Ugh!

This morning when I got up, my agenda for the day was shot! Instead of wrapping up some projects that have been pending all week, I got my daughter up, directed her with some chores and then we went running–trying to figure out what was wrong with my car and how much it would cost to fix.

I was able to get in a couple of client and team member conversations which was absolutely fun! It was such a relief to be consumed for a couple hours by my business and a new client.

But now that the day is almost over and my blogging task is still waiting for me, I decided I was only capable of sharing my life.

The only thing it has to do with business is everything.

As an entrepreneur working from home, and as a mom whose #1 job is to raise her kids, its not unusual to have life slap you upside the head.

When this happens, I try hard not to get frustrated and I try to feel grateful that I have a career that allows me to deal with life as it happens (the alternative would be to have someone else helping my kids…that wouldnt make me feel better).

How do you handle life when it slaps you unexpectedly?

With my new relationship with money, I have been noticing the many conversations and opportunities for support. Here are some of the better ones I have seen this past week:

Kendall SummerHawk writes about “The Secret to Paying Yourself, Even If Cashflow is Tight”

Sandra Martini shares some insights about The 6 Figure Myth and some tips to help you avoid those pitfalls.

Nancy Marmolejo discusses a common problem for people who have been active in social media in her article “Do you Have High Visibility and Low Profitability?”

In my commitment to loving and caring for my money, I have been noticing how much money is thrown around without acknowledgement of what it takes to make that money and what it takes to HAVE the money. It’s been interesting with my kids asking for things, but insightful to notice some of my money habits in my business that aren’t serving me so well.

I think this is inspiring some future posts about the value of me and the value of money. Hmmm….

And to close this post, here is a a great inspirational quote:

“Business is not just doing deals; business is having great products, doing great engineering, and providing tremendous service to customers. Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationships.”

H. Ross Perot

“People fail forward to success.” ~ Mary Kay Ash

“Failure + Perserverance = Success” ~George Ross

These are a couple of quotes that are posted on my Facebook profile. Since I had a some friend requests this week from people who specifically mentioned their enjoyment of my posted quotes, I thought I would share a few here.

While I haven’t had any major failures recently, I have definitely had my share (if you have followed me for a while, you can probably remember a few)….and will continue to have failures as I attempt new and exciting things.

I once heard someone define success as getting up one more time than you fall. So I guess it’s all part of the journey!

As you probably know, I was installed as the President of the Salt Lake Chapter of NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) last week. I got to share some thoughts and inspiration at the end of the event after the board was installed and some amazing women were recognized for their accomplishments.

As a leader of this organization, I have definite ideas about where the “leadership” comes. I believe that leadership comes from within. And that my job, as the President, is to empower you to be the best leader that you can be.

Leadership comes in many ways.

My oldest daughter is living with her dad this summer and gets to care for her 7 year old sister who she doesn’t get to spend much time with. We were talking this afternoon about how she is an example of a powerful woman for her younger sister as she cares for her.

My husband is a coach for the American Legion Baseball team in our community. Chris is a leader for those teenage boys who are trying to be adults and learning about respect and team work.

Gretta Spendlove is a leader for women business owners. She was recognized as the Women Business Owner of the Year by our local NAWBO chapter and has accomplished amazing things.

Amanda Moxley is a leader for women entrepreneurs who are getting started in their businesses need an example of someone who has persevered despite life and self-doubt. Amanda was recognized last week as NAWBO’s Rising Star.

Zoe Albert is a leader for young women and adolescents with a vision and a desire to give back to her community. She is the 2010 2nd place winner of the Girls Going Places Award.

Who are you leading?

It’s so cliche, “take time to smell the flowers”.

But Monday’s are my admin days and it is typical to spend 6-7 hours on the phone catching up on details from my team members and a sales team that I manage.

So this afternoon when I was forcing my 6 year old to sit and read to me for a few minutes, I noticed the wisteria scent in my backyard.

When I commented to my daughter, her reply was “and the mornings smell really good!”

In that moment, I realized that I should spend more time with my 6 year old so she can keep reminding me of all those cool things that I just don’t take the time for.

In honor of my father, my husband and all dads out there, here is a quote that has been hanging on my fridge for the last few months.

One of my girls brought it home from school a while back and it struck my today as I was pondering how to appreciate this day and make it memorable for the father in our home. (This has not been easy since the kids seem to be bickering more today than usual…).

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.
And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
–Charles R. Swindoll

P.S. This is the first post Ive created from my new Wordpress iPhone app, so Im not sure how it will look or be formatted…

I was going to share MY definition of success, but decided that it would be more profound to share the opportunity of defining success.

According to Wikipedia…

Success may mean, but is not limited to:

• a level of social status
• achievement of an objective/goal
• the opposite of failure
• the succession of successfully executed tasks and successes

According to Dictionary.com…

–noun

I think I prefer the definition from Wikipedia as it seems more in line with my own definition–all four points.

Success in terms of “social status” for me doesn’t seem like a good definition. While I see myself as a leader, I feel successful in empowering one or many people which is accomplished during daily activities–important or not.

My success goals are currently focused on educational opportunities for my children–getting a good eduction and having a good education that opens doors and allows my daughters to have more choices in life. Another goal for me is to have a lifestyle filled with good food, travel, time with extended family and a dependable, comfortable car.

I guess failure is something I feel when I don’t accomplish my “list” for the day and other mundane tasks. But I really think success comes from persevering despite failures.

To wrap this up, success is the execution of successfully executed tasks–at least one more than the failed tasks. Right?

What do you think?

I was recently installed as the President of my local chapter of NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners). I was also on the nominating committee for the Women Business Owner of the Year and Rising Star Awards for 2010. And I had the honor of interviewing Gretta Spendlove and Amanda Moxley–the award winners.

It was inspirational to hear these successful women discuss their perspective of SUCCESS.

The first question I asked them both was “How to you define success?” This is a question I have asked many great women and I love the answers I get.  In my presidential acceptance speech, I discussed my own thoughts on this question.

I believe that success comes from the following:

First, success is a feeling, not a destination. It comes from when you are “on the right track”. This is when you have a mission and you are consciously working on that track.

Success also comes from connecting to your PURPOSE–that WHY you do what you do. When you are clear about why you work as hard as you do and juggle all of the pieces of your life and the lives of those around you, their is a feeling of accomplishment.

Also, when you are clear about the VISION of where you are going and your VALUES of how you will accomplish that journey, success becomes the path.

What is YOUR definition of success?