loaded up with 45 bracelets that i planned to sell there to pay for my trip
i packed up my only business clothes that i had
threw in some high heels that i rarely wear but love any reason to
soon after mike came home from the store with his ‘dad’s alone with the kids’ food pyramid
{i could seriously hear my children’s arteries clogging}
i kissed my kiddos and hubby goodbye
knowing his limitations
but i also knew of his incredible parenting skills and prayed all would be well
for weeks he has had the kids on a summer schedule
packed with morning preparation, scripture memorization, flashcard review, reading, snacktime, and physical fitness
no joke, this dad is a father of champions
with me taking the reins of providing for the family more
he has taken the lead on achieving some incredible things i have attempted to do with the kids for years
why is it that kids just seem to respond better to dad than mom
{read his side of our weekend here. packed with awesomeness and gross-outs}
the difference is that i only have myself to worry about instead of 5 other people
in san diego i parked my car in a park n ride place and hopped onto the shuttle
in a panic i looked for my phone only to discover i had left in my car
ugh. i had to ask the shuttle driver to turn around
thankfully he was kind about it saying that this has happened before, mainly with women
i jumped out and found my phone on the driver’s seat
quickly returned to the shuttle
jumped in
only to realized that i didn’t lock my car
aww
i jumped back out and literally ran back to my car in my heels
locked it and headed back
an eventful start to my trip
thankfully i’m really good at laughing at myself
they give me a rush knowing i’m heading somewhere
i love to travel and married someone with the same love
if we could have it our way, we’d travel the world with our kids
and of course sometimes without them
i studied humanities in college
and am fascinated by the way others view the world and the beauty they create to capture their perspective and philosophies
i love airplanes
i began flying by myself when i was about ten
my grandpa was a pilot
which enabled me to fly fairly inexpensively to go visit him and my grandma in park city, utah
my second home growing up
i love the thrill of taking off
that rush of sound and velocity
and being up above the clouds is so peaceful and causes for great reflection as you look down on the world below
just in case i was close to heaven i looked for daddy;)
during my two and a half hour flight i decided to take that time and blog
by hand writing on paper
something i haven’t done in a long time
the words seemed to flow naturally with the movement of my hand
all headed the same place for the same reason
to make their lives and the lives of others better
you can see it on their faces, you could hear it in their words, you could feel it in their embrace and greeting
the culture of this company is so unique and i tell you it changes you
the first night i stayed up til two chatting with some of the leaders in the company
people i knew the faces well having seen them on videos and on stage
it was rather intimidating at first, but their conversations put me at ease
and then guess what, something marvelous happened i slept in til 10
what??!!
i was in disbelief
i could stop right there and the trip would have been worth it
as i was waiting for the conference to begin along with the other 10,000 people that were there
i was greeted by a text from mike sending me a card Tate wrote to Eyan from Eyan’s ‘girlfriend’
Eyan was not thrilled
i think its hilarious
you can see Eyan's scribble attempt to change this to be from Tate's girlfriend
‘i’m so glad that you are there’
‘we’re out of wipes!!!!!’
‘you’re the best.’
‘i cannot tell you how proud i am of you... you are being incredible in going out trying to help us become financially independent and build something incredible.’
‘did you lay out clothes for felicity...she may or may not be in the same dress she was in when you left’
‘you’re the best. and i’m so glad you have been there. everything went real smooth here. but i’m ready to have you home!!!’
always building me up, always demonstrating confidence in me, always doing his best to be an incredible father
how can i be anything but successful when i have a constant influx of optimism and love coming my way
my husband
my team
strangers
my leaders
heaven smiled upon me in placing me in a team of people who care about me and my family
jimmy is one of the leaders of our team and his continual inspiration played a large part in being able to hurdle over those initial months of self-doubt
he had encouraged me to make those 45 bracelets to sell
reassuring me that they would sell and he would help me to do it
one of the mornings we set up shop outside of the vast convention ballroom
i was overcome with gratitude as jimmy and his parents directed crowds of ladies over to my bracelets
calling out ‘have you heard about the Nerium bracelets...this is the girl’
to some people he happily shared my story
a mom with an ailing husband and four young children
working hard doing whatever she can to provide for her family
strangers came and hugged me, cheered me on, and bought my bracelets
one by one
tears of gratitude streamed down my face
this feeling of support and love from this culture continued
when jimmy handed me three one hundred dollar bills
i couldn’t believe what i was holding
i don’t know what he said, but he had shared my story with one of the ladies in corporate
she gave him the money to give to me from the company
i raced over to her and threw my arms around her
thanking her through tears for this generous gift
she told me it was from the company
to help pay for my trip and to go home to take care of my husband
she said, ‘this is what we do, we take care of our family. and if you ever need anything else, please let me know.’
i couldn’t believe what i had just experienced
truly an affirmation of the company’s mission to make people better
and to create a culture of loving, caring, sharing
that of the new daycream which supercharges the night cream for 24 hour anti-aging Nerium power
and the doubling of our commission structure with a builder bonus program
i learned so much about how to make small changes in my life to be better
better equipped to take care of my family and be a better version of me
how are you looking at the world around you?
the words we use create a reality
we must seek to construct and change our view of reality through a more positive lens
we are used to looking at this photo and asking if we see it half empty or half full
that those questions of half-empty or half-full don’t apply
a better question to ask is where is the pitcher
shawn achor ‘before happiness: the 5 hidden keys to achieving success, spreading happiness, and sustaining positive change’
your adversity is your advantage
your past has developed muscles not wounds
its not what you know, its what you do with what you know that matters
am i doing what i know?
you are the compound effect of the choices you’ve made up to this moment
success is not a result of heroic deeds or quantum leaps
success is a result of small, seemingly insignificant moment to moment choices
you will suffer one of two pains..the pains of discipline or the pain of regret...james rohn
the pain of discipline weighs ounces, the pain of regret weighs tons
darren hardy ‘the compound effect’
people want to make a difference
turn people from a receiver to a transmitter and you can start changing people’s lives
people join this company for the product and the comp plan
they stay to make people better
i’m in the making people better business
we are looking for people who fearlessly believe in the mission
willing to give up something to make it happen
willing to do the thing that you said you committed to long after the mood has left
willing to build your dreams
willing of being accused of being driven
to succeed you must be willing to show up consistently over a long period of time, with desire and faith, willing to pay the price and do it with integrity
jeff olson ‘the slight edge’ ceo and founder of nerium
imagination is given by God
you can imagine, it separates us form the rest of God’s creatures
learn to manage choice and the gift of imagination
we are commanded to multiply stuff
{see the parable of the talents}
multiplying what i’ve got is what i’m expected to do
it is natural human instinct to ask ‘when can i rest?’
you can rest with the abundance of achievement
we must give ourselves permission to fail
however we have to learn to lose without being defeated
david byrd, ‘the next level achievement system’
ready to come home and be a better mother, wife, friend, teammate, and person
truly this experience has been a blessing from a loving Heavenly Father
who continues to tell me that i can do this
i can be successful at providing for my family
and he will continue to put tools and people in my path to accomplish that
