Thursday, September 29, 2011

Why I started my own business with Arbonne

When you decide to start the business, you’re asked to write out your why - "why did you start the business?" For some people, it’s automatic – my kids, being debt-free, more vacation, more money! And when I started this business, I felt like I had a pretty great why.

For those that know me, I was another graduate that was not able to enter her field. I graduated with a major in Political Science and I focused on international development. Here I thought that I would take on the world and make such a difference in the lives of so many people. The market, however, was unforgiving to recent graduates and unless you had a pretty sweet connection or you had a stellar resume, good luck. So, I ended up taking a job for the mere fact that I needed money.

When Kimberley (my upline) told me that I should start the business, I thought “are you kidding me?! I’m not selling products. I’m just here to buy them!” But, after going to a Discover Arbonne meeting and bombarding Kimberley with so many questions, I decided to start the business and be a rockstar at it! My “why” was that I wanted to eventually get into my field, either on a voluntary basis or by creating my own organization, and Arbonne was going to give me the opportunity to do that.

At the time, I thought my why was good enough. But even in the first couple of months, I never dedicated myself to growing my business and doing the necessary activity. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t put in the effort that I needed to. Something was missing, but I couldn’t place a finger on it.

For the past couple of weeks, my mind has been going non-stop, thinking and thinking and thinking of why I wasn’t happy, why I couldn’t get my life figured out. What the heck is going on, I thought?

I’ve done a superb job listening to what everyone else wants from me – their expectations, their requests, their goals, etc. I forgot what I wanted, what I expected of myself, what I dreamt for myself. So many years ago, I used to play music and I loved it and I was great at it. My dream was to go to school for music and play in an orchestra and teach. Nobody believed in that dream and instead I followed someone else’s dream.

My biggest mistake and my biggest regret was to not stand up for myself and do what I loved to do. I hated that part of myself, the part that just gave up and said “whatever. Not everybody gets to live their dream. Be satisfied that you at least get to go to university for free.” However, that thought has changed and I firmly believe that if you put in the effort, if you make it work, if you sacrifice whatever it is you need to sacrifice, you’ll live your dream.

I’m taking the step to go back into music. For now, it’ll be lessons, but the goal is to teach and who knows, I might even get the chance to perform with a symphony. This is my life and I only get once shot at it and I refuse to let someone else criticize me, judge me, ridicule me, etc. because I’m doing something that I love! I’m not here anymore to explain why I’m doing something and I’m not here anymore to justify myself. I’m here for a purpose and that purpose is to be happy, to live my life the way it’s meant to be lived and to play music.

This has become my “why” with my business. I started this business because I want to do what I love the most and that’s to play music. No, it’s not feasible to go head first into music, but it will be because my business will allow me the freedom and flexibility that I need to play and teach and perform. My business will provide me with the income I need to still live comfortably and start a new career. This is why Arbonne is so amazing!

Some might wonder if I’m having a mid-life crisis and you’re welcome to think that. But I’m looking outside of the “9am-5pm, Monday to Friday” box and realizing that network marketing is about to become the new way of doing business (now pair that with the Health & Wellness industry that’s about to become the next trillion dollar industry!) Heck, if Warren Buffet is the owner of Pampered Chef and has his hands in 8 different network marketing companies, then I must be doing something right!

- Lady S.

Monday, September 19, 2011

#100 - Be Stress Free for a Day

How to be stress free for one day:

1. Smile the whole day and don't let anything upset you
2. Stop thinking about what tomorrow is going to be like
3. Enjoy your company, whether it be friends or animals
4. Do something you love (read a book, watch a movie, take a bath, etc.)
5. Cook your favorite dish or eat out at your favorite restaurant
6. Don't complain; just be happy

What you're reading is what I did yesterday - I smiled, I didn't care about Monday, I enjoyed the company of friends and animals, I watched the best movie (Secretariat), I went for sushi, and I enjoyed my day! BAM - stress free day, baby!

It's very rare for me to thoroughly enjoy a single day without having some sort of stressful thought run through my mind. And finally ... FINALLY, that day arrived. Now, to learn how to make Mondays stress free... ugh.

Lady S.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

49 - Buy a Lottery Ticket


*Update*: I didn't win $10 million. Poopie.

---

I was waiting for the perfect moment to come along where I would buy a lottery ticket and hope for the best. What I was waiting for was the fuzzy feeling in my stomach, where it just felt absolutely right to spend $6 on a lottery ticket. However, that's not how this went down!

I walked into the Mac's store to get a slurpee with the roommate and out of nowhere, at the counter, I ask "I want a lottery ticket." Just like that - not fuzzy feeling, not this-is-the-right-moment, nothing! Of course, I want to choose my numbers, I tell her. So, I have the choice of 649 or Lotto Max, and decide that Lotto Max will do. I walk to the lottery counter and notice that Lotto Max does SEVEN numbers - yes, that's my lucky number if you don't know already. So I proceed by filling in all numbers that are multiples of 7, including 7 itself.

And now, I wait. $10,000,000 could be mine (or they could be for someone else that has been playing that lottery for years!) However, if I don't win this time around, then that's it. No more gambling for me.

I shall bid you all adieu now as I wait for my flight to C-town.

Love,
Lady S.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

#26 - Paint one abstract painting for fun

This project was, by far, the greatest one yet! With the assistance of my amazing art friend, T.B., she helped me pick out all of my art supplies and show me a few techniques.

A very long time ago, I remember going the Calgary Stampede and seeing this piece of art that was just amazing. The background color was black and the artist had used silver and gold aluminum to create his art piece. But, what I loved about it so much was that it was really rich in color. The gold was so deep, yet not tacky, and it blended well with the silver. The kicker was that he used crushed diamonds on this piece and wow - it was just amazingly gorgeous. That was my inspiration for this abstract piece. Granted, it's probably not the greatest piece of art, but for me, considering that I'm incredibly uncreative with no imagination, I'm pretty proud of my art. Now, I just need to figure out where to hang it!

xoxo,
Lady S.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

#88 - Tell A Random Man That He Is Beautiful

I'm so thankful that this one is officially off my list. I don't even understand why I thought it would be a good idea in the first place! Something about "open up and don't be afraid to be vulnerable." To whomever gave me this advice, here's my advice about your advice: keep it to yourself!

Let's talk about how unsuccessful #88 was. Not only was the guy caught off guard and not entirely impressed, but I'm sure he was ready to kick me out of the pub. Why? Because the guy was the bouncer! I'm sure he thought that I had one too many drinks when really I was sober the entire time. Describing this situation as embarrassing is an understatement; mortified is better. Lesson learned: keep certain comments to myself.

And with that, #88 is gone for good. And so is my pride. ugh.

L.S.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

#90 - Write A Letter To A Friend And Send It Via Snail Mail

You're probably thinking that this is a simple thing to do and who wouldn't think that. But have *you* ever spent the time to sit down with a pen and paper and write out a letter to your friend? And then remember to send the letter the next day? Why would you when you have facebook or email or text or bbm? And that's exactly why I put this on my 101 list, because it rarely ever happens!

There's something magical about receiving a personal letter in the mail. For me, it's knowing that somebody took the time to sit down, write their thoughts out, go to the post office, and lick that yucky-tasting stamp onto the envelope. People don't have extra time to waste nowadays, but knowing that somebody went out of their way to send you a letter - that's special for me! And so, I did exactly that - sit down and write a letter to Stephanie.

I think you should try it (whoever 'you' are.) And hey, the best thing your doing when writing that letter is knowing that soon enough you'll be making somebody's day.

Love,
Lady Sovereign

Sunday, February 6, 2011

#76: Become More Acquainted With My Religious Views

Many of you know that I'm a Christian person: I believe in God, I believe in Jesus, and I believe in the Holy Spirit. However, I have never really identified myself with a particular religion. My parents say they are Pentecostal and I lean towards that, but I have a problem with identifying myself to one religion. Why? Because I don't believe that ONE religion has the answers. And so, I rely on my faith and my beliefs and in God to direct me to the "right" answers.

When I moved back to Calgary after Victoria, I spent a lot of time with my family and close friend Elda, and I got a chance to become acquainted with Christianity. The marvelous thing about my family and Elda is that they each hold a slightly different view on religion. They have many things in common, such a Jesus being the son of God, God the creator of this world, and the Bible as the book of answers. Of course, between all of us, we hold a different view on how this world was created. Please note, I'm not a creationist and I don't believe this world was created in 2011 years ago. Nope.

Being surrounded by them questioned my own views because I wanted to make sure that what I was believing was, in my view, correct. And to me, what I view is correct! I don't expect somebody else to come along and believe exactly in what I believe nor do I expect to believe in what they believe. I do, however, believe that we believe in many different things which seems correct to us. And I think that's the beauty of Christianity - we are all right and we are all wrong. But what matters is how we live our lives and how we respond to God when that time comes.

I can sit here today and say that 90% of the time I lead my life the way God wants me to. The other 10% I'm battling with (ex, expected to go to church every Sunday.) But my faith allows to me know that if I don't go to church every Sunday, I'm not going to be condemned; rather, I acknowledge God as much as I can every day and thank Him for my blessings. I don't need church to remind me of why I'm here, why God is here, and how I should live my life.

With all of that being said, I respect everyone's beliefs and everyone's faith. I know that conflict will always exist because of religion, but I find it ironic that God tells us to love one another, and yet we fight and kill over God. I will never fight and never kill because of God; instead I will love you and I will respect you because of God, and even if you don't believe in Him, He believes in you and loves you more because of it.

L.S.