Living On Vacation

“We first make our habits, then our habits make us.” ~~ John Dryden

Summer is Here …

and it’s official but not just according to the calendar. It’s summer according to Working From Home (in the Summer) with kids!

I’m fortunate, that I Work From Home 12 months out of the year … so when one of my children isn’t feeling well .. I have no boss to ask for time off, when the notes come home from school that drivers are needed for a field trip .. I can help, when it’s time for a school party .. I can always volunteer and then of course when it’s a school holiday .. there is no need to schedule a day camp for my children or hire a sitter. 

It’s in the Summer months, though that I appreciate Working From Home the most. In the last week, my children — son is 11 and daughter is 8 — caught a Horn Toad out in the field as they were riding around in the Gator (basically a souped up golf cart) and a Salamander in our POOL! I just about freaked on this one .. their dad was paying them 50 cents to dive for leaves, I paid $5 for catching the Salamander!

YIKES!

And here’s the Horn Toad … now this I’m okay with but that Salamander is not my type of ‘pet’ at all.

Horn Toad

And here’s the real treat … both have been added as additions to our Courtyard Zoo. The Courtyard already was home to one dry land turtle, two pond turtles, a few coy (fish) and more lady bugs and frogs than we can count.

What once was a sanctuary for reading and relaxing might now be more of a place to keep me alert, with one eye on my book and one on the look-out for a critter and no doubt, I’ll be using the foot stool from now on — with my feet UP!

Pond Turtle Taking in Sun by the Edge of the Pond

Regardless how many ‘critters’ move in to make my Courtyard their home, though … I will always cherrish these days Working From Home with my children! The time is priceless!

Start Late, Finish Rich by David Bach

The cover reads, a no-fail plan for achieving financial freedom AT ANY AGE. And no doubt, those are more than just ‘words’ to sell more copies! I’ve read the book recently and it sparked me to make several changes to our financial planning, to our plan for retirement!  

Bach has quite a few books he’s authored. I will be purchasing more and reading each, as well. Including a #1 Best Seller, The Automatic Millionaire.

He writes in easy to understand terminology, so regardless of your experience with finance, I’d suggest you include several of his titles to your library!

Here is a direct link to his official website – www.DavidBach.com or www.FinishRich.com

Trust Your Subordinates
By: Brian Tracy 

The Definition of Leadership
Leadership has been called “The ability to get followers.” One of the deepest cravings of human nature is the need to feel important, to have a sense of meaning and purpose in life and work. Leaders are invariably those who can tap into the deeper emotions of others and get them to rise above and beyond anything they may have accomplished in the past. 

Inspiring Words Lead to Victory
Winston Churchill was able to arouse and inspire an entire nation with words like these: “Let us so carry ourselves that if the British Empire should endure a thousand years, men will still say, this was their finest hour.” 

Spearhead A Turnaround
Lee Iacocca stepped into Chrysler Corporation when the company was almost bankrupt. Through the sheer force of his personality, his unshakable determination, his appeals to Congress, to Chrysler workers and to Chrysler customers on television, he spearheaded a turn-around that will go down in the history books as one of the greatest achievements in American business.

Trust Other People                                                 
The key to getting followers in every case is to “trust your subordinates.” Many studies have concluded that it is the mutual bond of trust and respect that acts as the catalyst that creates high performance. Not only must you trust your subordinates, but even more important, they must trust you. 

Act With Integrity
In order to “get followers,” your subordinates must have an absolute belief in your integrity. They must believe that you will abide by the highest ethical standards of fairness and justice. Integrity appears over and over as the most important leadership quality. People can only put their whole hearts into their work when they feel secure and they can only feel secure when they can relax and trust you completely. 

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to bring out the very best from the people who look up to you.First, make people feel important. Tell them how important and valuable they are and then give them both the responsibility and the opportunity to do their job the very best they know how.

Second, set a good example. Be an inspirational leader by being a role model for everyone else to follow. The more people look up to you, the better they will do their work and the happier they will be.

“If you want this thing to work, you’ve got to work this thing you want.”
~~ Michael S. Clouse

What’s the Plan?

First Annual Free to Relax Team Leadership Retreat
Be a part of the team – www.WealthWithCandles.com

Fun in the Sun, Staying Cool!

After our 1^st Annual Free to Relax Leadership Retreat this past weekend in Texas, the five leaders who attended each wrote a few paragraphs describing the event for this month’s newsletter. After compiling the five short stories, we combined them into one long testimonial – it’s incredible, that without discussing what we should write, the five pieces of this story share a common thread and flow together so seamlessly that you would never guess it was written by five individuals.

The first thing that comes to mind in reflecting on our Leadership weekend is how incredibly blessed I am to be working with such a talented and gracious group of people.  I’ve never been in a situation where no one insisted THEY were the most important, or the most talented, or the one who most deserved to be heard.  The Free To Relax Leadership Team exemplifies the best of what you imagine when you consider the word Team.

The weekend was filled with plenty of camaraderie, learning, sharing and fun.  And the idyllic setting in rural Texas surrounded by beautiful farms, gorgeous horses, clear blue skies – and oh yeah – a pool and patio fit for royalty, couldn’t have been more perfect.  But perhaps Jordan Schneider identified the solid base this group has worked toward as we sat around the counter eating breakfast one morning.  She noted that as we sat, chatting and eating, it felt like something this group does all the time.  What’s interesting though, is that prior to this weekend, we had only had brief moments of “live” conversation recently in Las Vegas.  But because of the bond that has been cemented, it felt like we were all just neighbors getting together for that morning cup of coffee.

Jim Rohn says, “You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me?  What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay?”

He goes on to suggest, “Get around people who have something of value to share with you. Their impact will continue to have a significant effect on your life long after they have departed.”

The Leadership of the Free to Relax Team recognized the importance of doing just that. We acknowledged the value and significant effect we have, not only as business partners, but also as lifelong friends.

We brainstormed about what is and is not working for our team, we discussed the philosophy we would uphold and the future direction we will take, we shared books and resources, and we shared ourselves.

So when I ask myself that all important question that Rohn mentions – Is it okay that I am becoming who I am because of the associations I have with this group of Leaders?  I can only answer with a resounding, “YES!”

From stories about licking banana slugs to stories about Rocket, the evil horse, we laughed until we nearly cried.  We planned the future of this team and shared our goals and dreams, and what specifically would tell us when we have achieved success. The entire weekend felt like a reunion with people I’ve known my entire life.

In planning for the Leadership Retreat, some were able to bring their husband and children, others were not and I must admit there were thoughts of “will this create any conflicts?”

No Fear! The dads jumped right in like “Team”, too! They loaded up the kiddos both Saturday morning and again Sunday morning with a plan! Over the course of the two days they covered Legacy Play Village, Gatti Land, the Disney Movie; UP, Putt-Putt (with stories of holes in one!), The Science Spectrum and the local Ice Cream Shop! We laughed, not sure who wore out who first… the kids or the dads!

In the evenings, as ‘family’ we all gathered around the grill for backyard cooking and swimming! Everyone jumped in as if knowing what was needed without it being said! An assembly line was set up for washing potatoes before baking, folding towels after all the swimming pool fun, and even hauling hay to feed the horses at night!

In telling a few of my friends who aren’t in this business about our upcoming Leadership Retreat, I was met with a lot of sympathy. It dawned on me that most people really don’t enjoy the people they work with – and the thought of wasting a weekend by being forced by your boss to spend time with those people seemed horrendous.

I have to say, that concept is lost on me – because I count the people I work with, especially the fellow leaders of the Free To Relax Team, as some of my closest friends, and there was surely no “boss” forcing us to spend the weekend together!

If I could think of one quote to sum up this weekend, it would be this, by Napoleon Hill: “No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible, intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.”

He calls this the Mastermind Principle, which he defines as “The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.”

Jeff Olson expands upon this mastermind principle in his book, The Slight Edge, when he says “Surround yourself with people of like mind and different talents and temperaments with the purpose of serving the goals of every member of the group. Associate with these people regularly.”

The common thread between these three quotes and the Free to Relax Team Leadership Retreat this past weekend is that we are each others’ Mastermind. The coolest part though, is that we didn’t even have to fly across the country for the weekend to figure that out; we already knew.

One of the aspects of this retreat that generated a lot of excitement was thinking about who would be the next distributors on the team to join in on the Leadership Retreat?  With so many talented distributors, only time will tell but it will surely be a great event again in 2010.

I thank each of you for sharing of yourself this weekend, for bringing out the best in me consistently and for spurring me to become all I can become. The Retreat only reinforces that I am in the right place, doing the right things, with the right people.  I am blessed that I am becoming the person I want to be because of this group of incredible leaders – and more important, friends!

What a team! What a family!

Be a part of the team – www.WealthWithCandles.com

Team Updates

As a leader of the Free to Relax Team, one of my responsibilities is to be sure my ‘team’ has the newest and the best of what is out there to promote their business, that is to move them closer to LIVING THEIR DREAMS! Isn’t that what Network Marketing is all about? Duplication and making sure that those you sponsor into the business TODAY, can immediately do the NEXT DAY what you have done?

I’ve worked more hours than usual this week but not for myself but for the team.

It feels good! I love that the Free to Relax Team isn’t about “self-promotion” but Team-Promotion which ironically leads to more PromotionS! (and yes, that S is capital to emphasis multiple, it’s not a typo!)

As one of my favorite quotes by Zig Ziglar reads, “You can have anything you want in life, if you help enough people get what they want!”

Interested in being a part of a REAL TEAM?

Request an Information Packet today – www.WealthWithCandles.com