It really has been quite a year for everybody. Weather has been wonky around the globe. Right now, many of my friends in Western Canada and the US are in the deepest freeze they’ve ever seen with snow up to their knees. The economic situation is in chaos and it has only just begun. The ramifications of what is happening in the US are being felt around the world as I am seeing here in Mexico with a huge drop in tourism. It feels like personally and professionally, people are being called to reassess their values and priorities. And we’ve been busy; even busier than we thought possible. I planned on having a sabbatical this year and it has been anything but!
You may have found also that your goals and dreams for 2008 were not fully realized or that the year turned out quite differently than you expected. In these last few days of the year, look at what you learned in 2008 and bring those discoveries to the table as you get clear on what you want to accomplish in 2009. I certainly learned that my health (which had been a fairly low priority because of how fabulous I normally feel) became a major priority. Putting in long hours with Plexus Pink and the stress of dealing with network marketing laws, the FDA’s rules and regulations and a corporate management team, definitely took its toll. Having worked as a solopreneur for most of my life, I very quickly remembered this fall why I like making my own decisions and running my own businesses.
In October, this thing called “my health”, which I had taken for granted over the last few years, started sending me the warning signs I talk about in my new book. You may know the warning signs that we often ignore, because we’re too busy, too committed, too responsible and too fully engaged to pay attention. It’s like we know that we need to make a change, say no, get off this crazy merry-go-round of being too busy, but how do you stop in the middle of the ride and say, “this is making me sick”?
Maybe you’re caught on a merry-go-round that you want to get off of but obligation, fear, doubt and guilt are keeping you on it, hanging on for dear life. We’ve all been there and it can be hard to get off and just say “no I can’t” or “no I won’t”. Well I just said “no I can’t” when I resigned from Plexus Pink on December 1st.
Having been deathly ill in my 30’s, I recognized the early warning signs only too well. When they started showing up this fall, I knew I had to take action. It certainly wasn’t easy but the saying, “if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything”, rings true for most people.
It still was a tough decision but three weeks later, I know it was the right one. Empowering women financially is my main mission in life and I will return full-time to that mission once I have my health back. Sometimes the vehicle needs to change although the mission doesn’t. That’s a good lesson to learn. Is it one that you need to implement more fully in your life? We can get stuck on the vehicle that we originally committed to even though it’s not working for us. We feel embarrassed to say, “I can’t or I don’t want to do this anymore”. We can even feel like a failure. More blatantly, we’ll ignore a better opportunity to reach our goals because we have this self-imposed obligation that we need to stick with what we originally said.
It’s one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned in life and probably one of the hardest. I cannot do what anyone else wants me to do or what anyone else thinks is right for me. I can only do what I know in my heart and soul to be the best course for me.Is that easy? Oh my goodness no! I assure you, there were lengthy conversations with my closest friends and business mentor, long conversations with God, many tears, lots of floor pacing, pages upon pages of writing in my journal and sleepless nights. Making these kinds of decisions is what is often referred to as “the dark night of the soul”. I simply call it hell. There is nothing pleasant about it, except the absolute knowingness that I will pass through, I will make the best of the decision once it’s made, and fairly soon everyone forgets about me as I move onto the next stage in my life.
If I for one minute thought that the company wouldn’t survive without me, that the distributors would quit in droves because I was no longer president or that my career was over, that was a great soap opera I was creating in my mind, not in reality. We are not indispensable - not one of us. Nor do we want to be. Make yourself dispensable and that shift in your life will give you more freedom and less fear, doubt and guilt than you ever thought possible. Create freedom in your life rather than trapping yourself in a cage that oftentimes isn’t working.
I’ve watched entrepreneurs committed to their failing business, the business that isn’t paying the rent nor creating the lifestyle they desire. Yet some stubbornness, pride or obligation will hold them to it like a barnacle stuck to a ship. Why? If it’s not working, get out. If you’re stuck, change your strategy. If it’s not creating what you want, find something that will. Part of this mentality is victimhood, through and through. It’s great drama to be able to tell everybody how you are so worn out from the stress, so broke from the hardship of making it work and so loyal to the cause. But honestly, that doesn’t feel very good.
What does feel good is doing what you love and having the financial freedom to make choices. I bet you there are some choices you haven’t been able to make in 2008 because of health restrictions, time limitations or the lack of financial resources. Let’s make 2009 the year that changes for you!
People who read my monthly newsletter are very special people. You’re not ordinary by any means. You’re interested in growing yourself personally and professionally. You are passionate about making a difference in the world. You want to get outside the box of the “herd mentality”. As we go into what I see as a very long journey of financial chaos in the world, it is going to be even more important that you stay grounded spiritually , connected to your highest purpose and keep out of the fear that the world will try to hook you into. More than even, we simply can’t afford to be in this victimhood, “I can’t take control” or “woe is me” place. My question for myself and for every one of you is: Will you have the courage to do whatever it takes to move yourself off the merry-go-rounds that are holding you in ruts you don’t want to be in?
Begin by choosing mentors that are financially savvy during rough times. That will not be most financial planners as they are usually part of the herd mentality. People like Robert Kiyosaki predicted this financial meltdown years ago in his book Prophecy. If you haven’t checked out Robert’s work lately, that may be a great place to start. Learn all you can about how to make the best of your resources and get really clear on your values and priorities. I will be sharing many of my mentors and resources during 2009 to help you along your journey.
Thank you for being you. Thank you for doing all that you are doing to make the world a better place. Thank you for being open to change. May this holiday season be a time of rest and rejuvenation for all of us as we go together into 2009.
To Your Outrageous Success!
Jan
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