How To Stay Motivated to Reach your Goals

How to Stay Motivated or Inspired to Reach any Goal

How to get Motivated and Stay Motivated

Jonathan Sprinkles-Getting and Staying Motivated Pt.1

And then there’s all the offline stuff that goes on around you. Family issues, job issues, personal issues—just issues, issues, issues! Who has the time work on your business and work out, or hang out with friends, or just relax and chill out?  And all of these ‘distractions’ serve to sap your motivation from your project because you may feel, like I do from time to time, that you’re not getting anything accomplished with respect to your business project. From time to time that quite voice of doubt that whispers in the back of your brain gets louder. And unlike other times you actually to start to wonder, “what am I doing this for? I’ll never make big doing this?” Or, “why am I wasting my time?” Sometimes the things you tell yourself to keep motivated just don’t work.

1. Realizing that this is only temporary.
2. Realizing that I can make through if I continue to believe in myself.
3. Finding a way to channel positive energy.

No One Did It Better

The best way to celebrate the life and career of such an icon like Michael Jackson is to appreciate what he accomplished.

 Start With The Person In The Mirror

If this blog accomplishes nothing else, I will consider it a success if I can say that I helped my readers to make changes in their lives.  But no amount of information I bring to the table is going to help you reach your goals, if you don’t first commit to making the right changes in your life. The majority of people that say they want to own their own business never follow through because the don’t change their minset or their behaviors. I will delve into this more in a future post. I don’t want to stray too far from the main point of this post… R.I.P. Michael Jackson.

Replay the video and listen closely to the lyrics.

I’m starting with the man in mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways. And no message could’ve any clearer; if you want make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make that change.

The review process never ends here at The Home Biz Private-Eye. First, I posted my original review of Xocia which was followed up with the popular, 6 Questions with a Former Xocia Distributor. Today, I bring you another interview with a Xocia distributor who is eager to share her experiences with you. Sherry Cantua made a comment on my interview with a former Xocai distributor and it was clear from her comment that she was actively working with Xocai.  Sherry’s comment also showed she was willing to help out someone try to find a win win solution for themselves. I reached out to Sherry to see if she would be willing to make a greater contribution to the conversation. She graciously accepted. Here is what she has to say about Xocia and working for yourself:

What do you like most about working with Xocai? Least

The great opportunity before me with Xocai is exciting. I’m offered the ability to market a breakthrough product, Healthy Chocolate, backed by a winning business model, with a proven track record, that’s creating millionaires.  Xocai provides me the products that people already need & use..(9 out of 10 people love chocolate).  I don’t have to convince anyone to consume our product, they already do…(A billion people ate chocolate today).  More importantly Xocai offers products of the future, today. Such as their new probiotic healthy chocolate that’s available right now in the U.S.  The beauty of Xocai is they offer to me, as an entrepreneur, the ability to create weekly income by providing these cutting edge products that people need and want, directly to consumers.   Xocai is ahead of the curve.   

The challenge I find, is in the comparing Xocai healthy chocolate to candy.  The cost of Xocai compared to popular chocolate candy you’ll find on the market today can bring objections by a few people.  Candy can be tasty but bad for your health. Xocai is very “Yummy” and great for your health.  You’ll find a comparison of "Xocai Vs CocoaVia –that’s a real knockout", on my Free Report I provide for my owningyourself.com subscribers.

What was your initial investment? How long did it take you to become profitable?

Xocai offers 3 easy ways to get started.  Basic Associate, Business Builder, and Executive Fast Track.   Initially I choose the Business builder option with a total investment of around $700 US.  I was profitable in my first 30 days.

How did you discover your passion {What led you to Xocai}? 

There are many things I could list to provide a detailed answer to this question. Perhaps that should even be it’s own article. Although if I had to boil it down to the core, my discovery came from a recommendation.  First a recommendation to participate in this highly respected business model back in December 1999, followed by a recommendation from one of my top mentors about Xocai via telephone call back in December 2006. 

What skills do you believe someone would need to be successful with this product?  

Be willing to let people in on the secret.  Be willing to share the healthy chocolate solution. Success in Xocai really is about team work.  When I locked in my relationship with my direct team, they helped me, they are were there for me and they worked with me directly. Xocai has tremendous support and training, so take advantage of that. 

How do you maintain your drive/motivation?

I found a part of the process that moves me and get’s under my skin.  For me it’s marketing.  Online marketing especially roots me.  So when those times come, you know the ones that really want to run you over and stop you in your tracks, I turn to my roots and do some form of marketing.  Believe me, there’s nothing that finding 5 new business partners won’t fix. 

What advice would you give others who want to start their own business?

Treat your business like a business.  It’s easy to stay stuck in busy work yet at the end of the day, what’s important is doing the things that keep bringing you income.

What’s a typical day like? If there is such a thing.

That’s what I love best, this business is very versatile.  As I go about my day, I keep the business in my mind and look for ways to

1. talk to people

2. share Xocai business & the healthy chocolate products

3. follow up

4. ask for a decision

5. support and train my Xocai Team Partners.

What steps do you recommend someone who is currently working for a company but wants to start their own business take before leaving their job? 

Great question.  First figure out what type of business do you want to start.  You can select franchising. You can be self employed.  You can link up with a company and promote their products via affiliate marketing or direct sales.  Or you can choose what I’ve chosen, the network marketing business model.  Network marketing is very flexible.  If this is your choice, I recommend keeping your job until you are creating enough income and demand of your time, that working your job is actually starting to cost you, in other words, you can’t afford not to leave your job

What has surprised you the most about working for yourself? What’s the biggest challenge? How did you overcome the challenge?

How much I enjoyed it was my biggest surprise.  You see, I was always one to favor the “employee mentality”.  I loved the ease of clocking in, working hard and then clocking out.  How things have changed. Self limitations was my biggest challenge {Editor’s note: Emphasis mine. This is problem that many us have. Don’t let it stop you}.  This business is more mental than physical.  I tend to think a bit too much and it can cause me to stumble a bit.

What assists me to overcome my stumbles, is simply getting back up and dusting myself off.  It’s a new day, a new minute, a new opportunity to find more business partners and support my team. 

If you could go back in time, what would you do differently to prepare for being an entrepreneur?

Start with a longer term commitment plan 5 to 10 year not just 6 months to 2 years.

Who or what inspires you?

Learning is such an inspiration for me.  What a fantastic word “Library” is.  Spending time investing in my personal library as well visiting my local public

library weekly is great fun. Also I choose to work with real mentors, maintaining my relationship with them.  As well as having instant access via the Internet to fantastic website’s & select forum’s that share the “how to’s” of real success in the home based business arena like yours does Dakim , Thank you for all you do! {your welcome}.  

Sherry Cantua

http://www.owningyourself.com/

1. He Likes What He Likes.

My son spends zero time doing what he’s not interested in. He refuses to be bored. Of course with his three year old attention span what he’s interested in changes very rapidly. But when he’s in the moment he’s all in. I’ve also noticed that even when he’s doing menial tasks like getting dressed he finds a way to have fun with it.  Is what you’re doing now holding your interest?

 2. He’s Honest.

In keeping with step 1, if my son doesn’t like something or isn’t interested in it he will tell you. In no uncertain terms. Even if caught doing something wrong, his first thought is not to lie it’s to tell you why he wanted to do whatever it was he was doing.  Like most things in life, honesty get complicated as we grow up but if you could bring back some of that child-like honesty what effect would it have on your life?    

3. He Doesn’t See Obstacles.

When my son started crawling we had to move some things to higher ground because whatever he got his hands on was pretty much toast. The funny thing was it didn’t stop him from trying to get what he wanted.  He just figured out what he had to climb to get to his prize. And that included Mommy and Daddy.  And he may have graduated to walking but he hasn’t outgrown his ability to see past obstacles. I hope he never does. Imagine what you could be doing if you didn’t see any obstacles.

4. He Keeps Getting Up.

I don’t know how many times this child has fallen while playing around. I’m sure its no more than the average boy his age but no matter how many times he goes down, he pops right back up and keeps on playing.  Sometimes he trips and falls and just lays there laughing. I always ask him “are you ok?” and when he can be bother to give me a response it’s almost always “Yes!”. As adults the falls we take can be a bit more serve. But we all have the ability to get up, shake it off, and get back in the game.

5. He Gives It His All.

My son hasn’t learned the concept of slacking off yet.  What ever he’s doing gets his full focus and energy. Again, his three year old attention span allows for rapid changes to what get his focus but he doesn’t half step when he’s in the moment. Your business deserves that type of laser beam focus. Attention grabbers abound when you work from home. Your success will be determined by well you do in fending them off.

I hope it helps. Leave a comment and let me know if it does.

Happy Birthday D

1) Additional Income.  Running a home businesses can be a great way to supplement your 9-5 income. They extra revenue that comes in every month can be used to pay bills or put in savings for big ticket items like houses, cars, or vacations.   

2) Tax Breaks. Your home business can help ease the pain associated with paying taxes.  Some of the expenses you incur running your business can be deducted and help to lessen your tax burden. Read this article on Understanding tax break if you work from home and consult a tax professional.     

3) Career Change. Changing careers can be tough, especially if you have family depending on your income. You can start a home business part time in your desired field and keep your full time job. Leave your 9-5 once you’ve built up the business enought to replace the income.  

4) Resume Enhancer. If your plan is to continue in corporate life a home business can help climb the ladder of success.  The skills you use to run your business may compliment the skills you need at work. Managing multiple priorities, making management decisions, budgeting are just a few of the activities that a business owner does daily that look great on resume.

5) Networking. Your home business can open doors for you that never would opened if just stay in your cubicle.  Running a business can put in contact with various people from all walks of life.  Every client, supplier, or any person you come into contact with while working your business can enhance your network and potentially help you to grow your business.

Hope it helps, leave a comment and let me know if it does.

Desperation

Back in my early 20’s I was suffering through my own personal recession. I was out of work for a few months and had no money in the bank.  I was looking for work because I was trying to save up money to go back to school, which was my primary goal at the time. I didn’t have any real skills so I was looking for any job I could find.  I came across a classified ad for a ’sales clerk’ and went down for an interview.  The interview turned out to be a recruitment for a catalogue sales company (think Amway but with crappier stuff) looking for "distributors". Two guys in nice suits made a presentation to about 50 people detailing how we had opportunity to join their company and make hundreds of dollars a week with only 1 week of training and the desire to be rich. They gave us a 5 page sample catalogue and told us to come back in 24 hours with a $25 sign fee from someone we convinced to join their club.  The rationale being anyone motivated enough to go out a "sell" a club membership in 24 hours with no knowledge of the club was motivated enough to become successful. My being desperate made it easy to believe that there was an easy way riches.

Mistake #1: Lack of Preparation. It’s never a good idea to get into any business without preparation. Research, goal setting, gathering resources all go towards getting yourself set up for success. I knew nothing about this company and less about what it would take to succeed in that type of environment. Fortunately, I quickly learned that company wasn’t a good fit for me.

God Bless Mothers

So 24 hours later I’m in a room with about half of the people that was there a day before. The guy who took my check for $25 congratulated me on having the drive to go out and create an opportunity for myself, that showed determination.  In reality, I went home and begged my mother for $25 and even though she knew it was going to waste she gave to me anyway. Guy#1 went on to explained that I was now in enrolled in their "executive" training program and that for the next 5 days I would be given extensive training on how to be successful with their company. I was expected to wear a suit and tie everyday to training.  Being a catholic school graduate I had couple of suits but not enough and I needed a new pair of shoes.  Plus, I was going to need carfare to get to and from training each day.  And as the training went on we were given "homework assignments" that involved going out and getting more people signed up for memberships, that required more traveling.  Where did all of this money come from? Yep, mom. She gave me what I needed to get by because she knew that I wanted to be successful at what I was doing but I didn’t have the money to do it.

Mistake #2: Lack of Capital. Every startup needs capital.  Even if the initial outlay is small there’s bound to be follow up activities that require cash. Hundreds of businesses go under because they under estimate the capital they will need during the start phase. Even a home business being run part time can rack up a sizable price tag.

Dust Collectors

After about 3 days in the classroom our instructors, Guy#1 and Guy#2, told us that we should’ve learned enough about the products to go out and sign up 3 more people.  But to add in a little fun they held contest to see who could sign the most people by the next day. The winner would be elevated to Diamond Distributor status and be assigned 2 distributors that were starting in next week’s class. You see distributors get a percentage off of their members purchases but Diamond Distributors get their cut plus a cut off of any distributors in their downline.  And of course that’s where the real money was made, getting residual income off of your downline.  I went out and tried to sell membership to people in my apartment building who I was friends with. Most said no, one gave me $25 but refused to sign up, and my Grandmother told me she had no use more "dust collectors" in her house.

Mistake #3: Poor Product Choice.  No business will be successful if there isn’t a big enough market for it.  Make sure that there is a high enough demand for your product or service.

I Hate Small Talk

The lady who won the contest signed up 8 people in one night. I was amazed.  I tried to sell memberships to people I had known for at least 12 years and, according to her, she went to a community board meeting that was being held across the street from her boyfriend’s apartment.  She only knew 2 of the 8 people that she sold memberships to that night. Ms Sales Lady stated that she simply started a conversation with each of her prospects and tried to determine if they might be interested in products she offered. If they showed interest, she offered them a membership and convinced them that even if they weren’t ready to buy something it was a good idea to have the membership when time came that they wanted something.  I knocked on neighbors door around 6:30pm and showed them catalogue and told them that they could get anything out of book at a discount if they paid $25 dollars a month indefinitely.

Mistake #4: Lack of Right Skill Set. Don’t try to put the square peg in the round hole. Choosing the right business to get into is like trying to find a romantic companion.  You have to look for something that compliments who you.   If you’re not a salesman then a MLM might not be the right fit for you.

Can’t Fake it

After the training program ended I was assigned to a mentor to help me work on my sales pitch.  My mentor was in the previous training program and he won the contest to get bumped up to Diamond Distributor status. He was nice and energetic. and all about the business. Over the 2 weeks that I worked with him he ate, slept, and breathed membership sign ups.  One night he left a message on my machine at 11:45 explaining how he had a brainstorm on how I could improve my numbers if I learned Spanish and started making presentations in Spanish. He offered to take up Spanish as well to help me learn it quicker. After three weeks of dealing with this company I couldn’t stand the thought of making another presentation. In English or Spanish.

Mistake#5: No Passion. This is the most important thing to your success with any business.  if there is no passion there will be no success. There are people that manage to do well in areas where they aren’t passionate.  They rely on skills and knowledge. But I wouldn’t consider them successful because my definition of success includes happiness and freedom.  And I don’t believe in happiness and freedom without passion.

Hope it helps, leave a comment and let me know if does.   

If you’re thinking about joining Xocai you should read Mr. Obrien’s post and the ones I’ve put up before making your decision. 

Hope it helps. Leave a comment and let me know if it does.