Goals
Tuesday, May 27, 2008, by Leigh Anne
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Fourteen years ago we built the house that we currently live in. We moved from our small, one bathroom bungalow in the city to our 5 bedroom home in the suburbs. With the birth of our fourth child - we had definitely outgrown that house!
Not only did we buy a lot more house - we bought a lot more yard. We went from a small city lot to a 17,000 square foot yard - or rather 17,000 square feet of clay dirt. That’s all there was - dirt - there was not one tree, flower, bush or stick!
As I mentioned yesterday, the extent of my gardening experience was 3 pots of geraniums on my front porch. So what were we going to do with 17,000 square feet of dirt?? I decided that I wanted a garden, I wanted a garden like the ones you see in magazines. The only problem was I knew nothing about gardening or where to even start.
I was in the same situation 17 years ago when I started my homebased business - I knew nothing about running a business or sales. I had never sold anything before. Let’s face it I had a degree in Clothing and Textiles - I had spent four years in college learning how to construct a blazer - not selling anything!
But I had a desire - I had a desire to have a beautiful garden and I also had a desire to have a successful, income producing business. That is the first step in achieving anything - desire.
Step One: Start with a Desire
Step Two: Develop a Plan! Start small and start now. Don’t allow your fears, lack of knowledge or information keep you from moving forward. My first step in creating the beautiful garden I wanted was to take a class on landscape design from the local community education program. There I learned that I needed a plan. I knew I couldn’t tackle all 17,000 square feet at once. I learned that the first thing I needed to do was amend my soil - we brought in truck loads of good dirt. I then decided to focus on one area of the yard a time.
Have a plan for your goal or desire. Start small and start now! Don’t allow fear to hold you back, be willing to take the first steps.
The beginning of our plan - good dirt and an irrigation system.
Step Three: Get resources, books, tapes, advice from the experts - I consider these things to be “Shortcuts to Success”. Get on the Internet and ‘google’ your area of focus. Go to Amazon.com or the public library and check out books. I spent a lot of time reading gardening magazines and books I had checked out from the library in addition to the information I learned at the class I was taking. I would also go for walks and look at yards, look for plants/flowers I liked. I would even go up to people’s doors to ask them names of ones I didn’t know. I spent a lot of time wandering around nurseries, asking questions and making lists of flowers and plants I liked and taking pictures of plants.
Step Four: Find a Mentor. One day when I was at a nursery purchasing some plants, the cashier mentioned that I was buying plants similar to ones a garden designer, who had just been in, was also purchasing. I asked what their name was and the cashier gave me the garden designer’s card. I went home and immediately called her. She invited me to come visit her garden - and could I come right now? I was expecting dinner guests within an hour but didn’t want to miss out on this opportunity so I quickly explained to my husband what he needed to do to finish up dinner and I headed out to tour her garden. I was in love! Her garden was amazing (it’s been featured in many national gardening magazines, Fred Meyer commercials etc.) and I wanted a garden just like hers!! I took Jim back a few days later and he was in love too.
We hired Margaret to help us with our plan. She helped us define our space and pick plants that were appropriate to the areas. She taught us as we went along and we learned so much from her.
Jim and Margaret looking over the plan
Find a mentor, an expert in the field, someone who has done what you want to do and is willing to teach you. I have used this step many times. When I’ve wanted to get more organized I’ve asked a friend who is incredibly organized to come over and help me. Find someone who models the trait you want to possess.
Step Five: Set aside time for growth daily. Gardens take time. We couldn’t turn our large piece of dirt into a beautiful garden over night. It is an ongoing process and still is today. Building a successful business takes time. It takes consistent effort and focus. Using time techniques such as Fifteen Minute Focus and Power Hour have helped me in my garden and in my business. I use the Fifteen Minute Focus to keep the garden weeded!
So here are some pictures of what my garden looks like today - the next picture was taken from the same window that the first picture above was …quite a change!
Our woodland path.
Next week I’ll share with you a few more gardening lessons I learned along the way that also apply to achieving our goals and dreams.
Happy Gardening!
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Tuesday, May 6, 2008, by Leigh Anne
Last week I shared with you my Health Goal for my 40 Days of Fanatical Focus - in addition to increasing my exercise I wanted to drink more water each day.
I am happy to report that I have been doing much better and most days I drink my whole water jug full! I must admit this has been a bit of a struggle for me. I confess - I am a diet soda drinker. I know it’s not great for me and my high school senior daughter loves to tell me how it causes cancer - but just about everything causes cancer these days, doesn’t it? I was proofreading a paper for my sweet college boy a few weeks ago and he cited a study that made the claim that ice cream causes cancer - yes, ICE CREAM! I refuse to buy into that one! But I have limited myself to a diet soda every other day.
Since drinking water is a bit of a challenge for me I have had to come up with some ways to make it easier and increase my intake. So today, here are my Top Tips for Drinking More Water:
1. Set a goal of how much water you want to drink each day and have someone hold you accountable. I place my big water jug on the counter each day so the rest of my family can see how much I have drunk. I don’t like drinking out of the big jug so I fill and refill a smaller water bottle until the big one is empty.
2. I place a smaller water bottle next to my bed and when I wake up I try and drink the bottle of water within 20 minutes of waking.
3. I carry a water bottle with me everywhere, I keep one on my desk and always take one in the car with me.
4. Before I drink a diet soda I make myself drink twice the amount of soda in water.
5. Each time I crave something sweet I drink some water first.
6. Before each meal I also drink another 8 ounces of water - it’s amazing how it decreases my appetite.
7. After each trip to the bathroom (and these are more frequent with all the water I’m drinking) I drink another 8 oz. of water or so.
8. I get real tired of drinking just plain old, flavorless water so I have found some different things to add to my water bottle to make it easier.
…I love adding those cute little individual packets of Crystal Light to my water. They come in all kinds of fun flavors - the Classic Orange is my current favorite. They are so easy to just throw in your purse too!
…If you’d like something a little less sweet my Aunt Dawn recently told me about True Lemon and True Lime. It is also a powder but it tastes like you just squeezed some fresh lemon or lime juice into your water. I found it at Safeway. It is light and refreshing.
…I also purchased a box of Greens to Go at Costco. Honestly - despite the advertising on the box that says “Guaranteed Great Tasting” I think it tastes like you are drinking grass but it really does make me feel better after I drink it. (I drink it really fast). In the late afternoon when I hit a little energy lull I mix some up and I really feel better afterwards and I am sure it is better for me than a diet soda!
9. I drink a bottle of water after I get back from my morning walk to rehydrate.
10. Finally, make it a contest. Find a partner - your husband, friend or neighbor and see who can drink the most water each day. Make sure there is some kind of reward or prize for the winner!
Do you have any tips or tricks for drinking more water? I’d love to hear what they are. Please share by leaving a comment below or if you are reading this in an email update or rss feeder please remember to click through to the blog post to leave your comment.
Happy Drinking (water drinking that is!)
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Categories: Goals, Inspire
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Monday, May 5, 2008, by Leigh Anne
“The things that make you feel, think, laugh”
Having been involved in direct sales for 17 years I have enjoyed reading about other woman who have been successful in the industry. Of course, one of the icons of the direct sales industry is Mary Kay Ash of Mary Kay Cosmetics. She is an amazing woman and I have enjoyed reading about and learning from her over the years.
Years ago, at the beginning of my direct sales career I first read about Mary Kay’s Five O’clock Club in her book “Mary Kay - You Can Have it All”.
Whenever people would ask Mary Kay how she managed to get so much done she would tell them about her Five O’clock Club and invite them to join her.
Yes, Mary Kay Ash would get up every morning at 5:00 a.m. That extra hour or two each day, before the rest of the world and her family got up, helped her to accomplish all that she needed to do - and she accomplished a lot. I have since read of many successful people who are members of the club too - everyone from Ted Turner to Gandhi.
When I was a young mom, home with 4 small children and trying to balance family with running a direct sales business and everything else in my life, there just weren’t enough hours in my day. After reading about Mary Kay’s club I decided to join. Yes - I decided to get up at 5:00 a.m. each morning. The thing I was struggling with at the time was getting my exercise in each day so I went to the gym each morning at 5:00 a.m.
Now - I’m not going to lie - it was painful, very painful! But I was determined to make exercise a part of my life and if 5:00 a.m. was the only time I could make it happen - I was going to do it. I will tell you that it did get easier - not a lot easier - but easier to get up at that time each morning.
I continued the practice of the 5 O’clock Club for a lot of years - sometimes using it to get my exercise in or other times using it to get up and work on projects I needed to accomplish.
As my children got older though and were gone all day to school I stopped being a member of the 5 O’clock Club. Maybe it was because I had more time to myself during the day to get things done or maybe I just got lazy! I have found that the busyness of life has it’s ebbs and flows - some seasons are crazy busy and others are just busy.
We are entering one of those crazy busy seasons for the next few months with sweet high school daughter getting to graduate and wanting to be involved in as many things as she possibly can and I want to be right there to enjoy it all too. I have a list a mile long of all the things I want to accomplish before graduation (including her scrapbooks!)
Several weeks ago I shared with you one of my goals for my Forty Days of Fanatical Focus - completing her scrapbooks (family goal) and increasing my exercise program. (health goal)
This week it was time to add in Focus Goal #3 - my spiritual goal. In order to accomplish this goal I am once again joining the 5 O’clock Club - with one slight modification - it is now the 6 O’clock Club!
For the last week I have been getting up at 6:00 a.m. each morning (this is a half hour earlier than normal) to spend quiet time reading my scriptures, pondering and working on a new assignment I have been given at church. I have been asked to be a Destiny Leader for our church girl’s camp this summer. Destiny is the “spiritual” part of camp - each day the girls go to Destiny to be spiritually feed and uplifted. In order to prepare myself for this responsibility I knew I needed to take time each day between now and then to prepare what I would say and share with the girls.
Being 17 years older than I was when I first joined the 5 O’clock Club I didn’t want to shock the old system too much so I decided to start getting up at 6 a.m. for a week and then this week it will be 5:45 a.m. and then I’ll push it to 5:30 a.m. the next week (So I guess it will be the 5:30 club eventually!)
I have loved this extra pocket of time each morning. It sets a wonderful tone for the rest of my day and is helping me to find the time I need to prepare for my new assignment.
Is there some project you have been putting off? Are you finding the time in your day for all the things that are important to you? If not - you might want to give the Five O’clock Club - or maybe the Six O’clock Club - the more members the better!
Let me know if you join and what you are using the time to focus on and accomplish.
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008, by Leigh Anne
“The things that make you feel, think, laugh”
Sorry there was no new post yesterday but it was “re-entry” day at our house. You know - the day after you return from a trip. There’s the mail, the email, the voicemail, the unpacking, the laundry, the empty refrigerator and the kids that need some attention! Now if my body can just re-adjust to Pacific time everything will be great. Jim and I had a fabulous time in Florida and loved the break and the sun! I tried to soak in as much Vitamin D as I could.
Our trip to Florida was a gift from my company to the top level leaders. They spoiled us with 4 nights/5 days in the beautiful luxury Marriott resort on Marco Island. We enjoyed wonderful food, spa time, fun shopping, exciting excursions, pool and beach time and did I mention SUN!
One of my favorite excursions was the Shelling/Dolphin boat trip. If you have never been to Marco Island (it is the southwest tip of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico) the beach there is covered with millions of shells. I really don’t even think there is sand - it is just crushed shell. If you are from Oregon you know that it is an exciting day when you find an intact shell on the Oregon Coast - well in Florida they are everywhere!
Our boat took us out to a private island that was only used for shelling. The beach there was covered with shells. As everyone departed the boat they began walking along the shore line collecting the shells that lined the beach.
I noticed a woman walking by who had a bucket full of shells. But they were not the shells that were so abundant along the beach - they were not the common shells you can find everywhere on Marco Island - these shells were different. They were beautiful.
I wanted shells like hers.
As I watched her, she did not walk along the shore line like everyone else. She actually got into the water. So I decided if I was going to find shells like hers I too was going to have to get into the water - to get wet. So I lifted up my cover-up and got into the water.
These particular shells were not as abundant as the others - I had to search for them and sometimes I had to wade out a bit farther than I really wanted to and get a bit wetter than I really wanted to. I had to step on some pretty bumpy terrain a few times and almost lost my balance a time or two. But I found them - the beautiful shells I wanted.
My shells are now home with me, in a glass bowl on my kitchen counter - I love them. They will be a reminder of our wonderful time in Florida but they also remind me of something else.
They remind me of those goals that we set - whether it is one of the goals we have set for our 40 Days of Fanatical Focus or a more long term goal.
When we set a goal:
1. We are setting ourselves apart. We are not looking for the common, everyday. Just like I didn’t want those shells that were so abundant on the beaches, I wanted the unique shells - we want to accomplish something unique, something different.
2. We need to look for a guide. Someone who has done it before us, someone who has forged the path for us and has provided a map that we can follow, just like the woman I saw with the bucket of beautiful shells. By watching her and what she did I knew where to find those shells - in the water!
3. We need to differentiate ourselves from the crowd. We need to be willing to not follow the easy path - walking along the shoreline where all the common shells are. We need to veer off the path and get into the water - we need to get wet!
4. We need to realize that we may need to get wetter than we want and maneuver over some rough terrain but that it will be worth it. By getting wet and enduring a little pain I found what I was looking for - I found seashell success.
5. After we have found success we need to share it with others. When I got back on the boat to sail back to the hotel, Jody Summers, another top leader in my company was also on the excursion. She had not found any of the beautiful shells that I had so I shared a few with her.
Greater joy can be found in our success when we are willing share it with others.
Here’s wishing you Seashell Success!
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Monday, April 21, 2008, by Leigh Anne
Last week I shared with you one of my goals for my 40 Days of Fanatical Focus - to work on my high school senior daughter’s scrapbook using a Fifteen Minute Focus 5 days a week and 2 Power Hours a week.
Before I report in on my progress I want to thank those of you who are joining me and who shared your goals - thank you! It’s not too late - leave a comment today and let me know what you are going to focus on for the next 40 days!
Well - now for my report -I wasn’t totally focused! Those 15 minutes a day just didn’t happen but I am happy to report that the 2 Power Hours did happen this weekend, so progress was made. Even though I wasn’t totally focused I moved forward and accomplished more than I would have otherwise!
I hope to do better this week even though I will be out of town for four days. (I won’t count those 4 days in the 40!)
I decided not to start out with four goals (Health, Spiritual, Family, Business) all at the same time - instead I will add in a new one each week and so my 40 days will actually last 70 Days.
This week’s new goal falls into the “Health” category. I want to focus in on my exercise routine - or lack of!
My goal is to walk 5 days a week - lately I’m lucky if it is 3. I have a friend who walks with me 2-3 days a week and that works great - it’s the other two days when I am left on my own to do it that I have a problem.
So -for the next 40 days I will focus on walking 5 days a week. I just purchased a new WalkVest to wear when I walk to add some resistance to the workout - not exactly the height of fashion but it does give me a better workout.
I am also going to wear a pedometer each day with the goal of walking 10,000 steps a day!
The last part of the goal is my water consumption. I have pulled my big water jug out from the back of the cupboard and my goal is to drink that amount of water or more everyday. So a lot of those 10,000 steps will probably be in and out of the bathroom!
So how are you doing with your 40 Days of Fanatical Focus? If you haven’t set a focus goal yet - do it today and share it with me below in the comment section. Let’s cheer each other on! Even if we aren’t perfect (as you see I’m not!) we can make progress.
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Monday, April 14, 2008, by Leigh Anne
“The things that make you feel, think, laugh.”
Focus - we’ve been talking a lot about it lately - how to get it and how to keep it! It can certainly be a challenge, especially at my age!!
Carrie over at Barefoot Executive has a “40 Days of Fanatical Focus” Challenge going on. Her challenge is to pick a goal in 4 different parts of your life (Health, Spiritual, Family or Business) that you would like to focus on and hopefully accomplish in the next forty days.
Carrie said….
“ I’ve written down where I want to be in 40 days in these areas (measurable goals) and where I am starting today. I’ve chosen a couple of key things to focus on every day and for FORTY DAYS I am NOT going to be distracted.”
She asks visitors to her site who are accepting her challenge to share what their goals are for their 40 days of Fanatical Focus. There were lots of great goals including:
Exercise every day and lose 10 lbs.
Early morning prayer and quiet time before beginning the day
Read certain books
Get 10 home events on the calendar for their business
Work 1 hour a day in the yard
Finish up certain projects
Make 3 contacts for their business every day for the next 40 days
L A Idea - Well, I love the idea! In fact, in a little over 40 days my sweet daughter will graduate from high school. When my other two boys graduated I presented them with a set of completed scrapbooks of their wonderful life so far.
I have done a great job of keeping my family scrapbooks up to date but I have fallen behind the last couple of years on sweet daughter’s and there are a few gaps here and there in her earlier years. I want to have her scrapbooks ready for her when she graduates June 2nd.
I also want to complete a digital “Sisters” album for her to take to college with her complete with pictures of her and her younger sister over the years.
So that is my “Family” goal for Carrie’s 40 days of Fanatical Focus.
How am I going to accomplish this amongst all the other million things going on? I am going to use a couple of the Focus techniques I have shared with you in previous posts. During each of the next 40 days I am going to have a Fifteen Minute Focus - it is amazing what you can accomplish in 15 minutes a day! I will set my alarm for 15 minutes earlier than usual and use that time to get a page or two done.
Twice a week I am going to set aside time for a Power Hour - to get some real concentrated work done on the albums.
What could you accomplish in the next 40 days of FANATICAL FOCUS. I’d love for you to accept Carrie’s challenge along with me.
Just click on the comment section below and let me know what your goal is for your 40 Days of Fanatical Focus.
Over the next week or so I will share with you what my goals are in the other 3 areas.
Join me!! Let me know what your Focus areas are!
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Monday, January 28, 2008, by Leigh Anne
I am a proud Mama! You see, my sweet, high school daughter has been ACCEPTED TO COLLEGE! Now believe me I am in no rush for her to leave home, in fact for the last year I have been tearing up at the thought of it. As you know, I already have two sweet college boys (yes - we will have 3 in college at the same time next fall - yikes!$!$!) so we have been through this before. But this sweet daughter’s journey to this point in her life has been a little different than my boys.
You see Cali was born with speech and learning disabilities. Through her educational journey she has always had what is called an IEP (Individual Education Program) this has allowed her special services (resource room, speech therapy. etc.) . Learning has never come easy for her, she has had to work twice as hard at it as most people do. But Cali’s spirit, spunk and determination have brought her to today - where she has received her first college acceptance and she will be graduating with an Honor’s Diploma (which means she has taken Advanced Placement courses and completed an involved service project as well as other things)
What an amazing experience it is to see your children struggle with challenges, overcome those challenges and achieve their dreams! I have learned a lot from being Cali’s mother. I marvel at her strength, her determination not to give up and her ability to stay the course. I know that because of these traits Cali will be successful at whatever she undertakes in her life, that she will be able to overcome whatever challenge is placed in her path.
Each of us has our own set of challenges whether in business or in life. One thing Cali has taught me is that if you want something bad enough and the desire is strong in your heart you can overcome!
Being the Proud Mama that I am I wanted to share with you Cali’s college essay - it describes Cali’s journey and personality so well and I know that Cali’s spirit and determination will take her far!
“I don’t do time and money,” stated a spunky little girl-me-to her resource room teacher. But this spunk and determination helped me to overcome my learning disabilities and challenge myself in all aspects of life.
From day one, it was a challenge to speak. This brought on numerous ear surgeries and years of speech and language therapy. My late start and struggle in school with reading, talking, and understanding brought an adventure.
During elementary school, I went to the resource room. Some kids cruelly called it “the retarded kid’s” room, but I found it a safe place. In this protected space, I felt comfortable learning without being intimidated by other student’s speed of learning.
In middle school I wanted to prove that having a learning disability doesn’t equate with the label, “stupid.” I spent hours doing homework and studying. Even though I wasn’t getting straight A’s I was achieving excellence by performing at a quicker pace.
I now have the goal to graduate with an honors diploma. Even though it’s a struggle, I enjoy the challenge. With four AP classes I have learned that I am capable of new and bigger things.
My determination has helped me overcome obstacles in more then just academics. I aspired to land a leading role in a high school musical. After numerous rejections, I achieved this goal after hours of preparation and positive thinking.
Another one of my goals has been to attend BYU. I know this won’t be easy, but by overcoming my disabilities I am prepared to take on the challenge of being a BYU student. There is no greater feeling then achieving your dream after you have worked for excellence.
I love you Cali!
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Categories: Family, Goals, Inspire
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Monday, January 7, 2008, by Leigh Anne
It’s my birthday today. I enjoyed a fun, yummy lunch with girlfriends and there were even gifts! I have been thinking about gifts a lot lately - not just because of the past holidays and my birthday but because of a movie we watched as a family during the break. If you have not seen “The Ultimate Gift” you need to! In fact I would highly recommend purchasing a copy for your family. I don’t buy many movies because there aren’t too many movies I want to watch more than once but I did buy this one!
It is a wonderful movie about ”when grandfather dies, trust fund baby Jason Stevens anticipates a big inheritance. Instead, his grandfather has devised a crash course on life with twelve tasks – or “gifts” – designed to challenge Jason in improbable ways, sending him on a journey of self-discovery and forcing him to determine what is most important in life: money or happiness.”
As I watched the movie and later thought about the 12 gifts that Jason received on his crash course I thought about how these gifts related to my homebased business. I discovered that my homebased business has given me these 12 gifts also.
The Gift of:
1. Work - What a gift it is to have a job that allows me to always keep my family as my first priority while still finding fulfillment, success and recognition through my work.
2. Money - The income I have earned through my homebased business has provided many of the “extras” for our family - vacations, second home, lessons, shopping etc. and the last few years it has also provided the “basics” when my husband has experienced unemployment. The money I earn through my business has been a true gift to our family.
3. Friends- I can’t even begin to count the friends I have made over the last 17 years I have had my homebased business! I have met so many wonderful woman (and a few men) that have impacted my life, inspired me, and motivated me. Two of my dearest friends in life I met through my direct sales business.
4. Family -The biggest gift my business has given me is the ability I have had to be a stay at home mom!
5. Problems - Yes, there have been problems and there always will be. The last 17 years have not all been smooth sailing. There have been plenty of ups and downs, high sales, low sales, high commission checks, low commission checks but I know that with the blessings must come the trials. I am grateful for those trials for they have made me a better and stronger person.
6. Learning - The thingsI have learned from my homebased business are many. I have learned how to sell (something I had NEVER done before nor thought I could or wanted to do!), recruit, speak to a group of 4,000 women, lead a team of 700, deal with difficult people, etc. I could go on and on….
7 Laughter - I have learned to laugh at myself - I have made plenty of mistakes along the way and I am grateful for those who laughed right alongside me as we have learned and grown together!
8. Dreams - I have learned how to dream and because of my homebased business I have seen many of those dreams come true. The purchase of our second home on the Oregon Coast was a dream I have had for many years - it was because of the income from my homebased business that we were able to purchase it. I have many other dreams too that I look forward to the realization of thanks to my business!
9. Giving -I have been both a giver and and a receiver. I have been able to give of my time, my experience and my knowledge to help others with their business. I have been able to “give” to my customers as I have helped them but I am sure I have received more than I have given through the many gifts and blessings that have come into my life as a result of my business.
10. Gratitude - I am grateful on a daily basis for all that I have been given, the many gifts that my life has been blessed with. Sometimes when things aren’t going exactly the way I want it easy to forget to be grateful. One of my resolutions for this year is to be more grateful on a daily basis - to recognize the hand of the Lord in my life each day and the blessings he showers down on me.
11. A Day - One of the biggest gifts or blessings of a homebased business is the freedom I have to choose how I will spend my day - each day is mine to choose. I do not have a boss telling me what I have to do and when I have to do it - it is up to me.
12 Love - How grateful I am for the love I have for my team members, fellow consultants and my customers. My life has been so enriched by the people that my business has brought into it. My life is fuller and richer because of them.
So go out and rent or buy “The Ultimate Gift” and take some time to review over the many gifts you have received.
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Categories: Goals, Home Based Business, Inspire
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