As a business owner, we all experience ebs and flows especially as we are getting started. There is a learning curve very different from any other job or career, a journey of self discovery, and lets face it, a stripping and rebuild of our self confidence. If you really want to learn who you are and what you are capable of, start a business. There is nothing more rewarding then the journey, despite the ups and downs.

But the best part of the downs is that they are just set backs, and the come backs are what inspires others to create change. When I started my business, I didn’t know I would have set backs. No one really prepared me for that. I knew that people would say no to me, and I knew people would quit, but I didnt know that my personal life played the biggest role in my success. I figured as long as I kept working hard on my business, it would thrive, and then my personal life would just fall into place. This is the furthest thing from the truth. And the funny thing is, I got started in a home business to put my life first, but as someone who is extremely driven for success, I just figured you sacrifice in the short term for long term gain. I took everything I learned quite literally.

So if you know my story, I got started when our oldest daughter was 2 months old, my husband and I were just young parents trying to make ends meet, broke and in debt. That wasn’t the life I wanted for my family, so when I started my business I was told I needed to be coachable to succeed. I hung onto every word, I implemented the strategies my uplines provided me, and I showed up to everything, even on my hubby’s birthday – which I vowed I would never do. I put my business before all else because I didn’t want my whys to be my excuse, and although I was promoting and growing my pay cheque, my familly life and my health and well being were declining. I was using strategies that were exhausting and time consuming, and although I started this business because I loved that I could weave it into my life, I actually found myself just trying to weave my life in around it.

Not that there is anything wrong with the strategies I was being taught, they were just very time consuming and given my geographical location, a mom of 2 very small babes, and absolutely no outside family support because our family was spread out on 3 continents, I felt like I had 2 choices – quit, which I had already taken that option off the table – or find a way to grow my business strategically in a way that worked to my strengths and that really allowed me to always put my family first.

Now Im not going to go into details about the strategies I use to build my business (you can subscribe to learn more at the bottom of this post), but Im going to share with you the shift I experienced when I went from a consultant to a leader on my team, and have started to experience true duplication and a business I love. They say if you want to go fast go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. I don’t care about fast, but I do care about fullfillment and creating success for many people in this world, and I just don’t believe that there is only one way to do that. We are all gifted with individual talents that make us unique and special, and I believe we should work to our strengths not our weaknesses.

So first, I took a step back and I looked at the big picture! I realized that I had started to subscribe to a vision that wasn’t my own. I lost track of why I do this business and the reasons I got started. So I refocused my vision on my own desires, and I shifted my conversations from talking about my own vision to hearing the vision of my team and my potential business partners. I thought being a vision painter meant I needed to learn what to say, but your vision for your life is not whats keeping people up at night, so learn to ask and listen more. People want to know how what you do can make their visions become their reality.

From day 1 I had unshakeable belief in my company, my upline and my industry. Yet I had no belief in myself. I had never experienced success, so although I was a recruiting rockstar, because people trusted me and wanted to work with me, I would sign them up, and then pass them off to my upline for training, because I didn’t think I had what it took to lead them. Until one day a friend joined my team and she told me I was my greatest asset to my business and she wanted to learn from me. I realized, people don’t join your company, they dont join your upline, they join YOU because they want to work with YOU. So I stepped out of my comfort zone and I became the leader I needed to be – someone who is learning with their team, inspiring their team to create their own vision, and empowring them to see their strengths and step into their own leadership shoes.

I got creative. Like me you were probably told not to reinvent the wheel. I dont believe in fixing something that isn’t broken, but I do believe technology advanced to make things work more efficiently, so no, don’t reinvent the wheel, enhance it. What business in this world doesn’t advance to create greater results? That is the beauty of bringing people together with a variety of different skill sets to create an empire of absolute greatness. To tell someone not to be creative is stripping them of who they are and the strengths they can bring to the table. We all have very different situations in our lives, and to be successful in business we have to be willing to do whatever it takes. We say our systems are duplicatable but the reality is, if only 80-90% of home business owners stay and create success, then is what we’re teaching as duplicateable as we think? Dont get wrapped up in your methods get wrapped up in acheiving your goals no matter what and empower your people to do the same. LIke children give them the tools they need to be successful, but remember they are human beings, and human beings like to be inspired and encouraged, not managed. If they wanted managment they would stay in their j.o.b’s.  They start a home business to be their own boss, so don’t be their boss, be their mentor.

With a team all over the globe, many whom Ive never met, I had to find ways for us to stay connected, because for 3 years I was the only one going to our monthly events, yet my team wasn’t connected and so they were falling off the map. So I brought the meeting to them through zoom and group calls, and through our own facebook team page. If you want your team to see you as a leader, then position yourself as a leader, and you will know when the time is right to do that. I waited too long to make that shift, because I was afraid to do something different then what I was told. Now I lead my team with unconditional support, and empower them to find their own path in this journey, because no 2 businesses can ever look the same, no matter how duplicateable your system is. Know that it doesn’t matter where you start, or what skill sets you have, you dont have to have a title to lead people. Lead with vision and heart, because titles mean very little to people.

I stopped trying so hard and I started making it simple, fun and light hearted, something that people wanted to subscribe to! I unattached myself from the outcome, and focused my energy purely on the activity – based on the needs of each individual I met. If someone wanted to chat on facebook instead of on the phone, thats what we did. If they wanted to meet in person, we met in person. If they wanted to come to an event, I found an event for them to come to. I stopped focusing on my needs, and I shifted my focus on serving others and what worked in their lives. I stopped ‘prospecting’ and I started ‘connecting’. I shifted my agenda from obligation to choice, and started living my life how I wanted it to be instead of a life I was working towards. LIfe and work, especially in our industry, doesn’t have to be 2 seperate things. This is a relationship business, so focus on finding, building and growing relationships and having fun!

I sought out mentors who were living the life I wanted to, via social media, books, youtube videos, and subscribing to their lists. I found what resonated with me, applied it to the numbers of our system (remember that from a business perspective, it really is a numbers game), and I started to work from the gut and to my strengths… always seeking the strengths of others, and serving others without expecting anything in return. I looked for ways to create value for people in my community, like starting book clubs, volunteering and creating networking opportunities. Service to many leads to greatness and I trust in the process completely. Could you imagine if everyone in this world had an attitude of servitude?

And last and possibly the most important, I worked on becoming the kind of person and leader that I would want to follow. I invested in myself through personal developement, books, courses, coaching, and conferences. Remember I started like everyone else, knowing nothing about how to make money in a home business. I also invest in my wellness, but eating organic food, taking the best supplements, learning from exercise professionals, and obtaining treatments from health practitioners to ensure my mind and body are functioning optimally. And I show up every day, not perfect, but working to become the best version of myself I possibly can and to inspire others to do the same. You can’t change the world and you cant change the things that are out of your control, but you always have a choice to be who you want to become.