Soliciting

I was in NYC yesterday, left one meeting and heading to another about a mile away. It was a beautiful day, so I decided to walk. You can keep the forest glades; I love walking in the city.

About halfway to my destination, I was stopped by a young man working for a children's charity. He was very personable - and obviously liked talking to people - so I asked him if he was making enough money doing what he was doing. "They don't pay me nearly enough," he said. Next question: "Would you be interested in learning about a way you could make money from home, on your own schedule?" And, what do you know? He was. I gave him my card and a web site to look at, invited him to the meeting I was heading to, and headed off down the street. I felt pretty happy -- good at what I do and proud of sharing it.

Little did I know that my mentor was halfway down the block with a very nice woman who was thinking of joining our team. They'd been watching me the whole time!

The new woman complimented me on being so good at "solicitation." I just laughed. Of course, that's one of the terms for illegal actions taken by prostitutes. I said, "If I were really soliciting, I'd be making more money...I hope." But seriously, as my mentor said, six months ago I would never have been having that conversation. Even four months ago. So it's great to take note of how I've grown.

This really is an amazing business.

"Go Hard or Go Home"

I had the privilege of going to a gym yesterday. Not a "health club" - a gym, a real, honest-go-God boxers' gym. No carpeting, no air conditioning, no cappuccinos. Just a bunch of dedicated men (and a few women) building their self-esteem and their muscles, and practicing their art. It was a humbling - and inspiring - experience.

One of the walls of the gym is painted with a great quotation from Virgil about strength and spirit, but the words I found most inspiring were on the back of a trainer's T-shirt: "Go hard or go home."

If you're not going to give something your all, why in the world would you bother to do it halfway? I'm taking that message back to my team. We have too much work to do - too many people need our help to improve their health and their financial situations. I don't have any time for people looking for a new hobby.

Go hard or go home. And let's change the world.

Good Deeds & Good Work

Lauren gave away her "fat" clothes this weekend.

That's a big step for a self-described "cheap-skape" New Englander. But she felt she needed to make a commitment to herself, to her slimming, healthier self, putting up a big, neon sign for the Universe:

THIS IS NOT WHO I AM ANYMORE!

So she loaded up two very large garbage bags with stuff she bought 50 lbs. ago and we hauled them off to Goodwill. Her more formal clothes will be going to Dress for Success, a charity that outfits lower-income women in business attire so they can get better jobs. Good deeds, the result of a lot of hard work Lauren has done, sticking to the fat-burning program and exercising regularly.

Look for more donations to come from my growing (and shrinking!) team.

Fair? Nope, Fabulous!

Team "Slim Diva" set up a booth at a street fair yesterday. What an awesome day! Even when it rained - and oh yeah, did it rain! - we made great connections with people. We were talking with a very nice man, a body-builder type who wants to increase his lean muscle mass, when the skies opened up...and then the wind whipped up and started blowing away people's tents! There were only two of us working the booth at the moment (me and Lauren) and our arms weren't long enough to hold down all four sides of the tent, so this guy just grabbed on and stayed with us until the storm had passed. We didn't even have to ask! Thanks again, Malik, wherever you are!

We had various helpers who joined us for parts of the day, but Lauren and I were there from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. Eleven hours. Physically we were exhausted by the time we got home. But mentally, we were jazzed. We met soooo many people and had tons of great conversations about how we can help them achieve their health (and wealth) goals. Now begins the work of following up with the 100+ people who were interested enough to give us their information. Whew! I can't wait to do it again!

Funny Business

If you ask 10 people what network marketing is about, probably 11 of them would tell you "Sales."

But I don't believe it's about sales at all, I believe it's about listening. Listening to what people say - and to what they mean - and then showing them how I can help.

So who are the best listeners in the world? Besides therapists and maybe bartenders, I think it's comedians. Especially comedians who specialize in stand-up or improv.

Stand-ups have to be engaging; they have to know how to "read" their audience. Improvisers have to be able to go with the flow, building on what the other person in the conversation gives them. These are all golden skills for networkers. And, yes, they're skills anyone can learn. But with comedians, they're standard equipment.

So I'm on the lookout for comics. And I'm currently talking to two of them: One I met at an audition - he was my partner in an improv scene and we made the auditioners laugh, a lot. And another whose business card I found on the bulletin board in a sandwich shop 250 miles from where he lives. It was pinned up alongside cards from a motley collection of Realtors, tutors, and a woman who'll assemble your scrapbook for you. (I'll be calling all of those folks, too - and some of them may even make themselves - and me - some money, but I don't expect any of them to make me laugh.)

"When I win the lottery..."

Spent some time in the dog park today. I just wanted to give the dog (she's 8 months old now - that's an old picture, but way cute) a chance to get some exercise and it was a lovely afternoon. I wasn't thinking about business at all.

And then this woman I was talking to started speaking a foreign language. Okay, not really. It was a language I understood - a language I used to speak, even. But not anymore.

"When I win the lottery," she said. She would have a house on Cape Cod. And a car and driver to get her there and back whenever she liked. Also a cleaning lady. "When I win the lottery."

Like I said, I used to speak that language. The language of, "I can't possibly get ahead on my own so I'll just wait for divine intervention." Of "without a bolt from the blue, my dreams will never become reality." Of "I'm not good, so I'd better be lucky." But I was surprised at how odd and wrong it sounded to me coming out of this nice woman's mouth.

I don't need to wait for the lottery - I'm making my own luck, building my own business. I talked to her about it and she seemed interested. She took my postcard, read it, then folded it up and put it in her pocket. I hope she calls. I'd love to help her make some of her dreams come true.

Gooooooooooal!

I've never been much of a goal-setter in the past. I'll blame The Voice for that, can't I? You know, The Voice in your head that says unhelpful things - sometimes quite loudly and with the kind of annoying frequency usually only found in 2-year-olds who've set their sights on expensive toy.

My Voice told me that setting goals was a waste of time, especially since I wasn't going to meet them anyway! So for years, I never bothered.

But lately I've been working on The Voice, trying to give it a permanent case of laryngitis. And so I set a goal for the month of April. A pretty audacious goal, at that. I have a calendar hanging next to my desk and on the square for April 30th, the last day of the month, I wrote the number of people I wanted to have enrolled on my team.

And I found out...The Voice was right: I didn't meet my goal. I exceeded it!

So we've been making like soccer fans in my house, lots of high-fives and shouts of "Goooooooooooooooooooooal!"

Feels fabulous!

Team Slimdiva now has 17 members...and counting! With more goooooooooooals set weekly.