Purpose - Schmurpose!

Purpose – schmurpose! LOL 20 days down and I've spent most of it rather down … but not quite out... due to some of life's unexpected troubles. :( The damages are reversing, healing, returning to normal, slowly. But, as usual, it's not going to stop me from moving toward my goals!

And I am still moving ahead WITH PURPOSE! I am determined that even starting my business month 33% behind (so to speak) will not keep me from building my business!

Same for SPARKnEarthlyBest – no progress to report, but no backsliding either!

On the green front... we are doing LOTS BETTER at eating REAL FOODS! I found a few new blogs to follow in this effort of avoiding processed foods more:

100daysofrealfood.com and foodformyfamily.com and eatingrules.com

If you have any interest at all in eating less processed foods, more organic foods, or more local foods you may find one or all of these very helpful! :)

And with ANDEE365 – Wow! Have we been 'thru the ringer' and then some! It wasn't fun. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. :( However, we have had some extensive family discussions about the things that have happened and the things that could yet happen. These have resulted in a number of things improving around here. But there are still some “issues” to resolve ~ aren't there always such things in large families? LOL So, we move ahead! We go forward WITH PURPOSE! We take stock of where we are at; where we want to go; and which path(s) we want to take to get there.

I do have to say this: In the last 20 days I've talked to a number of locals and met some really nice people! This makes me look forward even more to what's ahead as I seek out more and more of the people of my little town and help them understand what a wonderful thing I have for them with my company! :) There are lots of hard-working folks around here who are barely getting by and really struggling to find that “something” that will help them get to the next check, help them get to feeling better so they can do more to meet their families' needs, and give them hope for a brighter future. Before long they will all know! I can't wait to share what I have with all of them!!!

I close with this:

"Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

~ Steve Jobs (Feb. 24, 1955 – Oct. 5, 2011)

050 ~ Fifty!!!

~F~I~F~T~Y~

~5~0~

WOW!

Fifty days - Fifty photos - Fifty posts!

The "days" aren't quite right 

because we all know I've missed a few days

here & there, tho I always catch up!

The "photos" aren't quite right either

because some days have just one

but some days have lots more than one!

But FIFTY POSTS fits just right

because today I have 

(with this post)

now written 50 posts 

for this blog!

YAY!!!

This has nothing to do with 50!

LOL

About the only way it might have anything to do with 50 is in my desire to achieve certain goals within a given timeline... such as;

I'd like to have 50 personal customers

by May 2011.

or...

I'd like to lose 50 pounds

by March 2011.

You might not think one is related to the other,

but they are!

Take a look at the picture again:

This is a circle of wellness.

Each part is connected to the others.

Without any one, wellness is not complete.

Starting from the 12 o'clock position

you have:

Financial Wellness

Environmental Wellness

Personal Wellness

Physical Wellness

Put them in any order you want; 

you're priorities may be 

different from mine,

but you need all four

if you're really going to be well.

Think about it!

We all need money these days

(financial)

We all breathe air and drink water

(environmental)

We all have people we care about,

including ourselves

(personal)

We all have health issues we're

concerned about

or want to improve

(physical)

Sure we can expand on any or all 

of these a lot more!

But if you had to do away with one,

which one would it be?

Name one you could do without

that would not have

a negative effect

on the others!

So - back to my earlier thought:

relating the goals

of building my customer base

and me losing weight

to one another.

My customer base affects my financial wellness.

My losing weight affects my physical wellness.

When my financial wellness improves,

so will my personal wellness

because I will be able to do more 

for those I care about, 

and doing that will make me

feel happier and more joyful.

When my personal wellness improves,

so will my physical wellness

because I will be getting more done

since I'm happier to begin with.

And all these tie into my environmental wellness

because everything I do will help

reduce chemicals in the environment,

reduce wasteful practices that harm

the environment,

promote others making similar changes,

thus bringing a greater good impact

on environmental wellness.

As each area improves,

the world around me improves.

As I teach this to others,

the world around them improves too!

JOIN ME!

Learn more about it!

Wellness Workshops every Wednesday!

041 ~ Achievements

Before I get to the pics let me explain...

This month has certainly not gone as I would have expected, nor as I planned.

It has prompted me to do some serious thinking on EVERYTHING!

Pretty much all my life I have taken care of others in one way or another.  Caring for others is something that comes to me no matter what I do to stop it or change it.  After so many years it has been my conclusion that I will always care for others, one way or another.  Therefore, I should work at developing myself and my resources in such a way as to provide that care in a way that fully feels right to me.  Doesn't that make sense?

That is what I'm working at as I grow my Melaleuca "business" and create a steady, reliable source of income that will eventually allow me to break away from being dependent upon government funds for sustenance (which is a good thing)!

To that effort:

 Melaleuca Marketing Executive II

earned June 30, 2010

Melaleuca "Circle of Influence Award"

earned October 31, 2010

Melaleuca Marketing Executive III

earned October 31, 2010

duplicate

Melaleuca Marketing Executive III

earned October 31, 2010

Again, the same camera settings were used but somehow the results were different.  The middle two pics are the truest colors.  All three awards are in the same type of frames.

Sometime in the next few days I will be getting them up on the wall where I can see them daily as reminders of my goals.  Each month I set goals and most months I miss the mark! :(  But I am not giving up!!!  I need this in so many ways it hurts to not meet my goals on time.  

However, after listening to a few different, successful people speak about goals and dreams I've decided to work on a few adjustments for this next month.  I do still want to find at least four families wanting or needing what Melaleuca has to offer.  But I'm going to work on my perspective.  What emotion do I come across with when I'm talking to people about this?  I do need this so badly but I don't want to sound desperate or anything.  I do, absolutely, believe in this company and it's products!  So far, out of all that we've tried, there is nothing, absolutely nothing we haven't liked!  But if there was I know, without a doubt, we could return it (even empty) and get our money back!  Try that with something you buy at Wal-Mart! 

Some people don't like that they "have to" buy a minimum amount each month.  Maybe those people don't keep close tabs on their expenses; but when I was asked how much I spent each month, on average, for household products such as laundry detergent, cleansers, soap, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo and conditioner, etc. I knew right away without thinking... $150, sometimes more.  That minimum needed for Melaleuca was less than half what we usually spent every month!  Most people just don't realize this!

Most people don't think about it.  They just buy these things whenever they need them.  Melaleuca actually helps you to get better organized in your spending; to plan it better so you don't run out of any Melaleuca products before your next order gets delivered to your door.  But I'm getting sidetracked...

The whole BIG PICTURE thing here is this:

EVERYBODY

NEEDS

MELALEUCA

they just don't know it yet.

It will save money!

It will save time!

It will be safer!

It will be better!

Now, who wouldn't want that?

031 ~ Wheels

Vehicles are a necessary evil in the life of one so poor, but...

why do they have to ALWAYS need repairs?!

In the many years that I've owned vehicles, borrowed vehicles, known others who own vehicles I've noticed one particularly common thread:

Vehicles more than two years old or with anything over about 50,000 miles seem to REQUIRE MORE FREQUENT REPAIR!

The older said vehicle is, the more frequent such repairs are,

and the more costly it is to complete such repairs!

There also seems to be a direct correlation to the expense of the needed repairs

and the lack of money to manage those repairs in a timely manner!

UGH!!!

In case you can't tell, the muffler has fallen on this particular vehicle

effectively leaving me "wheel-less" for now.

The little "twist" in this event that happened last Sunday is that on Friday, exactly one week ago today, my son bought his first car!

We'll get a better shot of it tomorrow sometime...

before, during or after we fix the leak in the cooling system!!!

GRRR!!!

Old, rundown, in need of frequent repair, but running

VEHICLES ARE A NECESSARY EVIL

IN THE LIFE OF ONE SO POOR.

~$~$~$~$~$~$~$~$~$~$~

All the more reason for me, or us, to continue building our Melaleuca income!

The day will come when all of our vehicles shall be less than two years old!

It's coming soon!

Very Soon!

027 ~ So Long

So long country garden...

Farewell country creek...

Goodbye long walks in the open country...

Adios wide open country spaces...

Adiau^ little country forest...

Shalom big red barn...

It's unofficially official (spoken from a reliable source but not directly from the person who knows) that we will not be moving out into the country this year.

:(

Yes, it's sad.

But, in the end of things now, it is what is best for all involved.

:)

So, we're OK with it.

For now, we stay where we are at... no savings with the budget this winter. 

Life, with it's twists and turns, goes on ~ so they say ~ and we will too!

Increased earnest effort will continue on toward growing our Melaleuca income. If we stay on target by this time next year we'll be able to move out to the country, into a nice, big farmhouse, with plenty of room for a huge veggie garden, lots of fruit trees, plenty of edible landscaping, and maybe even a good creek or freshwater pond abounding in all sorts of nutritious fare!

016 ~ Stormy Skies

After a day of a little bit of everything - rain, sleet, hail, snow - we caught a glimpse of sun here and there in the late afternoon.


This pic was taken around 3:30 in the afternoon.  Surrounded by stormy clouds threatening to do something I spotted this interesting formation. (near center of pic, dropping down from under the dark cloud)


The majority of my day was spent dealing with the increase in government rules & regulations related to eligibility for assistance.  It seems this year there are ten times more changes, all meaning more work for everyone.  I have to have more documentation for everything (income and expenses) as the former proofs are no longer allowed.  And the people reviewing such applications have to have more training to understand these changes as well as gain the knowledge of where to tell potential clients to find the needed documentation... and if they don't get it right the first time, repeat reviews become even more time consuming and frustrating.


I will be so much happier when I can finally put all this behind me and no longer need any sort of assistance to pay basic living expenses!  My October commissions were more than double the previous month.  And if November goes as planned I will redouble that amount.  Come January I totally expect commissions near $800...... and by May 2011 I should be well over double that!  SSA says I can make $1200/mo before losing all of my SSI payment.  It's not going to be easy but working with Melaleuca is definitely something I can do even with all my disabilities!


Right now, I don't think even my kids believe I will be able to make enough money to not need help from someone. :(  Can't blame them.  It's been a long, hard road since getting their abusive dad out of the house 12 years ago.  It's been hard coming to terms with everything I've lost because of the injuries he left me with that year.  And it's still hard fighting back the pain, the flashbacks, the fear, the anxiety when we must still deal with him, and all the many problems we face now that I strongly feel we would not have if it weren't for everything he did to us!


It's been a stormy life... but better days are coming... and they aren't too far in the future... just you watch!

013 ~ November Business

Yesterday was my first really busy day since getting sick back on October 11th!  Business kept me very busy with several calls.  The first is our FIRST OF THE MONTH CALL.  At the start of every month Melaleuca corporate puts together a recorded call telling us what that month's business incentive is.  It also includes some great training, newsworthy information related to Melaleuca, and other tidbits we don't usually get elsewhere.


November's business incentive is something they've never done before. For anyone in the business who becomes a director for the first time OR who helps someone become a director Melaleuca will give them Free Shipping on all their orders of 50 points or more for the next six months!  To add to this, all those first time directors who advance their business status to Director III (D3) by the end of December 2010 will get an additional $1000 bonus in their December commission checks!!!


GUESS WHO is going to become a DIRECTOR for the first time this month? ;-)


I'm really close already - was even hoping it would have happened in October, but being so sick most of the month held me back from doing as much.  So, I'm very confident that I will make the Director level in November.  I'd like to also find one to three people early in the month who are eager to grow their own businesses and become directors too this month!


With this in mind I bring back my first pic...

My business card!

The EcoMomTeam is a growing group of (mostly) moms (a few dads, and others) who are very interested in living an eco-conscious lifestyle and need to make a steady, growing income.  We are doing it together while working from home and being able to be there for our kids, for our families, and for our communities when needed.  We do make a difference every day.

We work with a company that leads the way in running a business that takes ecological responsibility to levels most businesses won't even look at.  The ideal of running a business that enhances the lives of all the people it comes in contact with is being achieved with this company.  No one gets hurt in any way.  Everyone is interested in helping others to do better.  This concept permeates all activities connected with the company.  No one could ask for a better environment to work in or work for.  Every single day we get to see evidence of living the company motto:

Enhancing the lives of those we touch

by helping people to reach their goals!

If you would like to learn more about how Melaleuca's worldwide commitment to provide naturally safer, more effective products is changing the lives of people just like you, then please visit my business website, http://www.andee.ecomomteam.com

010 ~ What's Ahead

Reminders of what's to come...

This morning I woke to 22 degrees!  The coldest yet this season!  
Of course, being in Wisconsin, we know 22 is nothing when it comes to winter temps!  The time is coming when 22 will seem like a heat wave.  But not this morning!
Today, it is a reminder of what's to come, what's ahead in the coming weeks and months. 
This pic is from a few years ago, but clearly shows well over a foot of snow on the ground - probably from early 2007 or 2008.  I'm trying to recall when we added a window unit a/c to that last window - summer of 07 or 08 is the closest I'm getting. LOL


This is our typical winter!  Cold sets in by end of October... getting colder as the weeks pass.  By the end of December we're happy if we stay above zero for a little each day.  It's unusual to not have snow on the ground by then.  Maybe it's only a few inches but it's usually there, and there to stay.  As the new year begins the cold turns to subzero and the snow just keeps on building higher.  Nobody expects to see anything different until late March or early April.


Hmmm...


What's ahead?


Do I really want to go live out in the country, in a beautiful farmhouse, during this time of year when my one vehicle isn't so reliable?


Where will my Melaleuca business be in six months time?  Grown enough to replace all the household income lost in the last 3 months? enough to do away with the disability check? enough to afford us a newer vehicle? a better home?


Will my youngest girls have their own incomes? be able to afford their full-time ministry?


Only time will tell. :)