Over the New Year’s holiday I visited my cousin Mary Beth Mangus and her husband Ed in Sarasota, Florida. I love when we get together, because it’s a blend of fun and work. Mary Beth is a leader in Young Living and a chiropractor, she has an amazing outlook on life and her spirituality is inspiring. We talked at length about my different businesses and identified what was working, not working and missing among them. When I arrived I was completely stressed out from the frantic pace I had set for myself. She encouraged me to journal messages that may come through my dreams, and I was open to the idea. I believe that God speaks through out the day and at night if we will only listen.
Well, in this dream He told me to SLOW DOWN. I didn’t listen and within days, the stress was beginning to pile back up. There were things I was putting off because I dreaded doing them (kind of like organic chemistry homework in college) and deadlines that were becoming overwhelming, juggling the kids new semester schedules, etc.
When I started getting sick again, for the third time in three months, I cancelled all the appointments possible and then drove to the coast to reboot. My learning lesson was that I need to take as good of care of myself as I do other people. It was time for Merikay to be a catalyst for change for herself and with January 23rd being my birthday, it was perfect timing. I completed a five day detox of coffee, sugar, dairy, wine, processed food, wheat (okay, I did have some wine and some jalapeno pepper jack cheese watching the Grammy’s) and journaled these ten strategies to conquer work stress.
1-One out of ten clients will leave (maybe more, but those things will be out of your control AND terminally unique people are all around, just try to avoid working with them)
2-Don’t take things personally (I know this but as a former chaplain, counselor, trainer, etc. that’s tough at times)
3-You will NEVER make everyone happy, just do your best and move on
4-Take critical feedback as an opportunity to SWOT yourself and your business (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and then create an action plan
5-Use a coffee filter on your head and let what needs to be absorbed flow through and let the other stuff drip off your shoulders
6-Figure out a way to focus on the parts of your business(s) that are in line with your gifts and passion
7-Delegate the other junk that weighs you down and makes you cra’ cra’
8-REMEMBER TO BE B.A.D.- Belief, Activity, Determination (these three elements will give you fuel during the tough moments and listen to the theme song of Rocky to fire you up!)
9-4/8/12 appointments to recruit new clients per week: 4-good, 8-better, 12-best (If you are in sales – your benchmark may be different. In my speaking company, my threshold is to have 10 proposals in the pipeline and usually 1-2 projects will engage)
10-PRAY (this is really number one)
The next step is to create your own list, post it where you can see it and read it every day. In three to four weeks, my hope is that life will be less hectic and stressed and more happy and productive.
