Unexpectedly our first daughter Alexandra was diagnosed with a genetic disease called Cystic Fibrosis. We came to find out that Cystic Fibrosis is the most lethal genetic disorder in America today. Doctors strongly recommended we keep her out of daycare for her long-term health, so we decided it was best I come home to be with her. Previously, I was as a Corporate Recruiter in the financial industry, and my husband was in the Construction Management field, so we definitely had a two-income lifestyle. As we went down to one income, we began living paycheck-to-paycheck, and accumulating quite a bit of debt. We knew there had to be a legitimate way to add some extra income to our household on a monthly basis, so we started our search and quickly came across this Team and Company. We were so excited to get started~   although we had never tried anything from home in the past, we set the goal to replace my previous income from home as soon as possible. In about a year we achieved that goal, and since have replaced my husband ‘ s income to bring him home full-time so we can work alongside our two girls. We now earn a multiple six-figure income, and Dan has been able to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a Firefighter. This company has provided a tremendous amount of freedom to our family: financial freedom, debt freedom, but more importantly, we’ve been able to help so many others achieve their dreams and goals of earning an income from home. We are truly living the life of our dreams!

Learn more about our Team: http://www.yourunitedteam.com 

John Maxwell is one of my favorite speakers and authors on the topic of leadership. Persisting through busy schedules, adversity, and the ever-changing moods of business if the number one key to long term success. I love this article he wrote in one of his recent ezines:

Persisting Through Adversity~ John Maxwell

When JK Rowling began to write her first novel, she was a single-mother pent up in a tiny flat in Edinburgh, Scotland. Struggling to make ends meet, she scraped by on a meager public welfare check provided by the state. In the solitude of her desperate situation, Rowling even contemplated suicide.

Rowling’s saving grace and source of inspiration was her infant daughter. Determined to support her child, she resolved to put her talents to work. While her baby napped, Rowling would pull out a pen and paper to compose ideas for a book. Laboring under a lingering cloud of poverty, she would try to clear her mind in order to sketch out characters and plotlines. In spare moments here and there, week after week, Rowling toiled away on her story.

Demonstrating a remarkable will to persevere, JK Rowling eventually secured a grant from a local arts council and published her first novel. Before long, the Harry Potter series became a worldwide sensation, and Rowling an international celebrity.

What can JK Rowling teach us about perseverance?

1) Perseverance springs from having purpose.

Even the most ambitious leader’s willpower eventually fails her in the absence of passion. Passion stems from having a clear sense of purpose. Furthermore, the most powerful passion comes from a desire to provide for, or serve, others.

2) Perseverance necessitates discarding the belief that life is easy.

When it comes to chasing our dreams and exercising our potential, we are quick to point to the obstacles in our path. We cite adverse circumstances as excuses for playing small in life, or we blame a lack of time, resources, and energy. To step into a life of influence, there comes a time when we must drown out the excuses and get to work. Our dreams aren’t magically delivered to our doorstep; they must be tracked down by persevering through life’s trials and tempests.

3) Perseverance means not stopping because you’re tired, but because the task is done.

For an author, inspiration may come in a moment, but carrying a manuscript to completion takes thousands of hours of work. In struggling to convert the creativity in their minds into imaginative prose, many writers grow weary and give up. Rowling faced the additional fatigue of raising a child as a single parent. Yet she refused to let the tiresome process of fleshing out her ideas, and the weight of caretaking her daughter, deter her from finishing her books

12 Characteristics of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs

 I was so inspired after I read these top 5 regrets of people as they look back on their lives. Such a great message to LIVE and share.

 The Top 5 Regrets 

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me
This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honor at least some of your dreams along the way.

From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard - This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship.

Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.
By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings - Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends - Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier
This is a surprisingly common one.

Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice.

They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.
When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

By Bronnie Ware

Came across this today~

16 rules to be reminded of:

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone. I believe that not much happens of any significance when we’re in our comfort zone. I hear people say, “But I’m concerned about security.” My response to that is simple: “Security is for cadavers.”

2. Never give up. Almost nothing works the first time it’s attempted. Just because what you’re doing does not seem to be working, doesn’t mean it won’t work. It just means that it might not work the way you’re doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn’t have an opportunity.

3. When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think. There’s an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of “undefined consequences.” My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, “Well, Robert, if it doesn’t work, they can’t eat you.”

5. Focus on what you want to have happen. Remember that old saying, “As you think, so shall you be.”

6. Take things a day at a time. No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don’t look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward. Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8. Be quick to decide. Remember what General George S. Patton said: “A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”

9. Measure everything of significance. I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate. If you want to uncover problems you don’t know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven’t examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you’re doing. When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.

12. Never let anybody push you around. In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you’re doing as anyone else, provided that what you’re doing is legal.

13. Never expect life to be fair. Life isn’t fair. You make your own breaks. You’ll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).

14. Solve your own problems. You’ll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you’ll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: “You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others.” There’s also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently. It goes like this: “A wise man keeps his own counsel.”

15. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.

16. There’s always a reason to smile. Find it. After all, you’re really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: “We’re not here for a long time; we’re here for a good time.”