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My Avon Challenge

photo credit: Koshyk 2009 was a great year for me.  A year of growth, both personally and spiritually.  Financially as well.  However, I began to notice a pattern that has stuck with me through several massage therapy positions of the past three or four years.  And that pattern begins with me starting a new job with eyes full of hope and enthusiasm.  Fast forward three or four months, and I am frustrated and resentful.  What happened? Honestly, I always thought it was the job.  But I realised what changed was me.  Slowly by slowly, I came to the realisation that I am not Ms. Ideal Employee.  I am Ms. Renegade Entrepreneur. As long as I keep pushing my feelings of frustration and discontent underground, I would never open my eyes to the fact that I would rather be an entrepreneur: setting my own hours, working from home, and earning as much I would fancy in order to further my own dreams and goals. My biggest obstacle to this is me.  In the past, I quit too soon.  I didn’t make the most of my natural talents and gifts.  Or I let people with very strong personalities dictate to me what sort of business I should have and how I should run int.  In short, I was afflicted with a terrible case of Employee-itis. Symptoms of Employee-itis You feel more comfortable having others make your decisions for you. You mental (and/or physically) punch in a time clock that defines your working hours. You tell yourself it’s safer to work a nine-to-five job. You are lulled into a hypnotic sleep when contemplating the security jobs offer (health benefits, a 401K, etc.) You arrive at work like a homing pidgeon without any memory of your drive there. You constantly tell yourself you’ll start your own business after you make more money.  And you haven’t save anything since you began telling yourself this three years ago. You get the Monday morning blues on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc.  You get the Monday morning blues every day of the bloody week. The Cure for Employee-itis Wake up and realise that change isn’t going to happen to you.  You have to initiate change. Start researching your potential home business.  Go online and look up different work from home opportunities. Take small steps to gradually phase out of your job and into your new entrepreneur status.  Example, you might start you new (ad)venture a few days a week; as your business grows, you gain confidence.  After that, you can start visualising your new life sans the job. Get started now.  Time waits for no one, and you wouldn’t want to wake up in another three years to hear yourself recycling your current complaints and their accompanying feelings of frustration and stuckedness. The Avon Challenge What does this have to do with Avon? I’m glad you asked that! I’ve decided to take my own advice, and release the need to complain.  I’ve decided to be proactive.  With that intention in mind, I started my own Avon business on January 27, 2010. Of all the work from home businesses I have researched, Avon is the easiest to sell for the following reasons: For $20 you can sign up online as an Avon Rep and eRepresentative. If you become an eRepresentative, you get a personalised website for free for the first three months. Avon is an inexpensive well-known brand with Reps all over the world. Easily accessible online training allows you to learn at your own pace. Avon is flexible enough that you can set your own schedule to make your dreams come true. You have an Avon mentor there with you every step of the way as you build your business.  You can ask questions, receive in depth training, and receive all the hand-holding you need to build your dream business. I became an Avon Representative because I want to buy a car (a Honda Fit Sport in Blackberry Pearl), get myself a lovely 24 hr access treatment room so I can see my clients on a schedule that works for me; and, after years of living with roommates, I am ready to move into my own flat (a one bedroom, one bathroom with a den, a balcony, and a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean. These are my motivations for joining the Avon team. My Challenge is a six month commitment that completes on July 27, 2010.  this means that I have committed myself to this time period to my mentor, Lynn. My initial goal is to sell $15o or more and recruit at least one person to my team. I’m looking to grow personally by entering into Sales Leadership and mentoring others to take action towards the conscious creation of their own dreams! Am I worried?  Scared? Yes, I am.  However, I intend to take this adventure and meet all challenges head on.  And the good thing about this is that my Avon mentor, Lynn will be there for training, questions, and hand-holding as needed.  So I am not doing this alone. Every two weeks I intend to post updates on my progress including what I have learned, and challenges within myself I have come up against, and conquered! Stay tuned, fellow travelers! Come by and visit my site: http://www.youravon.com/seanelias. Vibelicious comments: Remember to excellent to each other. Rude, mean comments will be deleted by me without exception. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "My Avon Challenge", url: "http://seanstargazer.com/?p=901" }); Related Posts:No Related Posts

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Change Changes Everything

Posted by Sean Stargazer | Posted in Creativity, Inner Growth, Inspiration, Intuition, Lifestyle Design, Motivation, Personal Growth, Personal Updates, Self-Actualisation, Spirituality, Uncategorized | Posted on 03-11-2009

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Creative Commons License photo credit: seanmcgrath

As I was riding the bus this morning, lost in thought, I suddenly remembered a picture I had seen once called Snake Eyes (with Nicolas Cage); it’s the oft-told story of a corrupt cop who has a change of heart once he becomes entangled in a conspiracy to commit murder.

I was reminded that, at the end of the film, Cage’s character’s life into ruin despite the fact that he had chosen to do the right thing.

The correlation I made to my own spiritual journey through life was that, more often than not, when we change even a little bit of ourselves our lives usually will look like a mess to us and to everyone around us.

It’s virtually impossible to keep your reality the same while changing yourself. I have made hundreds of futile attempts to do so. All of them have been in vain. No matter how hard we try, we can’t reach for new possibilities and hold on to what we have for dear life.

So what can we do?

Surrender.

I define surrender as remaining present with your feelings and emotions in the present.  Right where you are now.  It is a process, not a destination.  It’s allowing what going on inside you mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually to okay without the need to judge whether your feelings, thoughts, actions are socially appropriate to others.

Is this easy?  Of course not.  Surrendering to the present isn’t easy at all.  Each and every day I choose to work on it.  I never surrender perfectly (if such a thing is possible).  And that isn’t important anyway.

What is important is allowing yourself to feel what you feel in the moment regardless of whether or not you, or others around you, like it.

Once you are able to be where you are when you are, you open yourself up to becoming more mindful; with mindfulness comes the ability to let go of things that no longer work, and move forwards towards things that are good for you.

Here are a few tips for surrendering to the now:

1). Get out in to nature. Being able to opt-out of your current reality for even a few minutes a day could help you de-stress enough to think more clearly.

2). Have fun. Every once in a while, step off the treadmill that is reality, and have some fun.  See a funny film.  Have a giggle with friends.  Do something you enjoy for at least ten minutes a day.

3). Be with people you love. If you are going to spend eight hours plus a day with people you really have no connection with, it’s important to balance that with time spent with people you do have a connection with.

4). Don’t take reality or yourself so seriously. This is a difficult one to do consistently.  I admit that I have challenges with this.  Sometimes I am just too angry or hurt to laugh.  Or sometimes I find myself buying into the illusion that I am a helpless victim of life, and must accept what little I get and be grateful for it.  Such perceptions can be grim indeed.  But remembering that nothing is permanent in this world keeps me from sinking into a morass of self-pity.

With the suggestions above, I can go with the flow more.  Be open.  And allow the Creative Force and time to work with me and for me.  Instead of against me.  I have the freedom to surrender, knowing that tomorrow brings with it the opportunity for new choices, new possibilities that did not exist before.  That is something that both and inspires and motivates me to keep trudging forward even when things appear bleak or scary.

How about you?

What changes have you resisted?  And what occurred when you allowed yourself to surrender and “go with the flow?” How do your reality change afterward?

Feel free to share your insights.

Peace & Healing, fellow travelers!

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