Hey Divas! Welcome to another week of Monday Mingle Business Edition, our weekly Blog Hop where we get to talk all about our businesses and get to know each other and our readers a little bit better. If you are new and not sure how Monday Mingle Business Edition works, check out my video explaining it all right here.

Also, check out the original Monday Mingle hosted by Jen at www.EightyMPHMom.com and feel free to join in there as well!

This week’s topic:

Tell us about your favorite teacher from school and how they impacted your life.  Do you stay in touch with them?

Enjoy!

Hey Divas! Welcome to another week of Monday Mingle Business Edition, our weekly Blog Hop where we get to talk all about our businesses and get to know each other and our readers a little bit better. If you are new and not sure how Monday Mingle Business Edition works, check out my video explaining it all right here.

Also, check out the original Monday Mingle hosted by Jen at www.EightyMPHMom.com and feel free to join in there as well!

This week’s topic:

What is your favorite quote?  Who wrote it or said it?  And why is it significant to you?

Enjoy!

As The Party Plan Coach I see dozens of new Party Plan Companies starting up which all offer fantastic products, superb hostess programs and remarkable opportunities for their Consultants.   But sometimes a company will literally stop me in my tracks with its products and message.  Trades of Hope is one of those companies.

Trades of Hope helps women out of poverty by creating a market for their handcrafts through Fair Trade.  Through the sales of these products – which are gorgeous by the way, do not let “handmade” deter you -  women in poverty from around the world are given an opportunity for a better life.   Some of the artisans are survivors of the sex trade, most are at risk of becoming trafficked – and Trades of Hope is giving them the opportunity to provide their children with food, shelter, medical care and an education.

We sell baskets from Africa to help women who have been outcast because of aids. We sell bags from women who had leprosy and this allows them to have a home and not have to beg along side their children on the streets. We have jewelry from widows in Guatemala who help feed all the elderly in their village. We help women move out of slums and send their children to school, breaking the cycle of poverty. We help give women options so they do not get trapped working with their children in sweat shop for 16 hours a day. We believe in empowering  women to have a voice and become world changers themselves.

My friend Ginny Heisler is one of the Compassion Entrepreneurs who is helping to launch this awesome company.  “Every single piece of jewelry has a beautiful story of women behind it, that’s why I love this company.”   Last year Ginny visited Haiti on mission with her church, and she has seen first hand what these women live through every day.  Her passion to help and empower these women is incredible, and I just knew I had to help spread the word.

It is our goal to help individuals all over the world start and maintain small businesses by making and selling their products.  We focus primarily on women because when you help one woman out of poverty she in turn helps four others out of poverty!

I spent a long time on their website, reading all about the Founders, the Artisans, and especially the updates on their Blog of all of the help they are giving around the World.  It is a humbling yet inspiring experience.

Everyone wants to make a difference in the world but often we don’t know how. Trades of Hope makes it easy. Your purchase allows many people to be blessed! Trades of Hope is not lining the pockets of big corporations or sweat shops. It’s providing a  fair wage for people who need it the most.

GIVEAWAY

I am very excited to be able to offer one of my readers a Black and Cream Wire Wrapped necklace from Ginny Heisler, Compassion Entrepreneur with Trades of Hope. These necklaces are made by the women at Noah’s Ark Mission.  They work from home instead of the harsh sweatshops like so many in India. These artisans are able spend time with their families and make a fair wage! Most cannot afford an education, so they are illiterate, but Noah’s Ark Mission has started a school for three of the poorest villages in the area.  They help provide clean water there too! Their goal is to train their artisans to own their own business, so that they can provide for their family!

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Check out Ginny’s website and comment below telling me some of your favorite Trades of Hope products.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

• “Like”  Ginny’s Trades of Hope Facebook Page
• Follow PartyPlanDivas on Twitter
• Tweet about giveaway {up to 3 times per day 1 extra entry each tweet} –
  “Win a Black&Cream Necklace from #TradesofHope and @partyplandivas  http://wp.me/p1HIY7-1p4 Ends 4/23 US Only #giveaway“
• Comment on another post on ThePartyPlanCoach.com

Make sure you leave 1 comment for each entry to get credit!! Contest ends April 23rd, 2012.

Hey Divas! Welcome to another week of Monday Mingle Business Edition, our weekly Blog Hop where we get to talk all about our businesses and get to know each other and our readers a little bit better. If you are new and not sure how Monday Mingle Business Edition works, check out my video explaining it all right here.

Also, check out the original Monday Mingle hosted by Jen at www.EightyMPHMom.com and feel free to join in there as well!

This week’s topic:

Would you rather your home had a swimming pool, tennis courts, or a rose garden and why?

Enjoy!

Hey Divas!  You may remember a few months ago when I did a product review for a great company called TRN Designs.   Karen from TRN Designs has some of the cutest catalog purses - and at the best prices I have ever found – for all Party Plan Consultants.  I absolutely love sporting my “Party Plan Coach” bag and it has been a great conversation starter in so many different circumstances!

A bit about TRN Designs:

Since 2005, TRN Designs has been designing and creating unique and funky personalized gifts that are a pleasure to own and have a little of the “wow” factor. In addition to our huge selection of gifts, we continue to top the marketplace with custom-designed catalog bags for direct sales reps and home party planning businesses.

We are a small studio in Atlanta, GA that is bursting with creativity and lots of fabric! The company was founded on the love of gifting, creating through good design, and through the endless inspiration of my daughter, Taylor Renee, who passed in 1998 from a brain tumor at age 2, and for whom the company is named.

Our mission is to design and create gifts that are truly unique and a pleasure to give and own, while adhering to the principles of leaving a minimal impact on the environment. We use recycled shipping materials when possible.

I am excited to announce Karen is offering just to my Divas a “Spring Special” for 10% off her already awesome prices!  Use the promo code DIVA27 for 10% off your order at www.CustomMonogrammedGifts.com

You can check out the website or the TRN Designs Facebook Page to see dozens of pictures of all of Karen’s awesome products - including great stuff for Team Recognition Gifts!!   (I see “Diva” koozies in my near future   )

Hey Divas! Welcome to another week of Monday Mingle Business Edition, our weekly Blog Hop where we get to talk all about our businesses and get to know each other and our readers a little bit better. If you are new and not sure how Monday Mingle Business Edition works, check out my video explaining it all right here.

Also, check out the original Monday Mingle hosted by Jen at www.EightyMPHMom.com and feel free to join in there as well!

This week’s topic:

What is the most difficult habit you have ever tried to break?  Were you successful with it and if so, what do you think attributed to that success?

Enjoy!

For about three months now my mornings have begun in one of my now-favorite places…. the gym.   Yes, it has taken about three months for me to say I love it there, and not think of it as punishment for the years I have spent holding my chair down in front of my desk.

It has become pretty cathartic to begin each day with about an 8 to 10 mile trek on the stationary bike, followed by either the treadmill, the stair master, or recently some very unforgiving free weights.    Since discovering free podcasts on fitness and nutrition it has become not only a “cleaning out” of my brain, but a time of filling it with upbeat, positive, inspirational messages.  Like I said, it’s now become one of my favorite places.

Today though as I was trucking along on the bike, I noticed something – the “Switch Display” button. (sorry for the blurry picture – I snapped it while I was still pedaling)

Now, obviously, this is not the first time I have seen or used this nifty little button, but for some reason this morning as I bounced back and forth between the options for display I realized how synonymous this little button is with life and goal setting and of course our industry.

Stay with me.

The Switch Display button lets you toggle between different settings – such as calories burned versus how many calories you can burn in an hour,  how fast you are going or how far you have gone, and your heart rate or difficultly level.

It also lets you toggle your time… between how far you have left until your goal … and  how far you have come .

Too often in my coaching the focus is on how much further you have to go to reach a goal.  “Ugh, I am $400 away from my goal of $2,000 this month.”  “Man, I still have to recruit three more people to make Director.”

Seldom do we ever “toggle back” to see how far we have come – in this instance the $1,600 in sales that you have received, and the Divas you have recruited.    We seldom ever Celebrate the Effort  (yes, click on that link – its one of the best posts here) because we are so focused on moving forward.

But you need to toggle.  You need to see how far you have come.

When I first began on the exercise bike, my legs would begin screaming about 2 miles in… on level 2.   I would see that I had sooo much time and distance left to go to reach my goal.  My mind would begin telling me “it is ok not to finish Lynsey… come on, you are just starting out!  You are not supposed to be able to do 10 miles on the first day!!  You can give up!  Come on!”   So guess what would happen.

The second week I decided I was A – going to reach my goal and B – going to cover the screen with my towel.   I pedaled away while reading the Closed Captioning to Law & Order (boy I hope the Tuesday marathons never end) and before I knew it… the show was over – yep, that’s an hour y’all – and the screen had reset… so I have absolutely no idea how far I went.  I had no idea if I had reached my goal.

Now, I toggle.

With any goal you must know how far you have left to reach that goal in order to achieve it.  Even with BOLD Goals, you still have to know how much you have left.  This will keep you focused and striving to meet your goal.

But when your legs start to give out, your brain starts telling you it it ok to quit, you start rationalizing that quitting is not failing or giving up – that you can always do it “tomorrow” or “next time”… it’s time to toggle.  It’s time to see – and celebrate – how far you have come.   It’s in that toggle – in that realization and celebration of the success you have had – that you can pull the strength that you need to keep going.

Reaching a goal – any goal – is 90% in your head, and 10% in your actions.   We know what needs to be done.  We even know how to do it.    Mastering the head game is the first – and most difficult – battle.  The distance that is “left” to reach your goal looks overwhelming and impossible, so we let ourselves give in, rationalizing all of the reasons why we did not succeed.   I know… I did it for years.

So my challenge to you this week – here on the 14th week of 2012 - is to “toggle back” and celebrate what you have accomplished in this first quarter of the year.   “Toggle back” and see exactly what you have already achieved.    Then look ahead and see how far you have to go to reach your BOLD goals.  Write both of these numbers down somewhere you will see them again and again.

Then, if you ever start feeling down, or that voice in your head starts rationalizing why you should just go ahead and quit…. remember to just “Toggle Back.” 

Hey Divas! Welcome to another week of Monday Mingle Business Edition, our weekly Blog Hop where we get to talk all about our businesses and get to know each other and our readers a little bit better. If you are new and not sure how Monday Mingle Business Edition works, check out my video explaining it all right here.

Also, check out the original Monday Mingle hosted by Jen at www.EightyMPHMom.com and feel free to join in there as well!

This week’s topic:

Share with us a “I wish I had known then what I know now” moment in your business

Enjoy!

Link up here:

Hey Divas! Welcome to another week of Monday Mingle Business Edition, our weekly Blog Hop where we get to talk all about our businesses and get to know each other and our readers a little bit better. If you are new and not sure how Monday Mingle Business Edition works, check out my video explaining it all right here.

Also, check out the original Monday Mingle hosted by Jen at www.EightyMPHMom.com and feel free to join in there as well!

This week’s topic:

Do you watch sports?  And if so what are your favorite teams and why?

Enjoy!

Link up here: