So last night I am sitting with the hunny on the couch watching Grey’s Anatomy (which was fabulous of course) and as always we chat between commercials. Well, during one of the commercials he says to me “Welcome Home.” Wow! It’s true – I didnt have a JOB to go to this morning! I *remember* this feeling from before, but I must admit I had gotten pretty comfortable heading into work every day and collecting a check every Friday. Eeeks!

So I say to him, “You know I am terrified, right?” He laughs and says, “You will do fine, you are now your own boss, you are the CEO of Party Plan Divas, with 100% of the shares, you just dont have anyone holding your hand anymore.”

I let this sink in for a moment, so proud and excited to have a life partner that says things like “you have shares” (lol) but I said to him, “yeah, I get that…. but you know what it really is? (BAM! IT HIT ME!) I dont have an EXCUSE anymore!”

I will admit, I have not been doing 100% with either of my businesses. I have done well in both, and I am excited about the direction both of them are going. But I have not lived up to my potential in either, and I have been using the J-O-B as my “reason” for that. Not enough time, can’t focus during the day, coming home exhausted, cant get out and network…. yeah, I have used the J-O-B as an excuse for pretty much everything.

It’s SCARY putting yourself out there. It’s SCARY putting yourself 100% into your business! Cause what happens if you STILL FAIL!!? Then what?

If you read my post yesterday “Sometimes Ya Just Know” you read about my experience at Brian Biro’s seminar Break Through To Success! It was a very powerful moment for me, and I often close my eyes and try to relive it and remember that feeling. But as I was lying in bed last night, the fear and excitement making it impossible to sleep, I tried to remember everything I could about that day. What hit me like a ton of bricks was remembering what I WROTE on my board.

In the seminar you are instructed to write the #1 obstacle you face every single day, what really gets in your way of success. (Remember now, this is 4 years ago) I thought about it for a moment, but then I very largely wrote:

“Self Doubt”

*Gasp* That’s what I am facing NOW!

But wait!! I broke through that!! Didn’t I? I mean I was THERE, I had all those people cheering my NAME? I broke my BOARD!!!! I SHOULDNT HAVE THAT ANYMORE!!!!

But I do… and I realized that every DAY I am going to have to Breakthrough that. Every DAY I need to have Little “Breakthroughs To Success”. We all do. Every day we need to celebrate something. Rejoice in getting over even the little tiny roadblocks that we face every day. And dealing with our inner demons that tend to sneak back in no matter what kind of metaphoric tactic we do to overcome it… we will still battle it every single day on some level, and that’s ok. The POWER comes from knowing that, embracing it, and deciding to love it as a part of life.

So here I sit. My first day officially as a full time CEO for Party Plan Divas, Inc, and full time Consultant for my Party Plan Company – with no excuses, no one “holding my hand”, and nothing holding me back. Am I still scared? TERRIFIED doesnt even come close. But it was a Breakthrough for me to realize that it was only my Self Doubt that is standing in my way.

What can you Breakthrough today, to get out of your own way?

The other day on Good Morning America they were talking about how people so closely resemble their dogs… not in looks, but in personality. Well, many of you have seen pictures of my dog Indi, but for those who HAVENT seen her – she is a 3 pound chihuahua that is about the color of dirty dishwater! So it got me thinking… how are Indi and I alike… might GMA be on to something?

Ok, so what do you think of when you think of a chihuahua? Well, the first thing that comes to mind is hyper – all over the place, bouncy….well, I seldom sleep, you will find me constantly working on SOMETHING. If I am awake – I am buzzing around doing something. Then there is the yippy barking, well we all KNOW I can talk. But what REALLY got me thinking… Have you ever seen when a chihuahua cant REACH something?

The other day Indi’s favorite tennis ball had rolled under the coffee table. She must have spent a half an hour turning her head and stretching out her legs trying to get to that tennis ball. Now I KNOW that wasn’t comfortable – she hurt herself a couple times and yelped, but she was so FIXATED on getting that ball – she didn’t care. Even when I offered her ANOTHER tennis ball – NOPE, she wanted THAT ONE. And then, when I finally moved the coffee table just a bit, she was SO EXCITED she got the ball that she wore herself completely out prancing around the house with it.

So it got me thinking… what’s your tennis ball? What is something that you want SO BAD that you get fixated on it, even hurt to get it, and no other alternative will do?

Mine was my Home Party Plan Business my first year. I wanted Director so bad I did EVERYTHING I could to get it – and since then I have been very proud to introduce myself as a Director, and I proudly wear the diamond ring my sponsor rewarded me with.

But it isnt just my business – I have a bunch of tennis balls. Being a good mom. Being a good wife. The Diva Success System. Being a good FRIEND. Party Plan Divas.

Something else I thought about… what SHOULD be the tennis ball, but isnt?

Maybe being more financially responsible? Keeping an organized office? Staying on top of work? Keeping the house clean?

And even MORE to question.. what is your COFFEE TABLE? Whats in your way that if you move just a little bit, you can get your tennis ball?

The Extra Degree

At 211 degrees, water is hot.

At 212 degrees, it boils.

And with boiling water, comes steam.

And with steam, you can power a train.

One degree.

Applying one extra degree of temperature to water means the difference between something that is simply very hot and something that generates enough force to power a machine – a beautifully uncomplicated metaphor that ideally should feed our every endeavor – consistently pushing us to make the extra effort in every task, action and effort we undertake.

Two-twelve serves as a forceful drill sergeant with its motivating and focused message while adhering to a scientific law – a natural law. It reminds us that seemingly small things can make tremendous differences.

Two-twelve. You know there are no secrets to success. Success with anything, success in anything has one fundamental aspect – effort. And to achieve exponential results there must be additional effort.

Vince Lombardi tightened it up with“Inches make the champion. 212 distills it even further.

Professional golf tournaments are comprised of four rounds (games) of 18 holes played over a four-day period (72 holes total). Combining the results of the four major tournaments over the last 25 years (1982 – 2006: 100 matches), the average margin of victory was less than three strokes – less than a one stroke difference per day. From 2000 through 2006 (7 years), the winner across all tournaments took home an average of 77% more in prize dollars than the second place finisher (before endorsement and other dollars).

At NASCARs Daytona 500 over the last 10 years (1997 – 2006), the winner took the checkered flag by an average margin of 0.175 seconds and took home $1,354,368. The second place finisher banked $509,000 less. And in those 10 years, half of the races were won -“under caution – meaning they ended early and in a way, by surprise. The winner actually became the winner because he was in the lead before the expected ending- a wonderful illustration of the importance of giving it the extra degree of effort at all moments because sometimes you don’t know when it’ll count.

Often in life we miss the opportunity to do more and create better results because we’re not aware of the possibilities that could occur if we applied a small amount of effort beyond what we normally do. For instance, consider the impact of making an extra contact each day at work- a sales call- a customer follow up- a brief discussion with a colleague- an encouraging talk with a member of your team. With contact comes opportunity. At the end of a year you’ll have opened more than 200 additional doors of possibility.

On the personal side, imagine the exponentially positive results of investing an additional 15 minutes of quality time each day with your children or spouse — an equivalent of more than two weeks each year at work.

Fortunately, because you’re reading this, you’re now aware of “212 the extra degree.” No longer will you be able to do only what is required of you, only what is expected of you. Because with awareness comes responsibility – to yourself and to others.

And, again- You are now aware.

The excitement has begun.

Are you smiling yet?

Your new target is 212.