I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be brave. The culture we live in is perfectly fine with people being average, normal, ordinary. 

It's not a bad thing necessarily, but being average, normal, ordinary.....those things don't require any kind of bravery. 

I've been talking to several people lately about what it means and looks like to start your own business. And whenever I talk to people about doing something like that, I can't help but think about the things I thought when I started selling Scentsy. 

I was worried that I didn't know enough people {no one does}. I was worried that I wasn't a salesperson {I wasn't then and I'm not now}. And I was worried that I had no clue where to start {and I didn't}. 

But what I've learned after 7 years of running a Scentsy business, is that none of those things matter. No one knows enough people to run a business like this, that's why they call it network marketing. Networking is key. You have to do it. 

I'm still not a salesperson, but I'm passionate about the product that I sell. I'm crazy about it actually, and it turns out, that's what it takes to sell a product...not a sales pitch. 

Honestly? No one knows what they're doing when they get into direct sales. 

Direct sellers are usually a bunch of moms and grandmas, and professionals, and leaders all looking to achieve something that we can't achieve by working for someone else. 

We're looking for something more. We're looking for a way to be brave. 

But the hardest part of it all? 

It's the 1st step. Making the commitment to try is the hardest part. None of us want to fail. What if I say that I'm going to do this and it doesn't work? Then what? Then it looks like I've failed. 

What's amazing to me is that the people who decide to try don't do it because they're not afraid of failure.....we're all afraid of failure. They decide to try because there is something bigger. Something more important that makes them overlook that fear of failing to step out in bravery and do something great. 

But so many people won't do it. So many people won't try because of that risk.....

How will you ever know if you don't take the 1st step and try. Whatever the Lord has put on your heart and in your mind, pursue it. Don't hide from it. Explore. Try. Do something new and different. 

Go ahead....be brave. 

I'm Choosing My Business in 2014

It's time to begin again. 

Do you ever just feel like you need a do-over? 

I think we all do sometimes. It's probably the new year that has me all excited about new beginnings and beginning again. But the new year also has me reflecting on the past year and looking at challenging myself to do this year a little differently. 

This year, I want to choose my business because I believe it has the ability to change people for the better. I've watched the Scentsy family help people change the course of their lives. How could I not want to see that happen in others? 

To live the life you always dreamed of. That's the goal right? 

To be finically free. To stand behind a product that you are passionate about....a product that you love. That's what I want. 

So this year, I'm choosing my business, not because I have to, but because I want to. 

I want to see life change in others. I want to share the incredible opportunity that our company allows people. I don't want to be stingy. I want to generous. 

I want to lead and love and share. That's what direct sales is really all about. 

Some of you may feel like you've just been going through the motions for a while. Honestly, all of last year, I went through the motions. Somehow, I lost a little bit of my passion, and it showed. 

So that's why I'm campaigning for a new start. A do-over of sorts. Let's scrap last year, and start again. 

Maybe you've never really run your business at all. You've sold a little here and a little there, but you've never looked at your Scentsy, Velata, or Grace Adele business as a business. Maybe you've wanted more, but never known how to go about getting more. 

Wherever you find yourself today, I proclaim today as a new day! Let's just start again. Let's remember why we signed up, what we hoped to get out of all of this, and let's run businesses that thrive. 

I want a business that creates value in the life of others. I want my business to contribute to my community and the lives of my customers and the lives of my team members. That sounds a lot better than mediocrity doesn't it? 

But before we move towards choosing our businesses this year, there is one more thing we have to address. That nasty F word. 

Fear. 

It stops us in our tracks and keeps us from moving forward. Running a small business isn't scary, but putting yourself out there and failing is. It's what we're ultimately all afraid of.....what if I try really hard to make this work, and it doesn't? 

I get the fear. I was there. But there has to be something bigger than the fear. For me, it was the face of my little girl. Addy was 9 months old when I started selling Scentsy and I desperately wanted to be at home with her. I wanted to take care of her. I was willing to take the risk of failure if it meant that I might succeed in the process. 

So what is your Big thing? What is it that will allow you to push past the fear and do something great? What is it that makes you want to be a little better everyday? 

Let's name it. 

This is your year. Choose your business this year. Forget about the fear. Push it out the way. And let's start over together. 

Your challenge is to commit. Post this picture to social media with the hashtags #IChooseScentsyFamily #IChooseMyBusiness and tell us what your reason for working is. Let's hold each other accountable. Let's do something big this year. 

Then follow along. All year long, I'll be blogging about my business. We'll start from the beginning. We'll do things that make successful consultants, and we'll do it together. 

What do you say? 

Are you choosing your business this year? I know I am. 

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Leadership is Personal

To my SuperStar Director friends.....

The question I hear from the leaders on my team more than any other question is "How do I motivate my team?" 

My answer.....You don't. 

People do things for their reasons, not yours. If we want to help other people succeed, we have to know their reasons. But when you have 3 small kids, a husband, 11 chickens, a golden retriever, and your own business to run, how to really get to know the people on your team? 

It seems overwhelming. I know. 

As leaders, our main responsibility is to our frontline and our directors. We are not responsible for them, but we are responsible to them. 

Your biggest responsibility is not to motivate them….it is to know them.

It's also important to note before we go any father, that as a leader, you are not normal. Most people do not know how to work for themselves. They don't know how to hold themselves accountable. That's where we come in. More than likely, if you're a SuperStar director, you are self motivated, and you've figured out how to work for yourself. As leaders, we can help our frontline and even our directors learn how to work for themselves, but we have to get to know them first. 

A few years ago, after our annual leadership retreat, I walked away feeling like I was trying to take care of too many people and as a result, I really wasn’t taking care of anyone well. That’s when I knew I needed to start focusing on my frontline and my leaders. 

But how? I already felt overworked and overtired. 

I started by making a list of every single thing I was doing in my business, and I started questioning everything.....why am I doing that? Does that make me money? Is that helping me build my team? Is that necessary? 

Question everything you do. 

Are you doing something because someone else does it and it works for them? That doesn't mean it works for you. 

Are you doing something because you've always done it? That doesn't mean it's effective or a good use of your time, resources, or talents. 

I started crossing things off my to do list. I knew I had to make room for relationship building.

I hired an assistant. I created systems. I delegated. And I freed up myself to spend my time, energy, and resources connecting with, getting to know and encouraging the people that I am responsible to.

Leadership is personal.

And somewhere along the way I had made leadership very administrative  I was busy. I was doing a lot of things, but I was missing the boat. 

The best leaders are the best relationship builders.

All the fun incentives and pretty things are fun, but what really matters is whether or not you know the people who are helping you grow your business.

People do things for their reasons, not yours (this is why incentives often don’t work).

If you want to motivate people, you have to know their reasons.

So what does that look like? How do we really get to know our frontline?

I have 3 small kids (6, 4, and 10 months), my personal business to run, and a husband to take care of. Oh and 11 chickens and golden retriever. I know you’re busy. We all are.

Remember earlier when I told you to question everything? I mean it. Question everything you are doing in your business. Why are you doing what you’re doing, and is it the best use of your time and talents?

Here’s some food for thought:

You need your people more than they need you. So how are you serving them?

I asked myself all these questions and made some hard decisions about what I wanted my business and home life to look like a couple years ago.

I decided that if I wanted to get to know my frontline, I was going to have to invest a good amount of time getting to know them.

When I look back at the beginning of my business, I know I was successful because of the relationships I had with my frontline….Jacquleyn Roy and Jana Holcomb were some of my earliest recruits, and we were always talking Scentsy. The good, the bad, the ugly, the frustrating, the exciting. We were sharing ideas and thinking outside the box. We all knew why were working and we were able to hold each other accountable.

I realized that I needed to somehow create that for my frontline. I needed to create an environment where my frontline were able to thrive on their own terms, but I was struggling with connecting with and having real conversations with them.

So I started with an email campaign. I sent out this email to all my frontline saying here’s the deal, I feel like I have not done a good job really being there for you, so I want to set aside time every month for us to talk and brainstorm and trouble shoot and set goals. I included times I was available to chat on the phone, or via skype or facetime or meet for coffee or lunch if they were local. 

I just knew that so many of my frontline would jump at the chance to hang out with me. Wrong. I think I had 5 people respond (out of over 100). So that's where I started. And I started reaching out to people on a personal level and telling them that I really wanted to give them the time and attention they needed, and these once a month appointments were my plan to do that. 

I sent more emails. The more emails I sent out (I sent 2 a month for a while) the more responses I received. People started to realize that I was serious. I made a youtube video that I sent out to them explaining why I wanted to set aside time each month. I also started sending out personalized texts.

I looked last night at my planner and I have between 18 and 25 frontline and directors that I meet with every month.

It has created and fostered relationships that were basically non existent before.

These monthly appointments are a phone appointment, a coffee date, or a lunch date. 

I start out every conversation very simply by saying, “So, how are things going?”

These are some of the things we address during our monthly chats: 

•   Get Personal
• Talk Last month
• Talk This month
• Talk Next month
• Talk about current struggles and offer solutions
• Create a challenge (if necessary) 
•  Always be working towards a goal
• Set up your next meeting date

I have a constant running list of the people you are working closely with.

As leaders our job is to create constant, consistent, and ongoing interaction with those people that we are most responsible to.

I realize that this is a very simple concept, but I don’t think we place enough value on it. Sometimes we feel like the administrative tasks are the things we need to be doing, but when we know that our greatest responsibility is to lead our frontline and directors and we know that to lead, we have to have strong relationships, we have to recognize that the time we spend with people is the best time we can spend.

With all that being said, the best way I have found to help my frontline and directors promote is to understand that people will not do things for my reasons, but for theirs, and our responsibility as leaders is to know their reasons and remind them of their reasons on a regular basis. 

I have to constantly remind myself that most people don’t know how to work for themselves and my job as a sponsor and a leader is to give them accountability and someone to relate to.

As a leader, your job is to stay out of the way and the lime light and give people the opportunity to succeed. That means that you stay behind the scenes and offer them the support and encouragement they need to find success in their business.

Wishing you relationships and peace tonight. 

A little braver today.....a story of a girl and a horse and fear....again

My heart fell into the pit of my stomach today. I knew she was falling before it happened. She knew she was falling, but she couldn't stop it. 

My 6 year old daughter fell off this horse today. It's her second fall since she's been riding, and I know it won't be her last. Falling off a horse is part of riding a horse. 

What is amazing to me is that she got right back up and rode again. 

I know she was scared when she fell. I know she was a little scared when she got back on, but I'm learning that each of a us have a few things in life that we view as scary but that we're willing to pursue anyways. 

My sweet little girl tried dance and feared the crowd. It wasn't worth the fear to her. She tried piano, and once again, feared the crowd when it came to be recital time. It just wasn't worth the fear. 

But riding is different. She loves riding. I mean, really, really loves riding. It's all she talks about. It's all she wants to do. 

And it's scary, and really scary when she falls, but there are some great things in life that are worth being scared over. 

I was thinking tonight about how courageous she is and about what it means to be courageous. 

Do you have that something in your life? Something that is more important than fear? 

My kids are that to me. They make me be courageous. They scare the crap out of me, but they are worth the fear. When you love someone that much, fear becomes a part of that love. But my babies....they are far more important than the fear. They make me be courageous. 

My business is the same way. I was thinking about how scared I was when I started.

What would people think? 

What if I failed? 

What if no one wanted to buy anything from me? 

What if......

But I had that 20 seconds of insane courage, and I did it, and I never looked back. It seemed worth the fear to me. 

Marriage is the same. What if he leaves? What if he stops loving me? What if it doesn't work out? What if? 

Worth it. Worth every second of the fear. 

Starting a bible study? Same story. What if no one shows up? What if they think I'm crazy? I don't know enough about the Bible....What will I say? Still....worth it. 

Everything that I have ever done that was actually worth doing was surround by a dark cloud of fear. And very slowly, day by day, that fear fades. I don't know that it ever really goes away. I think we just become braver. 

But there are things in my life that I stray away from because I'm afraid. Big things. Real things. 

Like writing a book. Or speaking about something other than Scentsy. I've gotten to a pretty comfortable place where things generally tend to work. I see other things, but I don't go there, because what if I were to fail? 

Today I watched my daughter fall off a horse, be visibly afraid, and then choose to get back up and ride again. And today I decided that I want to be more like her. I want to be brave like she has chosen to be brave. 

And I wonder if there is something in your life that is scary that you stray away from because of the "what ifs." I think we all have something in our lives that would be worth the fear if we would only step out and take a chance. 

My daughter reminded me today that it's worth it to fall sometimes. It's a reminder that great things aren't easy and sometimes we fail while pursuing them. But there are great things that each of us are called to that require us to step outside our fear and be brave. 

Maybe Brene Brown says it best when she says, "The willingness to show up changes us. It makes us a little braver each time." 

Here's to all of us showing up and becoming a little braver. 

What I've Learned.....365 Days Later

Tomorrow will be the 365th day of my writing journey.

It was a journey that I set out on simply because the Lord asked me to. And exactly one year later, I sit in front of the keys a very different person. 

I often wonder why the Lord would have me turn this "blog" into a personal journal....a day to day of our life and love. I often think that it was more for me than for anyone else. I have changed not only because of the words I have written but simply because I had to write them in the first place. 

I've had to pray. I've had to seek Him. I've had to question myself and every decision I've made over the past year. 

I don't know what He intended for you to see. Maybe it was one story, one day, one instance. 

Maybe it was me at my worst or me at my best. I don't know. 

I do know that there have been highs and lows. There have been hard days and there have been simply beautiful days. 

And through the process of it, 365 days later, I have fallen in love with the daily act of writing. Our story has leaked onto these pages in a very real and raw way with little editing and little time to consider or rewrite the words for the screen. Often written late at night at the end of a long day, the words you saw here were simply a reflection of my heart and my soul. Sometimes they were impressive. Other times they were not. 

Strangely enough, I am not looking towards tomorrow as another check on the list. I'm not even excited that it's over. I have come so accustomed to coming here everyday to share my soul, that I'm not sure I can stop. Yes, there have been many, many nights when it has been a burden, a mere obligation. But there have been many more nights when it has been nothing short of therapy. 

Sometimes, I wish this were some super cool blog that was insightful and thought out and informative and helpful. But it was never meant to be that. It was simply meant to be our story on a screen lived authentically for others to see. 

As I think back over all the stories and pictures that grace these pages, I can't help but smile. I'm so glad that I did, that I stuck it out and finished the race. 

And even though this daily writing journey may be coming to a close, I know that our journey with obedience to the Lord is really just beginning. 

I have begun to look at our life as one big adventure. I don't really know where we'll be or what we'll be doing a year from now, and I am perfectly okay with that. As long as we're seeking after the Lord and following Him wherever He may lead us, I know that the story will turn out good. 

I honestly feel like one small chapter is closing and another, much bigger chapter, is opening with blank pages to be filled. 

There is so much more story to be written. 

How do I thank you for walking this journey with me? There have been tears shed and laughter shared for sure. But you have read on as devoted followers. You have become so much a part of our lives. You come up to us at events and on trips to tell us that you've been reading and following. And I am always humbled and honored that the Lord would use someone like me to reach so many people. I know that He has used my words to touch each of you in the right moment at the right time. 

Not everything has moved you. I'm sure lots of it has nearly bored you to tears. But I know the Lord has had His hand on the things you have read and the ways you have been touched and I am so grateful that it was not all in vain. 

Regardless of how long you've been along for the ride or what brought you here, thank you. Thank you for being a safe place. Thank you for challenging me. Thank you for encouraging me. I am different 365 days later because of you. 

.....day 364 of a year of writing.....

Things You Think You Can't Do....

So lately, I've given God the reins and let Him drive. It's the reason I started this blog and the reason I started a women's bible study. I honestly don't know near enough about the bible to lead a bible study (at least that's what I tried to tell God). He didn't seem to care about my biblical knowledge though. 

Sometimes the Holy Spirit just tells you to do something. I think I used to often ignore the stirrings in my heart thinking that those things were only things I wished I could do, not things I actually could do. As it turns out, that was the devil talking! The reason you think and dream about certain things over and over again, is because the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, and you are supposed to do those things!

I figured that starting a bible study sounded like something the wife of a pastor would do, so I did it. There were days there would be 4 of us, and there were days there would be 10 of us. And we all grew closer to God and in faith over a 10 week study.

As it turns out, the very thing that I was scared of and that I thought I couldn't do, took my faith to a new level, and I watched other women I love experience the same change. And we slowly began to rely on each other and the fellowship and the sharing and the pain and the love of those Monday nights.

Tonight, just a few short months after we initially began, I walked into a room with 19 women ready to learn about God's vision for their life. The devil has tried numerous times to get in the way of us growing, but he was stopped dead in his tracks tonight as we shared openly and honestly. Women of faith needing a place to share and pray together were united tonight.

I'm glad I'm doing the things I thought I could never do. And I'm praying for bigger visions and more audacious quests for God. I know there is something that only I am supposed to do, and with God in the driver's seat, I know He'll reveal it to me when I'm ready for the challenge.

What is it that you think you can't do, but can't stop thinking about? Whatever it is, is exactly what He wants you to do. He's asking. You're fighting back, and the devil is doing everything he can to make you believe you can't do it. Do the things you think you can't do by faith, and watch God move in your life.

"Everything is possible to him who believes." Mark 9:23

Things You Think You Can't Do....Like Sell Something

 I'll never forget finding Scentsy. I thought it was the coolest concept ever. And I love candles, so I was immediately hooked.

At the time, I was looking for something. I wanted to stay home, but knew I couldn't sell a thing. Plus we were in credit card debt and living pay check to pay check. But on top of that, there were numerous reasons I thought I couldn't sell Scentsy.

The reasons why I should not have started selling Scentsy:

1. I can't sell anything! Seriously, Brian is the salesperson in our family, not me. I hardly like to talk to people half the time, let alone attempt to sell things to them! 
2. I knew nothing about direct sales. I pretty much understood that I could sign-up for a small fee and begin selling the product for a profit, but that's about as much as I understood. 
3. I knew nothing about business. And if you plan on being successful in direct sales, you have to run a business more or less. 
4. I can't sell anything!

The problem with Scentsy is that it gets in your brain and you can't stop thinking about it. One thing I did know was that I loved it, and if I loved it, I knew other people would too.

With all the reasons above that I shouldn't have started selling Scentsy up against the simple fact that I loved it, there really was no case for me to start in the first place. But I sat at my kitchen table and prayed for a clear answer (which I don't do a lot) and knew within seconds that I was absolutely supposed to sign up.

So with a million doubts and fears in my head, I payed my $99 and signed up to sell Scentsy. I never once imagined what would become of that one decision. I had no idea how the big picture looked. But oh how glad I am that I listened to an answered prayer that night and signed up despite my own fears and doubts.

In hindsight, of course, it obvious what He had planned for me that day. He wanted me to be scared and to offer up every reason that I shouldn't, and then to trust Him anyways.

Sometimes that's all it takes to do something you don't think you can do, a little faith and trust. Pray about the things that scare you, and watch God change you through your fear and get you a little closer to the kingdom changer He has planned for you to be.

Do the things you think you can't do, and watch your world change for the better.

Things You Think You Can't Do- Like Exercise Regularly (for Sunday, March 20th)

So lately I have been pretty consistent about running. I've gotten into a good habit and I enjoy being out on the road.

But it was not always like that. After having children, there were times I thought that I would never exercise again. As a mom, you never get enough sleep, you have to drive everyone else to their activities, and you don't seem to have an extra second in your calendar. Or you have babies, and when they actually are asleep (which is rare) you're doing the best you can to re-gain your sanity by picking up your house, grabbing something to eat besides goldfish, or attempting to catch up on a few minutes of sleep before the baby monitor goes off again.

I've lived both lives and wondered how I would ever find time to exercise regularly. I tried a million things: Pilates videos that I was going to do 3 days a week while my kids were napping; a gym membership where I swore I would drop my kids off in the childcare center and do some cardio a few days a week; and I even tried Zumba (which I really did love!).

One of the main problems with all of it was that there was never anything that called to me. Nothing that made me want to go work out except thinking about bikini season, and really that just made me mad enough to want to eat chocolate in spite of bathing suits.

One of the reasons I was drawn to the Couch to 5K program was because of its simplicity, and I really liked the idea of being a runner.

But when it came down to starting the program, I was a little unmotivated as usual. My best advice: bribe yourself!

My first bribes for working out regularly went something like this:
Run 3 days out of the week: get a pedicure....don't run 3 days= no pedicure :(
Run 3 days the next week: open a bottle of wine...don't run= no vino :(
Run 4 days a week for 2 weeks straight: new jeans!
Etc....

My bribery works for me, but it depends on how good you are at bribing yourself and whether or not you'll stick to it. It helps to have someone in on the bribe to keep you accountable. And it doesn't have to be running, but anything you do in terms of exercise 3 days a week on a regular basis has more than just health benefits. Regular exercise can clear your mind, give you peace, and help you create focus in your day to day life.

Now bribing may work for motivation, but the other kicker for most of us: TIME!
Who has the time?! It turns out that most of us do. It's a choice we make. I recently found a study that said that the average Facebook user spends 7 hours a month on Facebook. That's just over 2 hours a week. There is your hour and a half to spend 30 minutes, 3 days a week exercising.

Even if you're not a huge facebook user, there are plenty of other things that suck up our time: TV, internet browsing, online games, etc. We have time. It's just a matter of managing it better and managing it intentionally.

The 3rd problem for a lot of people after finding the motivation and the time is simply: what kind of exercise to do!
My best suggestion is to find something you love. I know that sounds crazy! But you can love something like exercise that's good for your mind, body, and soul. Research, experiment, and try, try again until you find something that you actually like doing.

Running works for me because I can do it anywhere at anytime and it's incredibly simple. I was really bad at it at first and it hurt to do it 3 days a week. My knees used to hurt sooooo bad every time I went out! But it will probably be like that with anything you start doing. Don't expect to be good at first. Don't expect to love it at first. Set a goal to exercise for 3 days a week for a month straight and see where it takes you.

You can exercise regularly no matter how much you think you can't.

Remember...

The crazy thing about the things we think we can't do is that the things we usually think we can't do are the things that we have the most potential to be truly successful at.

What do you fear? What are you preventing yourself from being great at? The things that you are supposed to be great at should scare the heck out of you. Really. Whatever you're fearful of, is where you have a true potential to shine.

Take a leap of faith, and do things you think you can't do. You'll be surprised at where you'll go, who you'll meet, and what your life will look like afterward.

Do things you think you can't do...like exercise regularly. And may you find peace along the way.

Don't Break the Chain

I recently read that Jerry Seinfeld is such a great comedian because he refused to "break the chain." When asked how he was so successful as a writer, he said that he never "broke the chain."

Jerry Seinfeld made it a point to write everyday, and everyday that he wrote he would make an "x" on his calendar. The x's began to make a chain. If he didn't write, he didn't get to make an x on the calendar, and therefore, his chain would be broken.

There are things that are worth doing everyday through discipline. Sometimes the things that are hard to do everyday are actually worth doing, like working out, cooking, writing, etc.

"A Post a Day in March, April, and May" has challenged me. I'm getting in my post for Friday, March 11th after a very interesting day. It was Luke's 2nd birthday; we had an extra (5 month old) baby today; and in the middle of writing this post, Addison puked.

And yet, there are things worth doing everyday.

Don't break the chain.    

Part 1: Things You Think You Can't Do- Like Run

This morning was a great morning for me. I finally hit the rumored "runner's high" that I was coming to believe did not exist. Until today, the farthest I had ever run without stopping was 4.5 miles, and this morning I ran 6, and I could have easily kept going.

Now if I were to have read this on someone's blog a year ago before I started running, it would have made me sick! Seriously who runs? And who has time to run?

I thought all these things and more before I started running. Last March I was introduced to a program called Couch to 5K. I was having a lot of trouble getting back into an exercise routine even a year after having my 2nd baby. With Couch to 5K, you only have to commit to 30 minutes, 3 days a week. I thought I'd try it. The great thing is, it works! After only 2 months of the program, I could go out at any time and run 3 miles. And for the record, before I started Couch to 5K, I never ran! Never! Not in high school or college, not even occasionally at the gym. I despised running!

One of my faults is that once I start something, I either have to go all in or not even bother. Absolute success or absolute failure. There is no middle ground for me.

When I started considering trying to run, there were a million reasons I told myself that I couldn't. Here are just a few:

• You've never been a runner.
• You don't like to run.
• You hardly have time to shower. Why do you think you'll have time to run?
• You're not strong enough. 
• You can't really run a 5K. That's ridiculous.

These are all the things that went through my mind; all the reasons I though I couldn't do it. But I knew there was something missing in my life. I wasn't happy with my body and therefore not very interested in fulfilling my wifely duties; I was constantly worried about my kids; I felt overwhelming pressure about my how people viewed me as a Scentsy SuperStar Director; and the list goes on and on. There was definitely something missing. Being a dancer in high school and college, fitness was a huge part of my life, and all of a sudden, that was gone.

So I slowly started. And by slowly, I mean slowly. The great thing about Couch to 5K is that the first time you go out, I think you run a total of 6 minutes out of the 30 you're on the road. It's fabulous!

I felt empowered, energized, and free. Now, just a year later, I feel like I've actually arrived as a runner. I find peace, solitude, prayer, and my own sanity when I'm out on the road. No, I don't have time to do it, but I've made the time. I get up 3 days a week at 6:00 am to go out for at least an hour.

The crazy thing about the things we think we can't do is that the things we usually think we can't do are the things that we have the most potential to be truly successful at.

There are 3 things that I originally thought I could never do, that I am doing now and doing fairly well (in my opinion):
1. running a business
2. being a spiritual leader
3. being a distance runner

There were reasons I thought I couldn't do each of them to begin with, but sometimes our greatest potential comes from our greatest fear.

What do you fear? What are you preventing yourself from being great at? The things that you are supposed to be great at should scare the heck out of you. Really. Whatever you're fearful of, is where you have a true potential to shine.

Take a leap of faith, and do the things you think you can't do. You'll be surprised at where you'll go, who you'll meet, and what your life will look like afterward.

Do the things you think you can't do...

A Post a Day in March, April, and May!

Okay I cannot believe I am actually committing to do this! But I really feel like I'm supposed to challenge myself to write. Plus if I want to write everyday for 3 months, I'll have to get and stay inspired, and I figure that's a pretty good place to be.

I always wanted to have a blog just to keep track of my life, but now I feel like there's a bigger reason. I'm not sure what it is, but I think we all have something to share. My goal is that every post I write will be one that is meaningful and beneficial to others. Hopefully I can help you be more intentional and find more peace in your day to day life.

I'm excited about my new blog design (coming soon!) and all the upcoming topics I've been thinking about writing about like:

• Cooking for Kids
• On the Road (my experiences running)
• Things that Move Me (Inspiration)
• Kidtivities (fun stuff to do with little ones)
• My Scent Adventure (Scentsy!)
• Around the World (our travels)

This might be a crazy ride! I'm going have to stop worrying about what other people think. I've been listening to a lot of Joyce Meyer podcasts lately and one thing I heard her say recently is
"the worst place you can be is in a constant state of trying to impress others...once you know that you are doing what you were made to do, you don't have to look at others and think 'I wish I could be like her'."
So I am going to go forward knowing that this is what I'm supposed to be doing and praying that someone needs it.

Come along for the ride! Who knows what the next 3 months will reveal?! One thing I can assure is that it won't be boring, and I'm pretty sure you'll think I'm crazy by the end of it. 

So until there's more,
Allison