Why try so hard? Massage it instead!
It occurs to me lately that we don’t have to try so hard.
As you read on, I’ll ask you to consider the connection between allowing and surrender... to the cultivation of personal satisfaction.
Recently, a few new consultants described how hard they were trying to build their businesses. I really appreciate where they are coming from. This idea of trying hard is deeply ingrained in our culture. Our parents, our coaches, and our teachers… everyone who’s in a position of guidance encourages us to “try a little harder.” “Do a little more.”
Interestingly though, since January, I’ve been taking brain training courses.
What I’m discovering is that trying so hard leads to a lot of resistant thinking and a lot of struggle.
I'm learning that it’s an incompatible activity to try so hard in an effort to succeed. Doesn’t true success imply the absence of struggle and the introduction of ease? At least that’s what I think of as “being successful.”
So, here’s a question...can we create a reality where struggle subsides?
Actually, I had a bit of a headache this morning, so I rubbed my own temples for a few minutes to ease the pain. Sure, it helped a little, but it would have felt so much better for me to be resting in a passive state with someone else rubbing my temples, or rubbing my neck, or rubbing my back. Why? Because, it feels so good to relax in that state of allowing, that state of acceptance, that state of receptiveness. Dana Wilde (my brain trainer) calls it ease and flow.
I’ve had few massage appointments in the last few months, and felt, “Wow. That really helped.” But, can you imagine, if during those sessions, I forced myself to relax? Or, if I struggled to feel better after my massage? Wouldn’t that be the worst massage ever?
So, let’s leave out the struggle part, where we’re forcing ourselves to succeed.
Instead of trying so hard, let’s focus on allowing. Just lie on the table. Allow the massage therapist rub your back, rub your neck, rub your legs, rub your arms, rub your head… mmmmmmmmmm… Allow yourself to relax and to feel good.
In terms of business, allow the bookings to come to us. Allow the orders to flow to us. Allow the team members to join. Have the mindset of... This is coming to me. “I might not have a booking at this moment, but, I tell you what, one is coming! It’s inevitable. I’m a Norwex consultant. That’s what people do, they book parties. And, I just need to be in a state of allowing that to happen. This is brain training at its best.
How do I allow it to happen? Well, I simply tell people that I’m a consultant, so when they want to buy or book, they know who to call. In fact, it just happened this morning! I have a V.I.P. Group on FaceBook. I posted a fun picture of an excited woman opening a present along with a note asking the question, “Who is excited about the new products coming out this August?” Then, BAM! A former hostess commented, “Yeah, I’m excited about the new products, but I tell you what, I need a new toilet brush right now!” Chuckle. So, I didn’t try very hard, at all. No struggle. No agonizing. No intensive labor. My FaceBook post was easy and fun. My small effort inspired a terrific sale within a matter of minutes. Awesome! Great! Success!
What do you think would have happened if instead of making that enthusiastic FaceBook post to my V.I.P. customers, I had anxiously paced back and forth in my home office fretting and fuming that I was going to miss my July sales goals by a lousy $50 dollars? Yup, you got it… aaarrrggghhh, struggle, frustration, and self-inflicted dissatisfaction.
With brain training and a positive mindset, I relaxed into the ease and flow of doing business. My customer is happy. I reached my target for the month. I’m excited about the gift box that Norwex will send me for hitting my goal, because I’ll give most of those free products away as booking incentives and hostess gifts in order to prime the pump for an even better month in August!!!
Here is another example. I chatted with a team member yesterday, who is in her FreshStart (her first ninety days) and she said, “Gayle, I’m trying so hard, I’m just not getting any bookings.”
How do we find the bookings she needs to make her FreshStart? Well, we simply allow future hostesses to connect with her by offering something that they would really like. Right? Like a little special. Like a little incentive.
So I said, “Well, instead of trying so hard, and not getting bookings, let’s allow the bookings to come to you. Let’s make an offer. Let’s put it out there. Let’s just release it… chuckle… into the atmosphere.”
“Hey, I’m offering this special for anyone who wants to book.” After all, we’re not looking for all the people who don’t want to interact with our businesses, instead, we want to have eyes for all the people who do. She didn’t need 50 bookings, she just needed a few. Guess what attracts bookings? Fun. Enthusiasm. Generosity… a great deal for customers who are already interested and motivated. All we have to do is to allow it all to happen!
Isn’t that the difference between a terrifically blissful experience and one of dreadful dissatisfaction?
Hey, brain trainers. Be positive. Be enthusiastic. Be generous. Be fun.
Your business is flourishing. Allow it. Accept it. Surrender to it...and then enjoy it… just like a 90 minute hot lava-stone massage!