I had thought of many different things I would write my first real blog about, but John Maxwell’s Word of the Day gave me the idea of Mindset.

As I begin a new week of running my own Avon businesses, I truly believe our Mindset is a critical factor.  If how we think about our business and the week ahead is a positive mental image, we will be much more likely to have positive results.  Negative thinking will, of course, bring negative results.

In the words of Zig Ziglar, don’t have “stinkin thinkin”.  Get a “check-up from the neck-up”.  Are you guilty of having a negative mindset or do you strive to maintain a positive one.  If you are lucky enough to be your own boss, that is certainly something that should make you feel positive about what you are doing!

Use the 7 letters of MINDSET to REMIND you HOW to BE:

• MODERATE: BE DECENT, DIRECT and DOWN-TO-EARTH.
• INSIGHTFUL: BE ACTIVELY AWARE and INTUITIVELY INTELLIGENT.
• NATURAL: BE AUTHENTICALLY you. BE the EXAMPLE others ASPIRE to.
• DETERMINED: BE EXCELLENT, EXCEPTIONAL and EXTRAORDINARY. REFUSE to be Mainstream, Mediocre, or Middle-of-the-road.
• SHARP: FOCUS ALL your ATTENTION on ACCENTING the AFFIRMATIVE.
• ENTHUSIASTIC: BE a JOY generator, a HAPPINESS magnet, a POSITIVITY radiator. 

Practice these and I guarantee you will see great results.  Have a GREAT WEEK!

After staring at  this blank page in horror for the past week, I am finally motivated to begin a blog by the death of my friend – Zig Zigler.  Did I ever meet him, NO…did I ever even talk to him NO.  But through the decades of reading his books, listening to his tapes and then his CD’s,   he was definitely one of my best friends.

CNN described him as a motivational guru and I personally think that is still selling him short.  To me he was the original -The Glass is Half Full person, and I assure you that he was a household name – at least in my house.

Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Motivation is what causes us to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge.  (from About.com Psychology)

While a lot of people think motivation is just about getting hyped up to do something,  it is actually a way of life.  It’s always easier to just let life slide by then to face it head on, and to go where you want to go.   Just a couple of his catch phrases that I particularly love : “Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street” and “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” 

I won’t  attempt to motivate you at this point, but I will say go to www.ziglar.com and check it out.  Read his books, but even better listen to him and I promise that if you will do that with an open mind, it can change your life.  

The world has lost a great man – Zig Ziglar  1926 – 2012.