Welcome to 2019

Hard as it may be to believe, another year has gotten behind us and taken its place in history. This is the time of year when we all become like the Roman God Janus, looking forward and backward at the same time. Considering our accomplishments, seeing where we fell short and making our heartfelt resolutions for where and how we will do better in the year to come.

I once heard Tony Robbins speak about New Year's resolutions. It is pretty clear that he is not a fan. The calendar, he said, makes every new year seem like a new start, but its not. We are exactly the same person on January 1st as we were on December 31st. Nothing much changes, because we do not change much.

Here is what he suggests you do if you really want to change something in your life, whether on New Year's Day or any other day of the year that you are ready to get serious about it.

1. Choose an area of your life (just one) where you truly want to make a change. Be honest with yourself. You have to really want to change in this area, not simply think that you should. Describe (writing it down is best) exactly what that area of your life is like for you now. No one else is going to see this, so be 100% honest.

2. Write a list of the habits, routines and rituals that you have that are shaping the current conditions in this area for you. Give this part some thought, it is important.

3. Write down exactly what it is that you want to be different. Be very specific. This should be an emotionally engaging vision of what you want this area of your life to be like. How it WILL be for you. Why do you want it? How will your life be different when you have it?

4. Now write down the new habits, routines and rituals that, if you incorporate them into you life, cannot help but create the changes and bring about the results that you want. What, exactly, do you need to do differently EVERY day in order to have what you want?

5. Begin incorporating these new habits into your day. This is where the work is. It will not be easy. That is an understatement. Your old routines and rituals will not give up easily and they have great power over you. Start small, with a few new rituals, and stay with them no matter what. Your momentum will build with each success and you can add more later.

The only resolution that you need for the new year is to act with integrity. To keep your word. Every time. Without exception. You CAN change your life. Or just those parts of it that you want to change. Your health, your career, your relationships, your happiness, your outlook. But to do so you simply MUST be able to depend on yourself. Your word must be your non-negotiable principle.

For me, I am committing to being a person of my word for 2019. That is it. Just that. I may not say that I will do something and that's fine. But if I do say that I will complete some task, be at some event, show up somewhere at a certain time, then I am going to do that. No more excuses for me. If I say it, I mean it.

I will keep you posted on how it goes.

Attitude is a Choice

People who know me well would not say that I am the most optimistic person on the planet. I've often taken a perverse pride in being a "realist" and avoiding "excessive enthusiasm". As The Who said so well, "If I smile tell me some bad news, before I laugh and act like a fool". A recent experience has prompted me to reconsider my whole attitude about attitude.

I was in Orlando after an exciting Reliv 25th Anniversary International Conference. As I sat in the hotel lobby waiting for my airport shuttle, my phone rang. It was the airline letting me know that my flight was delayed 35 minutes because of a "minor mechanical issue". Uh oh! I've traveled often enough to know that where airlines are concerned there are no "minor" issues, and I had a tight 55 minute connection to make if I was going to get home that day. Noon arrived and no shuttle. A call to the company resulted in an unsympathetic dispatcher telling me that the shuttle had been there, I must have been at the wrong entrance (maybe mention that when I reserved the ride?), and the next one would be by in an hour.

I was now an unhappy person, and spinning all sorts of plausible scenarios in which I didn't make it home till the next day. Then it occurred to me that the 35 minute flight delay just might save the day! Without it the missed shuttle was an automatic loser. 

All along here so far, I was assuming the worst case scenario - several worst case scenarios actually. But why was the best case not possible? On paper, at least, I could still make the flights. So I had a 20 minute argument with myself about it (I must have sounded like Gollum to passers-by) and made a decision that, since these matters were mostly out of my control, I would do the best I could and assume that things would work out for the best.

Suffice it to say that the trip home was much more of an adventure than I'd have preferred. But when I finally walked through my door, I was only 58 minutes later than scheduled. I'd had a chance to meet several people on the way home who were interested to hear more about what Reliv could do for them who I would not have met otherwise. And as I stood in Chicago waiting out weather delays, my new attitude spared me from the stress and anger that was all around me.

But suppose things had not worked out so well? Suppose one of those worst case scenarios had played out? I might well have been presented with new and different opportunities that I would have missed out on had things gone smoothly. Second, the experience could have provided valuable lessons and learning experiences for use next time. And finally, by relaxing, doing what I could and assuming the best, the trip would have been far less stressful and aggravating than it otherwise would have. What was my other choice? Congratulate myself on expecting the worse and being right? Scant comfort that.

The big lesson for me? Attitude is a choice! I can choose to see things from a negative filter or a positive one. I can expect happy outcomes or miserable ones. Being positive and optimistic about things doesn't change the outcome, but it does change the experience. Being a "glass half full" person is just more fun. And I bet it attracts a whole different sort of person to me. Try it yourself.

A Thought for the New year

When I was in the 4th Grade, and dinosaurs walked the earth, there was a boy in my class named Robert. Now Robert had a tough life. He wasn't very popular. He was fat, not especially good looking, or smart, and not blessed with any talent or sports. His social skills were, to be kind, non-existent. Unsurprisingly, he was painfully shy. Fourth graders being who they are, Robert was the victim of ceaseless pranks, teasing and the sort of indifferent and casual cruelties that only other children can inflict. I am not proud to admit that I was one of his tormentors.

That January, right after Christmas Vacation (it was a Parochial school) Robert's mother had a meeting at school about the problem. "This needs to stop," she reportedly said. "I don't know what else I can do. I've told him 'Robert, you have a new shirt, new pants, new socks and shoes, and even new underwear. You're a new boy. Now go into that classroom and act like a new boy'."

But here's the thing. Robert was still Robert. Despite the new shirt, new pants, new socks and shoes and even the new underwear, Robert was not a new boy.

As the clock ticks away the last few minutes of 2011, how many of us are standing in Robert's new shoes? We look back at the year, its triumphs and defeats, and firmly resolve that next year will be better. We'll stop the snackin' and slackin' and get back in shape. We'll improve our diet, and we'll get up and moving more. We'll rebuild that relationship that we have been neglecting. Take our business or career to a new level. Start that new hobby or activity we've always wanted to try. Reduce our debt. Save for retirement. Be better. Be happy.

But here's the thing. You are still you. Despite all the heartfelt good intentions, you are not a new you. If you want 2012 to be different, than YOU need to be different.

I will leave you with a thought from Stephen Covey's wonderful book, First Things First:  "Each decision we make is an important decision. Some may seem small at the time, but the reality is that they add upon one another to become habits of the heart that move us with increasing force toward some destiny. We are not the product of our past, we are the product of our choices."

I wish you a happy, healthy and successful New Year.

My Business Story

When I was introduced to the Reliv nutrition program in February of 2009, my personal financial situation was circling the drain. I'd been involved in an earlier entrepreneurial fiasco that had left my savings depleted, and the HR consulting business I had started in 2006 was not doing well. I was at the point of having to look for employment (a very unpalatable prospect to me as I had been self employed for most of the last 25 years and didn't relish the thought of having to explain myself to a boss again), start selling off personal assets (flying is one of my longtime passions and the thought of having to sell my 1977 Cessna 172XP for living expenses made taking a job seem almost delightful) or take money from my various retirement accounts (which would produce very negative tax penalties next year and leave me short of funds later). None of these were very attractive options. But the worst part of it wasn't even the money. It was the hopeless, discouraged feeling that my life was just not turning out the way I hoped it would at this age, and that I really had no good options for turning it around.

I was looking at Reliv for wellness and prevention, and had absolutely no intention of becoming involved with it as a business. But by April I had pretty much decided to use the products long term because of the health results I was seeing, and thought that it made sense to become a distributor simply to obtain the products at a significant discount. But by the end of May, having put no effort whatsoever into it (I'm not talking "part-time" here, I really made zero effort) I had "made" about $140 selling a few cans of product to family and close friends. I was in a position where even a couple of hundred dollars a month in extra income would make a big difference so I decided that I had better take a more serious look at the business potential of this.

In June and July I began to connect with my sponsor and plug in to the extensive training and support system that Reliv provided. There was a lot to learn, and I was seriously handicapped by a conviction that I already knew most of it. As I became more familiar with the products, the marketing plan and the compensation model I started to see that maybe, just possibly, a person could make some serious income at this. I began to devote some time to it, not a lot of hours but consistently. But I was also making a lot of mistakes, and while I was still making a little money, I wasn't progressing very fast.

Against my better judgment, I attended the Company's International Conference in St. Louis in August. I'd been to a lot of conferences over the years and frankly had very low expectations. I could hardly have been more wrong. Over three days I had the opportunity to see Reliv International up close (literally during the facility tour, and emotionally as it put its best face forward for the 4,000 or so enthusiastic distributors in attendance). But most important was the chance to meet with other distributors, to share their stories and to learn from their experiences. For me it was a completely unfamiliar experience to be among such a positive, confident, upbeat crowd. Almost uncomfortable. Perhaps it was contagious. Or perhaps it was the realization that there was nothing at all magical about the people who had been successful at this. They were sharing the exact same products as me. They had a compensation plan identical to mine. The training and support available to them were available to me. The only difference between me and people who were making a great living at this and having fun doing it was how hard and how long they had worked at it.

I am still circling the drain. My bills still outpace my income. But instead of hopeless and discouraged I am now enthusiastic and confident. Now I do see a way to the life I had wanted to have. Not a quick path, or an easy one. But a possible one. My goal is that by the end of next year, 2010, I will be making enough in the Reliv business to support myself comfortably. And then to become a little more successful and a little more prosperous each year thereafter. I don't see any reason not to be doing this for the rest of my life.

At least that's the plan. Check back now and then to see how it all really works out.

My Health Story

When I was introduced to Reliv International nutritional supplements in February of 2009, I considered myself to be in fairly good health. I was perpetually trying to lose 10 pounds, but not really putting more on. I may have drank a bit too much but I ate well, exercised 5 days a week and had regular visits to my doctor and dentist to keep an eye on things. I had been struggling with borderline periodontal issues for years, but nothing serious enough to warrant therapy. My blood pressure had always been a little elevated, and now hovered right around that 120/80 dividing line. My blood glucose levels were creeping up a few points year after year, but at 106 not yet a serious concern.

My real concern was my genetic heritage. My father, his four sisters and his father had all died of cancer before they were 70 (some of the girls in their 40s). His mother died of heart disease. On the other side of the coin, my mother has advanced Alzheimer's and diabetes. Her brother died of cancer, her father of cardiovascular complications and her mother of Alzheimer's. As I closed in on 60 years, I could hear the clock ticking.

So I had always used supplements. Lots of them. Before Reliv I was taking 12 - 15 pills each day, including a multi-vitamin, fish oil, garlic, vitamin C, Vitamin E, Biotin, Saw Palmetto and various B-complex vitamins. I can't really say I ever noticed any results from lining up at this capsule buffet, nor did I really feel any different if I missed taking them for a few days. And the menu changed frequently as I read someplace about a new vitamin, mineral or supplement that was suddenly a "must take". I just figured that this is what prevention required.

I can sum up the attraction of the Reliv program for me in just four words: Simple, Complete, Optimal and Current. Replacing 12 - 15 tablets and capsules with two (more bio-available) shakes was simple and easy. The contents were complete, synergistic nutrition, with everything I needed in the correct amounts and proportions. They provided optimal nutrition, not minimum daily requirements. And finally, I could stop worrying about whether or not I was incorporating the latest nutritional studies and research into my diet. It was all done for me. Still, based on my experience with supplements, my expectations were low and it was only the 30-day money-back guarantee that sealed the deal. What did I have to lose?

One month into the program I realized that I was sleeping more soundly and waking up less tired, more alert and ready to start the day. I'd lost 5 pounds and was tearing right through the energy slump that usually struck around 3:00 pm. Not life changing perhaps, but results. I never knew nutritional supplements were supposed to produce results. By the end on the second month (March) I had shed 9 pounds and just felt "better", like I was more awake and productive all the way through my day. But was this for real? Or was I simply convincing myself of what I wanted to be true?

In April I had both my annual physical and semi-annual dental exam scheduled, and, being a numbers sort of guy, decided to await the outcome of these more objective tests before deciding whether to stay with this program or not. The results of my physical were surprising and, as far as I was concerned, conclusive.

• Weight: down 12 pounds
• Total Cholesterol: down 9 points to 167
  
• HDL: up 8 points to 54
  
• LDL: down 14 points to 90
  
• Triglycerides: down 5 points to 126
  
• Fasting Blood Glucose: down 12 points to 94
  
• PSA: down 1/2 point to 1.23
  

For the past several years, it was typical for me to have one or two periodontal pockets of 7 and several of 6. These are borderline-problem values. This time I had only one 6, and my dentist commented that my soft tissue "was more improved than over any six month period" that he had been seeing me. He advised me to "keep doing whatever it is you are doing" as it seemed to be working well. The only thing I could think of that I had done differently was to adopt the Reliv nutritional program.

Its a very pleasant and empowering feeling to get these kinds of results. I'd never seen anything like them before. I certainly don't think Reliv makes any sort of "miracle product". Just basic, complete, optimum nutrition. I don't make any claims that there are no other products available that might do the same thing. But based on the results I have gotten, results I can feel and measure, I plan to be taking Reliv products for a very long time.