April 2017 - Kathleen Deggelman | Network Marketing Leader

As the first quarter of the year has ended, now is a great time to reflect on all that has occurred, both personally and professionally, in your life. Are there any changes you wish you had made earlier? Have you made progress on the goals that you set for yourself? How are you keeping track of the goals and your progress? A great way to keep it all contained is by journaling your efforts.

By keeping a journal, you can track your growth and it gives you little moments each day for self-reflection. There can be a lot of events throughout the day and it can be a challenge to keep everything in your head and journaling provides a great method to capture those events and process them on a daily basis. Some of the items you write down may just be random thoughts, they could be your perspective on events or they can be a way to check on your progression and challenges you may need to overcome. I have been journaling for years! Too many to count and I can say it has been therapeutic, meditative AND empowering all at the same time. I journal several times a week and it always helps me with perspective and positivity.

If you haven’t started a journal before, it can be tough to get started and to find a cadence in which to write entries. Here are a few tips I found that helped me and still do that will help you to get started on the right foot:

Select A Medium: Where you choose to write your journal won’t have an effect on the content of it. Every medium will have pros and cons so be sure that you pick something that works best for you. I love using a beautiful notebook. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. By using a notebook, it gives you time to disconnect from the online world and from any other distractions that can arise by using a computer. It is also fun to see the journals from previous years begin to stack up on the bookshelf. Your own personal history. 🙂

Set Limitations: There are going to be times where your journal entries will come very naturally and it may be hard to keep up with all your thoughts and goals. Other days may prove to be a struggle to get anything written down. You can try to either limit the amount of words or pages that you write per entry or you can set a timer for how much time per day you dedicate. In the beginning, I think it is important to write your thoughts and ideas every day or almost every day. I now write several times a week but not every day. It is a time I definitely look forward to!

Dedicate Time: The ability to keep a journal can be an impactful activity for yourself so it’s important that you make it a part of your daily routine. I usually sit down with my journal first thing in the morning. It helps me start a great day. Set the same time each day to take a break from the world and write in your journal. It can be about your thoughts or your goals but the important thing is to make the time to do it. Mornings can allow you to start with a clear head and evenings can be good to utilize the entry about the events of the day. Pick a suitable time and follow through with it. Believe me, this process helps with gratitude too!

Keep Focused on Goals: If you haven’t considered it, I suggest that you keep your goals for the year at the back of your journal so you can refer to them easily. Journaling is a wonderful way to keep track and remind yourself of any goals you have set. This will help you stay on track in your pursuit to achieve them and any progress you have made towards them. Focus on what you have accomplished too. This isn’t the place to moan about what you haven’t gotten to but to gently remind yourself that these are things you really set out to do this year.

Be Open & Honest: One of the best aspects about keeping a journal is that you have the ability to be open and honest with yourself with each and every entry you write. All those thoughts and ideas that you may have been hesitant to share with others can be contained in your journal so utilize it as the outlet it is. If you’re concerned that unintended parties may see it, this may hinder your ability to truly be open. (Maybe you remember your childhood diary being found?) Keep your journal in a private place just for you.

The process of keeping a journal is one of the easiest ways to keep us engaged on our goals and how we spend our time. By taking just 10-15 minutes a day to write down the events, your thoughts and your progress can provide you with a creative outlet! I really do look forward to writing in my journal and it is also the place where I keep my travel dream boards. I travel so much that I created 5 x 7 dream boards that I can enjoy and ponder too while I journal. One stop shopping so to speak!

Another bonus is that by acknowledging every goal we have achieved, we begin to build confidence in ourselves. Journaling just makes us feel good. There really is a therapeutic and meditative component to it. Every entry you write is a snapshot of that day and, years from now, as you look back on the entries you’ve written, it will be interesting to see how much progress you’ve really made. Even if you never look at the entries again, it is comforting to know they are there. Have a great day and hope you start or love journaling as much as I do.

P.S. I hope you found my article insightful on How Journaling Keeps You Moving Forward. If you liked this blog post, I think you will love my blog post on Productivity and Happiness Tips for Network Marketers.

Leaders aren’t only found in Fortune 500 companies or (gasp) political parties, they can be found anywhere. Everyone has the capacity to show the qualities needed to make a great leader. It is just whether we develop these leadership muscles or not. Being liked is always nice but it’s certainly not a requirement to be respected. Regardless of your position or your title, leadership traits have the ability to influence others towards achieving their goals and creating a work environment where people can really enjoy working together. Becoming a leader can be difficult as there are some organic qualities you need that can take time to develop. If you really desire to step into bigger shoes and to become a leader, these recommendations will help get you on your way to being a great one.

Building Trust: Teammates and employees need to know that you will support them in the decisions they make and that you show a genuine interest in their well-being. This helps show that, not only do you care about them, but you are also willing to protect them. Building trust helps show your team that their goals will never take a back seat to your own interests or motives. What kind of methods can you use to build trust?

Take the time to learn something about them, not work related. Build rapport with your teammates.
Involve them with decisions to show that their input is valued.
Make yourself available to them. Reach out to them!
Recognize and appreciate the contributions they make.

Coach Instead of Manage: Being a great leader means you’ll need to be a great coach. Coaches can be seen as people who can provide adjustments and feedback without people feeling hostility towards them. Leaders will help present the possibility of a future that can inspire people and coaches help inspire those people to take action. Your role as a coach is to be encouraging and motivating and to build confidence in your team. Be sure to reinforce any positive behaviors that are demonstrated with recognition. It can go a long way. In our network marketing businesses, remember this is a “Volunteer Army”. We aren’t anyone’s bosses in this business and sometimes you need to let people do things their way. Remember, they are stretching their leadership muscles too.

Open Communication: As with any relationship, personal or business, a key part to building trust is through an environment that allows for open communication. Allowing your team to be able to speak honestly and candidly without repercussion can firmly establish a bond. Be sure to have your team ask questions and bring any concerns to you. If they feel they can’t, it can be detrimental to achieving success and reduces any chance of establishing trust. You will be able to increase credibility if you’re willing to accept feedback and provide solutions to any worries or concerns they may have. Listening to your teammates is key. Sometimes they just need to vent and then will be able to move on. Sometimes you have to encourage them to set a timer for how long they are going to vent before they move on. 🙂

Utilize a Mentor: It’s always helpful to have someone that YOU can go to that already possesses strong leadership skills. It won’t be too often that someone will just come out and offer to mentor you, so you will most likely need to seek one out yourself. Try to find someone that shares similar values with you and select one that you get along well with. Someone that is different than you and that has what you are looking for. Then when you are faced with those tough decisions, try to picture how your mentor would approach the scenario and arrive at a decision. This can often help put you on the right path. Act like they would and you will soon become more like what are you seeking to be!

Show Confidence & Take Responsibility: As a leader, you will need to make some big decisions and stick by them. You will need to be confident that the decisions you make are the right ones. There’s no room for you to waiver on tough calls. The decision could end up being wrong, but it needs to be decisive. The worst decision is NO decision. You can always adjust and you will know soon enough if it isn’t the right decision. Always stay ethical and honest. We only have one reputation and one bad decision can take that away from you in a heartbeat. The golden rule applies in network marketing too! If you make a mistake, ensure that you own up to that responsibility. Make sure that you are willing to discuss with your team and the decisions they make when you know something is going on that shouldn’t be. It’s important to support and assist your team but to also give them the confidence to make decisions, take risks and speak up. Encourage your teammates to create great relationships with their own teams, with their uplines, and with the corporate management. These relationships are worth their weight in gold in our business!

By helping to clear obstacles for your team, you clear a path for them towards creativity, innovation, and empowerment. You need to be sure to get their input. Make you are providing your team with what they need to achieve success. If they’re already meeting or exceeding their own expectations, make sure to encourage them and guide them as necessary, always recognizing their contributions and positive aspects!

We are all a work in progress. If you focus on the positive, so will they! Here is to your leadership style and success!

P.S. I hope you found my article insightful on Inspiring Ways To Be A Great Leader. If you liked this blog post, I think you will love my blog post on Creating Personal Presence.