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Mary getting ready to zip on a line!

Earlier this month I enjoyed a fabulous family vacation. While on our vacation my husband and I decided to try out the zip line at the resort we were staying at. I had zip lined once about ten years ago but it was a very small zip and only one.

To be honest as the time approached for zip lining I really did not think about it. Then as we were walking to the check in point I felt myself get a little nervous, like wow this might be kinda scary! As the butterflies flew around in my stomach we all put our zipping straps on.  As I climbed the stairs to the first zip line I really started to get nervous. I was literally out of breath and felt physically ill by the time I reached the top because I had so many butterflies bouncing around in my stomach!

We all watched as the first of the instructors hooked up his harness and zipped off to the next tower with ease. Somehow I ended up first in line to zip. As I was getting all hooked up to zip I had a couple thoughts run through my brain like what the heck were you thinking. I also was force feeding my brain if he can do it I can do it. As I stood there trying to force myself to jump I had several people behind me waiting for their turn. All I could think of was I have this line of people behind me and now I have to jump of this incredibly high tower attached only to a couple of straps. I was terrified!

That is when I made a decision.  I sucked it up, took a deep breath and then stepped off the tower. WOW. I screamed and I even shut my eyes for a second but what a rush. I felt alive and exhilarated as well as being a little terrified. As I landed at the next tower I was relieved and excited that I took that step. There were five lines to zip across. The second time was a little easier but I was still kinda scared, the third time was much easier, the fourth time I was excited and by the last tower I ran to jump off it.

Loving the feeling of zipping through the air!

It is amazing what can happen when you take a leap out of your comfort zone. The first jump is always the hardest. The second jump can be really hard as well. But, as you keep going each time gets a little easier until you feel like running and jumping off.

Make sure you stretch yourself to get out of your comfort zone often. It is at that point when we grow. Then before we know it our comfort zone has expanded and we are accomplishing bigger and better things in our lives all the time. When you allow this in your life great things will come. Be it in your business or your personal life get up, get out, and scare yourself to death by trying something new! Expect that the first time will be a little scary or maybe even terrifying, but, as you do it again and again it will get easier each time and you will grow from the experience. I can’t wait to plan my next zip line adventure because the pure rush was worth all the terrified feelings I overcame to do it!

What have you been holding back on in your life or business because of fear? Make a decision today to get to it and do it. The small amount of pain it will take to get started is minimal compared to the pain of regret! Challenge yourself today.

Please feel free to comment and let me know a time where you stepped out of your comfort zone and grew because of it.

My little princesses!

A Candid View From a Work at Home Mom

When you are running a home based business sometimes it is easy to get distracted. There are so many triggers that can take a perfectly good day and turn it into a scattered waste of a day.

If I told you I had the perfect daily method of operation aka..D.M.O. I would be a liar. I have a D.M.O. but it is continually getting refined and developed.

It certainly is a process to get one developed that is productive and profitable at the same time. The discipline to keep it up becomes easier when it reaches both of these points. The issue with that is it takes discipline to get to the productive and profitable point in your business first! It truly is a circular process.

Developing your D.M.O. should be your main focus. Not just any D.M.O but one that is achievable, productive, and profitable at the same time. I work at home around three small children (6,4, and 1) and I have found that my D.M.O. integrates everything I do around the house- like laundry and meal preparation- to business activities like making calls during nap time, advertising, content creation, social media and of course plenty of interruptions like tickle time:-).

If you have children you know that interruption free time is limited. Notice I say limited not non- existent. Honestly if you are seriously going to run a successful home business you need to have some scheduled uninterrupted time that you can count on.

As a serious business owner I realized early on that I needed to have more time to myself (without the interruptions of my children). A solution that works for us is to schedule a day and a half that my children go to Grandma’s house. They love going, my mom loves to spend time with them, and we pay her so she has a little something for her work as well. Invest in your business by getting some valuable focused time away from your kids during the day as well. If your main reason for working at home was to avoid daycare make sure you and your spouse work out something so you have some sort of set time to work by yourself. Your business will thank you!

During my process of developing my D.M.O. I discovered I am more productive when I have a plan and task list for each day. This plan is specific to what I will do at what time of the day.

For example I started to get up 1 hour earlier in the morning. In this 1 hour I am able to get most of my daily business tasks done. Leaving the rest of my day to focus on bigger projects. Having this one hour to myself has increased my productivity exponentially. To be honest the productivity that I achieve in this one hour is way more valuable to me than that hour of sleep was!

Next I started to schedule calls during nap time. So again any mothers or fathers reading this know that even nap time can be volatile at best.  To my surprise by simply scheduling this activity to this specific time I was able to successfully complete several calls while the house was quiet! If you have older children that do not take naps you can schedule quiet reading time. If they are old enough to read they are old enough to understand that they cannot interrupt you during that specific time.

When you are developing your D.M.O. expect to:
Alter it frequently in the beginning, it takes awhile to get the BEST possible method down.
Make a list the night before of what you will accomplish the next day.
Make a commitment to your scheduled tasks. Yes you will have derailing moments but do whatever it takes to get back on track!
Start with small tasks and build it up as you become more proficient in each skill you are adding daily.
Do not ever, ever, ever, ever give up!

The clear benefits of developing a D.M.O. include:
More productivity in the hours spent working on your business.
Your work day becomes more predictable.
A schedule will help you stay on task.
Your business will grow consistently as a result of consistent daily activities.
Your productive and profitable D.M.O. is a great blueprint to hand off to your new teammates to get off to a quick start!

Developing a D.M.O. had helped my home base business grow much easier and quicker. Managing yourself so that you make the most effective use of your time is the key.

Please share ideas and tips on how your daily method of operation has helped you grow your business below in the comments.

If you want to find out more about what I do and how you can have access to the same high quality training Click Here.

Mark Hoverson and Mary Thayer Hiking in Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas

Well I have just returned from another awesome marketing event in Las Vegas. This event was hosted by Mark Hoverson for Leadership Branding in direct response. It was a training event filled with people from every imaginable background, company, level and income bracket. (There was even a billionaire present for the training.)

As you can see the event was not all board room training. The first day was a sunshine filled, beautiful desert day hiking in the Red Rock Canyon. You can see I snagged a quick photo with Mark. (look at the incredible views in the background!) He is an incredible trainer and had a great idea to start the event with a hike. It was a great atmosphere to get out and meet like minded people and network.

The actual conference room event was rich with applicable training and tons of networking. It was amazing to network with others leaders making it happen. It really helps you take your game plan to the next level!

In fact it was in Las Vegas that I met the guys who are helping me with this blog. These associations improve you as a person and as a result your business grows! So I encourage you to get to an event. Get out into the world and network with like minded people! It is worth every penny and if you do not go it might cost you plenty of unrealized profits!

Mary Thayer

P.S. Keep watching this blog as I will be adding tons more content and improving it daily!

Work With Mary

Wheweee………. That is all I can say about the past month of my life. A month ago I was preparing for a wealth and marketing conference in Boca Raton, Florida. I attended this event and was blown away at the incredible value of the information presented.

It was an incredible week of networking with like-minded people, learning from successful people, and enjoying staying at a beautiful resort.

This is a truly global picture!

This photo has people from all over the world in it. From left to right there is Spain, UK, Japan, Jamaica, USA, and Canada. All of us were there for a common purpose. To learn how to become better global marketers using this great little tool called the internet. The world seemed small as there were people from all over coming together to learn and better themselves. It truly was an amazing experience! (To become part of this global team check us out Here).

So, that was my first travels. Unfortunately on my way home from Florida I found out that my dear Grandfather who had been making great progress in therapy after a stroke had fallen. I got home in time to be with him and my family as he left this earth to go to a better place.

At 30 years of age I have been blessed with four grand-parents. It has been a very heart wrenching experience to lose my Grandpa. May he rest in peace!

During all the pain of losing my Grandpa, my sister had a beautiful new baby boy. The circle of life really is incredible! We welcomed this new baby into our family with great joy! It is so fun to see the excitement of my own children to welcome in a new cousin. In my family my Mom and Dad have 16 grandchildren. The cousins love to play with each other and each new baby gets a bigger welcome from them!

My Grandma and Grandpa with some of their Grandchildren

This is a picture of my three girls with some of their cousins and my Grandma and Grandpa that passed away. We visited Grandpa often as he was recovering from his stroke.It was always a busy bustle but Grandpa loved having his Great-Grand Children around!

Life is so precious!

After all the drama in my life I had another event to attend. This one was in Las Vegas. It was a leadership branding for direct response course by Mark Hoverson.

To be honest it was difficult to prepare for after such a life-altering event but I sucked it up and went. It was an amazing event full of amazing leaders out on the internet making great things happen.

There was people from every imaginable business there. The content was incredible and the people were even better. I made some lasting friends and contacts that will benefit my business greatly.

I have to admit I did have some much needed fun while in Las Vegas. This picture was taken at the Hofbrauhaus. (To be honest I had to borrow the beer for the picture) My unwinding was networking while enjoying good food and drink!

So now I am home and back to business. I would not say it is business as usual but business at a higher level. These two events brought my game to the next level. If you have any opportunity to attend a live event do whatever you can to be there. It is that important.

Life is fragile. It is critical to live each day to its fullest! Look forward to hearing more from me. Also look for my new blog to arrive with many great upgrades and updates. It is probably a couple of weeks out but I am excited for the changes.

If you are in a rut in life or your business take a few minutes to read this great report. It will give you some fresh insights and help you get your game face on. Free Report Here

Until the next time,

Live Great,

Mary Thayer