When Life Hands You Lemons...

During our recent trip to Vancouver, BC, Canada, we enjoyed dining at some amazing restaurants. One place, in particular, made me reflect on what excellence means.

In all that you do...

1. Look for the Good, in situations & in other people. Your most noble contribution is to help bring out the best they have to offer. Let them shine!
2. Commit to Excellence - refine your skills and be diligent in the details, when it is your turn to perform!
3. Think You Can! Believing in possibility is a choice, so choose to be positive!

I have to admit, that Unagi (raw eel) has never been one of my favourite things to eat, but our sushi chef surprised us with his creation for dessert: Unagi, wrapped in Fatty Tuna skin, then lightly seared and topped with Salmon Roe. They looked like baby cribs! In the hands of a master sushi chef, even Unagi can be delicious!

Like taking sour lemons & making lemonade, what will you do to be excellent today & make a difference for others?

Jumping in with Both Feet

Ten years ago, on Tuesday, June 27, 2000, I arrived in Salt Lake City after a 21-hour drive, to attend my first USANA Health Sciences International Convention, five days after enrolling as an Associate. My road buddy, Mario Buscio went to stay with his friends from Quebec, while our sponsor, Deanna Waters, invited me to stay with her group in her two-bedroom suite. My fabulous mentors included Patti Tweed, a Registered Dietician & Andrea Cantin, a Dentist. I knew I did not have to be a health professional to be successful in USANA, but I was definitely in good company! It was interesting to hear that neither of them had learned very much at all about nutritional supplementation in school, yet both had compelling stories of how USANA’s products had made a difference for them & their families. For both Patti & Andrea, USANA was filling a void, because nowhere else, could they find such credible nutritional information, based on latest research.

After making everyone my homemade pasta, I got a call from Lynn, back in Winnipeg. It was our first time speaking since I had arrived. I told her how I was in “USANA Immersion!” We had plugged-in to a fantastic community of like-minded, health-conscious people, who all had positive experiences using the products, the USANA LifeMasters & Dr Denis Waitley audios were informative & inspiring & hanging around with our mentors, Dave & Deanna Waters had many benefits & we were having fun.

Lynn had some exciting news. She said she had felt more energy for the past few days & the only thing she had been doing differently was taking the USANA Essentials, which we began on Friday night. She said she had just returned from cycling to my parents’ place in St Vital & to her parents place in Garden City. Both are suburbs of Winnipeg, at opposite ends of the city. The round trip would have been about 32 kilometres or 20 miles. She was amazed that she did it & she felt great! "You did what?!" I said. This was no small feat for most people & it was especially huge for Lynn, since she usually fell asleep whenever we drove to a friends’ place, during a movie or while reading a book! I was accustomed to her constant fatigue & here she was, being a manic cyclist!

For myself, I don’t know if it was the adrenaline, the coffee or the USANA Essentials, but I was also feeling pretty good, after pulling an all-nighter on the drive to Salt Lake City. Whatever it was, I was now on a mission to learn more about USANA & the new products we were taking. The next day, Deanna was to be speaking at a Women's Conference, to start the USANA Convention, so it was time to power-down for the night. This was going to be an awesome time & I was pumped! We had definitely made a fantastic life decision to jump into USANA with both feet!

Take a Chance - Break Out of the Box

Welcome to Part Two of my one-on-one coaching session with Deanna Waters, ten years ago on Friday, June 23, 2000.

While reviewing what we would be getting in our USANA enrolment package, I realized we had a pass to the Annual Convention in Salt Lake City. “The Convention is next week?” I asked.

“Yes it is,” Deanna said, “Dave & I fly out on Tuesday.”

For a brief instant, my mind raced to the next week. Two months earlier, I had been among the first to purchase tickets for a long-awaited reunion concert by The Guess Who, international superstars from the 1970’s, as part of their Running Back Thru Canada Tour. The concert was the following Friday night, June 30, 2000 in Winnipeg.

“I’m coming to Salt Lake City - I’ll drive!” I said, without any hesitation. I would be missing a major concert event with two of my closest buddies, but I was breaking out of my self-imposed box & enlarging my territory. From everything we had seen about USANA Health Sciences, Inc. to that point, I knew I had to go to the Convention!

Salt Lake City was about 1500 miles or 2400 kilometres from Winnipeg. Flying would be reasonable for most people, but I loved a good road trip. Growing up on the Canadian Prairies, we measured distance by time. “It’s just a day’s drive!”

Deanna lined me up with a road buddy, Mario Buscio, & we made plans to hit the road on Monday!

She sent me home with a care package of the USANA Essentials, boxes of USANA Nutrition Bars & several audios called LifeMasters, which I would come to know & love. That evening, Lynn & I took our Essentials & over the coming days, we began to realize how important they were.

Our Journey Continues

At 9:00am on Friday, June 23rd, 2000, I settled into the riverfront home of Deanna Waters for a one-on-one coaching session. We had just started our own home-based business as Associates with USANA Health Sciences, Inc. & I seized my opportunity to learn from someone who had built a successful international business from home.

After writing down some of my goals & dreams, Deanna spent time with me, helping crystallize my “Why” – the compelling reasons for making these goals & dreams a reality. Every time I would give a reason, Deanna would ask, “Okay, now why is that important?” She was relentless – in a nice way! I thought I knew my “why,” but I was just scratching the surface!

The phone rang – it was Deanna’s mentor from Toronto, welcoming me to the team. My mentor’s mentor? Wow - I jumped at the chance to pick her brain!

A knock at the door – in came some of Deanna’s local team, welcoming me to the group. I got to know several people that day, that over the next several years, would always be there for me.

I quickly saw this was more than a home business – we were plugging into an extended family of positive-minded professionals, from all walks of life, who were stepping out of their comfort zones & making personal development & helping others, a central part of their lives.

That was the first day I heard the phrase, “In business FOR yourself – not BY yourself,” which has proven true, so many times, to this day.