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?

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.

Our Journey Begins

Do you remember what you were doing 10 years ago?

At 11:00pm on June 21, 2000, we signed our application to be Associates with USANA Health Sciences Inc. We were impressed with the quality of the company, the products & the people we met, so we felt we had little to lose. After all, we had certainly done sillier things before, with regard to our health & in terms of our personal finances. We walked back home from our sponsors’ house, taking the scenic route along the river. It was a clear, star-filled evening sky & we were excited about this new chapter in our lives.

At 9:00am on June 22, 2000, I phoned my sponsor, Deanna Waters to say, "We are so excited, but we don't know where to start!" I asked her if I could shadow her, to see what she does on a typical day, in order to build a successful international business from home. She took us under her wing, helped us set goals & develop a business plan. First & perhaps most important, she helped us identify our dreams & the core reasons why it was important to us, that we accomplish them.

In order to accomplish the things you dream of in life, it is so important to have a good mentor. In Deanna, we found someone who seemed to believe in us, more than we believed in ourselves. Like peeling the layers of an onion, she helped us discover, for ourselves, that we could, indeed, get off of the life-work treadmill & start living!

Thus, our journey began…

Do you remember your dreams? Often they are pushed aside & give way to the day-to-day routines. In the next post, I will share with you, highlights from my day shadowing Deanna, 10 years ago.