the everyday mundane...what leadership is

You never know when your life is going to change. A drop of water in the ocean on the other side of the world, could change everything. You also never know when you are doing something mundane if something extraordinary is happening somewhere else. That was what I really got out of a TED talk that I watched today. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/stanley_mcchrystal?awesm=on.ted.com_McChrystal&utm_content=awesm-bookmarklet&utm_medium=on.ted.com-static&utm_source=l.facebook.com


You should watch it too.  It may not be the most earth shattering video you have ever watched, but the end is really important for being a good leader

Goals- it only works if you write them down

It really is true: If you don't write down your goals it is very hard to achieve them.  You don't see them every day, so you don't have a reminder.  So instead of just keeping them in an app on my phone, I am going to write them here and then blow it up and post it in my office. Yes I have an office and I'm pretty fond of it. It still needs some color, but I'm working on it- one step at a time.

So here we go:

1.      Get my MGA during my 25th birthday year-before March 14,2016
1. Get my GA in the next 4 months
1. Code 2+ agents per month
2. Submit 20,000 alp in a 4 week rolling average
3. Promote an SA
4. 30+ scheduled interviews
5. 3+ hires per week
6. Have 6+ agents submitting per week
2. MGA numbers
1. Code 6 agents per month from my team
1. 2 per SA
2. Have 15 agents coded to me directly
3. Have 3 SA's coded to me
4. Have at least 1 person ready to promote to GA
5. Submit 40,000
6. Hire a recruiter/personal assistant
7. 60+ scheduled interviews for me
8. 30+ scheduled interviews for SA's
9. 10+ hires per week
2. Work out at least 2x per week for 30 minutes
1. Pick 2 days per week and stick to it
2. Find ones I can do at home in the mornings before work
3. Take healthy snacks on road trips
1. Nuts
2. Fresh/dried fruit
3. Meat sticks
4. Protein bars
4. Do the best I can and leave the rest(this will be hardest for me)
1. Stop trying to control the uncontrollable(your masters is in this you strong confident woman)  Follow your own advice
5. Write 10 minutes per day on the training manual for AIL
1. Get a chapter list going
2. Write during group interviews
3. Which means- bring your other laptop to work or get a notebook to write in
6. Have more frequent check ins with my agents
1. Make them feel valued and that I appreciate them
2. Check in 3x daily- morning, afternoon, end of the night

So those are my current goals:  I really hope that by writing these down and also sticking them to my board/walls I can make them happen. Time to get my get up and go started.  I'm hitting the gas pedal and never looking back.

What a week!

What a crazy week this has been. I finally got my groove back.  I wrote more ALP this week than I ever have.  And it's coming with a nice paycheck too.  I missed getting the 20th Supervising agent in the company by 300 ALP.  I'm not too upset about it. It was a rocking week!

 I coded a new agent, took care of my own alp as well, and spent a lot of time driving and training.  This week is going to be a lot of the same. I have 2 trainees in my car- one who should be ready to code this week.

Next week is our world series competition, but although I'll be participating- I'm not going for the win.  I'm just going to do my best and help my agents.   My team is my top priority right now. And getting my license for health so that my team can write health products as well.  It will be extra money for me and for them, so that's a plus.  Downside- I need to be completely ready to take the test a week from now. All while writing business, coding agents, and driving the three hours away that my appointments are this coming week. I'm going to be VERY tired.  I already am sadly.

I decided to run locally the next two days in order to give myself time to study and get some rest before I pretty much run 14 days straight.

Here's to another record setting week.


B

Making steps in the right direction

I finally feel like I am making steps in the right direction.  My recruiting is going well.  My training is going well.  I coded another agent.  I have two brand new trainees in my car and many more coming through on my pipeline.  The next six months are going to be VERY busy.  I need to push really hard for another six months which is kind of daunting to look at, but in 6 months if I keep this pace- I will be out of the field( which is the whole goal).

 I want the flexibility and the lifestyle that my boss currently has and I can do that.  I hope that by my birthday I will be one of newest MGA's. But it means I REALLY cannot let my foot off the gas between now and then.  It's going to be hard and I know that already.  It already has been hard.  This job is NEVER easy.  Anyone who tells you it is- is lying out their ears. Some days it is easier than others, but it is never easy. I'm exhausted when I get home at night. I barely see my boyfriend.  But I sacrifice now so that in 6-9 months I can be done at 2 pm-my only job being to answer the phone and help agents. That's the goal.

 That's the dream and that's what I'm going to make happen.  Screw anyone who wants to tell me that I can't.  This is my world now.  Get in my way and I will run you over.  I'm sick of being the nice one.  It just means I get taken advantage of.  I'm not putting up with the BS and power games of other people in this office and this company.  I understand that it comes with the territory- especially in sales.  Everyone is competitive and out for blood.  I'm competitive and people are about to see how out for blood I am. No more nice Bethany. It's time to get this ball rolling and fast.  I'm sick of being stuck in the same position.  It's time to make the money I deserve, get the recognition I deserve, and get the heck out of the field.  I am highly respected both in my office and within the company- but now it's time to make my move and stop following in the footsteps of others. I'm paving my own path.  I'm doing this the right way instead of the way I've seen so many other people do it.

It's my time now- and I am making steps in the right direction.

B

Leaning on others

So Tuesday was a REALLY rough day.  By the middle of the day I was running a 102 degree fever and was pretty delusional.  Apparently I was speaking nonsense most of the day.  Yesterday was a little better, only a 100 degree fever- but I went to work anyways.  My trainee did the presentation 100% on his own and so I gave him the sale.  It wasn't a huge sale, but at least he will get a small paycheck to help with some bills.

It turns out I wasn't the only one dealing with an overabundance of irrational emotional depression.  My boss was too.  He told me yesterday and it made me feel a little bit better that I was not the only person going through it. 

Today is a much better day.  I am taking antibiotics, drinking lots of water, and getting plenty of sleep to help myself heal faster.  I am only running a low grade fever today so that is a plus. My eyes are still hot and I feel crappy, but such are the joys of the flu.  Hopefully I can finish getting over this bug this weekend. It will require plenty of sleep, healthy food, and listening to what my body needs.

Our biggest support comes from those around us.   This week I had to do a lot of leaning on others to help while I was sick. I realized that I have to count on myself for a lot of stuff, but that I have people who I can count on to help me when times are harder and that I don't have to go it alone.

Hard not to be bitter

Some days it is really hard not to be bitter about your current situation. For me that is my main problem this morning.

 I'm very bitter about my current situation at work.  I finally got an office last night- for which I should be very grateful- but that's hard when it was supposed to be my office in May and someone who had been here much shorter than me took it while I was away on a work trip.  My boss let that person get away with it, since the person was the only other male manager.

 I really do like my job, but I like it a lot better when everything works out.  I'm having a hard time dealing with last minute stuff falling off the books or being trialed and me finding out about it on Wednesday night so there goes most of my check.  I need to pay my bills and I know that both of my bosses were in this situation once too.  I don't want to be in this situation anymore.  I am trying my damndest to be positive and sunny and cheery, but that's hard when I'm working 60+ hour weeks and not making any money.  Also I wasn't able to take a day off this weekend to spend time with my future father in law while he was in town.  Man did that steam me!  He drove from Colorado to spend time with me and his son and I got to spend maybe 20 hours with him. That's terrible.  I spent 90% of the time he was here working.  It's not fair when both my bosses took off last weekend and I handled doing their jobs but I couldn't take one day off to be with a family member. It's making it very hard to be grateful or even happy to be in the office and tell someone else that they want to make this a career. 

My future father in law left the same time I did this morning to go back to Ohio.  He took Gabby with him and it about broke my heart. She is such a sweetie.  I know she's going to a great life but it's still hard to say goodbye to both of them.

Today is going to be a rough day, I know that already.  Bitterness builds and makes everything tainted and I have to let it go.  I need to be grateful that I have a job and we are breaking even each month. We may not have a lot of money in the bank right now, but we will.  Most people start out scraping by when they start a new career in which they have no experience.  Time to make the best of today and show my trainees how great this career is- no matter how I currently feel about it.


So here is what is going to be good today: I get my guy back.  I have time in between work to take a nap. I finally got an office. I leave you with these adorable pictures of napping love.

A year in CO

DB and I have been living in Colorado for a year as of Saturday.  What a year it has been!  This year has been full of new experiences and things to adapt to.  I started my first full time career.  DB and I live so far away from our families that neither can drive to help us if anything goes wrong.  Our apartment has flooded twice.  We almost fell off a mountain during a snowstorm.  We have seen parts of Colorado we never thought possible.  We have met amazing people and have had many people touch our lives in ways we never imagined.

This weekend was a celebration.  It was all made possible by DB's dad who came in almost a week early to spend some time with us.  We spent the weekend cooking, moving our apartment around(aka throwing out stuff we don't use or need) , and relaxing with the puppies.  It is just the kind of recharge that I needed after a hectic few weeks at work.

Now I'm back to the weekly grind, but starting this week off with 24 people scheduled to come in for interviews and a sale under my belt for both this week and next week.  It's going to be a great week. I leave you with this quote for your Monday: