When the new Mary Kay year is about to begin, I know A LOT of consultants,
directors, and Nationals all over the world don’t
exhale for at least the last 3 weeks of June (if not
longer) as everyone goes through the typical year-end
push.
(By the way, if this article doesn’t apply to you,
that’s great news! And there still might be some
valuable information in here for you to help the women
who are stressed out.)
I don’t know about you, but if my business had one month
every year that I knew was going to be hectic, scary,
nerve-racking, intense and pressure-packed, I’d find a
new business! Seriously. I’ve been on death’s doorstep
once already, so I want to enjoy this journey called
life, and I’m not willing to live such a significant
portion of my year on pins and needles.
Please don’t get me wrong, I’m NOT saying quit Mary Kay
if you tend to get stressed out. I’m saying you should
build your business exactly the way you want to
experience it, so it’s profitable and joyful year-round,
and now’s the best time to start.
I can’t even imagine how many women throughout the MK
world last month pressured their team members and
customers into orders (or at least tried to), burned a
ton of bridges, maybe even ruined some friendships –
over what? Numbers? Money? Recognition? That’s not
worth it in my opinion. Especially when it can all be
avoided…
But you better start now! The biggest mistake beauty
consultants make is taking July off, or relaxing a bit
on the heels of all the intense stress and run-around in
June. Guess what? If you don’t change your recipe,
you’ll be in the exact same stressed-out position in
another 11 months, hoping for a June miracle so you can
eek out your goals again.
That’s not fun! And that’s not why you joined this
business, is it? Were you looking around the universe
for an opportunity to give you way more stress than
you’ve ever imagined, something to make your heart work
overtime, give you sleepless nights and endless
frustration? I assume not. So why does it happen to so
many women year after year after year after year…?
I’ll give you a few places to explore…
1) Lack of proper planning.
Duh. But wait, there’s more. Every year at Seminar,
thousands and thousands of women swear on the children’s
lives that they will hit the next level of the company,
or get into their Pink Cadillac, or quit their jobs.
And when asked to put a date on this goal (one of the
5 Deadliest Goal Setting Mistakes),
they’ll generally, out of a lethal combination of ego,
blind ambition, desperation, disappointment and peer
pressure, blurt out some ridiculously fast time frame,
not even for a second considering what that means.
Now, it might sound like I’m being negative and cynical,
but I’m not. It most definitely is possible for you to
go from application to director in the next 4 months, or
zero to Pink Caddie in your first 6 months, or from
Future Executive to National in the next 2 years.
But you must take into consideration your unique
circumstances, what you truly want to
accomplish with this business (as opposed to what others
tell you that you should want), what you’re willing and
not willing to do, and your desired time frame.
It blows me away how many people are blinding following
an action plan that sounds good, or they borrowed from
someone else, but they don’t realize that even if they
follow this plan to the letter, it doesn’t have the
capability to produce the stated goal. So what’s the
only possible outcome? Frustration, doubt and
disappointment.
At the end of the year, you’ll be in danger of making
one of the deadliest decisions you can ever make… “It
must be me.” I must not be cut out for this
business. I’ll never succeed. Even when I follow the
plan, I don’t reach my goals.
Sometimes, you can do everything perfectly according to
your game plan, but it just wasn’t the right plan, and
you feel disappointed because you missed your goal.
(First of all, you should never focus on results anyway,
but that’s a different article…) Usually, the time
frame doesn’t match with the activities, and the
activities don’t match with your comfort zone.
That’s a recipe for disaster, and it usually leads to a
limiting belief that sounds something like, “I’m not
good enough to succeed” or “I don’t deserve the best
life has to offer.” Limiting beliefs like those will
always derail your dreams because you cannot outperform
your beliefs.
Listen, there’s nothing wrong with scaling back your
goals to match your circumstances, as long as it’s not a
copout or a defense mechanism. I would rather see you
push back your Director date two years and achieve it,
if it means you’ll enjoy the journey, instead of seeing
you race toward that position, lose friendships and
strain family relationships, not to mention losing your
passion for the business along the way, eventually
causing you to give up later and resent the company or
your mentors for pushing you.
Might sound crazy, but we both know plenty of
women that followed that path, don’t we?
2) Lack of proper pacing.
I learned a very valuable lesson from one of my baseball
coaches. He said a run in the 9th inning is
no more valuable than a run in the 1st or 2nd.
It’s just that teams usually take the first several
innings for granted, give up scoring opportunities, and
find themselves scrambling in the late innings “when it
matters most”. Consequently, he taught us to treat
every inning like it was the last, and we excelled.
The teaching point that relates to your business is that
June is no more important than July or any other month
in the year (even when the company offers a huge
incentive like it did last month). If you take the
summer months off, planning to “hit it hard” again when
you get your energy back, you’re choosing to work this
business like a big nasty roller coaster with huge ups
and scary downs. I suggest you choose differently!
As PCU graduate Jenny Scholl says, “consistent activity”
is the key to success. Create your plan, based on the
full 12 months, work backwards to come up with stepping
stones, or benchmark goals along the way, and start
playing in your business!
3) Trying to get other people to help you achieve your
goals.
I saved the best for last. There’s only one radio
station that everyone listens to – W.I.I.F.M.
What’s In It For Me?
There’s no doubt you have customers and team members who
want to help you out, but they want to help themselves
out more! So instead of making June about your
goals, how about making it about helping other people
get their goals? That sounds simple, and I bet
everyone reading this will say, “That’s what I do – it’s
all about them.” But is that the way they see
it??? Their perception is their reality!
The way to break through your goals and experience
things you’ve never thought possible is to stop focusing
on the goals. The best leaders are servants. If you
have 50 team members, there should be 50 separate goals
and game plans that each individual is emotionally
bought in to, and that you are helping them achieve.
If the fire’s under their rear end, instead of yours, I
guarantee you’ll enjoy the journey more! But if you
haven’t properly gotten each team member to emotionally
attach to their own goals (not just state their goals,
but emotionally attach to them in such a way that
they’ll do whatever it takes for as long as it takes),
you’re in trouble and nothing will change.
It’ll be like herding wild cats.
So unless you really signed up to be a cat herder,
change the recipe. And realize this HUGE point – you
are showing your team members what success in Mary Kay
is supposed to be like. If they see you all wound up,
running around like a turkey the day before
Thanksgiving, do you really think that’s what they want
to experience in this business – more stress?
If you show them that success in Mary Kay is stressful
and uncomfortable, they will never want to succeed. Is
that the decision you want your people to be making?
I hope this information helps you start your Mary Kay year with a good
solid foundation. Again, take the time at the beginning of the year to map out your goals for the whole year,
and be sure you’re setting yourself up for fun and
enjoyment along with success. Then, treat this business
for what it is – an absolutely incredible tool to get
whatever you want, if operated properly!
Go create yourself a great day. Best of luck!
Sean Smith, “Pink Caddie Coach”
