Today is a Great Day!

Go ahead, Say it out loud.

Does it feel "good", or do you find yourself hesitating a bit as you say it?

One of my mentors, Big Al, says:

"People don't have any free will, they just react to the situations around them."

Don't believe this?... think about this.

You, or your spouse go to work today and get a nice big raise! How do you feel?
Happy, Excited, Positive, Optimistic? Of course!

Now.. think of this... You, or your spouse go to work today and the boss tells you you have to work an extra 10 hours a week to keep your job, and they are lowering your pay 10%....
How do you feel now? Angry, frustrated, trapped, depressed? Of course!

See, people are reactive... but if we KNOW THIS, we can CHANGE THIS!

When I was a teen, I was fortunate enough to get involved with a group called Campus Life. They came into the schools and held fun events for teens, geared towards helping them stay out of trouble, build friendships and become grounded in a spritual life. Best thing that ever happened to me!

One thing they talked about that has stuck with me all these years was the concept of FACTS, FAITH, FEELINGS.

We have to keep things in order.. FACTS come first.

FACT: Times are challenging.
FACT: People are looking for ways to make extra money.
FACT: There is no other business around that you can start for just $10, than AVON!

FAITH: I have faith in our Avon opportunity and in the FACT that:

if people like Lisa Wilber, who started out in a trailer park, working at a convenience store, chasing down the guy from the electric company to give him cash so they wouldn?t shut off her lights, can do it...

or people like Sue Mazza, a small town girl who majored in fashion merchandising, who once was $65,000 in debt and now has built a 2 MILLION DOLLAR TEAM, and now enjoys free vacations to places like Cancun and Hawaii, can do it...

or people like Becky and Bob Dorsey, who replaced their income with Avon, and now, still have a thriving business with over $6 MILLION DOLLARS in SALES every year, money that keeps on coming, even after Bob had a headon crash that left him paralyzed for months, can do it...

or people like Sylvia Tamayo, who came here as a single mom from Mexico,without speaking any English, and now has built a 6 figure income with more job security than most CEOs of fortune 5000 companies., can do it...

If every day people like them can do it... You Sure Can TOO!

AND THE FEELINGS?

There is so much negativity in the news today that it?s hard sometimes not to get caught up in it. But, in spite of the media crying, "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!",

But there is lots of good news out there, and much of it in our own backyard!

People are cautiously optimistic that change is coming, in our government, in our economy.

There has never been a better time to be with Avon!

Great Products, Great Prices, Great Opportunity!

Suze Orman thinks so! She said: "here has never been a better time to start your own business, and you won' find a better partner than Avon!"

Andrea Jung, Avon CEO, just appeared on Good Morning America, to rave reviews!

If you haven' seen the video yet, check it out at : http://www.abcnews.com/ . Go to the site and search "Avon". You will see 3 of 7 links, including the video link titled "Avon Helps Women in Tough Economic Times", as well as an audio link of an interview.

Be sure to tell everyone you know to go to this link and view the video.
This is an incredible opportunity for you and your business!

So, let's build our business, based on the facts:

We have a great company with products and an opportunity to change your life, for all!

Based on the faith, that If Lisa can do it, and, Becky and Bob Dorsey, Sue Mazza and Sylvia Tamayo, you can too!

Based on the feelings, The "feelings" , well, there's a reason they are last in this little equation.

Feelings are just that, feelings. We can't base our business performance on them.

We all must choose which way we want to feel.. and stick with it.

If you think you can, YOU CAN! And if you let yourself think you can't, well you're probably right there too! Don't go there!

Don't let yourself be swayed by what others say or are doing,

Remember, a BIG SHOT, is just a LITTLE SHOT WHO KEPT ON SHOOTING!

Here's to Your Success!

Sue Mazza
Senior Executive Unit LeaderAvon Products
630-240-0075
www.youravon.com/smazza

You can't Hire other People to Do your PUSHUPS FOR YOU!

This quote is from one of my favorite trainers, Jim Rohn (http://www.jimrohn.com/)

We can hire people to do all kinds of things for us.. pass out brochures, make phone calls, even deliver our orders for us.

But some things, we have to do for ourselves. As much as I get excited by ideas I learn from great trainers and motivators like Jim Rohn, or Tom "BIG AL" Schreiter (http://www.fortunenow.com/ ), that motivation only lasts a short time.

If you are at all like me, we encounter challenges in our business sometimes that take the wind out of our sails a bit. Maybe a customer doesn't pay us on time, or a new team member doesn't follow through on her plan. Sometimes "life" just gets us down.

But the key to getting results from our "pushups", and seeing results in our business is to move into action. Do the first pushup.. then another. Go pass out a few more brochures, or stop into the video store on a Friday and Saturday afternoon and leave some books there! (Don't leave too many or on other days or someone might re-fill that rack by the "out" door and toss them, but the stores are busy on Fri and Sat and it's a great time to leave them there then!)

Set aside 15 minutes on Sunday night to plan out your week, for both personal and professional events and actions. Then be sure that you are prepared to take action. Got biz cards and labeled brochures in back of the car, ready to go? Schedule your web office to send out emails to customers automatically every campaign. It's a new feature in September!

Find a mentor, or a "workout partner" with whom you can share ideas and be accountable with... it's always easier to "workout" when you have a partner!

Most important, as A. L. Williams says: JUST DO IT!

Tacky Pants

So, today's blog title is a little "light"! That's ok.. life isn't always serious! (although that's another topic - this life isn't a dress rehearsal)

My daughter Stephanie went out last year to buy me a Star Trek page a day calendar. I ask for one every year and love seeing the pictures and captions each day and remembering my favorite episodes from all the shows.

Well this last year, SHOCK! Santa played a cruel trick on me and there WAS NO Star Trek Page a day calendar to be found in any store or online. I was more disturbed by this end of an age for me than I let on to her, but accepted her gift of a replacement calendar with passing grace.

What she gave me was a page a day calendar of dumb things people say. Now, first of all, if your teen gives you such a gift, what would YOU think? 'Nuff said here, my friends.

Well, yesterday's page a day was a 'hoot', as my friend Mary Jo in NC says.

Here it is. "Correction: Because of a reporting error, Dr. Arleigh Dygert Richardson III, former teach at Lawrence Academy in Groton, was described in his obituary yesterday as favoring tacky pants with tweed jackets and Oxford shorts. Dr. Richardson favored khaki pants. (correction appearing in the Boston Globe, thanks to R.M.)

Well, poor Dr. Richardson! First of all, the tacky pants is kind of funny, except it is in the poor man's obituary, and his widow probably fainted when she read it. But more importantly, after we finish chuckling about how the newspapers can turn things around, (again another topic), let's think about this for a minute.

Dr. Richardson, a teacher, probably impacted hundreds, if not thousands, of kids' lives over his years of teaching. I picture him with a family, and I bet he loved them and they, him. Joys and Sorrow, Laughter and Tears, an entire life of contribution summarized only with a line about the clothes he liked to wear. And they didn't even get that right.

Maybe the funeral notice had more in it. I sure hope so. I laughed at this silly page a day on August 23rd, but it made me think about what people would write about me when I leave this world.

I like to think that I positively impact the lives of those around me. My family, friends, business partners, random strangers.

But this little snippet reminded me that our lives are short on this earth, that only God knows the number of our days. I want to be remembered as someone who made a difference in people's lives. How about you?

Let's make today a new start. Regardless of how you have impacted others lives in the past, today we can all begin to make a positive difference in the lives of those around us.

Smile at someone, strike up a conversation. Pay it forward. Take a chance. Fall in love (or fall in love all over again with the one you're with). Start a new person in business on the road to achieve their goals and dreams. Dream yourself. Watch the sunset. Live this life to the fullest. You are the star of the show, and it's not a rehearsal.

Here's to happiness, health and success!