Desire vs Discipline

When I first started my business, I believed that Desire was enough to get me from where I was to where I wanted to be.  I met and worked with, some of the greatest motivational speakers in the world. 

If you don't master Desire...you'll give up when it comes to Discipline.  Some people go from Desire to Discipline very quickly. They get therapy. They get an MBA.  They get started. But for the longest time, I thought I was lost.  I wasn't lost...I just wasn't ready.  

"I'm not lost, I'm exploring." -Jana Stanfield

It wasn't until I got to a place in my life where I realized my definition of Success was not a big salary and private office working for someone else.  I still want those things...but I want them from working for myself.  So I've entered Phase 2:  DISCIPLINE. (More on that later.)

Everyone's path is uniquely their own. Life is a Journey...It's not a Destination. I spent over 20 years in Phase I and I took some pretty fun turns. Curious?  Here's my Phase I roadmap:

1. EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE

The first sales book I ever read was, "Greatest Salesman in the World" by Og Mandino.  I started my first company, after my dad made the comment, "Sales are too tricky for girls!"

2.  PROFESSIONAL SPEAKER/SPOKESWOMAN

I attended my first business conference, Uncommon Women on Common Ground, hosted in NYC by Women Inc.  (They later invited me to become their first National Spokeswoman.)

3.  LINK MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL

I merged Extraordinary People with a PR firm in Edmonton, Alberta.  The terrorist attacks on 9/11 profoundly changed all of our lives. Forever.

4.  PASSIONATE FUNDRAISER

I spent several years raising my children, while honing my sales skills. I was room-mom, PTA President, and Art-Club/Science Club co-founder. (I even home-schooled. Briefly.)

5.  LEVERAGED NETWORKING

I moved to Memphis in 2005 and reconnected with Alan Gompers, author, "Maximum Security: The True Meaning of Freedom."  Together we got his memoir published, produced a meditation CD, pitched Lionsgate, and helped several other extraordinary people along the way.

6.  LIFE IS A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION - Ralph Waldo Emerson

As I "on ramped,*" I volunteered at church, waited on tables, worked in Commercial Real Estate, and managed a Wholesale Flooring Distribution Center. I am forever grateful for every person I met along the way (friends, customers, colleagues, and CEOs.)

*The phrase "on ramper" comes from "Women in High Gear," by Amy Howell & Anne Deeter Gallaher