One of the questions I receive most often is, what does it take to be a successful Beauty Guide? In response I’d ask what it takes to be a successful teacher or restaurant owner, or even a great parent or friend. There are two sides to all successful people. The first – the grit, want and motivation – is often the most obvious. The second is process, a deliberate course of action that helps them reach their goals. Someone can have all the passion in the world, but without a realistic, personalized process, success will always be just a dream.
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The first step is acknowledging you can’t do everything.
Our society has this idea that people – women, in particular – have to nail every role they take on. Add social media into the mix, and it’s no wonder we feel like everyone is doing better than we are. You have to remember that social media is a highlight reel, only showing the best, most curated snippets of your friends’ lives. They have piles of dirty laundry, too, but they’re not posting them on Instagram!
When we have too many plates in the air, it increases each one’s chance of falling. Learn to recognize when you’ve taken on too many roles, take a step back and prioritize. Maybe the roles you’ve taken on right now include being a Beauty Guide, a mother, a homeschool teacher, the family chef, the housekeeper and the family accountant. Choose which of these roles, for the time being, are the most important and delegate the rest to someone else. Can your kids do their own laundry? Can your partner take over managing the family finances? Determine which plates are the most important and set the others down.
“When we have too many plates in the air, it increases each one’s chance of falling.”
For what’s left, determine your goals.
Once you’ve established your most important roles, go through them one by one to determine what you want to accomplish. Define your biggest goals and assign them each a percentage of importance. For instance, your goals at work might be to earn a promotion (50%), learn a new skill (25%) and mentor new colleagues (25%). Ask yourself if your time, energy and talent is spent in proportion to the importance of those goals. Keep a timetable to be sure you’re spending your time wisely. You may not be able to complete everything you were previously able to, but that might teach you to be more efficient. You may also notice that you’re spending a lot of time on things that don’t directly impact your goals – be open to changing your routine so that every minute spent propels you toward them. For each of your roles, establish priorities using goal-setting as the foundation.
Finally, be sure to communicate with everyone about your goals, priorities and expectations.
This might be your coworkers, your partner or your child’s teacher. As you reestablish your priorities, you need to be clear about your expectations for them and be sure they’re clear on their expectations for you. Maybe your priorities have shifted toward homeschooling your kids, and you need to communicate to your coworkers that calls will have to be during a different time period. Let them know what to expect and what you need to be present and doing well in each role.
Too many of us are guilty of turning in C+ work just to check an item off our list, but that does not keep us in integrity with our commitment. If you need more time to complete a task, communicate with the people it affects and do it to the best of your ability. Remember that this is not a character flaw, but rather a flaw in your process.
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Being responsible does not mean getting it all done. Being responsible means being clear with people about what you can get done.
Overhauling your process can look different for everyone. For some, simplification might be the answer. For others, it comes down to time management. Still, for others it might look like a shift in lifestyle, moving from the city to the country to spend more time with family. But if your process is not helping you achieve your goals, think of it as a whiteboard and wipe it clean.
What are the roles you’ve taken on over the past couple of months? Have you laid out your goals for each one? Let us know in the comments.
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