FEATURE ARTICLE
9 Keys to Get Unstuck in Your Business
BY KYLE KIRSCHBAUM
There is a saying that I have thought about almost
every day over the past five years we have been
building our do-TERRA business: “Dream. Struggle.
Succeed.” How interesting is it that most of us
focus on our dreams and success, but we don’t
focus much on the place where we spend most
of our time: the struggle. It’s almost like we just want to skip the
struggle, the fight, the growth—the most important part.
Although there is a great truth in taking massive action when you
are stuck, I believe there is more to it than that. Just like an arrow
has to be pulled back before it can be launched toward its target,
we have to look within ourselves before we can get back on track.
We all have our stories to tell about why we are stuck, but choose
to let your setback be a setup for a comeback.
Key #3: When you are in a slump stick with the plan.
Most people know that Michael Jordan has hit more game-winning
shots than anyone else in NBA history, but did you know he has
also missed the most? Even professional athletes get into slumps.
Do they go back to the bench and quit? No, they shoot through the
slump. When you are pursuing a rank like Diamond and things are
not happening like you want, have faith in the process, have faith in
your daily habits, and have faith in the oils. Stay busy, create a plan,
and after you have evaluated yourself, get back to work using the
things that have worked for you before.
Key #1: Evaluate: how did you get where you are?
One of my favorite quotes is from Earl Nightingale: “All of us are
self-made, but only the successful will admit it.” So, are you having
a hard time attracting the type of people you really want to work
with? Are your classes empty? Are you not progressing like you
thought you would? I have heard many times that we are either
growing through it or we are going through it, and if we are not
learning something then we will never move past it.
When I was in my early twenties, I started a business with all the
love and excitement that only a young entrepreneur can have.
I was naïve to the idea of failure. I poured my heart and soul into
that business and over the course of a decade I grew and learned
so much about myself and my path. Then, just as everything was
climbing to its pinnacle, the business crumbled, and I was left
feeling hate. Everywhere I went my story always ended with,
“It just wasn’t fair.” Even after I started new businesses, I was still
telling new partners the same story. I was refusing to grow through
it and was still going through it. Stop telling your “it’s not fair” story,
and you’ll find that you become bigger and better because of it.
Key #2: Forgive, grow, and let it go.
Things are going to happen to you. Maybe someone says something to you in a way that offends you. Maybe a product shows
up and something’s wrong. Maybe that person you have always
wanted to work with decides not to work with you. If we want to
become all that we can, we have to step over it and let it go.
I remember when I finally accepted this concept, it allowed me
to accept the path that had been laid out before me—do-TERRA.
It allowed me to recognize the miracle that God works in our lives
to help us t ruly pursue our greatness.
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dōTERRA ESSENTIAL LEADERSHIP I JULY / AUGUST 2015
Key #4: Find someone who needs help and serve them.
The quickest way to stop thinking about ourselves is to serve others.
Help someone and you will help yourself. Selfishness lies at the
root of being dissatisfied with our lives. When we can look beyond
our own desires and find a way to help others meet their potential,
we tap into one of the most powerful lifelines we can find to get
unstuck. do-TERRA provides us with such an incredible opportunity
to do that because every sample we give, every AromaTouch we
perform, and every experience we share empowers others. It
brings them hope. When we place our focus here, we receive the
gift of seeing in others the joy we are seeking.
Key #5: Discipline your emotions.
We are all emotional beings, but if we can’t be disciplined with
our emotions they can control us negatively. In one of my favorite
books, As A Man Thinketh, James Allen compares our minds to a
garden and points out that weeds don’t need any encouragement
to grow. They don’t need water or sunlight, and you will find weeds
growing everywhere—even in a crack of a sidewalk. If we want
to grow something beautiful like a rose, it’s a process. It takes
discipline and focused effort. So it is with our lives and our do-TERRA
businesses. Our naturally human default setting doesn’t need any
help being negative, blaming others, and even hating. But, if we are
going to rise above that, cultivate leadership, and change who we
are, we have to make a declaration to ourselves that we will be in
control. We have to be in control despite Murphy’s law knocking
on our door, and despite things not going our way. We have to be
in control and better no matter what we encounter.
Key #6: Expect things to get better for you.
Sometimes we let our limited perspective blind us from seeing
that life is cyclic. Whatever is happening to you now has not
come to stay, it will pass. Most importantly never come up with a
permanent solution to a temporary problem.
Key #7: Work on yourself.
I have always had a great passion for motivational books, stories
of people overcoming odds, listening to speakers I wanted to
emulate, and just flat out improving myself. I often picture these
audios, books, and positive thinking as the lashings that hold me
onto a boat caught in the middle of a storm. We need these things
to stay strong and become who we are meant to be.
Key #8: Take responsibility for where you are.
You are completely responsible for where you are, just like you are
completely responsible for where you want to go. So, accept that
truth. Own it. This concept has defined our lives, especially our
journey in do-TERRA. I remember when we were driving away
from our beautiful home and moving into my parents’ house—
I felt depressed. I felt like I had fallen behind on my dreams
and “it wasn’t fair.” A short time later, my wife shared a quote
with me from Dennis Waitley that opened our hearts to a new
possibility: “There are two primary choices in life, to accept
conditions as they exist or accept responsibility for changing
them.” Tell yourself: “If I got myself in this, I can get myself out.”
I have noticed time and time again that those who succeed look
for the circumstances that they want, and if they can’t find them,
they create them. But, probably the hardest part of getting to this
point is recognizing that your strategies and your behavior patterns
are not working. Sometimes this means that you need to reinvent
yourself, but you have the power to do so.
Key #9: Find Some Trusted Critics
I believe that one of the greatest gifts we can have in life are
friends who love us enough to tell us the truth and risk our
friendship to help us grow. We can always find people who, when
we ask, will tell us what we want to hear. They will agree with us
and tell us what we did well. I’m not saying that we don’t want
these people in our lives. We need them as well. But, when you
are stuck, when you are falling behind on your dreams and your
strategies, and efforts are not yielding the results you want, you
better hope you have a friend that is willing to put it all on the line
and be truthful because they love you. I will forever be grateful for
those who figuratively grabbed me by the collar, shook me, and
said, “Kyle, wake up! You are better than this. You can do more.
You can be more.”
Life has an incredible way of steering us toward the struggles that,
when handled with grace, can turn us into the leaders that we
need to become. You have an incredible power within you to get
unstuck, to know that things will get better, and to know it can be
handled. Don’t ever quit when you’re stuck, because those before
you would tell you that the breakthrough is just on the other side
and it is worth it. S
www.doterra.com
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