For the woman in network marketing who loves what she’s building—and would like a little time to enjoy herself along the way.
You finish a good team call, close your laptop, and realize you have forty-five minutes before you need to be anywhere. Nobody needs a ride. Dinner is figured out. You could do something for yourself.
But first, you check the team chat. Someone has a question you can answer quickly. That reminds you to follow up with a customer, and while you’re in your messages, you notice someone finally responded to the voice note you sent yesterday.
By the time you look up, the forty-five minutes are gone. Nothing went wrong. You helped people. You got a few things done. You might even feel good about those conversations. You just never got around to yourself.
If that sounds familiar, I want to talk about something that can get lost in the conversation about building a successful network marketing business: you’re allowed to enjoy your life while you’re building it.
You don’t have to wait for a quieter month, a bigger team, or the next rank to do something simply because you’d like to.
There’s always a good reason to do one more thing
One of the things I love about this industry is that we care about people. We remember someone’s goal. We want to help her feel confident before her first presentation. We know how much an encouraging message can mean when she’s wondering whether she can do this.
That care is part of what makes a team feel like a team. It also means there’s usually a worthwhile reason to pick up your phone.
You aren’t necessarily working because someone demanded it. Sometimes you’re working because you’re interested, you have an idea, or you genuinely want to help. That can make it harder to notice how often your own plans get pushed to the end of the day.
The walk can wait. You’ll call your friend next week. You’ll start the book after the promotion ends. Each choice seems small. But after enough of them, you can find yourself with plenty of business activity and very little of the everyday enjoyment you thought that business would help make possible. What did you want the flexibility for?
I’ve been in network marketing since 2011 and have worked with more than 120,000 teammates. I understand how much heart women put into these businesses, and how meaningful the opportunities and relationships can be.
I also think it’s worth coming back to a very ordinary question: What did you want the flexibility for? Maybe it was being able to meet a friend for lunch on a Tuesday. Having a slower morning. Traveling with your family. Being available for your kids and still having something of your own. Some of those things take planning and money. Others might already be possible in small ways.
But are you letting yourself have them?
There’s a difference between having the flexibility to enjoy an afternoon and actually enjoying the afternoon. When you’re used to fitting business into every available space, you can forget that some of those spaces can stay yours.
Sometimes the question is what you’d actually like to do
We talk a lot about finding time for ourselves. But have you ever finally had some time and felt unsure what you wanted to do with it?
You could go somewhere, but you don’t feel like making a plan. You could call someone, but who’s available? You could read, but your phone is right there, and checking it takes no thought at all.
Business gives you a ready-made next step. There’s a message to answer, a training to watch, or a person to encourage. Enjoyment can require a little more intention, especially if you’ve gotten out of the habit of choosing it. That doesn’t mean you need to discover a new passion or make a big change. You might just need to remember a few things you already like.
The bookstore where you always lose track of time. The friend who makes you laugh. Working in the garden. A favorite recipe. Music you haven’t listened to in years.
You can begin with something familiar.
Let it be small enough to happen
An elaborate self-care plan can be surprisingly easy to postpone. You need an open weekend, the right weather, someone else’s availability, or enough energy to organize it. Meanwhile, another week passes. There’s room for lovely trips and whole afternoons away. There’s also room for taking your coffee outside before you open your messages.
Or stopping at the garden center on your way home from a meeting because you enjoy wandering around there. Or reading a chapter after a team call instead of immediately finding another task. These moments don’t have to change your life to belong in it. You can enjoy them for what they are.
And you don’t have to choose the same thing every day. After a busy event, quiet might sound wonderful. After a week working from home, you might want lunch with a friend and a reason to put on something other than your usual leggings.
Pay attention to what sounds good today.
You don’t have to turn it into something useful
When you’re good at building a business, you get good at seeing possibilities. A conversation becomes an idea for a post. A book gives you something to teach. An afternoon out becomes a few photos you could share. There’s nothing wrong with that. But you’re allowed to have experiences you don’t turn into anything.
You can read a novel without taking away a leadership lesson. Make something without wondering whether you could sell it. Have lunch without talking about an opportunity.
You can even leave the picture on your phone. Taking care of yourself may help you show up well for other people. But you don’t have to prove that it does before you’re allowed to do it. You get to enjoy something because you enjoy it.
Choose one thing you’d be glad you did
Think about the next few days. Is there something small you’d genuinely look forward to?
Try to get specific enough that you know what you mean. “I need more balance” is hard to act on. “I’d love to go for a walk with my friend Thursday morning” gives you somewhere to begin.
Then take the first small step. Send the invitation. Find the book. Decide which afternoon you’d like to keep open. You don’t need to fill your calendar with personal activities or make enjoyment another thing to accomplish. Just give one thing you want a little room. If it’s been a while since you did that, it might feel unfamiliar. You can do it anyway.
You don’t have to wait until the business is finished to take care of the woman building it. She gets to enjoy some of this life along the way. And I’d love to know: What’s something you love doing that has nothing to do with your business? Leave a comment and tell me.
