What are you excited about?

November 21, 2011

Nothing too complicated in this question: what’s coming up in the next week, the next month, even the next year, that you’re excited about? That you’re looking forward to?

This week…

I’m excited about Thanksgiving.

I’m excited about seeing family.

I’m excited to catch up on a little reading. Seth Godin, anyone? Jane Green, perhaps?

I’m excited about Thanksgiving. Have I mentioned that? And turkey. And pies. Lots and lots of pies.

I’m excited to use my built-in excuse to eat even more turkey than necessary. (I’m 17 weeks pregnant! BABY LIKE TURKEY.)

I’m also excited about my writing, as a couple big steps are happening this week to move me forward in the write-more-than-once-a-week-for-fun department. Stay tuned.

The next couple months…

I’m excited to get our newly acquired second rental property fixed up, rented, and cashflow positive.

I’m excited to get a’movin’ on rental number three.

I’m excited about the launch of a new line of products from Vemma for weight management (called Bod-e), and what it is going to do for the growth of my business and the businesses of the 6000+ Vemma lovelies on my team. We’re entering into an $80 billion domestic market with these products. EIGHTY BILLION. And one with a percentage of the population who are overweight that is hovering around 75%. The company has been around over 7 years now, and things have never, ever been this exciting. Nor crazy. Nor OMG-anything-could-happen-y. Records will be set.

I’m excited pumped for the rest of the holiday season. I love the holidays. Love love love love love. I listen to Christmas music in July and start shopping and planning the perfect gifts in September. It’s my season, baby. Bring it on.

I’m excited to find more ways I can make a difference. Library volunteer? Health and wealth with Vemma? Writing? Real estate, umm, mentoring?? I feel like I’m on the brink of something.

Long term…

I’m excited about the new adventures that mommyhood will bring. All of the learning and the observing and the eye-opening moments. Even all of the crying, the sleeplessness, and the world-upside-down-ness that I’m not naive enough to pretend is not going to be a part of our future come next spring.

Also, I’m excited about what my new life will look like, what I will want it to look like, when Lil Sorensen makes their debut. Will I still want to travel as much, or will I want to stay at home more? Will it spark me to launch new businesses related to my newest job title and family status or will it inspire me to calm down on the business front and simply enjoy this new stage in my life? What types of books and blogs will being a Mommy inspire me to read? Will I even make time to read?! Who knows. But I can’t wait to find out.

Apparently, I’m excited to soak up the answers to all of those questions, and learn as much as I can. Imagine that. :)

What about you? What are you excited about right now? What are you looking forward to?

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Kill the snake

November 14, 2011

The company I worked for in my former life used to have a comprehensive program for new employees, a week-long class on company culture and history, policies and expectations. As much as I’m not a fan of corporate – to absolutely no fault of the company I was a part of – there was one piece of their culture that they taught us in that class that I still carry with me today. They called it: Kill the Snake.

It was a simple philosophy. It meant, if you see a snake, kill it. Take care of it.

Be the one that steps up and gets it done.

If you see an issue, even if it’s not part of your specific job description, take the extra step to take care of it. Because if you turn a blind eye to it, if you don’t take that extra step, then the snake just gets bigger and bigger.

And bigger snakes are much scarier and harder to deal with than little ones.

Plus, the perceived effort of stepping up and taking care of the snake is almost always much more than the actual act itself.

I was thinking about this concept this morning, related to a friend who is struggling with a few health issues. I suggested a few ways she could try and remedy the situation, and her reply was something along the lines of, “Yeah, I keep thinking I need to do that, I just haven’t gotten around to it.”

She was willing to let the problem get bigger and bigger, instead of taking a small – albeit a little unknown and untested for her personally – step to begin bettering her situation.

Kill the Snake. It can apply to business or personal, fixing a problem or making a positive change. Anything, really. Once the snake is realized, take the small step no one else will to take care of it. Take action. Be the one that steps up and takes responsibility. Prove to yourself how easily it can actually be done.

The issue, the situation, won’t get any better until you do.

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How I Built My Network Marketing Business

November 3, 2011

How I built – and continue to build – my network marketing business:

Simply.

By saying less to more people.
With a sense of urgency.
By asking a lot of questions.
By treating it as a serious, professional business. Not a hobby.

By never forgetting why I’m doing what I’m doing.
By always remembering the reasons that are NOT why I’m doing what I’m doing.

With faith that anything is possible.
While keeping others needs in mind, and placing them before my own.
Without desperation.

By sharing and attracting likeminded people.
By not selling and convincing.

With intention.
With respect.
With even more respect.
Energetically, enthusiastically, and excitedly.

By remembering that I can still be successful, even if none of my friends or family joined me in the business.

By knowing the difference between income-producing activity and time-wasting activity.

With complete trust in my leadership.
With an unwavering belief in the process.

With discipline and hard work.
With honesty.

With a focus on the long term benefits, not the short term gain.
By not spending energy and effort in reinventing the wheel.
By keeping the main thing the main thing.

Simply.
With simplicity.
By keeping it simple.

By loving people for where they are, not where I want them to be.

By paying a lot of attention to what people do.
By paying very little attention to what people say they are going to do.

Without taking anything personally.
Without taking myself (or anything) too seriously.
Without letting naysayers steal my dreams with their words.

By always remembering the belief I have in the industry.
By always remembering the belief I have in my company and its products.
By always remembering the belief I have in myself.
By always working to strengthen my belief in the industry, my company, and myself.

With consistency.

With a willingness to stretch out of my comfort zone. Regularly.

By surrounding myself with likeminded, positive, supportive people.
By removing myself from people that are not…those people.

Without shrinking to the level of those who are not supportive of the industry.
With honesty about the fact that there ARE crappy parts of this industry.
With a willingness to kindly educate those openminded to learning the difference.

By always remaining coachable. Always always. Always.
By remembering that those at the top of the business are there for a reason.
By remembering that the biggest copycat wins.

With extreme humbleness and gratefulness.
With patience, understanding, and determination.

With a supreme trust in the fact that those that are supposed to be a part of my business will be, and those that aren’t, won’t be. And being ok with that.

By always refusing to drag people behind me, or handhold them through the business.

With knowledge and faith that there are people in every country, every city, and every neighborhood that are desperate for serious financial change in their lives.
With the determination to be someone that shares with them an option to make that happen.

By leading respectfully, inspiring consistently, and stepping back and letting my team do their to work.

With the knowledge that recruiting fixes all problems. ALL problems.
Without a fear of having hard conversations.
Without a fear of being honest.

By sticking to my guns.

Simply.
With belief that anything is possible.

By saying less to more people.
With intention.

Simply.
With respect.

By never forgetting why I’m doing what I’m doing. Never ever.

Ever.

———

What do you think? What would you add?

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14 weeks down, 26 to go

October 28, 2011

Dear Internet,

Guess what?

No, you have to guuuueeeesss. Nope, it’s not that. Nope, not that either. Nuh uh, wrong again.

You ready? Ok, fine.

Here it is: there’s a Lil Sorensen on the way.

[gasp!]

I know, right! Bat down the hatches and alert the coast guard. Come next spring, it’s about to get a wee bit crazy ’round these parts.

To answer your question, why yes, I’m feeling pretty darn good. Thanks for asking, Internetz! You’re so kind. I am sitting here with my pants unbuttoned and I’ll quickly be too big for these britches, but we won’t go there. Where we will go is a brief discussion on if I’m too big for these britches because of growing baby, or growing belly from all the food I’ve been eating.

You guys. I am hungry. All. Of. The. Time.

It’s becoming quite an issue, really. I dream of what deliciousness I could have for breakfast and the granola bar and Sour Patch Kid wrappers floating around my car…well, it’s not pretty.

If you can’t find me, look in the pantry. It’s a pretty safe bet.

So, anyway, yeah! That’s the news. Due end of April. Boy or girl excitement right after Thanksgiving. We’re excited and grateful and happy and freaked out. In other words, I think we’re pretty normal.

Any advice for a new, geeky mama? Send it over.

Hugs,
Annie

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One of my favorite new start-up entrepreneurs

October 27, 2011

It’s Ben Silbermann from Pinterest.com.

Ok, so I may be a *teeny* bit biased in this opinion, as Ben grew up in the Des Moines area like yours truly, but his talk at the ThincIowa event last week was casual, honest, informative, and fascinating. For someone who self proclaims that “No one cares what we’re doing.” he sure has a fantastic story to tell.

Thinc Iowa: Ben Silbermann of Pinterest from Silicon Prairie News on Vimeo.

(If you can’t see the video, click here.)

Pinterest, if you’re not familiar with it, is an online bulletin board. Ben describes it as a way to collect all the cool things you find online, share those collections with others, and in turn tell a story about who you are. (Much more about the site and its purpose in the video.)

I think it’s a pretty neat concept. Check it out, won’t ya? – Pinterest.com

Are you on Pinterest? Do you like it? Hate it? Use it regularly? Never heard of it? Let me know in the comments below.

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What kind of “gal” am I?

October 26, 2011

I just watched a webinar that made several of its points by sharing example after example of personal stories. All of them were great, actually, and really added to the understanding and purpose of the presentation. However, they were all introduced as, “John Smith, The Word Guy” or “Jane Doe, Mrs Spreadsheet” or “Suzie Homemaker, The KitchenAid Queen!”

After the fourth or fifth example, I started getting a little squirmy. Since when does someone have to be known as a certain thing? Since when do they need a defining moniker? I’m Annie Sorensen, is that not enough?

I don’t have a “thing” like that after my name. Is that bad?

I have no idea what type of “gal” I am. What do people know me by? I’m a book geek, yes, but I’m also a big fan of the outdoors. Do the people that know me as a book geek also know me as a fan of walking out in the sunshine?

I like to write, but only those that read my blog or steal my personal notebooks would know that.

I love coffee and wine, but how many people are really around me morning AND night regularly enough to identify me that way? Surely, not many. And plus, I’m not an expert on either, I just happen to love and enjoy them. Does that matter?

And where do my skills with functional software design, customer service, business coaching, network marketing, real estate, communication, interior decorating, listening, or procrastinating the folding of the laundry come in? I would shoot myself in the head if I was known as the Software Design Girl, yet it represented years of my life and remains a strong skill.

If it were up to us, why would we choose to brand ourselves with such a limitation?

Don’t put a label on me. I’m not going to be a certain type of person, or limit how I’m known to one piece of my experiences. I’m me, that’s the brand I represent. Annie. And everything in it.

Or maybe that’s the answer. Maybe I can simply call myself That Annie Sorensen Character and call it a day.

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Twenty six point two

October 19, 2011

So. Hubz ran a marathon last weekend. Have I mentioned that?

IMG_1139We were up oh-dark-so-painfully-early o’clock in the morning. Preparations had to be done, after all.

IMG_1145We got to the race site around 6:30am. It was still dark. And early.

And painful.

Hubz stretched. I shivered.

Here’s the start of the race!

Oh yeah, that’s right. I didn’t get a single photo of the start of the race. Because I’m a doofus.

IMG_1149Got him at mile 5, though! Go me!

I mean, go Hubz! Lookin’ great, pumpkin pie!

IMG_1151

He had his own cheerleading squad throughout the course, foam noodles, cowbells, and all, traipsing around town trying to avoid all the road closures and his too-fast-for-us-to-keep-up-with mile splits. His wife was stressed. Sigh.

People often asked me, amongst all 18 weeks of his training to run this race, if I ever ran with him. Sometimes I would nicely try and explain that, although I do go for a run once in a while, I don’t care to nor am I even able to cover the mileage that Hubz had to cover as part of his training schedule. Other times, I smiled kindly and responded to the question with a simple, “Umm, no.” And a couple rare times I received the question, I simply laughed and walked away.

Me? Run with him? Ha. Hahaa. HAHAHAA.

More like me run after him, wheezing and panting and laughing at myself at the thought of pretending to be fit enough to run 8 miles per hour.

Hello, my name is Annie, and 6 miles per hour is how I roll. On a good day.

Hubz made it to the end! And here’s the proof.

Well, before I show it to you, I have to ask that you don’t laugh at his wife’s obvious relief when he is officially spotted, nor her pathetic screams of support. I was excited. I could not be held responsible for my actions. I will, however, suggest you listen for the sweet words of my aunt Kay in the background. Her husband, in his 60’s, has run multiple marathons and she is well aware of the effort and discipline it requires.

IMG_1157

IMG_1164Afterwards, we posed for a few pics

IMG_1160and relaxed a little

IMG_1162before hobbling back to the car, and back home to celebrate.

It was a great day! Early morning, roadblocks, leg cramps; foam noodles, finish lines, victory medals and all.

Congrats on completing your first marathon, Hubz! I think it was, like, kinda neat and everything.

Love,
Your Girlfriend

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This

October 14, 2011

This is my dog:

ItJustExploded

I wish, I mean, it just, it’s hard to…uhh, yeah. That is totally her.

Someday I will delve into the details of the Great Christmas Tree Incident of 2008 or the routine stuffed animal massacres that take place in our household, but for now just sit back, put your feet up, and try to feel our pain when we live every day with an animal who is so perfectly described by the photo above that family members keep forwarding it to our inboxes.

Or, you can simply look at the photo, imagine our lives, and laugh. That’s what I do.

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