I never expected to have a career in direct sales, and I certainly never expected my direct sales income to be a life-saving support for my family in a time of crisis. My network marketing career began out of the realization that I wanted more control over my time. I grew a successful business by adopting systems for success. Today, I’m excited to share my story with the Traktivity community, and encourage others to find their systems.

My Story

I had a 20 year career as a nurse practitioner, and I loved my work -- but I hated my lack of flexibility. I was working 3 jobs, and the joy was gone. I felt I was living for “someday” and I realized that “someday” could be gone at any moment. I didn’t want to have regrets, so I decided to try something new.

Now, direct sales was a stretch for me. I even quit Girl Scouts as a kid because I didn’t like the pressure to sell the cookies! I came to my business because I fell in love with the products. I decided that I wanted to pay for my products, and maybe have enough left over to pay a bill or two. I didn’t think it would replace my nursing career - but I’d underestimated the power of partnering with an impressive brand that’s creating phenomenal products.

After 2.5 years, I’d matched my healthcare salary, so I stepped back to a part-time nursing position. I wanted to try to take my part-time business and turn it into something even bigger.

For this, I knew I’d need a system. Otherwise - and I know we’ve all been there - I could get sucked into the social media vortex and still be looking at baby pictures after 6 hours.

Then, something happened we didn’t expect. My husband became suddenly gravely ill with an infection and was not expected to live -- and while he fortunately recovered almost completely, we spent months in the hospital, traveled out of state for a transplant, and doubled our bills while eliminating his income.

Thanks to my new career and the systems I had in place, I could work from anywhere. If I was in a hospital waiting room, my business was too. If I’d been working a traditional job during this period, I don’t know what we would have done.

My business success is founded on embracing systems to keep me on track in the midst of an unstructured lifestyle. Here are the systems that work for me:

Make Working On The Go Simpler

Keeping accurate notes is a critical part of any successful system. For me, I tried a few different things, but Traktivity changed everything because it was all built in. If I had a few moments of waiting here or there, I could run through my list and make progress on my business. It’s so much more convenient than paper and pencil. The ability to work from anywhere is a truly powerful thing.

Create a Morning Routine

I read the book Miracle Morning and it absolutely transformed my habits. I used to start slowly and mosey on down to my office after my morning coffee -- but by the time I’d get started the morning was nearly gone and I felt the day was over. Miracle Morning challenged me to rethink this system and create a powerful routine to anchor my day. I wake up, do my devotion, read, journal, and meditate, and then my day is kick-started and I’m ready to go. By following this system, I start with a mindset for focus and productivity - which had always been something I struggled with before.

The One Thing

The other critical time management system I’ve put into place was inspired by the book The One Thing. In the afternoons, I do a quick braindump - just 5-10 minutes - and jot down my top priority for the next day.

That way when I’m finished with my morning routine the next day, that’s the first thing I do -- before social media, email, before I look at the phone. I don’t have to think about where to start, and I can do it much more effectively and efficiently. I start my day feeling accomplished even if I don’t do anything else!

I think that women have been done a disservice, because we think we’re the queens of multitasking but it really just drowns us and pulls us into this constant state of failure. For me, single-tasking has been transformational.

Embrace Small Changes

I made “Choose your 24” my mantra. To me, this means being present today and being intentional about tomorrow. #chooseyour24 is my hashtag and I’d love to see you join me in creating an intentional 24 hours each and every day.

It’s fine to have dreams but if you’re not doing something today to make your dream a reality, it will always continue to be a dream.

One of the big objections I hear when I talk to people about my business is _“I just don’t have time right now”. _My response to this -- while it’s not the most empathetic -- is that we all have time for whatever we want. We make time for what is a priority.

I help people by asking them how they can make small changes so they DO have the time in 6 months or a year. Without making small changes, they’ll be in the same place then as they are now. Adopting a system of small changes that feel manageable can actually take people in a direction they want to go.

You can design your life and you can decide what that looks like for YOU. You don’t have to give that control to someone else to tell you when you can and can’t be there for for your family.

What Systems Drive Your Business Forward?

I’d love to hear what works for you to keep you on task and motivated. I’m sharing this post over on Traktivity’s social media accounts -- so pop on over and leave a comment about how systems work for you!

Kelli Chunn is a wife, a nurse practitioner, and an online marketer. She also spends her time empowering entrepreneurs to take control of their life and business through lead generation and business automation. Her passion is coaching others to build confidence and purpose into their business and in their life while living out their passions. Sometimes this means teaching new skills and other times it’s about increasing self reflection and improving self esteem. But it’s always about choosing how we spend our 24. Choose it, design it, live it. Follow Kelli on Instagram and #chooseyour24