3 Foolproof Ways to Structure Your Day for Success with Melanie Mitro

Courtney Elmer 0:00  

You're listening to the AntiFragile Entrepreneurship™ podcast, Episode 6. Today’s guest is Melanie Mitro, and she's a woman on a mission to help women look and feel their best in their health, business, and life. She's a top ranked Beachbody coach and the co-founder of The Chic Influencer, and she’s here today to share the successful habits of successful people to help you learn how to structure your day for optimal success. You have a powerful story Melanie, and I want to get right into it. Tell us about your journey, what inspired you to start your business?

Melanie Mitro 5:00  

After having my babies, I gained a lot of weight that I didn't anticipate. I was fueling my body with bad food choices because I didn't know anything about nutrition. I had low energy and was in such a dark place four months postpartum. I reconnected with an old acquaintance on Facebook who replied to my status update saying she could help me with my weightloss journey. I felt connected with her story because it was similar to mine, and that's when I started my journey with Beachbody. When you're growing a business as a mom, it's critical you learn how to structure your day to make best use of your time, and cultivate the successful habits of successful people. I fell in love with teaching entrepreneurs like you how to structure your day in a way that allows you to fuel your body and boost your energy, so you can be more present in your life, too. From there, I grew and became the top in our company, which blows my mind because I'm a just small town girl from Mars, Pennsylvania. Then last year, I launched a consulting company with a business partner and the two of us help women grow and scale their businesses and teach them how to structure your day for success, too. 

Courtney Elmer 10:52  

I find it fascinating how we often have these life turning-points: for me, it was cancer for you, it was having your babies, and it becomes the catalyst for something we never envisioned or imagined. By leaning in and walking through that open door, you can discover so many things about yourself. Many entrepreneurs struggle because they believe they can't do something because they’re not an expert, or they don't have it figured out yet and their life is a hot mess. They don't want other people to see that. That’s one of the core habits of successful people, isn’t it? Not only learning how to structure your day for success, but learning how to think about yourself and your business differently than the average person. Would you agree with that? 

Melanie Mitro 11:03  

That is so true. I’m so glad I went all in and proved to myself that this is something that does work and I could help other women develop these same successful habits and learn how to structure your day for success too. Having success in your life and business is as simple as adopting the same habits of successful people.

Leaning into the idea that I didn’t have to have it all figured out was how I built my momentum. It was one of the first key successful habits I developed. I thought, “people won’t trust me if they don’t see how this is working for me.” If people were asking me how to structure your day and form these successful habits, I needed to walk the talk. Every week I’d create a game plan, and at the end of the week, I’d write a blog post to share the successful habits of successful people that were working for me. I’d share the ups and downs and talk about how to navigate through them. It built trust and credibility, because people like you listening were learning how to structure your day in real time and they were so much more trusting than they would have been if I’d waited to share my journey after I’d lost all the weight. 

Courtney Elmer 14:41  

Allowing yourself to be seen is a successful habit of successful people that most entrepreneurs aren’t aware of, but that’s where deeper connections are made and where trust is built. What were some of the challenges you faced as a mom with two young boys growing your business? Was it difficult to practice these same successful habits of successful people daily? Were there days when you planned out how to structure your day and it didn’t go according to plan? 

Melanie Mitro 15:46  

Oh boy yes. To all the moms out there, it's exhausting because you are on from the minute they wake up to the minute they go to bed. Undergoing a physical transformation and launching a business at the same time required me to buckle down and figure out how to structure your day for success. At first I didn’t have a schedule or routine and everything was based off whichever way the wind blew. But when I started my business, I decided to treat it like a business. Through trial and error, I figured out how to structure your day for success and cultivate the same habits of successful people I looked up to. This was the first successful habit of successful people that I adopted for myself when I was learning how to structure your day: simply creating a schedule where there wasn’t one before. 

I started by getting my kids on a nap schedule and I decided to start getting up an hour earlier so that I could get my “me time” in before the boys woke up, otherwise it wouldn’t happen. This is a successful habit that takes discipline, but when you're figuring out how to structure your day as a whole, the things that get pushed to the back burner should happen first if you want to get them done. Another habit of successful people is that instead of looking at the time they don’t have, they focus on organizing the time they DO have and trusting that whatever doesn’t get done, will at some point. When you're cultivating these successful habits remember: you get to run your calendar. You’re in control. It’s up to you what you allow on your calendar, and what you decline. One of the most fundamental habits of successful people is simply doing what you said you were going to do. It’s the hardest thing to be accountable to yourself, but it’s an essential successful habit you need to succeed. Another way I learned how to structure your day for success was that on Saturdays and Sundays, my husband would get the kids up and do breakfast, and from 5am until 9am I’d work. 

When it comes to figuring out how to structure your day, look at your schedule and focus on what you CAN do each day with the time that’s available. This simple successful habit created the groundwork and foundation for me all the way to being top in the company while being a stay at home mom. But it took me doing the following:

• studying the habits of successful people
• deciding to adopt these same habits of successful people
• and being disciplined with my time each day to cultivate these successful habits and continually improve upon the best practices for how to structure your day

Adopting the same habits of other successful people helped me produce massive results!

Courtney Elmer 20:47  

Yes. It’s so easy to make excuses and to blame lack of time or lack of having good help as a reason for why you’re not getting the results you want. But you’re saying that among the top habits of successful people, it’s about focusing on what you CAN do and stop playing the victim. Two words that you said jumped out at me: choice and intention. Every day you wake up, you have a choice: to practice these habits of successful people, or not. To focus on how to structure your day today, or not. It’s a choice you have to make every day, and when you do, it makes a huge difference.

Melanie Mitro 22:29  

Yes. I've been doing health and fitness for eight years. And when life happens, and your perfect plan for how you structure your day goes out the window, you have to yourself: what can you control? Maybe you only can spend five minutes writing down your intentions and making a to-do list for the day. Keep that the main priority and remember what you're working towards, instead of letting your automatic brain take over and reverting back to your old habits again, which likely weren’t successful habits. 

Courtney Elmer 23:51  

So, you've been practicing these successful habits of successful people and running your business for eight years. What would you say to those people who are struggling in that comparison trap, to keep going when it feels hard and recognize the time it takes to see the results you want? 

Melanie Mitro 24:59  

Another habit of successful people is to stay in your own lane. I don’t look at what other people in my industry are doing because it steals my creativity and robs me of my own identity. When I practice this successful habit, I can freely show up and provide value to my community. Success doesn’t happen in one fell swoop. Your business is a series of small, seemingly insignificant habits that add up over time. When you learn how to structure your day for success, and stay committed to that structure, you will see results. Success doesn’t happen in big chunks, it’s in little baby steps that compound over time like Darren Hardy describes in his book The Compound Effect, or Jeff Olson describes in The Slight Edge. It’s in making the choice to intentionally practice your successful habits every day and continually learn how to best structure your day amidst all life throws your way. Unfortunately we live in a society where everything is a quick fix. But when it comes to business, that's not reality.

Courtney Elmer 28:34  

I love how in this conversation of how to cultivate successful habits, and what successful habits of successful people you need to cultivate, you talk about making the choice of being intentional. Of staying committed, which by the way is one of the successful habits of true visionary leadership A lot of entrepreneurs make the mistake of putting themselves on the back burner indefinitely until they reach their goals, but reaching those goals can take some time. What do you suggest for people listening to learn how to structure your day and find more rhythm between what you want to get done and what you need to get done? 

Melanie Mitro 30:00  

I will be very honest here: I’ve been the girl that’s stood on stage and have said the words like, “24/7 -- whatever it takes! You hustle until you reach that goal!” But I was also the girl that ended up in the doctor's office because she had swollen lymph nodes underneath her armpits, and I learned the hard way this is what led me to burnout. If you haven't figured out how to structure your day for success, you increase your chances of burnout and your risk of feeling major mom guilt. I said I was resting but really I was sitting on the couch with my laptop typing so I was physically present but not mentally present. I was working, but I was disguising it because I was in my pajamas in the same room with my family. I hadn't learned how to adopt the successful habits of successful people, or what that even meant. It was like a lightbulb went off and I realized, all of these health symptoms were self-inflicted.  

I've spent the last 18 months proving to myself that I don't have to work 24/7 and if I'm smart about how I work my business, I can have my health, and a business that’s booming. Learning how to structure your day in a way that works for me has been one of the most critical successful habits I’ve developed. I’ve launched another business while running this one. Because I know what my top priorities are, when it reaches a certain time on the clock, I’m done and there is no guilt. I know now that if I don't allow myself intentional rest, I can't be the best business owner, the best mom, and the best wife. Your dreams and your family can coexist. You can be highly successful, but you have to make your health a priority and I don’t say that because I’m a health and fitness coach. If you study the habits of successful people: any speaker, any CEO, their health is important to them. Physical fitness, and sleep and nutrition is key so I hold that to a very high standard, because at the end of the day, you can't get your health back. You’ll get there. It WILL take time, but when you keep your priorities in check and you’re intentionally adopting and practicing those successful habits of successful people, it’ll happen. If you struggle with consistency, that’s probably why you’re not seeing results. 

Courtney Elmer 34:49  

Yes, I always say, there’s a human behind every business and you cannot expect your business to grow and thrive if you are not growing and thriving. It all boils down to the choices you are making in every moment and which habits of successful people you're making a habit, too. It's about having clarity on what your priorities are, and learning how to structure your day using the time you DO have. Then consistently executing that plan. 

Melanie Mitro 36:00  

One of the best ways I've figured out for how to structure your day is to practice your most important successful habits every morning, first thing. I like to meditate, gratitude journal, and read a chapter of personal development before planning what needs to happen that day. This simple practice starts my day on the right foot and helps me to be more productive in the itty bitty amounts of time that I have. That's part of what it means to figure out how to structure your day for success -- focusing on the most important one or two things. Not twenty things.

Courtney Elmer 36:58  

Yes! No one else is responsible for prioritizing you but you. No one else knows how to best structure your day but you. Prioritizing you is absolutely one of the key successful habits of successful people you need to cultivate. So my last question for you is this: What’s your definition of success? 

Melanie Mitro 37:22  

Oh, that's a good question! I want to continue creating the freedom that we have right now: determining my own work hours, being my own boss, and having the flexibility and freedom to make that choice. I love empowering others to go after their dreams and I want to pass onto my children the values of being business-minded, being independent, and being smart with your time, your money, and your health. I want them to see what's possible simply by watching me practice these successful habits of successful people every day.

Courtney Elmer 38:05

Beautiful, Melanie. I know our listeners are going to want to connect with you and learn more great tips for how to structure your day for success. Where can they find you? 

Melanie Mitro 38:15

Instagram is definitely the best place @MelanieMitro and check out the Women Inspiring Women podcast, I release a new episode every Tuesday and we talk about successful habits of successful people like these and how to structure your day for success while building your business. Those are the two big places that I spend the majority of my time. 

Courtney Elmer 39:01

I so appreciate you being here to share about these habits of successful people, and how to structure your day for success.

Melanie Mitro 39:50

Thank you so much for having me. It was so much fun.