Working on Yourself

Something very few (if any) MLMs will tell you is that you must work on yourself as well as your business. The people who came into your organization with you as their leader look to you for guidance. And they are also a reflection of you or pieces of you. So if people are joining under you and they aren't coachable - ask yourself if you are open to coaching or if there has been a time recently when you weren't? If you are being honest you will say yes to either or both of these two questions.

I personally had to own this one recently. Very few of my downline were following my lead, the few who were doing the business side as well as the products were trying to do things their own way. They were circumventing my instructions and doing what they felt comfortable with...which is exactly what I had done when I began. It took me a little while to get past this but I did.

With experience and reflection we're all able to learn, grow and navigate our businesses and our people. But some may need more assistance then others in this area - I know I did. And so I chose personal growth.

When my life wasn't moving where I wanted it to nor had it lived up to my expectations I wanted to really understand why. And because I was open to the answer to this question I began navigating the personal growth arena. It was an area I was somewhat familiar with, I spent a lot of time in therapy as a teenager and knew personal reflection was necessary to sort through difficult situations.

The truth of the matter is everything is a reflection of pieces of ourselves and when we're willing to view experiences in this vein it becomes a much simpler world. We own our piece of the conflict puzzle, acknowledge it, move through it and grow.

And doing so is integral to our businesses. If we aren't willing to be accountable who will follow us? No one wants a leader who blames others. Napoleon Hill in "Think and Grow Rich" touches upon this as one of the great assets of a leader: accountability. And really are any of us going to argue with Napoleon Hill? I think not.

So whatever or wherever you are in your business understand there are tools, resources and - most importantly - people to help you see yourself clearly, clean up parts of yourself that need cleaning up and grow from the experience.

All of that can only lead to better relationships and consequently better business.

The roller coaster

Today was one of those days I'd rather forget. I had some team member fall-throughs, some personal disappointments and just a plain old messy, emotionally-stirring day.

I have watched days like today happen frequently since being in my company and every single time on the other side of this there is an AMAZING experience whether it's a double PIB/double cycle week, connecting and sharing with a dear friend, witnessing someone else's incredible transformation or personally reaching a long-anticipated goal.

Here's hoping that incredible day is just around the corner...I could use it!

Persistence!

One of the key things I've discovered in my short 4 month MLM journey is persistence is key. Unequivocally it is the most necessary trait, characteristic, asset - whatever you want to call it you gotta have it.

A lot of people get fired up, contact 10 people, get 10 "no"s and give up. I like to remember that every "no" gets me closer to my next "yes". It's easy to feel defeated, especially in the beginning, especially if your company is touting the stories of people who "did it" (whatever "it" is for you - Crystal Exec, millionaire status, etc) in 6 months....or 3 months or some other seemingly short amount of time.

The truth is the average person may take up to 7 years to succeed in an MLM - and that's if their MLM lasts that long (a lot of them don't for a variety of reasons). But very few companies are going to tell you that because they know most will quit straightaway!

But my question is where are you going to be in 7 years if you do quit? Same old crummy job? And where could you be if you DID NOT quit? Millionaire? 6 figures? 6 figure passive income?? Maybe helping a team of 10,000 live a full and rich life? Any of those things are worth investing in a few more "no"s and a few more hours of your time. With the right team, the right attitude and the right company those 7 years could turn out to the best 7 years of your life.

And I say those words as much for you as I do for me! I have a very specific goal in mind and a date by which to accomplish it so that supports me in my persistence...plus I'm just a doggedly determined person.

Plus I believe - no I KNOW - in my heart all of us have that within us. We all have that spark of greatness - why else would we love the underdog-wins-it-all stories? Because there is a part of us - no matter how small, no matter how buried under rubbish - that knows we are capable of greatness. That part of us that just knows we are capable of exceeding our wildest dreams, our biggest visions, our greatest goals and it is that part of us that is just aching to come out. That fire inside of us that wants so desperately to be lit and released to blaze a trail that lights up the world and creates a path for those after us.

And for most of us that little piece of us scares the beejezus out of us. Because we're afraid to show that inner, vulnerable part of ourselves to the world, we're afraid it will be laughed at, belittled and dismissed.

But when you find the right team, the right mentors, the right company and the right mindset that piece of you will naturally come forth & shine so brightly you will be astonished by what lies within you.

You are more than capable of greatness, you are destined for it.

And persistence is the key to unlocking that hidden, buried part of you. The more you persist the more you show the Universe (God, Allah, the Zero Point Field, whatever you want to call it) that you are ready and willing to achieve greatness. And as you persist the more supports and opportunities will come into your life paving the way to that greatness.

So persist my friend and you will be amazed at where you go and what your life becomes.

Greetings

As this is my first post I'll simply share a little about me, this blog and what we're going to experience here. I'm a very typical American woman; I'm in my mid-30s, single, independent and hard-working. I'm well-educated and was raised in a primarily mid-level middle class family (although we were quite poor at one point when I was very young).

Much of my working life has been spent in the conventional route: university education, get a job, work hard and save. Lose job due to bad economy, find new job and repeat all over again. Repeat this several times and you have the sum total of my 20s.

Frankly I got sick of that repetitive madness. In my late 20s and early 30s I built my own marketing communications company, worked hard at that for several years but still didn't get anywhere near the level of success I knew I could achieve. And yet I wasn't making much money, I was unhappy and felt completely unfulfilled. To work SO hard, give SO much and yet have SO little to show for it seemed to be the hallmark my first 34 yrs of life.

All of that changed 6 months ago when I returned to the US after living abroad and wanted to join my friend's nutrition & cleansing company. I had a few clients in the health & wellness industry and I liked eating healthy. I valued cleansing as a necessary part of healthy living and I wanted the best possible protein source I could find - all great reasons to join his company. What he had I wanted and I got it - little did I know I would get a lot more than that in the process!

I knew of MLMs and network marketing thanks to Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad and various other books I had begun reading in my late 20s. I knew this particular company was VERY good as I had tried the products in their early days almost 9 years previously.

And thus began my voyage back into entrepreneurship, self-employment and life-fulfilling purpose. But we'll get to all that in another post. :)

Now that you know a little about me let's talk about what to expect in this blog: I'm intending for this to be a consistently-updated blog that shares with you the highs and lows of succeeding in network marketing, the nitty gritty and the truth behind the "pyramid scheme" of MLMs. If you're in network marketing I hope you can relate in either your past or present circumstances; if you've ever been curious about MLMs then I hope this will open your eyes and give you some food for thought.

Whatever your situation please stay tuned - hang on and buckle up because we're gonna have a helluva ride. :)