I’ve been fired, Day 3
Filed under: MLM, finding new prospects, giving up, network marketing, overcoming fear, overcoming obstacles, perfect business, positive attitude, solving problems, try try again
Day 3 hit me hard. It was a day of anxiety and disappointment, but now that I’m sitting here in Day 4, I can see that it was a reality that I created for myself.
Huh?
What I mean is that I had huge expectations. I envisioned my conference room filled to the brim with 40 people, that they would all enthusiastically fill out the enrollment forms after hearing my brilliant presentation, and that they would each run out and find 5 of their friends for our next meeting and the avalanche would carry us all along to the promised land.
Well, there were less than 40 people, and although the presentation was brilliant, not everyone signed up and rushed out to find their friends. So I slipped into a slump and landed in a great big puddle of fear. My poor husband; he helped me limp along while I gave in to despair and waited until there was a glimmer of positive thought and blew gently on that ember so that it could start to warm my soul.
In actuality, I made 3 extremely promising contacts that have become even more promising this morning, only 18 hours later; I have a list of 20 new emails and phone numbers for follow up from enthusiastic people who weren’t able to make it to last night’s meeting, and I have a clear idea of my next step. Oh, and did I mention that I have 3 new enrollees?
And yet that icky fear is still clinging to my ankles, threatening to rise up and swallow my heart, and render me incapable of motion.
It’s all in my head. Yesterday was a GREAT success. At any other point, my heart would be dancing a jig, and I would be grinning at everyone within radar range.
Thank goodness for self-honesty. It’s important to be able to look inside and discern the source of discord. Stress is the difference between the way we want something to be, and the way it actually is. Stress diminishes when you work with things the way they are, instead of the way that you want them to be.
So when I look at what really happened yesterday and my reaction to what happened yesterday, it’s easy to see that the cause of my stress is this impending deadline of needing to make this work within 2 months. I felt that my very survival depended on the presence of 40 enthusiastic enrollees at one meeting. I created this reality for myself that told me I failed, when actually, I succeeded.
Being in business for yourself is more than just making things happen, like getting people to a meeting, training them, mentoring them. It’s also about personal growth, managing yourself, taking responsibility for your reactions, monitoring your world view. I’m a much stronger person today than I was yesterday, because I had to lift some pretty heavy weights, and I did it. I’m a bit bruised, but even that is evaporating as the minutes tick by.
Despair doesn’t get you anywhere. Clear thought, positive attitude, taking action: those get you wherever you want to go. So, I’m leaving despair behind, and turning my face toward my next positive action, which is to follow up with the 25 people that I met yesterday.
Day 4 awaits!
I’ve been fired! Day 2
Filed under: MLM, building your business, dreams into reality, entrepereneurs, giving up, network marketing, overcoming obstacles, perfect business, positive attitude, solving problems, try try again
The aftermath of being fired can start to set in a day or two after the main event. I’m focusing on all of the positive things that come to mind. Like, it’s a gorgeous blue-skied day out there, and I’m not stuck in a cubicle, oblivious. I’m still sitting at a computer, but it’s my computer, and I’m working on MY business.
My business partner and I planned a big meeting for tomorrow. We planned it last week, got the room reserved, checked our slide shows and music mix, printed out fliers and put in motion all of the little details that ensure a successful meeting.
I was planning on taking the day off anyway, to really focus on the meeting, but now I have a whole extra day to get things in order. Also, it’s not a huge, late-night push to get it all ready, so I’ll be well-rested and full of genuine enthusiasm tomorrow.
Everything is working out for the best. I feel great! I envision a large turnout for our meeting. We have a powerful slide show, and great pre- and post-meeting activities. We did a run through last week, so both my partner and I know exactly what to do at every step of the meeting. I’ve had time to think everything through and pick up last minute oversights that might have involved some fancy footwork if they’d gone unnoticed.
I am so thankful that I’ve been working on my business part time, so it’s there for me to step into full time when I really needed it. I knew I would be building my business full time at some point, I just hadn’t planned on it being now. But just like starting a family, there’s not often the perfect time. Sometimes you just have to jump and swim as hard as you can.
I am surrounded by supportive, positive people; I have everything I need for tomorrow’s meeting, including a great business partner. We’ve been working together almost a year now, so we really know each other’s style and strengths. We’re a good team, and we’re so lucky to be in this together.
She still has her full time job, and my lay off scared her a bit, but that just motivates both of us to make every moment successful, positive, and full of focused activity and fun.
I keep going back to the fact that it is so important to have something that you can fall back on and build on your own, because corporations are crumbling all around us. Be ready for when it hits you, and your life will blossom instead of collapse. You can do it! I’ll show you how, because, whew, I’ve been there.
Be a leader
Filed under: direct sales, giving up, leadership, learning network marketing, network marketing, overcoming fear, positive attitude, try try again
People want direction in their lives. Sometimes we get so bogged down in the details, that we need someone to step up and point in the direction that we want to go. It helps us end up where we want to be.
What is leadership?
Leadership is the ability to lead people to do things they wouldn’t normally do.
We all have the ability to become a leader.
Will you awaken your innate ability?
A leader is persistent, honest, inspiring, respectful, trustworthy, authentic, firm, confident, courageous, visionary, encouraging, supportive, loyal, organized, consistent.
You learn how to be a leader by practicing. Your learn how to be a leader by hanging out with leaders. Emulate. Internalize. Make it your own.
Sometimes it takes a while to develop your leadership. No worries. Just make sure you’re headed in the right direction.
If you’re not yet headed in the right direction, then turn so you’re facing the right direction.
If you’re not ready to face the right direction, then pray to your higher self, or God, or whatever is your source of inspiration. Pray for inspiration to turn in the right direction. Pray for the will power and the determination to turn. Pray for help.
You will get there. You will succeed.
Start now.
Did you learn how to walk?
Filed under: giving up, how do you learn to do network marketing, learning network marketing
Sometimes when we don’t get it right, we think, “Oh, I’m not good at this.” “I wasn’t cut out for this.” “This isn’t for me.” We’re tempted not to try again. It’s too hard.
Have you ever watched a parent encourage a child to walk? Have you ever watched a child learn to walk? The child rolls over onto all fours and scoots her butt up in the air and tries to balance and stand up. Oops! Over she topples.
She crawls over to the couch and uses the edge of the seat cushion to pull herself up. She teeters, then steadies. She tromps along and eventually can let go of the couch and balance on her own. Oops! Over she goes.
Have you ever heard a parent say “Well, I guess you’re just not a walker. . . “
What if the child just gave up? She’d have to learn to live with not being able to move from here to there, to reach the thing she wants to pick up. She’d live a diminished life.
When you’re learning network marketing, practicing is what makes you learn how to do it.
By practicing, I mean actually talking with people. If you’re sitting in your living room thinking about how you’re not sure what to do or who to talk to, that’s not practicing. That’s sitting on your butt wishing you knew how to walk.
Come up with a strategy that you think will interest a specific person and then try it. Learn from it. Talk to the next person. Learn from it. Talk to the next person. Learn.
You will get to the point of ease and enjoyment that you’re sitting wishing you had now. But wishing doesn’t make it so.
Practice makes it so.
Imagine what it would be like if you never learned to walk.
Imagine what it would be like if you practiced talking to enough people that they started to listen to you, intrigued.
Did you learn to walk?
You can learn this, too.
Things you hate to do
Filed under: MLM, entrepereneurs, giving up, learning network marketing, network marketing, positive attitude, solving problems, time management
One of the essential keys to time management is to identify the one thing on your todo list that you most DO NOT WANT TO DO, and then do that thing first.
When you have a task awaiting you that you dislike, or fear, or feel is beneath you for whatever reason, it tends to prey on your mind. You think about it; you think about how much you hate/fear/resent the task. You do it over and over again, in your mind, without making any progress. It eats up your energy and your enthusiasm and your ambition.
If you simply go ahead and do it FIRST, then it’s done. You’ve only had to do it one time, and it’s over with. The rest of the day seems brighter and lighter and easier. You’re ahead of the game.
Yesterday, my husband tried to coax me into cleaning out our fishpond with him. This is an annual task, so it doesn’t come around that often, and usually when it does start edging into our consciousness, it’s me who coaxes him into undertaking the task.
I also should tell you that the fish pond was my idea in the first place. When we first moved into our place, we had a wonderful blank canvas for our front yard: dirt and cement. Or, I should say, soil and concrete. I talked my husband into helping me dig a big hole in the hard clay, line it with a gigantic sheet of black plastic, and haul flagstones and water lilies from the garden supply store to our driveway and place them strategically in the perfect spot. A little to the left. Hhhmm. . . a little to the right. . .
Ten years later, the pond is still the bright spot of our front yard. But every year it needs to be emptied, hosed clean, and refilled. Every year I coax him to help me, and every year it does.
This year, I did not want to touch the thing. My attention was focused elsewhere. I had calls to make; I had emails to write; I had new material to print out and organize; I was a busy lady. When he mentioned the pond, I came up with a dozen reasons why we should postpone it. It was foggy and cold; there were too many other things I wanted to get done; my sister and niece were coming by for a visit; we also had to wash the van, and no one should have to do two icky jobs in one day. Quite an impressive list, no?
But then I just decided to cooperate and get the thing done. We actually had gotten an early start to the day, and there would be plenty of time for the calls, emails, printing, organizing in the afternoon. So we started.
As soon as we focused on the pond, my whole attitude changed. I love working side by side with my husband. We don’t get to spend much time together with our busy careers, and every minute with him is a treat. I love to garden, and rarely have the opportunity to spend the time to transform our front yard from neglected chaos to orderly beauty. The weather was perfect for this job. We were able to rearrange the teetering flagstones along the edge next to the fence. The fish were SO happy to have clean water flowing through their gills. They raced around, gleefully. The pond looked beautiful. And my sister and niece walked through the gate as the pond was filling and oooed and aahhed on cue.
And the rest of my day was brighter and cleaner and completely care free.
So when you make your list of things to do today, identify the one thing that you most do not want to do, and then do it. You’ll feel better. Then find the next thing on your list that you most do not want to do, and do it. The day will start to get better and better. Your life will start to get better and better.
Make those calls. Send those emails. Set up those lunch meetings and dinner presentations. Take charge of your life. The energy will carry you along. Create your amazing business. You CAN do it.
NetworkedBlogs
