Burke Hedges Speaks

It’s Monday again & time for another Monday Minute!  Welcome back!

Did you know that year after year there are more and more
millionaires created worldwide all because of their success in
our industry - the network marketing industry?

So, let me ask you a question:  If all these millionaires are
being created each year because they’re actively building a
network marketing distributorship, does that mean if you join
M.L.M. you will become a millionaire?

Well, it depends - right? 

That’s not a question I can honestly answer because I don’t
know you personally, nor do I know what your real hopes and
expectations are. However, what I DO know is that there are
certain things that will either fast track you to success in
your business or limit your true potential if you ignore them.

If you have struggled in the past with your business and have
asked for advice on how to move forward, how often have you
been told to get a mentor? A mentor- whether it be someone in
your Upline, or someone outside your business - who has been
there and has gone through what you may be experiencing right
now will save you months if not years of stress.  They’ll also
help keep you from making the costly mistakes made by others
in our industry.

Mentors who have already had success in network marketing and
building a solid business can guide you and help you to achieve
your goals in a timeframe and in a way that would be almost
impossible to achieve on your own.  It’s true!

But finding a mentor is only part of the answer. Once you’ve
found this person, you’ve got to keep open-minded and be willing
to learn from them.  Part of that willingness is not falling
into the bad habit of blaming others or situations when things
don’t quite work out. You’ve must take action and follow through
on the advice and guidance your mentor gives you.

A huge advantage to finding someone in your Upline to mentor you
is that it’s actually in their best interest to make you as
successful as possible. The true power of success in our business
lies in the ability to recruit new distributors into an ever
increasing downline. So, not only can you rely on your mentor to
help you succeed, you need to learn those same mentoring skills
to enable you to coach your downline to achieve their individual
goals and aspirations too!  

Finding and working closely with a mentor in your business will
give you the tools, the knowledge, and the expertise you need
to maximize your chances of success.

However, there is one thing a mentor or coach cannot give you
or teach you and that is how to keep yourself motivated.  

Motivation is the one thing that will keep you going. No matter
how good your product is, no matter how good your business model
is, there will be times when things don’t quite go the way you
want them to. You’ll have to have persistence and perseverance
to keep going and see you through.  If you don’t know how to
stay motivated, you run the risk of limiting your success.

To be the best you need to be with the best. You’ve probably
heard something similar like “surround yourself with successful
people”. Whatever way you put it, the truth behind success in
network marketing, especially yours, is to be part of a winning
team with a winning mentor who truly cares about you and is
determined to help you realize your goals and aspirations as
well as their own.

This week, I encourage you to take a look around at your Upline,
your business and personal relationships, and seek out the mentor
you need to achieve the success you desire.  It will be worth it!

Make it a great week!

Welcome back to another edition of the Monday Minute!

Today I’d like to talk to you about what it takes to really be
successful in your network marketing business.  What do you need
to enable you to succeed? 

The one thing I see frequently from distributors in the industry
is excuses.  Prospects make excuses about why they can’t get
started in the business.  Excuses like time, money, or lack of
ability. 

I hear excuses from individual distributors about why they’re
not building their business.  Excuses like lack of time, too
many commitments, or fear. 

There are a number of obvious business factors which need to
be in place for you to be successful. For example:

*  A well established company
*  Business leaders who are committed to your success
*  Training and development programs
*  Support and mentoring
*  An outstanding compensation plan

But what about you personally? Once you’ve picked the right
network marketing company to partner with and you’ve made the
decision to build your business, where do you come into play?

Top income earners in our industry are always leaders and
entrepreneurs who build their business in a certain way and
display a number of personal traits that leads them to success.
If your desire is to be a top income earner, then it’s absolutely
vital that you develop those same traits. 

The following traits or personal characteristics are not in
any order of importance.  We could sit and debate for hours
which traits are more important than others depending on your
own preferences and business experience. Let’s just way each
trait is very important to your success in network marketing. 

So, let’s take a look:

– Belief –

It’s possible that you could be criticized by people who are
uneducated or misinformed about our industry.  A well meaning
relative can make a comment like, “You mean you’re doing one
of those things?!”  and if you don’t have a strong belief in
what you’re doing, it can cause you to doubt yourself and the
business.

This challenge can be fuelled further by the growing number of
scams that seem to pervade today.  You must have no less than
a TOTAL belief in your business combined with a strong belief
in yourself and your ability to succeed.  This belief will help
you deal with any comments that may come your way from “well
meaning” friends and relatives and will allow you to explain
why they’re misinformed about the industry.

– Passion –

Top income earners not only have a strong belief in the industry,
they also have a deeply felt passion to succeed not only for
themselves but also for others.  If you have this kind of passion,
there is little that can stop you. Caring not only about your personal
success, but also the success of others on your team is vital.

– Self-confidence –

We all have strengths and weaknesses, but when you have an
unshakeable belief in yourself and your abilities your self
confidence will grow and be apparent to those around you. True
self confidence (as opposed to arrogance) also means that you
are open to learning from others and learning to overcome those
areas that are in need of development.

Without self-confidence, pretty much nothing is possible. If you
don’t believe in your abilities, then the first adverse situation
that comes your way - the first time you hit a brick wall - will
prevent you from achieving your goals.  

– Focused on Team Achievement –

Like I mentioned before, the results of your downline or team
are gained by focused and sustained effort. Top income earners
concentrate on achieving the specific goals that benefit everyone. 
In our business, we achieve success by helping others become
successful.  If you focus solely on your own success, you will
quickly find out how counter productive that attitude proves to be.

– Positive Thinking –

This trait I hope is as obvious to you as it is to me. Positive
thinking spreads.  Your positive attitude will rub off on your
prospects & teammates.  Equally, if you have a negative attitude
you’ll be sure to see people steering clear of you.

– Persistence –

It’s crunch time!  All the passion and self belief is of little
or no value unless it is applied in achieving your goals. You
must have tenacity and persistence each step of the way. So many
people give up even when they are so close to success. Don’t be
one of them. Stay the course and never give up.

Make it a great week!

In this weeks Monday Minute, I’d like to talk to you about
developing your business strategy - what’s your vision?

People are attracted to our industry as a means of making money
for all kinds of reasons.  One common reason is not worrying
about all of the different aspects of starting a bricks and
mortar business including finding premises, rent and rates,
and other associated offline business expenses.

Let’s face it, starting a home business is usually fairly
inexpensive and if you put a little elbow grease into it,
you can see profits quickly.

It’s sad then to see so many people not succeeding in their
 business for the exact same reason they got started in the
first place.  Because it’s so easy to get in, it’s also easy
to get out. 

If you’ve been building your business for a while you’re well
aware that many people fail to regard their network marketing
distributorship as an actual business. Yet it’s so important
that distributors let that sink in - we’re running a real business!

A vital part of having success in this business is the ability to
plan. However, how can your new distributors possibly develop
an effective and meaningful business plan if they don’t know
where they’re going or what their business is all about?

What I am talking about is:

* Developing a clear vision of their goals and aspirations realized.
* Being able to articulate that vision and inspire others.
* Developing their Purpose. What is the business all about? What is
  the  business out to achieve?

Clarifying the vision and purpose forms the very foundation giving
you and your team the focus and direction needed to succeed.

I know from my own experience that all of this may seem a little
challenging to begin with.  And if you’ve been on my mailing list
for any period of time, you already know I’ve written on this
subject before - because I believe it’s THAT important.  Creating a
vision & purpose for your business will take a bit of time but
believe me,  it’s worth it.

See if this helps you and your distributors to create your vision
for your business:

Remember you have two sets of customers. You have external customers
to whom you wish to sell your product and recruit into your business.
You have internal customers in the form of your downline and team
members with whom there is a common goal of growing the business.

Now, using your favorite way to relax, open your mind and

* Reflect on the values you and your company stand by. Develop the
  idea of what you want your business to be in the future. What will
  it look like? What will it feel like?

* Think of the absolutely best thing that could possibly happen for
  you, your downline and your customers now and in the future.

* Now create your vision around being the only business that can deliver it.

Before you even do any work, just by taking the time to complete the
process outlined above you’ve got a strong basis to not only motivate
yourself but to inspire others with the clear picture of where your
business is going. You’re already well on the way to developing your
 business strategy.

One more quick tip:  Don’t go through this “visioning” process alone.
Share your thoughts with your upline or someone in your downline.  Good
leadership means learning from those who are there to lead us as well
as from those we are there to lead. What better way to get “buy in” to
your business strategy than have your downline believe that they helped
you to form it?

Make it a great week!

Welcome back to another edition of the Monday Minute!

You know, with today’s harsh economic climate more and more people
are looking for ways to  work at home and make additional income
with a business opportunities - probably something just like yours!

Many of your prospects begin their search by going to the internet. 
They may buy magazines, respond to an advertisement, or ask people
they know how to make some extra money. 

Unfortunately, this is when confusion can set in with the hundreds
of thousands of products being offered.  Not only that, but as
you’re probably well aware, there are already a lot of products and
opportunities out there that fail to deliver on their promises. 
They promise people they’ll get rich overnight, or without doing
any work.

These sorts of “scams” cause your potential prospects to have doubt
about our industry as a whole.  This doubt creates confusion which
results, sadly, in so many people failing to realize their dreams
or their true potential.

What I’d like to share with you today will help you explain your
business model - network marketing - to prospects.  It will help
you show them that with due diligence they can start a home based
business with confidence and certainty.

So, let’s get started!
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Network marketing, or multi-level marketing , involves the
direct selling of products or services through the recommendations
of people like us.  When someone purchases a product we recommend
or gets started in our business, we receive a commission on the
sales that come from those recommendations.

MLM however is much more than that. MLM is about recruiting and
building teams of like minded people who also believe in the
product and are just as passionate as you are to succeed.

Contrary to the opinion of the misinformed multi level marketing
is not a pyramid scheme, it is a legitimate and highly successful
business model. Their opinion however is understandable given the
thousands of illegal pyramid schemes that still exist on the
internet today. 

This is where your prospects’ due diligence comes in. You can
absolutely guarantee and should expect your prospects to do
their homework and research on any business that they are
considering. After all, they’re about to make a considerable
investment in time, effort and money so they would want to
make sure your business opportunity is not only legal but a
highly successful company and product, right? 

Help your prospects understand the benefits of starting a
network marketing business and working with others to make
it grow including:

* It’s a proven tried and tested business model.
* Growth can be truly exponential.
* It is up to you how many hours per day, per week you wish
  to work.
* You don’t need to worry about marketing as most companies
  provide you with sound marketing & training plans.
* You really are your own boss.
* You do not need any prior experience as full support is given.
* You really can earn while you learn and master new skills.
* Your earning potential is truly unlimited.
* The joy of helping and watching others grow their business.
* The business model is one of the few which will enable you to
  create the lifestyle you desire for you and your family.
At the end of the day it’s all about your prospect, their needs
and desires.  Help them to see how your business can get them
what they want in life, and you’ll have no trouble sponsoring them.

If you want to learn more about the skills needed to sponsor more
people into your business, visit my 21 Day Challenge site at
http://www.21DayChallenge.net

See you next week!

Wouldn’t you agree that there are so many ways to be successful
in network marketing?  Some people focus on moving product and
getting new customers.  Other people like to focus on the business
opportunity aspect and recruit like crazy.

Ultimately, it’s your personal decision as a distributor and
business owner whether you’re going to be product focused or
team focused. Of course it’s great to receive commissions from
product sales, but I really believe if your goal is to create a
long lasting business with which you will generate a substantial
income, building a solid downline is your key to success.

In today’s Monday Minute I’d like to give you some tips on
building your downline.  So read on…

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Let me start off by saying this:  Product sales are important. 

I don’t want anyone reading this to misunderstand me on this
point - it’s imperative to the success of your business that you
consume the product your company is selling and that you also
gather customers who consume the product.

After that, the majority of your time should be spent on recruiting,
mentoring and building your business through the success of your team.

When recruiting for your business you must have:

* A fundamental belief in what you’re promoting.
* Strong belief in yourself.
* A real passion for the business.
* A total understanding of the business model.
* A genuine willingness and drive to help others succeed.

Think of it like this. The combination of self belief, passion
and belief in the product helps you grow in confidence. Then,
you add to that an in-depth understanding of the business model
and you are ready and able to promote the product and the business.

You’ll be able to easily hold the attention of potential teammates,
arouse their curiosity in the business, and convince them it really
is as good as the image you are portraying.

When you’re passionate about your business model and the products
you offer, you’ve got a powerful combination that’s the foundation
to effectively communicating with your prospects. 
 
It doesn’t matter if you build your business by: 

* Face to face presentations.
* By telephone.
* Through your email campaigns.
* By advertising on your website.
* Through offline marketing.

You’ve got to be totally prepared to answer prospects questions and
explain the business opportunity in great detail as well as deal
effectively with their fears or objections.

That’s why it’s so important to practice and be prepared when making a
presentation.

You know, building your downline is all about building personal
relationships. Can you remember what initially attracted you the business? 

I’m sure there was a financial element in there. Maybe you wanted
financial security or a means to allow you to live the lifestyle of your
dreams.  You probably also had a clear goal to spend more time with
friends and family.

Remember your own personal goals each time you make a presentation to
a prospect.  Remember that each person you aim to recruit as part of
your team also has goals and aspirations. Take the time to get to know
them, genuinely show that you care, and be on their agenda instead of
your own.

This is what it means to show true leadership skills.  You’re building
trust. 

When a prospect trusts you, they’re much more likely to get involved
in your business.  This isn’t a one-off event, it is an ongoing
process and you must be consistent.

Keep your prospect interested by showing them they are important to
you.  Keep contact with them on a regular basis and they’re much more
likely to decide your product and business is the right one for them
and that YOU are the right person to lead them.

Through your determination, passion, and undeniable knowledge of the
business opportunity your downline building will go from strength to
strength.

Welcome back to another edition of the Monday Minute.

Last week I started a 2 part series on the “psychology of winning”. 

I brought up the fact that while so many of us have a strong
desire to win in our business, we make subconscious choices
that actually keep us from winning.

On the inside we win because we’ve avoided getting out of our
comfort zones or by having everyone like us.  But on the outside,
we’re not winning…and it’s frustrating!

Today I want to share 3 more tips with you about ways that you
might be sabotaging yourself by “winning”.

3)  You try to win by always being right.

Maybe you’re an expert in a specified area like a doctor or lawyer. 
Perhaps you’ve gotten a lot of training on your product.  Maybe
you’ve been in this industry for a long time and you feel like
you already know it all.

When you focus on being right, you become close minded to new ideas.

How can you tell if you’re someone who tries to win by always being right?
- When you argue with your spouse, do you always have to have the last word?
- Is it possible for you to smile and keep your mouth shut, even when
  you’re sure you’re right, and not say anything?
- If someone in your downline has an idea they’d like to try for generating
  new leads for their business, do you immediately tell them everything
  that’s wrong with it?
- Do you critique every leader in your company?

Focusing on always being right will put you on the fast track for hitting
the glass ceiling when it comes to your relationships, money, and business. 

Instead of trying to be right all the time, focus your energy on building
relationships and making money. 

4) You can win by winning!

If this is you, then you’re an achiever whose primary focus is to win!
Perhaps you’re very competitive, and will do whatever it takes to win. 
You refuse to yield, and will always stay the course. 

Mark Twain said it best; “If you want to be successful, find out where
the successful are heading and get their first”!

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If your constant focus is on winning, make sure you don’t compromise
your integrity to “win”. Be honest in your business and with your team. 
Don’t fudge the numbers to impress a prospect.  Don’t lie about your
commission check.  Don’t hype up your accomplishments.  Being focused
on winning is great, just make sure you do it with integrity. 
*********************************************************************

5) The final way you can win is by losing.

I know this sounds weird…but just stay with me.  Some people, whether
they’ll admit it or not, win in their lives by choosing to be a victim.
They want sympathy from others and declare within that it is not
possible to win.  They believe the odds are stacked against them. 

Out of all the ways to sabotage yourself from truly winning in your
business, I think this way is the most common. 

How can you tell if you’re winning by losing? 

- Is your life constantly filled with problems and bad circumstances?
- Do you find yourself saying, “I don’t have the money” or “I think
  I will give it a try”?
- Do you blame others for your lack of success?  If only my upline
  would help me…If only my spouse would support me…If only I didn’t
  have such a stressful job…and so on?

I’d like to challenge you today to take a long hard look at your life.

There are people who are not wealthy because they want to be comfortable.
There are people who are not healthy because they want to be comfortable.
There are many people who are stuck in the same job because they want
to be liked. As well there are people who are “addicted” to struggle
because they win by losing.

If you’re like me, you might see a little of yourself in each of the
ways I just described. The most important thing to remember about
winning is that it’s a continuous process. 

Once you get inspired by a new goal, your whole focus goes back to
“winning”.  Whether it’s a promotion in your pay plan, a certain
number of sales you want to make, or taking that trip you’ve
always wanted. 

Successful entrepreneurs win by winning.  Period.

Hello again & welcome back to another edition of the Monday
Minute.  I always enjoy bringing you my personal tips, tricks and
success strategies that have made the direct selling business so
enjoyable for me.  I hope you get as much out of these newsletters
as I do!

Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to bring you a 2 part
series on the “psychology” of winning.  Really, it’s just my personal
take on the subject - but an important one if you plan on building
your networking business for the long haul.

So, what is winning to you?  Can you define what it would mean in
your life to win?  What would that look like for you?

Surprisingly, many people don’t really know.  Often, they just
have a vague idea of what winning would me - more money, being able
to quit their job, going on vacations…that sort of stuff. 

But at the heart of things, if you don’t know the definition of
“winning” in your life - if you don’t have a really clear picture of
what that means, then how can you ever be a winner in your network
marketing business?

Most people think of winning as achieving some sort of goal.  They’ve
“arrived” and reached the top.  Would it surprise you to know that
there are actually other ways of “winning” that have nothing to do
with being successful?

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Our minds can sometimes play tricks on us.  We want to win.  We
desire to be a top income earner.  We long for success.  And yet,
our actions don’t seem to match up to those desires.  We sabotage
ourselves.  Our conscious minds want to achieve at the highest
levels…but our subconscious minds are usually very happy to just
stay where we are, in our comfort zones.
*********************************************************************

To that “inner mind”, our subconscious, winning often means something
very different. 

I want to share with you some of the ways that people “win”.  My hope
is that you will discover some things about your current thought patterns
that might be keeping you from really winning in your business. 

1)  Sometimes, you win by being comfortable. 

Whether we want to admit it or not, sometimes our primary goal is to
go through life as comfortably as possible.  Maybe you don’t function
well under pressure. Perhaps you freeze up if you’re pushed or challenged.

Do you always try to avoid conflict?  When we do this, we’re saying
we’d rather go through life on cruise control.

What are some ways you can “win” by staying in your comfort zone?
- By watching a great reality show on TV instead of making phone
      calls to your warm list
- By making the excuse that you’re just too tired from work and
      can’t make it to the meeting this week
- By not stepping up as the leader of your team in favor of deferring
      all the training and support to someone else
- By avoiding both calling people and answering the phone
- By hiding out behind your computer screen

When we do these things, we’re designing out lives to support the pursuit
of our comfort.  We say we want to “win”, but our actions speak differently. 

We’re still winning…just at the wrong thing.

2) Another way you can win is by trying to be liked.

Is your primary goal to be liked by others?  Do you desire to be popular
and accepted by everyone?  If you get an angry phone call or email
from someone on your team, does it upset you to the point where you
stew about it for days?

So many times we “win” by trying to be liked, rather than taking a
risk of being wrong.

As a leader in your business, this is a dangerous place to be. 

You’re less willing to make hard core decisions for fear of upsetting
someone. You’re afraid to fail and try to please everyone all the time.

Everyone wants to be liked, but if you’re motivated by being liked
by others and are constantly seeking approval from your team, it’s
going to be impossible for you to move ahead.

That’s all for this week.  Join me again next Monday & I’ll give
you 3 more ways you lose by trying to win!

Make it a great week!

Just about every network marketing company has developed their
own training systems and methods for building the business.
Everything from learning about the products to prospecting and
recruiting people into your downline.  All this is usually
covered by a series of trainings or a “system” that’s easy
to understand and follow.

However, if you’ve recruited more than few people into your
organization, you know for a fact that sooner or later you
come across someone who thinks they know better.  Maybe that
someone is you!

You know, the two most common statements made by people who
come into the business and then aren’t as successful as they
think they should be are, “I don’t do it that way” quickly
followed by “The system doesn’t work.”

Of course, these statements fail to take into account the many
successful people who are doing it “that way” and using the system. 

We all want the people on our team to be successful.  After all,
a successful team means that your business is growing which
translates into money for everyone.

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But how do you handle those people who just refuse to follow the
system, re-invent the wheel, and do everything outside the box? 
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You know this person wants to be successful and you’re passionate
about their success as well.  You know they’ll only have success
if they follow the system. 

So, here are a couple of ways to address it:

>> First, the “I don’t do it that way” complaint. This can also
mean, “I won’t do that” or “I would never be able to do that”. 
You’ll often hear this statement when you begin coaching a new
teammate on how to make phone calls to prospects.

Start off by having your teammate think about his/her success
up to this point in any company. What worked?  What didn’t work? 
Did they follow a set series of steps? 

Ask them what part of the current system would they don’t like
and would do differently?  Find out why there is opposition and
see if you can come to a compromise.  Often, someone is simply
opposed to the way something is said.  For example, they don’t
like the prospecting script because it makes them feel uncomfortable. 
So, see if you can compromise on the wording a little and let them
try doing things their way.  After all, you really can’t stop them.
And when their way doesn’t work, they’ll be back.

>> The second complaint, “The system doesn’t work,” can be a little
   more complex. 

First, you need to do some careful questioning to see if the person
is using the system correctly.  Sometimes it is just a matter of
retraining or changing something.

More often, however, the system isn’t working because the person
really isn’t plugged in and following it.  They’re varying it a
little bit here or there.  Instead of calling their prospect, they’re
emailing or texting instead.  That sort of thing.

Maybe you’ll discover that they don’t even totally understand the
system because they haven’t been attending training calls or other
training opportunities.  Find out why and get a commitment from
them to begin taking action in their business.  By not getting proper
training, they’re setting themselves up for failure.

****************************************************************
You know, there will always people that expect something for
nothing.  They look at this business like a lottery ticket.  They
get started on Friday and if the money truck doesn’t show up by
Saturday morning with their buckets of cash, they call you and
complain that the “system isn’t working”.  That’s okay.
****************************************************************

One thing you should always remember is that the teammates that
refuse to plug-in and use a proven system are really not an asset
to you.  They can take up a tremendous amount of your time and
energy. Sometimes you’re better off if they leave the business
sooner rather than later. We’ve all had experiences with a
teammate that constantly complained, but never worked.  It’s
exhausting.

Be firm in your belief that the system can work for anyone that
is willing to do the work and you will keep the people that you
really want in your organization and weed out the others.

Make it a great week!

You’ve probably heard this analogy before:  Starting a business
is a lot like getting married.

If you’re married, or have been, then I’m sure you can think back
to the time leading up to your marriage - your “courtship”-  and
see several thing that are similar between the start of a marriage
and the start of a business.

1)  Attraction   

They call it “chemistry”.  That initial attraction to someone.  And
behind the initial “chemistry” are other thing like your dreams,
emotions and values.  Just as we are attracted to one person instead
of another, we’re also attracted to a business that appeals to our
dreams, moves us in some way and plugs into what we find important
in life.

2)  After Attraction

Soon, we begin to spend time getting to know the other person.  It’s
here where we discover whether or not that attraction will stick.
We talk to this person about our dreams - the way we want to live,
what size family we want, what our faith is and other ideas and
desire we have about our future.

We discover if there is an emotional connection between us and
the other person.  How do we feel with them?  Do we stir up
feelings in each other that go beyond that initial attraction? 

We talk about our values-what do we think is important about a
marriage and a family, about religion, what we want to accomplish
in life and what matters most to us at the end of the day.    

So many of the things we do in a relationship have a parallel to
starting a new business.  And it’s vitally important to think
about and discuss these issues when we first get going in our
business:

>> What are our dreams (or vision) about the business?
>> Does the work we’re doing move us in some way?
>> Does it have emotional appeal that will last?
>> Am I really passionate about this or am I just in it for the money?

I know for many of us, the initial decision to get started in
our network marketing business was for the money.  But over
time, once the “money part” is taken care of, your desires and
goals should switch a bit to other things like your belief in
the product, or your passion about helping others make an income
from home, or seeing people’s lives change.

It’s about having a emotional purpose & being moved by what you’re
taking part in. Ask yourself the following questions:

>> Does this business have emotional meaning to me?
>> Will it touch the hearts of people who I share it with?  
>> How can I get that message across to prospects and team members? 

Your prospects and teammates are searching for that deeper meaning. 
It’s a cause, a mission, that will keep the day-to-day work from
getting hollow.

So, what does this mean to you?

I encourage you to pay attention to planning and reinforcing a strong
vision for your business.  Make certain that your core values - those
things that are most important to you in life - are tied to your work. 

If you’re a leader, and one of your core values is family, and you
constantly “preach” how important your family is to you - then make
sure that value lines up with your actions.  Don’t say your family is
#1 if you’re always gone, always on your cell phone, always running
around like a crazy person. 

Be busy and get the job done - yes.  But make sure you take the time
for the things in your life that you say are important. 

What will guide you for the long term in your business is not just
how good you get at it.  It’s the connection to it, the bigger
picture and the dream we hold onto that makes us happy as a person. 

If you discover this about yourself and can share it with others,
it will set your business up for long-term success.

I’ll see you next week!

>> “A task without a vision is drudgery; a vision without a task is
a dream. A vision and a task are the hope of the world.” <<    

Having a strong vision for your business and life is not only a
look into the future, but also a constant reference point for
you to line yourself up with.  Your vision is your point of
reference. 

All of us can see in our mind’s eye what we want to be and do
in our life.  Then, it’s up to us to find a way to realize that
vision. We can put our imagination to work.  For some of us,
we systematically plan out the steps needed to achieve our
vision.  And others might trust their gut and move forward
more instinctively.

Your personal vision includes your business, career, family
and lifestyle. What do you see for yourself in your business? 
What kind of success do you envision?  How about your family
life?  What do you envision a happy and fun family life to be
like?

Starting a new business is the most important time to start
thinking about your personal vision for your life.  It’s the
time when your enthusiasm is at its highest and your idea of
what you want to accomplish is clear and strong.  This is why
we always tell new distributors to “write down your why”. 

It’s that important.

So, what are some of the consequences of not having a strong
vision for your life and business?  What happens when you
live your life not really caring one way or the other? 

Often, you feel as though your work has no meaning.  There is
no underlying sense of purpose. The effort you put in is only
a means to something else and is not gratifying in and of itself. 
It just pays the bills…but beyond that, there’s nothing else in
it for you.

The strength of your vision will give you a solid sense of
direction and bring meaning into your life.  It’s your purpose. 
Something to be returned to, over and over again, to check your
bearings and sense of commitment. 

Have you ever heard the statement, “Your why has to make you cry”? 

It’s true that you’ve got to be passionate about your vision. 
When you feel so strongly about your reason “why” it becomes
infectious.  Others around you begin to feel it.  They become
more passionate about their business because they see how
passionate you are.  Your vision rubs off and can carry your
team through good times and bad, building a sense of commitment,
passion and spirit.

Becoming a great leader means that you’re the carrier of that
vision.  You tell the story that reinforces the dream.  You
inspire others as you point the way.  It all starts with you
and your personal vision for yourself, your life, and your future. 

Let that vision jump-start your business and guide you.  Then,
share your vision with everyone around you.  Your team, your
prospects, your family.  Become so passionate about it that
it becomes infectious…and watch your business grow.

Make it a great week!