Most days are pretty hectic, aren't they? Yesterday was a humdinger
for me (this
was written in November 2004). Mike Jackson, having just returned from Asia and Australia,
has a Success Institute this weekend. He'll be hosting 400 people at
his home! Imagine what his days are like. My EcoFriends often share
the joys, stresses, and fears of their days with me. Pressures come
from children, from health concerns, from jobs, from our own goofs,
from financial issues, from dealers and prospects that disappoint
us, from relationships, and even from hurricanes.
But time marches on. No matter how good or tough a day is, that
day soon is gone. The same is true of our weeks, months, and years. That teenager who is a problem today will finally grow up.
The outcome may be good or it may be bad.
Wait a minute. That sounds kind of fatalistic. Do we throw up our
arms and let fate take over? No! We strive to do the best we can
every day and with every situation -- but within a framework of
reality and fairness to ourselves. We don't get down on
ourselves when things go awry. We don't toss in the towel. We look
at what life offers us and do the best we can.
But we also set plans in motion to change things for the better. Our
plans begin with dreams and then move into the realms of attitude,
goal setting, planning, prioritizing, action, learning, persistence,
and affirmation.
This is what I want
...(the dream)...
I'm capable of changing myself ...(the attitude
adjustment)...
This is what I will do
...(the goal)...
This is how I am going to do it
...(the plan)...
This is when I will do it
...(prioritizing)...
Now I'm in motion -- as fast as I can
...(action)...
I'll modify my plan as I go ...(learning)...
I'm going to keep on doing it
...(persistent action)...
And, by God, it's going to work
...(affirmation)...
One more step applies in multilevel marketing. We have to persuade
others. "This is a good company, Mr. Prospect. Our products really
are important. You can do it. I'll be right there with you! What do
I have to say or do to get you started?"
...(persuasion)...
Forget about success in networking and look for success elsewhere if
you can't embrace all of these steps.
Sincerely and enthusiastically,
Bob Giddens
(This
person wrote to me and asked me to try a Brand-X MLM
juice.)
I'm glad to hear from you
and I support any campaign to better one's
health and lose weight. Here at my desk, I just
swallowed my Sunday morning supplements with a gulp
of freshly squeezed orange juice from 5 oranges I
harvest while wearing my bathrobe, just a few steps
outside my garage door.
You didn't include the
Goji juice endorsement in your email to Mike
Jackson, but I know the company would not want to
run a program and have people from within the EQ
group using products from another MLM company. It's
kind of like having relations with someone else's
wife or husband. People rationalize things like that
and make arguments as to why it is okay, but in the
final analysis it is bad business.
The mentality that makes
MLM work is sort of cultish. Some companies are more
cult-like than others. People believe things that
are not true or only partially true. And they wrap
their lives in those beliefs. The "cult powers" try
to isolate their people from outside influences.
Some groups within a company are like
that...and I do not approve. Amway was like that.
Shaklee people said for years that their products
were all natural. When I found out it wasn't true I
was really shaken.
EcoQuest and my group are
more like real businesses than other MLM groups or
companies. I keep the claims honest. Our products
are retailed to people who are not members and to
schools, hospitals, big corporations and government
buyers. I try to keep hype and cultish practices to
a minimum in my group. It's not easy, but I would
not mix EcoQuest in any way with another MLM
product.
At any given time, some
EcoQuest people are mixing other products into EQ.
Some of these are people I love...but such is life.
These things come and go. I can tell you this. No
one ever rises to the very top in a
mixed environment.
In the 100+ years of
professional sports (with Olympic
sports mixed in) there have been thousands of
very famous athletes. Very few have been able to
successfully do two sports. The most successful
cross-skilled athlete of all time was Babe
Dedricksen Zaharias. In my mind, she is the greatest
athlete that ever lived. She had some male
characteristics and maybe she had a genetic
advantage over other women, but very few men could
compete against women in as many sports as she did.
Unfortunately, she died of cancer. Only a handful of
other men or women became famous in two sports and
their careers always ended early. They did not
go down in history with Babe Ruth, Joe Namath, Lance
Armstrong or Arnold Palmer status.
I will be speaking at a
meeting in your area soon. Perhaps we will see each
other. But that is an EcoQuest event. I don't
want to be told about Goji in any way. If EcoQuest
comes out with a goji berry or mangosteen product I
will be a happy supporter. For now, we have Life
Force Super Antioxidant. It is less expensive per
serving and contains more and a better diversity of
antioxidants than any of the juice products on the
market. It is not even a contest. We don't make the
big claims or have a trumped up, sexy story, but the
product is magnificent.
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