Answer – In a word, apathy.

Apathy is absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement. When we are apathetic, we lack interest in or concern for things that others can find moving or exciting…  Summed up, we become lame duck, couch sitting, TV junkies, Cheetos eating bottom feeders.  (Was that too strong?)

“One of the first and most important steps toward any accomplishment is to find out what is holding us back,” Sterling Sill.

There are many reasons why people  give up on their dreams of financial and personal success.  However, few people wake up one day and say, “I’m done with my dreams, I’m not going to do what it takes to succeed any more.”

Statistics tell us that few people ever reach the top positions within any organization.  It does not matter if the top position is in traditional business companies or in network marketing.  Few people truly achieve greatness in anything.  However, there are a lot of people that skate through life having never really done anything truly spectacular.  Why is that?  We already discussed that most people don’t consciously turn off their dreams over night.  So what makes people apathetic toward success?

People slip into apathy in three ways:  ignorance, indecision, and indifference.

These three I’s are what I like to call “Success Sins.”  The problem with these three sins is that they are sins of omission, not commission.  This means that you commit them by doing nothing.  It is not big things that cause you to fail, it is the small things.  The small shrub is much more likely to trip you up than the giant oak.

Ignorance

Doers are almost never colossal failures.

• Wayne Gretzky says, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”
• Babe Ruth hit 714 career home runs, but he struck out 1,360 times.
• Abraham Lincoln was defeated in 1832 for the Illinois State Legislature, and in 1858 for the US Senate before he was elected to be President of the United States.
• Forbes says Donald Trump is worth $2.7 billion, but Trump’s business entities have used bankruptcy at least twice (that we know of) to regain financial health.

Potential success stories have been interrupted far more by failure to understand success principles and dedication to understand success principles than outside influences creating opposition.  That means that people trip themselves up far more often than someone or something getting in their way.  Ignorance is what stands between most people and their dreams.

So why don’t more people study success principles and become inspired by the success of icons such as Abraham Lincoln?  If we were to only take time each day to study other success stories we would see that are heroes are just people; flawed, scared and initially incompetent individuals who are willing to improve and seek answers through doing or studying the actions of a mentor.  The answers to success are right in front of us.  Inspirational stories surround us, but we are often just unwilling to look for the obvious answers to success.

Indecision

Decision making is crucial to success and some people just can’t make a decision.  Guess what, if you never decide to act you are in deep trouble if you want to be successful.  If you are committing the Success Sin of indecision you can strengthen your  decision making muscles.  I am not saying that you look before you leap, but doing nothing until you have a perfect knowledge of what is going to happen will just not happen.

Good intentions will not make you a success.  Good intentions acted upon will sometimes cause failure.  However, good intentions acted upon on a regular basis will propel you to new heights.  Procrastinating is simply delaying the inevitable and if you continue to postpone your future and you will lose interest in your dreams propelling you into couch potato mediocrity.

After too much procrastination and vacillation, some actually lose the power to make a decision. I know of one man whose mind is so perfectly balanced between the positive and the negative that he has great difficulty forming an opinion either one way or the other. His mind resembles a teeter-totter in perfect balance. There is as much weight pressing down on the negative end as on the positive. He has difficulty getting enough of a majority on either side to get a conviction.  It is the old story of the donkey starving to death midway between two piles of hay.  – Sterling Sill

Stop delaying your future, get out of your own way and make a darn decision.

Indifference

The biggest Success Sin is not that people disbelieve in success principles or that they can succeed, it is far worse when people just don’t care one way or the other. It is one thing to broke, but it is much worse to lack interest and enthusiasm.

When you are indifferent, you inner fire remains unlit and eventually is snubbed out permanently.

No one deliberately decides to be ignorant. Ignorance is indifference to learning. Sloth is indifference to industry. Weakness is indifference to strength.  -  Sterling Sill

Find something to care about.  Indifference will sap you of more strength than anything outside of you.

Success Sins

These three success sins probably rob more people of personal success than any thing else.

Thomas A. Edison said, “There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the real labor of thinking.” If we are not actively thinking and planning our future, TV and those around us will plan our future for us.  I personally believe that NBC and HBO should not be planning my future.  James Allen and Proverbs tell us that we become think about.  We are so close to success if we just do our best each day to avoid apathy towards the things that are most likely to bring us our dreams.  It requires diligence and passion to succeed but isn’t our future worth it?   For many people success is far less important than clinging desperately to the mind numbing comfort of ignorance, indecision and indifference; just stop being one of them.

The three I’s have always been our biggest problem. We remain stricken with ignorance and poisoned by a continuous succession of small thoughts. We become centers of indifference. This prevents our progress. The three I’s develop a sort of “idleness and inactivity in perpetuity.” Sterling Sill

So what are you going to do about it?  Break the bad habits you have formed by the Success Sins.  Go out and make a decision quickly even if it is where you are going to lunch.  Read something positive everyday, even if it is only for a couple minutes.  Find a mentor, eat something healthy, write down a goal and do some exercise.  Get excited about something now to feel some energy pumping through your veins again.  Start now and change someting, even if it is small.  Make something out of your life by escaping apathy and you will find something in you that has always been there, maybe it has just been hiding.

Very few of us will ever be on Notre Dame and get a sack, even if we are taller than Rudy and weigh more than 100 pounds.  However, we all have a million reasons to give in to failure.  Sports are a metaphor for life.  Adversity, struggle, loss, defeat and victory are a part of what we do each day.  Below are some great quotes related to sports (and life really):

Click here to view the embedded video.

“I’m going to go out a winner if I have to find a high school race to win my last race.”
Johnny Gray

“I cannot have survival as my only goal. That would be too boring. My goal is to come back in my best running form. It is good for me to have that goal; it will help me.”
Ludmila Engquist (Olympic champion hurdler facing cancer and chemotherapy)

“There are clubs you can’t belong to, neighborhoods you can’t live in, schools you can’t get into, but the roads are always open.”
Nike

“Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity.” Michael Johnson

“I always loved running…it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.”
Jesse Owens

“Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts.”
Steve Prefontaine

“It hurts up to a point and then it doesn’t get any worse.”
Ann Trason

“Tough times don’t last but tough people do.”
A.C. Green

“What matters is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower

“The gun goes off and everything changes… the world changes… and nothing else really matters.”
Patti Sue Plummer

“You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can’t know what’s coming.”
Frank Shorter

“Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.”
Doug Larson

“It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.”- Muhammed Ali

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”- Wayne Gretzky

“You can stand tall without standing on someone. You can be a victor without having victims.”- Harriet Woods

“The only one who can tell you ‘you can’t ‘ is you. And you don’t have to listen.”- Nike

“Accept challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.”- Unknown

“I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”- Michael Jordan

I stole the title to this post, “When It’s Head Versus Heart, The Heart Wins.”  The original article for that title was written for Newsweek Magazine February 11, 2008.  That article was about voter tendencies and the sub title said:

“Science shows that when we are deciding which candidate to support, anxiety, enthusiasm and whom we identify with count more than reason or logic.

Your organization is looking for someone they can identify with.  They are looking to have fun and receive acceptance.  I have said many times on my site and to distributors that network marketing leaders are selling hope and dreams first, your product and service second.  Frankly, most people in your organization are not really looking to make money.  Maybe they got into your business to make money, but soon found that it takes commitment and they may not be ready to give true commitment of the hours and passion yet to make their business profitable financially.

Most companies tout the horsepower of their product and service in an attempt to keep people interested in buying their goods.  This may work for some customers, but this is no way to build a downline.  Statistics are used to promote reason and logic.  This will not keep your people in your business building long term.

Politicians have spent hundreds of millions of dollars attempting to get people to follow them.  The modern, successful politician understands his/her people and how to keep them as faithful constituents.  Like a good politician, you must understand the hearts and minds of your downline.  You must understand that you are often the guardians of their hopes and dreams.  However, unlike many politicians that conduct polls and surveys to manipulate their message, I hope you are trying to understand your people so you can help them, not use them to make only your dreams come true.

I believe that there is nothing wrong for people to be involved with network marketing because they love the product and the association with people who make them feel good about themselves.  It is powerful to give people positive associations and new outlooks on life.  You can make money from the product those people buy.  You can be a positive outlook on their life.  And, just because they are not making money and you are, they are not a failure.  You just better be a good guardian of their needs in the process.

One of the better speeches on this positive thinking came from Tony Robbins.  Tony said,”It is ineffective to think positive only.  You wouldn’t go into your garden and chant ‘No weeds, no weeds.”  This is, as he called it, stupid.

Here are some Mandates on Leadership:

1. See problems as they really are, not better and not worse. You are not a leader if you ignore the facts.  Most people will make the facts worse than they are.  There are always problems, that is the nature of the universe, your goal must be to have a better quality of problems.  People make problems worse because most people only give 85% so that they have an excuse for failure.  They secretly don’t have the passion to completely follow through because success requires commitment and they don’t want to commit.  It takes no courage to doubt things, pessimism is not seeing things as they are, it just means you are gutless.  You are sick and broke because you sit on the couch eating Cheetos and watch too much TV.  Whatever you believe in spiritually, you will live.  Fix your problems, do not wish them away and your life will get better.
2. If I have to prove it to you, you are not the right person. You are looking not to convert people, but you are looking to have people who already have some standard of leadership to see things as they really are.  There are cycles of times.  Winter follows Fall.  Some people freeze in the winter, others go skiing.  Arguing that it should not be winter is silly.  Take advantage of it and make your story positive.  History shows that many people make some of the most money during hard times.
3. Pessimism in the marketplace is power. When others buy, make sure you sell.  Don’t panic about what you have lost.  See things better than the way others see them.  Make things the way you see them, not the way others see them.  Work on your circumstances until they become in physical nature the way that you see them spiritually.  Kids do not start walking immediately.  Kids fall down, they bump their heads, they look silly trying to walk, but you don’t stop them.  What you focus on is what you get.  Your desires and motives will be what fuels your life.  Your motives will support life.

~ Andy Tuck

In 2006 I had an important meeting with my brothers.  We had just finished working for another network marketing company helping them get off the ground.  It was so much fun to be reintroduced to network marketing and to be able work with so many entrepreneurs and people wanting to change their own life and the lives of others for the better.

When we were investigating the best model for a network marketing company, we frequently attended other companies’ meetings and corporate headquarters to see what they were doing right.  I continued to do that as CEO of Jus.  It helped me see so much that was right within network marketing.  I have continued to do it even today.  I am addicted to being around people who have a spark in their eyes and who are moving forward, not backward. That is why I want to make my living within network marketing, it is almost impossible to find another way to be around people continually who want to improve.

While working for another company, I attended a Xango meeting.  It was at that meeting that I saw person after person with a spark in their eyes telling me they believed in what they were doing and that they had a future.  It was incredible and helped me want to be in this industry as my livelihood.  I think everyone in our industry would be better if we would admit there is room for all companies that do things right and we quit attacking each other.  I believe Jus has benefited very much from people who learned how to be networkers in other companies.  I also believe that if the industry quit attacking each other and focused on our real competition such as television and complacency, we would be miles ahead and have the respect of more people outside of network marketing.

In 2006 we had a huge amount of obstacles we had to overcome to start Jus, but looking back, I would not have had it any other way, it was an incredible adventure that helped me overcome many of my personal obstacles and become a better person.  There were many times it would have been easy to give up before Aries made their valued investment, struggles to get the formula right and trying to convince people we actually had something different than what they had experienced before in network marketing. However, if we had given up, I would have missed so many incredible experiences with Jus and all the wonderful people who are now involved.

I recently wrote an entry on my blog called “Reinventing Myself“.  I have had some great comments on that article and even more people call me about it.  Some people have been concerned that I have allowed both positive and negative comments to be posted and not erased from that entry concerning Jus.  I have never erased negative comments on my blogs. Although there has rarely been any negative about the Jus drink, when there was, I posted the comments so I could address them.  I think that all information helps us know where we actually are so we can improve.  The comments by Jus IBOs that are viewed as negative by others should be read with interest so that any possible issues can be addressed and fixed.  If you don’t know you are off course, how can you fix your direction? I love Jus, I always will.  I write this article while sipping on my regular morning Jus shake I make.  However, if there is a way to improve, I was always interested in knowing what people felt so I could make an educated decision.

My blog entry “Reinventing Myself” really should have been called what I have today, “Continually Inventing.” Whatever your age or circumstance, we are not bound by the person we were, we can always improve and get better.  When self-growth is a goal, we may not feel we are improving very much, but when you really look back on your past, you will be shocked on how much you have grown.

Dare to continually evaluate yourself and who you want to become.  Have a big dream and take huge leaps of faith to make them happen.  As I transition to a new adventure, I look back to mistakes I have made in this process.  People who feel that I have not said what I should have said, or done what I should have done, I sincerely apologize.  I was passionate about helping Jus grow and if I messed up, please forgive me.  I look at the things said and done to me, some of them have been good, some have been great and some have been discouraging.  Whatever they were, thank you for helping me be where I am today.  My mistakes make me better and I have truly learned who I can count on during this process.  Thank you Jus family for letting me be a part of your lives and I truly hope you find the wealth you seek, no matter what that wealth is.  Just be sure that you remember to live life while you do it, it’s a great adventure!

Jeff

Take a look at some of my favorite moments from the last three years:

The first batch of Jus comes off the line – When the first bottles started to come down that line it was an amazing experience.  Phil and I made the trip to Florida to make sure everything was on track.  You have to know how wonderful it felt to see a dream actually coming true right in front of your eyes.  The air in the room was alive with the smell of Jus as it poored into the bottles.  Phil and I sat there and just stared in amazement.  Weeks and months of planning was coming to fruition right in front of our eyes.  It was incredible.  Everyone should be so lucky as to see one of their biggest goals they have ever set come to life in front of their eyes.  There were so many things that made it possible; proper funding, hard work and the belief of a few hundred people that had joined before we even had a product.

First Hotel Meeting - Greg Belzeski arranged this meeting.  People just kept coming and coming until there was no room for anyone else.  I had nothing to do with this meeting except to say a couple things to the crowd.  The company was brand new, but people believed.  You know that things are moving forward when more than 100 people show up to a meeting that all you did was show up.

Jake Hines is speaking in this photo and Greg Belzeski was likely somewhere making sure everything was perfect.  Jake and Greg are true leaders and they will help determine the future success of Jus.  Today there are many more Jus leaders and they will help make Jus something special for many other people.

Jus Idaho Office – After being cramped in a small office for months to get the company started, it was incredible to start building out our new office in Boise.  It was so exciting to go each week and see all the new progress on the building.  When the walls went up and the projectors started to work it was so much fun.  Having the office with meeting rooms for the IBOs has proven great for Jus’ growth.

Since this time, Jus has opened offices in Tokyo, Taipai and now in Utah.  Each time an office opened it was fun to be a part of that process.  It gives the IBOs a place to call their own and a place for out of town IBOs to see as the hub of activity.

I genuinely hope that the current offices get overrun with growth and bigger spaces are needed throughout the world.

I have purchased and listened to many of Tony Robbins’ books and tapes.  I remember when I was first building my Amway distributorship, I listened to “Awaken the Giant Within” over 100 times.  Tony has an energy about him that was addicting and after seeing him in person for the first time this weekend, his energy in person is even more impressive.  I thoroughly enjoyed the three hours he was on stage.

Since I am no longer a part of Jus International, I have been very fortunate to have been contacted by many wonderful people in network marketing.  It has been fun to meet with many successful company executives and distributors from other companies.  It has also been interesting to evaluate companies from an unbiased point of view.  This weekend I was able to meet with Bill Farley and see his team in action at their Zrii convention in Salt Lake City.

In February, Zrii went through a major shake up with their corporate team.  Their entire executive team was fired and most of its largest leaders were terminated when they tried to force owner Bill Farley to sell them their company under duress.  Although I do not have all the relevant facts about the February events, I do know that most new companies would have collapsed under similar public events.  I fully expected to see a dead function and a group of distributors trying to pretend they were still excited about Zrii.  I was completely wrong.  The Zrii corporate team is almost completely rebuilt and Bill Farley has taken over day to day operations of the company.  I felt that the distributors had a legitimate excitement about the rebirth of their company.  I was impressed how fast Bill Farley and his new team have regrouped.  Zrii is not going away and it seems to have passed the initial major test of adversity it was faced with that would have killed most network marketing companies.

Since I was at the meeting as an outsider looking in, I wanted to get a feel for where Zrii really was in an unbiased manner.  On Thursday Zrii had a mixer where the corporate team made brief introductions but much of the time Zrii distributors just talked to each other.  I walked around and heard very positive comments about the new direction.  In about an hour of observing, I only heard one group talking about how negative the February incident was on their group.  The rest of the mixer was upbeat and lively.

Zrii’s convention had the structure of a regular MLM large meeting, but their guest speakers seemed much different than the regular network marketing event, it was very refreshing.  From Chopra to Robbins, the message was unique and frankly quite enjoyable.  Robbins was truly electric and with his ability to speak frankly, he made the meeting much more than your typical network marketing message.

Robbins is a friend of Farley and is obviously aware of February’s events.  A couple ideas from his speech:

• People have been screwing each other in business as long as business has existed.  However, Bill would rather die than give up.
• Positive thinking is not something I believe in.  I believe in action.  It does no good to walk into your garden and chant, “No weeds, no weeds.  This is BS and it does not work.”
• You are not a leader if you ignore the facts.
• See the facts as they are, and make the situation better.
• When you love what you do, time disappears.
• There are patterns that make you succeed, fail, and create despair.  Just recognize the patterns and change your life.

Zrii pulled out their wallet to make this function a success for their company and distributors.  I spoke with Bill Farley for over two hours and I am impressed with his vision for the Zrii brand and company.  Having been to many meetings in my 10 years of network marketing, this function was a great investment for Bill Farley and his team.  If the Zrii nay sayers (and yes I was one of them before this weekend) take a non biased look at was is going on in Zrii, they will likely be impressed with how they have recovered so quickly.

I received a great email from Palo Alto software today and I thought I would pass on some of it.  It is very applicable to our efforts each day with prospects.

Stories are important — they remind us what’s possible

People overuse the phrase “never in my wildest dreams.” Especially when it comes to starting a business. The truth is, we entrepreneurs are all dreamers at heart.

Back in the ’80s, I gave up a lucrative consulting practice to start a software company on a shoestring budget. I believed in the usefulness of software in business planning, and nobody was doing it right. Now, did I expect that original product to grow into the world’s best-selling business plan software, and eventually to become the flagship product of a much larger Palo Alto Software? Not exactly. But I’d be lying if I said the thought never crossed my mind. We dream it, then we try to do it.

That’s why sharing our stories is so important. Starting a business — or growing an existing one — is hard work. And it’s risky. And it takes a particular mix of bravery and optimism. Hearing about others who have made the same journey successfully is like fuel. It helps us take off.

Good reasons to share your story

• Beyond the obvious, here are a couple of worthwhile reasons to consider spending your time on this:

• Inspire the next great entrepreneur! Nothing energizes potential entrepreneurs better than hearing about the experiences of others who have built their own successful companies. Share your wisdom with the crowd.

• Enjoy the free PR.

• Drive traffic to your website.

For about three years I have worked extraordinarily hard to start and run Jus International with my brothers and partners.  This month I was voted out of my executive position and from the board of Jus. I currently have no day-to-day responsibilities for the company I helped found.  I must admit, I disagree with the decision made by my partners and I was temporarily devastated.  I have had so many people ask me how this happened and how this was possible.  I still search for answers.  However, even though I had periods in the last three years that almost everything was sacrificed in my personal life to make Jus work, I can say that Jus alone does not define me and that I can succeed with our without Jus in my life.

At 37 I find myself in a unique position.  I have been approached by many wonderful people and opportunities.  I can confidently say that I will stay in network marketing.  I love working with people, and I love watching people improve themselves.  Network marketing allows me to be a part of people’s lives and help them improve.  I am not unlike many people in this new economy.  I have skills and I have desires, now I must reinvent myself again to apply them to new opportunities. My path is still not completely charted so I am a bit anxious, but I am sure I can make the new path something special.

Last year I was so busy, I forgot to register my oldest son Parker for baseball.  He loves playing and has done a fine job catching back up to his buddies.  Parker told my wife that he has really wanted to be awarded the game ball by his coach.  However, with a year off, he has struggled throughout the season to find his swing and strengthen his arm.  Last week my 9 year old was awarded the game ball after he drove in two runs, got on base all three of his at-bats and as a pitcher he struck out three in one inning. I was so proud of him because he has worked so hard to get that ball and it paid off.

In 2008, I flew over 120,000 miles and I frequently used Skype video phone to say good night (or morning depending on where I was at) to my kids.  In 2009, I have flown less than 10000 miles and currently have no job, but I watched my 9 year old achieve his goal of getting the game ball.  Reinventing myself is not much different than Parker’s goal of being awarded the game ball by his coach.  I will take my dedication to another level and although 2009 has allowed me a new opportunity to improve and reinvent myself, it will also be a year that will help define my future.  2009 has been a great year, and will only get better.

Doug Wead wrote:

“Jeff Boyle: Founder of Jus, he is included in this mix because he actually built his company’s own networks. Young. brilliant, with a big heart.  No one knows the science of networking any better.  He is the Alvin Toffler of the industry.”

To see what Mr Wead wrote about others, please click the link below:

Click Here to Visit Doug Wead

Network marketing’s main product and service sold today is hope.  We cannot be so naive to believe that everybody is going to make a lot of money in our downline.  However, we can ensure that everyone in our group walks away with more belief in themselves and the goal to improve.  Simply stated, network marketing requires skill, diligence and long-term thinking.  These traits are not embodied in every network marketer.  However, hope must abound in our groups.  The psychological income that we can give our groups of goal setting, life skills, and yes, hope for the future can truly change our downline’s lives.  Frankly speaking, network marketing may not make everbody a millionaire, but it should be a self-improvement factory.  If we become small minded and forget the importance of delivering hope to our groups by dishonoring the trust they have given us, we are no better than corporate America.

Network marketing and multi-level marketing are both used to describe our industry, but relationship marketing should be used more frequently.  I am sure you have heard many business people say, “It’s not personal, it’s just business.”  If network marketing begins to take this approach like corporate America, our industry is doomed.  It is not just business, we are dealing with people’s lives.  When we forget that, we too will see our industry focus turn from people to “just business.”  This would be a shame.

Below I have attached a famous short story by Geoffrey Chaucer.  Do not let greed ruin you or your business.  Develop your people and you stand a chance at having true wealth in network marketing.

Click Here to download the story.

If you are constantly negative or out for revenge, you will be sapped of energy, focus and motivation. The energy you are putting into revenge will be a huge opportunity cost you will be paying in lieu of allowing yourself to focus on the future and positivity. Revenge and negatives thinking is not a formula for success.

Angry, self-conscious people repel those around them. There are poor and very wealthy people that lack confidence or are living in fear. Negative thinking will not fix current problems and will often cause the person to slide into depression, self-pity, and hopelessness.

I have spent significant time recently talking to IBOs who want to focus on problems within their organization, compensation plan, or the lack of Nordstrom type of customer service. Guess what, your public scrutiny will not help you group or make you look smart. Instead it will kill your group. Try having a BBQ or sing some karaoke with some tone deaf friends. You will be amazed at how good that greasy hamburger can make you feel better and grow your business.

I began my sales career in earnest when I was eight.  I loved to buy candy and sell it to my friends.  I made about $50 my first summer doing it.  I was rich.  Today, I am still a big believer in the sales profession.  I believe that people love to buy, but hate to be sold.  Consequently in network marketing there is a fine line between selling and sponsoring, but below are a few tips that may help you sponsor and sell yourself rich.

Six Basic Concepts:

1. Decide on the exact amount of commission or bonuses you choose to earn.
2. You must feel worthy of receiving the money you desire.
3. You must repeat a prosperity affirmation daily.  Prosperity can be made into a habit, but you will need to work on it every day.
4. Invest time every day studying how people are compensated.  There is a law of compensation and you will need to become a student.
   a. Bob Proctor says the amount of money you will earn will always be in exact ratio to:
   -The need for what you do.
   -Your ability to do it.
   -The difficulty there will be to replace you.
5. What are you willing to give up in order to get what you want?  TV is a good answer for many people.
6. You must be the person in your mind before you can actually become that person.  You must think, feel and act like the person who is already serving others and earning the commission you have chosen to earn.

A: Don’t ever give up.

Is that really the secret?  It can’t be that easy you may say.  I tell you it is.  But never giving up is very hard for most people.  Don’t be one of them.

I love this cartoon.  I always have.  I have counseled some people to look at their first six months in network marketing as a learning period.  Whatever money you make is a bonus.  Sometimes it is a big bonus.  However, you must first learn before you can earn the big bucks.

Let me tell you the main reasons people fail in network marketing:

1. They are not talking to enough prospects.
2. They are not talking to the right type of prospect.
3. They are not following a proven success system.  (The right system tells them what to say and how to say it.)

Many people come into network marketing with these skills and a network developed.  Others do not.  However, all the skills that you will need to succeed can be developed if you are passionate about acquiring them.  Just don’t give up before you get there.

Gravity is easy to predict.  You step off of a two-story balcony, you will fall every time.  There is no need to fight against it, or you will simply keep breaking your legs.  Financial and personal success are the same.

I believe that God is so organized that He set laws and processes into place from the beginning upon which all things are predicated.  Any time we follow the laws and processes he put into place, we receive the benefit He desired when He set that law into motion.

Gratitude is a spiritual law that most people forget.  Lack of gratitude is also one of the main stumbling blocks to your success going forward.  Wallace Wattles’ masterpiece gives us insight into why gratitude is so important in the Science of Getting Rich.  Many of my thoughts below were taken or inspired from this great book along with my own personal spiritual beliefs.

The first step toward receiving spiritual wealth and temporal necessities is to convey the idea of your needs to God using the power of the Spirit in grateful prayer.

In order to do so it becomes necessary to relate yourself to God through prayer in a harmonious way.

It is easy to understand that the nearer we live to the source of spiritual and temporal wealth, the more wealth we shall receive; and it is easy also to understand that the soul that is always grateful lives in closer touch with God than the one which never looks to Him in thankful acknowledgment.

The more gratefully we fix our minds on the Supreme when good things come to us, the more good things we will receive, and the more rapidly they will come; and the reason simply is that the mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer touch with the source from which the blessings come.

If it is a new thought to you that gratitude brings your whole mind into closer harmony with the creative energies of God, consider it well, and you will see that it is true. The good things you already have come to you along the line of obedience to certain laws. Gratitude will lead your mind out along the ways by which things come; and it will keep you in close harmony with creative thought and prevent you from falling into competitive thought.

Gratitude alone can keep you looking toward the All, and prevent you from falling into the error of thinking of the supply as limited; and to do that would be fatal to your hopes.

The grateful outreaching of your mind in thankful praise to the Supreme is a liberation or expenditure of force; it cannot fail to reach that to which it is addressed, and the reaction is an instantaneous movement toward you.

“Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh unto you.” That is a statement of psychological truth.

And if your gratitude is strong and constant, the reaction to the laws created by God will be strong and continuous; the movement of the things you want will be always toward you. Notice the grateful attitude that Jesus took; how He always seems to be saying, “I thank Thee, Father, that Thou hearest me.” You cannot exercise much power without gratitude; for it is gratitude that keeps you connected with Power.

But the value of gratitude does not consist solely in getting you more blessings in the future. Without gratitude you cannot long keep from dissatisfied thought regarding things as they are.

The moment you permit your mind to dwell with dissatisfaction upon things as they are, you begin to lose ground. You fix attention upon the common, the ordinary, the poor, and the squalid and mean; and your mind takes the form of these things. Then you will transmit these forms or mental images which result will be the common, the poor, the squalid, and mean will come to you.

To permit your mind to dwell upon the inferior is to become inferior and to surround yourself with inferior things. On the other hand, to fix your attention on the best is to surround yourself with the best, and to become the best.

The Creative Power within us makes us into the image of that to which we give our attention.

God creates.  We are Godlike beings when we are empowered with creative powers, and as creative beings we always take the form of that which we think about.

Also, faith is born of gratitude. The grateful mind continually expects good things, and expectation becomes faith. The reaction of gratitude upon one’s own mind produces faith; and every outgoing wave of grateful thanksgiving increases faith. He who has no feeling of gratitude cannot long retain a living faith; and without a living faith you cannot receive eternal and material wealth by the creative method, as we shall see in the following chapters.  It is necessary, then, to cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you; and to give thanks continuously.

WHATEVER may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains that it is not possible to live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich. No man can rise to his greatest possible height in talent or soul development unless he has plenty of money; for to unfold the soul and to develop talent he must have many things to use, and he cannot have these things unless he has money to buy them with.

How do you feel about this paragraph? Give me your comments below.

The problem that we have today is that the news, the papers and everyone around us is in a state of failure thinking. It does not matter if it is about war or the economy, people are thinking failure. It has gotten bad enough that I can’t stand going to watch the news or read anything on cnn.com. I have had my fill of negativity and the idea that there is no recovery.

There is no doubt that failure surrounds us, but what everyone needs to see is that success is just as prevalent. We just need to open our eyes to it. My question for you is, “What do you do to fill your day with positivity and success?”

Looking to hear from you.

Jeff

Today I don’t paint but I still love to create. I love taking ideas and watching them become tangible. I love helping dreamers overcome fear to achieve their passion.

Maybe someday I will paint again. Today my creations and new partners bring me enormous satisfaction.

This morning I awoke to a chunky two year old staring me in the eyes and gently rubbing my cheek.  For a Saturday morning it was a little earlier than I wanted to wake up, but you can never beat that kind of unadulterated love.  With his round head next to me softly breathing, I began to realize how much my family inspires me.  However, we often work so hard that we don’t get to spend sufficient time with the ones we love.  Balance in life is key, and I believe that money is a tool that can help us achieve balance.  The question is, how do you make enough money to afford the time away from a traditional career so that you can be with who you want to be or do the things that you really want to do? I believe it can come from network marketing as a successful IBO/distributor.

I believe that we are sent to this earth to develop ourselves and others.  I also believe that the world is so organized now that to rise to our greatest possible height in talent or soul development we must have plenty of money.  Nature is always expanding and our souls are destined for constant growth and improvement.  However, to have the time and resources needed for recreation, eating properly and spending time with inspirational people, we must have plenty of money to buy these things and get our time back before we are too old to unfold the greatest capabilities of our mind, body and soul.

Let me tell you some of the things that inspire me:

1. I will be taking my wife and kids to Disneyland next month with my parents.
2. I will be taking my wife and kids to the Smithsonian in Washington DC this summer.  We can’t wait to see the Spirit of St Louis, mummies, dinosaurs and the Hope Diamond.
3. I have my eye on a cabin in the mountains near a lake.
4. I have been researching 10 acres with fruit trees for our future home.  I want a tractor too and have plenty of chores for my kids to do.  I love gardens and flowers.  (Don’t make fun of it until you try it by the way.  It is a great way to get dirty and forget any stresses.)
5. My wife wants to go to Paris.  Don’t tell her I am planning a way to get her there with me.

I have more, but I want to hear from you.  Want are your wants, not needs?  Share them with me below or go to the forum and add them there.

Jeff

Gitomer has some of the greatest comments in the whole world of selling.  This may be one of his best.  The reason why this quote makes so much sense for network marketing is that this is truly a relationship business.  If you want to build a huge business, you need to learn to help people like you.  However, they MAY still not join your business, but it gives you a huge advantage when you first concentrate on them.

One of the best things that Amway has done for years is teach its people how to “dream build” with their prospects.  It was a wonderful concept of helping the prospect think about why they work hard and are possibly looking for another way to add to their income.  It really is helping people discover they “Why.”  In addition to helping the prospect get a reason to do something else, it also helped the Amway IBO focus the presentation on the prospect, not themselves.  People want to talk about themselves, and we at Jus International should get better at listening to them.

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What an amazing view on life.  I hope I can handle my obstacles and challenges like this guy.  This is worth sharing with people.  Remember if you “live properly, your dreams will come to you.”

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Lyman Belnap forwarded this video to me this morning. Although I have seen it about 20 times, I get goose bumps every time I watch it. I am not an opera fan, but his voice is powerful and it amazes me that his lack of confidence made him hide his talent for so long. Paul Potts should be an incredible lesson for each of us to continue developing our talents and never give up on our dreams no matter what the obstacles may be.

The solution…four times more space than our current office.

We have begun construction on a new space in Boise, Idaho that will accomodate the growth.  When the space is complete, we will have a state of the art conference room, media room/recording studio for new tools, additional offices for corporate officers, and a larger area for customer service.  For the distributors we will have a large area with new technology for their opportunity meetings.  It is pretty exciting.

We are excited to be able to serve our distributors bettter each day, this new bigger office is just one way we will be doing that.

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mother, you must come and see the daffodils before they are over.” I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. Going and coming took most of a day – and I honestly did not have a free day until the following week.

“I will come next Tuesday,” I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call. Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove the length of Route 91, continued on I-215, and finally turned onto Route 18 and began to drive up the mountain highway. The tops of the mountains were sheathed in clouds, and I had gone only a few miles when the road was completely covered with a wet, gray blanket of fog. I slowed to a crawl, my heart pounding. The road becomes narrow and winding toward the top of the mountain.

As I executed the hazardous turns at a snail’s pace, I was praying to reach the turnoff at Blue Jay that would signify I had arrived. When I finally walked into Carolyn’s house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren I said, “Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these darling children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!”

My daughter smiled calmly, “We drive in this all the time, Mother.”

“Well, you won’t get me back on the road until it clears – and then I’m heading for home!” I assured her.

“I was hoping you’d take me over to the garage to pick up my car. The mechanic just called, and they’ve finished repairing the engine,” she answered.

“How far will we have to drive?” I asked cautiously.

“Just a few blocks,”Carolyn said cheerfully.

So we buckled up the children and went out to my car. “I’ll drive,” Carolyn offered. “I’m used to this.” We got into the car, and she began driving.

In a few minutes I was aware that we were back on the Rim-of-the-World Road heading over the top of the mountain. “Where are we going?” I exclaimed, distressed to be back on the mountain road in the fog. “This isn’t the way to the garage!”

“We’re going to my garage the long way,” Carolyn smiled, “by way of the daffodils.”

“Carolyn, I said sternly, trying to sound as if I was still the mother and in charge of the situation, “please turn around. There is nothing in the world that I want to see enough to drive on this road in this weather.”

“It’s all right, Mother,” She replied with a knowing grin. “I know what I’m doing. I promise, you will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”

And so my sweet, darling daughter who had never given me a minute of difficulty in her whole life was suddenly in charge – and she was kidnapping me! I couldn’t believe it. Like it or not, I was on the way to see some ridiculous daffodils – driving through the thick, gray silence of the mist-wrapped mountaintop at what I thought was risk to life and limb.

I muttered all the way. After about twenty minutes we turned onto a small gravel road that branched down into an oak-filled hollow on the side of the mountain. The fog had lifted a little, but the sky was lowering, gray and heavy with clouds.

We parked in a small parking lot adjoining a little stone church. From our vantage point at the top of the mountain we could see beyond us, in the mist, the crests of the San Bernardino range like the dark, humped backs of a herd of elephants. Far below us the fog-shrouded valleys, hills, and flatlands stretched away to the desert.

On the far side of the church I saw a pine-needle-covered path, with towering evergreens and manzanita bushes and an inconspicuous, lettered sign “Daffodil Garden.”

We each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path as it wound through the trees. The mountain sloped away from the side of the path in irregular dips, folds, and valleys, like a deeply creased skirt.

Live oaks, mountain laurel, shrubs, and bushes clustered in the folds, and in the gray, drizzling air, the green foliage looked dark and monochromatic. I shivered. Then we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight, unexpectedly and completely splendid. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes where it had run into every crevice and over every rise. Even in the mist-filled air, the mountainside was radiant, clothed in massive drifts and waterfalls of daffodils. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow.

Each different-colored variety (I learned later that there were more than thirty-five varieties of daffodils in the vast display) was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue.

In the center of this incredible and dazzling display of gold, a great cascade of purple grape hyacinth flowed down like a waterfall of blossoms framed in its own rock-lined basin, weaving through the brilliant daffodils. A charming path wound throughout the garden. There were several resting stations, paved with stone and furnished with Victorian wooden benches and great tubs of coral and carmine tulips. As though this were not magnificent enough, Mother Nature had to add her own grace note – above the daffodils, a bevy of western bluebirds flitted and darted, flashing their brilliance. These charming little birds are the color of sapphires with breasts of magenta red. As they dance in the air, their colors are truly like jewels above the blowing, glowing daffodils. The effect was spectacular.

It did not matter that the sun was not shining. The brilliance of the daffodils was like the glow of the brightest sunlit day. Words, wonderful as they are, simply cannot describe the incredible beauty of that flower-bedecked mountain top.

Five acres of flowers! (This too I discovered later when some of my questions were answered.) “But who has done this?” I asked Carolyn. I was overflowing with gratitude that she brought me – even against my will. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“Who?” I asked again, almost speechless with wonder, “And how, and why, and when?”

“It’s just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “She lives on the property. That’s her home.” Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory.

We walked up to the house, my mind buzzing with questions. On the patio we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking” was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. “50,000 bulbs,” it read. The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman, two hands, two feet, and very little brain.” The third answer was, “Began in 1958.”

There it was. The Daffodil Principle.

For me that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than thirty-five years before, had begun – one bulb at a time – to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. One bulb at a time.

There was no other way to do it. One bulb at a time. No shortcuts – simply loving the slow process of planting. Loving the work as it unfolded.

Loving an achievement that grew so slowly and that bloomed for only three weeks of each year. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world.

This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principle of celebration: learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time – often just one baby-step at a time – learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time.

When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

“Carolyn,” I said that morning on the top of the mountain as we left the haven of daffodils, our minds and hearts still bathed and bemused by the splendors we had seen, “it’s as though that remarkable woman has needle-pointed the earth! Decorated it. Just think of it, she planted every single bulb for more than thirty years. One bulb at a time! And that’s the only way this garden could be created. Every individual bulb had to be planted. There was no way of short-circuiting that process. Five acres of blooms. That magnificent cascade of hyacinth! All, just one bulb at a time.”

The thought of it filled my mind. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the implications of what I had seen. “It makes me sad in a way,” I admitted to Carolyn. “What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five years ago and had worked away at it ‘one bulb at a time’ through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!”

My wise daughter put the car into gear and summed up the message of the day in her direct way. “Start tomorrow,” she said with the same knowing smile she had worn for most of the morning. Oh, profound wisdom!

It is pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson a celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, “How can I put this to use tomorrow?”

Bob Proctor
From Who Do You Think You Are? Discover The Purpose Of Your Life

We saw our dreams start to come true as we filled the Platinum Hotel and Spa with Jus IBOs from all across the United States and as far away as Japan.  To reward many of the IBOs who had been building the business for a couple weeks and to announce the many things that would be coming, Jus International sponsored an event in Las Vegas.  With the Prelauch not scheduled until April 2008, we wanted to give our people a sneak peak of what was to come. 

We had originally planned for the meeting to be for a couple leaders, but as our IBO’s called and wanted to be a part of what was going on, we were honored to have so many people attend. 

The night was incredible with views from the balcony of the Las Vegas strip in the background, our people had an incredible time.  We were able to hear from Richard Durham, Jus Chairman, and Dr Jim Barber as our featured speakers.  All in attendance walked away with an incredible vision of how incredible Jus International could be in their lives and the lives of the people they were talking to. 

Andre Gide (French writer, humanist and moralist, 1947 nobel prize for literature, 1869-1951)

Napoleon Hill