When I enrolled in my first network marketing/direct selling company seven years ago, after decades of being suppressed, something within me awoke. For years, I had been living a comfortable and relatively happy life. We had settled into a decent lifestyle, living paycheck to paycheck, where I had convinced myself we had “enough.” We were on the tail-end of raising our three boys, paying for car insurance, college, law school, and our financial future was finally looking brighter. In years leading up to this, however, I’d taken hopes and dreams and shoved them into a closet, thinking they were out of reach, beyond our grasp. Cue dramatic music: Then network marketing entered our lives. For the first time in decades, I saw possibilities! I saw a vehicle to help me dust off those dreams and transform them into reality. Simply stated, I found hope. And like so many in this field, I put my head down, went to work learning and applying and growing, and got the same results as so many who have done the same thing. As I reflect on the journey, there are a few things I wish were more widely discussed.
The first thing I wish everyone knew when they set out on a journey in network marketing: This isn’t going to be easy. Succeeding to become a high level earner in this channel is HARD. The model is simple. The concept is simple. The beauty lies in the simplicity. All that said, it is not easy. One would expect it to be challenging to earn the kind of compensation high level leaders earn, right?
Another thing I wish was widely understood: Most of the time invested by those who have become successful does not yield visible results. A very small fraction of the time we invest does. We have no way of knowing the return on our overall investment at the moment we are making the investment, so we keep doing all the right things, the high value actions, over and over and over, knowing that eventually some will produce the results we are seeking. The small amounts of time that do bring results bring BIG results. We achieve the levels of success we have because we work more consistently than those who’ve not experienced success, for longer periods of time focused on high value actions.
For me, the high value income producing activities can be narrowed to four things. Over the years, I’ve cycled through these as my daily or weekly methods of operation. Early on, I read enough to know that concentrated focus on these items would move the needle the furthest the fastest. I worked hard at learning them and remained consistent in practicing them. None are sexy or glamorous or difficult. The skill and success come from the stamina it takes to remain consistent in them over time.
1. Learning And Personal Development
I knew when I got started on my journey that I knew nothing about business, network marketing, social media, direct selling, etc. I was a talented teacher who’d worked years to master my craft.…as an educator! Like my learning as a teacher, I knew everything I needed to know to be successful in this channel was out there and openly shared by others who had achieved success. I was confident that if I spent enough time learning and putting into practice what they had done, I’d learn to be able to think like they thought. And that would bring me the results they had. Read that again…I knew if I wanted to be somewhere other than where I’d been and do things I’d never done, I was going to have to learn how to think in ways I’d never thought.
2. Sharing The Opportunity
Learning about this business model, understanding what one can gain through building a successful network marketing business gave me the confidence to share it with others. Before I had my own, I learned how to borrow on the success of others. I shared stories of what I’d heard and read in my personal development journey. My belief in the model was unshakable. I knew if others had done it, I could learn, and I knew what I had or had not done had no bearing on what someone else might achieve. So I boldly and confidently shared our business model and opportunity.
3. Sharing The Product
Inevitably, the product has to move. I love the line I represent, and I’m proud to share it. If it was a product or a sale or a great movie I’d stumbled upon and loved, of course I’d be sharing it with everyone. So why wouldn’t I do the same with the product I represent? I have no idea why that happens, but it does! I knew I wasn’t going to be bashful. I was going to confidently share it with family and friends. To this day, seven years in on my journey, I value my customers, take good care of them, and continue to develop relationships and acquire new ones.
4. Teaching My Team To Do The Same
Leading by example is truly the best way to teach your team. Doing the above mentioned things consistently results in the greatest growth, and duplicating that growth is every leader’s focus.
What Have I Seen?
I’ve seen very few people identify the high value actions above, make ALL of them high priority actions, and remain consistent in those actions. I HAVE seen the majority do only some of the above mentioned high value actions or, worse, low value actions, make them a high priority actions, and remain consistent in those actions! It is the difference between being productive and being busy. The majority of behavior I’ve observed in my years in the industry is busy work. It does not contribute to the long term growth, productivity, or profitability of a business.
Let’s dig into what might be causing someone to spend so much time on the low value actions and not enough time on ALL of the high value actions. Is it because one just does not like the high value actions? Is it because fear is holding someone back? Is it because of the lack of skills to perform those high value tasks? Those are questions for you to ponder. I can tell you this: if someone does not change something in their business, nothing is going to change! If someone is spending time on only some of the high value actions but not all, they are probably doing enough to be frustrated and wondering why they aren’t seeing bigger results faster. It’s been my experience that it takes doing all four of those things consistently over time to see true results. And THAT is what is simple but not easy!
Here is the real fact. I am doing the exact same activities now, seven years into my journey, a top producer for years in a multi-billion-dollar company, that I did when I got started. It’s said that successful people do the basics better. I’ll add that we do the basics longer and more consistently, through the struggles, through the times we don’t feel like it, through the times we aren’t seeing the results, through the times we are tired! We remain consistent!
But HOW? How is that possible?
No magic, no special power, no unique gene.
To me, this is the part nobody discusses.
How have I been able to maintain the stamina I’ve had to be a top producer and top enroller for 6 consecutive years in the industry?
Again…simple – It comes from my thoughts and my beliefs. If there is uncertainty or a loss of focus or belief, I can tell you my numbers reflect it.
How Does One Maintain Those Thoughts And Beliefs?
Please don’t dismiss the simplicity of this answer. I can see a direct correlation between my personal development diet and my performance. If my thoughts and beliefs are aligned with where I want to go, the action will be there. When I don’t see the results, I have to peel back the layers and dig into the thoughts and beliefs. Has doubt crept in? Is my belief shaky? I’ll admit, at times it has been. Interestingly, during those times, I can look at what I’ve been digesting and absorbing and tell you it’s been trash!
For real, I had one month in 2023 where I had no enrollments. Instead of beating myself up over the lack of results, I dove into my thinking. What I realized is that I’d taken a complete break from personal development, because I was reading trashy novels strictly for entertainment, and I was taking in zero minutes per day on mindset and personal growth. Of course it shook my confidence, my belief, my thinking. As soon as I got back on my diet of personal development, things shifted, and I enrolled four the following month.
I have seen versions over time of the TBAR way of thinking, and the longer I’ve been in this channel, the more I have seen its truth. Simply, Thoughts create Beliefs.
I have seen versions over time of the TBAR way of thinking, and the longer I’ve been in this channel, the more I have seen its truth. Simply, Thoughts create Beliefs. Beliefs drive Action. Action leads to Results. So I’ve learned to look at my results, but to trace it back further. What I have come to understand is that it’s my thinking that is creating those results, and the beauty in this revelation is that I can control and direct my thoughts. Change my thinking and the results will undoubtedly follow.
Truly successful leaders have discovered this. It is the consistent way of thinking that shapes our beliefs, drives our action, and leads to our results. It is what provides us with the stamina and focus to remain consistent, and it is why the statement, “Successful people do the basics better,” does and always will hold true.
