Step 1: Your Vision

My last article focused on a general overview of what I believe (through intense study, personal history and interviewing industry icons) to be the necessities to have any real success in the network marketing industry. As I continue to build my own very successful network marketing business, it is clear to me one of the largest mistakes distributors of all experience levels make: trying to change the business to adapt to the prospect. This is a proven, solid and extremely lucrative business model but it is not the universal answer to each person's unique and personal and financial woes.


For people that are willing to grow; update our personal "codes and systems" to upgrade the quality of our lives. Don't get me wrong, this business model can be learned and practiced well by anyone who dedicated themselves to learning it and commits the necessary resources (emotionally, physically, chronologically) to succeed. The problem is that short sighted and opportunistic network marketers prey upon prospects who are bad situations with promises of the "miracle cure" of network marketing.


A wise and successful network marketing giant once explained the business to me this way “Network Marketing is like a magnifying glass. If you have a clear vision of who you are, personal confidence, integrity and are self motivated and successful; network marketing will magnify those traits and your success 1000 times.However, if you are negative, lack personal conviction and ethics, are unmotivated and of a victim mentality, blame everyone but you for your current situation and have little to no integrity; your flaws and negative feelings and thoughts will become even greater and success will be ever so elusive.


The wonderful thing is that we have as humans the ability to choose our destiny. We can take a fearless and searching inventory of ourselves as people and build upon our strong and honorable qualities and eliminate the negativity and lack of focus and motivation that all but insured our poor personal and financial results in the first place.


I am here to tell you that with commitment to this business and the principles that I will lay out for you anything is possible and in fact success is a foregone conclusion for you. If you are not willing to change the YOU that has held you back from achieving your dreams; don't waste your time and money or divert coaching from those who are willing to do what it takes. I know that sounds harsh but it is reality and once you have recognized it as such and claimed your spot at the top...the universe will bring those things you believe to be inevitable for you into reality.


The first and I believe without a doubt most important thing you MUST possess if you are to have any success in MLM or any are of your life is Having a clear VISION.


One of my favorite authors on the subject of Vision and achieving success is Mr. Richard Brooke. Richard offers the following definition for Vision in his work:


“A vision is how you see hear and feel yourself performing any given "goal". Goals are not visions but Visions are Goals. Goals are t statements of what you want. Visions are statements affirming you now have it and affirming how having it will make you feel. " -Mach II with Your Hair On Fire"


Volumes have been written about visions and scientific research has revealed just how amazingly powerful visions are for delivering results to the one that sees them clearly- both positive and negative results.


Now I know many of you are saying “it cannot be that simple. Believe you have it and then you will...impossible". You see to the degree that a person visualizes themselves having, doing or being a certain way, the human mind cannot distinguish form what is real or what is imagined.


I can tell you from personal experience; my own story as well as having worked with many new distributors in my organization, that this is THE most important step in creating success. For example, during the very first training I do with new distributors I have them create their Vision Statement. I ask them to imagine they have what it is they are looking for in their life. To illustrate their WHY in as clear and detailed a format as possible. For instance I have a distributor who really was hit hard by the death of a spouse both finically and emotionally as you can imagine. I asked her what she hoped to accomplish through network marketing and walked her through the creation of her vision statement. Her particular vision was to live in her house , mortgage paid, where she could enjoy her grandchildren and her weekly bridge games just as she had always done when her husband was alive. I asked her what the house would look like (would she change anything about it if money were no longer an issue) and what her typical daily routine would look like. As I walked her through this exercise, we took very detailed notes of everything from the color f the new addition she would put on to the names of the grandchildren who would play in the new swimming pool outback.


The point I am trying to make is that it for most everyone it is not just the money that motivates them but what they think and feel the money will bring them or how it will make them feel. This distributor later told me that she had never in her entire life stopped to envision what her ideal life would be like in any real detail. Here was a woman who always had dreamed of being able to retire early and spend lots of time with her grandchildren but could not even tell me what that would look like when we got started that day. Sadly that is true for many of us who at some point in life "gave up on our dreams" because life got in the way.


Make no mistake about it: the clearer and more descript your vision for your life is; the more likely you are to achieve that vision. It is not enough to "want to earn a lot of money" as there is no clear and defined goal or vision there. Having a vision of earning 20,000 per month as the leader of a group of 9,000 distributors, who are all committed to living their dreams through network marketing is much better. Knowing how much you want to earn each month, what that will allow you to do or not do, who you can help with your new wealth and what that will look like, what your new sports car will look like inside and out, the smell of your favorite desert in that new Paris bistro and when you will retire ( day / date / year) will all help you create the necessary motivation (self motivation) and positive energy necessary to make these things a reality in your life.


Because we are all different and have different definitions of success our Vision must be our own. For some of my new distributors a mere $1,000 a month is part of their vision. That allows them to quit the part time job they have had to work rather than spending time with yheir spuse and children

For others they want to retire in 5 years to Tahiti where they will spend each winter in a 2 bedroom Bungalow on a particular beach etc. You get the point.


By taking the time to develop YOUR vision, you can then do the math and figure out what type of business activity it is going to take to bring them to fruition. Do this for yourself before ANYTHING else. Make this exercise part of your "SYSTEM" for creating your own network marketing organization. Create your vision statement and amend it as need. As you grow and develop as a network marketer your vision will change and that is great! Making the reading of that vision statement as if it were already a fact and not a goal or vision is the secret to the psychology of achievement. Living your vision in your mind as a reality will bring everything else in the universe in line with that vision.


I have just briefly touched on the science of Vision and Self Motivation but if you would like to know more and achieve amazing results in your own organization, visit RichardBrooke.com

Richard is an industry Icon and amazing source for vision building information and materials.

Next Time: BELIEF

"Are You Right For Network Marketing"

Before I came to Network Marketing I was a successful business owner, had served as the CIO of a 150 million dollar a year company and had sold consulting services to many Fortune 500 companies. I tell you this so you will understand where I was coming from as I offer this advice. Many times throughout my adult life I have been approached by friends and business associates with the prospect of getting rich through network marketing. To be honest I never really gave it a second thought because of the preconceived notions I help about the business and it's people. The fact is that we all know one or two people who were really excited about this new concept called residual income at first, made a half hearted attempt at the very beginning but eventually decided that network marketing was too much like work and gave up before really making any real money. Another likely scenario finds one of our friends or family members treating this business like a real business and building a significant residual income only to have that income cut in half with the latest comp plan or worse yet have the company disappear altogether.

It was for these very reasons that I turned my nose up to the entire industry until I heard something one day that peaked my interest enough to look a little deeper. Much like every other business dealing or investment vehicle I had considered before I chose to do my homework and over the next year studied everything about the subject I could get my hands on. The following is a good guide to deciding if this business may be fore you and more importantly if you are right for this business. Furthermore I have included the absolute MUST HAVE criteria for selecting the right opportunity should you decide this is something you want to do. I cannot take credit for this list as I have compiled the information from many different sources over the years.

These tests are by no means a guarantee of success but failing any of them may be an indicator of high probability of failure.

First, let us dispel the notion that network marketing is away to make lots of money really fast and with no real effort or a "Get Rich Quick Scheme". While there are many unscrupulous distributors and even some less than on the level companies, they are by far the exception and not the rule. Network Marketing is as legitimate a business model as there has ever been. If you still struggle with this core belief than you need to do your homework.

Read what Donald Trump and Warren Buffet have to say about their Network Marketing companies. Check out Robert Kyosaki and Sir Richard Branson and their opinions on the subject.

Research the billions spent each and every year around the world on products sold this way. Once you have accepted this fact you are ready to move on.


Next you must decide if you are willing to do what it takes to succeed in this industry. Regardless of which company you decide to partner with or what product or service you decide to sell, the core principles necessary to be successful in ANY of them remain the same:

Vision: Your why must be crystal clear and ever present each minute of each day. It is not enough to "want to be rich" if it were everyone would be rich and yet that is far from the case.
Many studies have shown that the clearer one's vision of their goal is the more effectively their mind can bring those things to pass. Scientific study to religious doctrine, everyone agrees that what the mind can conceive and believe the mind can achieve. Want to know more about crafting your vision? Check out Mach II with Your Hair on Fire by Richard Bliss Brooke

Belief: In the industry, in your product or service, but most of all in yourself. Although many new distributors start out by borrowing belief from people they know and respect, no long term success will be possible without this most important ingredient.

A Plan: To better your plan and the closer you stick to working it, the better your chances for real success become. The most successful people in ANY industry are taskmasters. They create very detailed daily, weekly and monthly plans and work them to the letter. From laying out your calls and appointments to planning for meals and leisure time, the better your plan the more likely you are to succeed. Everyone has heard the old saying "Most people do not plan to fail but fail to plan". Regardless of whether you use Outlook or another CMS or a yellow pad and index cards, planning your work and sticking to your plan is essential. The reality is the man upstairs is not giving you an extra 10 hours a week because you decided to get involved in Network Marketing so unless you manage your time better, your new business will become just another thing you have to do that will just not get done at all.

Support: You must have someone in your up line (your sponsor) who can assist you in developing your business plan and support you with continued training and advice. You are also going to need the support of your spouse and family because as I mentioned before you do not get "granted" additional hours in each day to achieve your new goals.

Discipline: Studies show that most people who fail at something fail right before they were about to achieve success statistically. That means that even when you want to give up because your efforts are not showing immediate and satisfying results; you don't. When you want to stop making those warm market calls; you don't. You MUST have the ability to protect your brain from the constant bombardment of negative input that we are all exposed to each and every day. How do you do this? One of my favorite coaches and mentors Janine Avila, a well known MLM success story, talks about closing her "ear gates" to protect her mind from these influences. For more about Janine and her proven MLM success systems visit JanineAvila.com


Once you are sure that you have met these minimum standards you are ready to look for the opportunity that will give you the greatest chance of success.

Next Week: Picking the best MLM opportunity for you.