Yesterday was a somber day for me. For the first time ever, someone I have personally coached has failed in her quest to start a network marketing business.
How could this happen? How could I be so successful when she was not? Needless to say, yesterday was a day of deep introspection, as I questioned why she failed and how she could have strayed so far from the path I had set out for her. I think I figured it out.
She quit. I know, I know, it sounds like a cop-out, but she really did. In fact, I would even go as far as saying she quit before she even started. She was only in business for 3 months before she decided to throw in the towel. She was even starting to receive some good leads after dragging her feet for a couple months before she decided to actually start. And just like that, she quit. She sent me a "dear John" email about how she wasn’t happy with her results and that was it.
Her quitting was really just a matter of time. If it didn’t happen now, it would have happened 3 or 6 months from now. She would always have some sort of excuse why she would quit. The money wasn’t good enough, it’s too hard, she can’t find the time, yada… yada… yada. She went into the business already resigned to fail.
She had the mindset that she was going to "try" a network marketing business. She gave up before she even started. She still had the job mindset and expected a paycheck even if she didn’t put much effort into it.
I’ll just come out and say it: Success is not easy. It seems easy sometimes when we see the byproduct of years of hard work. For instance, whenever you see claims that you can make like $1.6 million in a month. Are they lying? Absolutely not, but it was their 38th month and months 1-6 they only maybe made $2 grand. Through trial and error, they refined their system to allow their business to grow.
It’s so important I’ll say it again: Success is not easy. It requires traits such as fortitude, pro-activity, and perseverance. Notice nowhere did I say intelligence or business savvy. Sure they are great traits to have, but they don’t amount to a hill of beans without the first three.
When it comes down to it, there are only a few guarantees in business:
- You will fail at some point
- You will learn a lot about things you never knew anything about
- You will take risks and operate outside of your comfort zone more than you want to.
I don’t want to sound too harsh, but honestly, I don’t really want to coach people who don’t dedicate every ounce of energy they have toward success. People like that may make good friends, but they certainly don’t make good clients.
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Friday, 18 Apr 2008 Filed under: Starting Up by Bryan
Thank you for writing this. You exactly right when you say it’s a mindset. I have a day job and I’m in the process of building my business. At some point I will make the transition. I also realize I’m not going to have any chance of achieving success if I quit after three months. I’ve bookmarked this post and will refer to it anytime I’m having thoughts of quitting. I’m glad I found your blog.
Marty’s last blog post..The Life Lessons Of Coach John Wooden
Marty,
Keep at it. Your success is inevitable if you follow the right people and stay on a proven path.
[...] presents Jobs vs. Businesses: it’s a mindset thing posted at The Capitalist Guide [...]
[...] presents Jobs vs. Businesses: it’s a mindset thing posted at The Capitalist Guide [...]
[...] presents Jobs vs. Businesses: it’s a mindset thing posted at The Capitalist Guide [...]
Bryan,
You hit the nail right on the head,success,in anything in this world,doesn’t come easy.Take popstars,for instance,they wax album after album and even act in films.We only see the glamour.Nobody sees the late nights,exercising,recording many times before you get the right tone,etc which nearly all successful entertainers do.
I guess anybody that decides to go into a business should just condition his or her mind to face whatever comes on the way,until you get to your destination.
Hi Bryan,
I have just read your blog and signed up for your book. Thanks for being honest and straight forward. I like that. I feel I am being pushed and pulled from all differnt angles. I want and need to make money fast but I am guilty of going from guru to guru and downloading all the free stuff. All I want to do is get some real beginner lessons on how to find a good product to sell, learn the basics to get a good website and then market it and sell sell sell, to make some money. I have been reading tons of stuff about how to market and driving traffic, social networking, and what to do and what not to do etc. etc. I am not so much a quitter, as confused by all programs to help with all of it. I have read so much that I think I am feeling like I could never get done what needs to be done everyday, in a several weeks of working 80 hours. It is very overwhelming.
I really want to learn by good people but who to choose is hard. When I get into some of these programs, they leave out a lot of the little details that I don’t know what they are talking about or how to do. Or they want more money than I have to get into it further. I would like someone to take my hand and say, do this, and this, and this, and I just keep my nose to my computer till it is done, but now that I have spent a lot on monthly programs etc. I don’t have a lot left. What do you suggest.?
Thanks for your time.
Sue