If you've been with me for a while, you know that I have several business ventures underway, and that one of them is being an independent representative for LegalShield. About a month ago, my mentor in the business, Phil Berger, loaned me a copy of "Building an Empire:The Most Complete Blueprint to Building a Massive Network Marketing Business
," by Brian Carruthers. Mr. Carruthers is one of the highest earners in the history of LegalShield; the book's cover says he has more than 350,000 people in his downline team.
Phil told me that the book would be a quick read.
Maybe it is for most folks. In my case, I started off fairly quickly, but soon had to slow down - not because I found it hard to follow, but because I found it hard to swallow.
My first speed bump was on page 16, where Carruthers says that there are three things required to succeed in network marketing, and the very first thing he names is "having a burning desire."
I had heard that before and had always recoiled from it, telling myself that a burning desire was not necessary, that the only thing necessary was a specific set of behaviors.
I told myself that for years. This time, when I saw "having a burning desire" listed as the first requirement for success in network marketing, something different happened: I questioned my own response. WHY was I so turned off by the idea?
After all, even if it's true that the only thing really necessary to success is a specific set of behaviors, does not a burning desire make those behaviors more likely? So what was my problem?
Once I asked the question, the answer was all to familiar: Fear. This time, the fear of disappointment, rooted in the experience of having been disappointed so many times.
Then, it occurred to me that many of those disappointments resulted from failing to do what I might have done had I maintained a burning desire. So I have gotten caught in a pattern in which fear dampens desire, which in turn inhibits behavior, thereby producing results that confirm the fear....ARRGGHHHH...
Here's the real kicker: I ENJOY HAVING A BURNING DESIRE. It feels GOOD! Heck, it feels GREAT!! Especially when the burning desire is not merely for something as paltry as a certain sum of money, but is on the order of changing the world.
So given the benefits of having a burning desire, and the extent to which the fear of disappointment suppresses burning desire, the next question was, "What can obliterate the fear of disappointment?" Not, enable me to work around it or trudge through it. Obliterate it.
The answer came instantly: confidence obliterates fear. Mega-confidence. Hyper-confidence. Faith.
And what bases do I have for such confidence? The list came quickly:
Discovering that list within myself sparked an emotion that I had experienced too little in recent years, and that I want to prime myself to experience much more of in my remaining years: eagerness - the energizing blend of confidence plus urgency, often topped with curiosity: "I can't wait to see what happens!"
With all that in mind and in heart, the flame of desire begins to stir. There are some things that I really want, dang it:
I really want to establish a passive income of $50,000 a year. Because I want to devote myself to changing the world, not to paying bills. And because I want to play with money, not toil for money.
I really want to enroll 500 people as LegalShield members so that they can to live more wisely, more powerfully, more confidently and more prosperously by having access to a national network of law firms.
I really want to help 50 people to earn $100,000 - or to otherwise achieve their dreams - as LegalShield representatives.
There's more, but I want to define it more clearly before declaring it. And those three are enough to expand me; they're enough to make my flame grow.
*****************
NEXT: B.C. And Me, Part 2: Humbling Myself
," by Brian Carruthers. Mr. Carruthers is one of the highest earners in the history of LegalShield; the book's cover says he has more than 350,000 people in his downline team. Phil told me that the book would be a quick read.
Maybe it is for most folks. In my case, I started off fairly quickly, but soon had to slow down - not because I found it hard to follow, but because I found it hard to swallow.
My first speed bump was on page 16, where Carruthers says that there are three things required to succeed in network marketing, and the very first thing he names is "having a burning desire."
I had heard that before and had always recoiled from it, telling myself that a burning desire was not necessary, that the only thing necessary was a specific set of behaviors.
I told myself that for years. This time, when I saw "having a burning desire" listed as the first requirement for success in network marketing, something different happened: I questioned my own response. WHY was I so turned off by the idea?
After all, even if it's true that the only thing really necessary to success is a specific set of behaviors, does not a burning desire make those behaviors more likely? So what was my problem?
Once I asked the question, the answer was all to familiar: Fear. This time, the fear of disappointment, rooted in the experience of having been disappointed so many times.
Then, it occurred to me that many of those disappointments resulted from failing to do what I might have done had I maintained a burning desire. So I have gotten caught in a pattern in which fear dampens desire, which in turn inhibits behavior, thereby producing results that confirm the fear....ARRGGHHHH...
Here's the real kicker: I ENJOY HAVING A BURNING DESIRE. It feels GOOD! Heck, it feels GREAT!! Especially when the burning desire is not merely for something as paltry as a certain sum of money, but is on the order of changing the world.
So given the benefits of having a burning desire, and the extent to which the fear of disappointment suppresses burning desire, the next question was, "What can obliterate the fear of disappointment?" Not, enable me to work around it or trudge through it. Obliterate it.
The answer came instantly: confidence obliterates fear. Mega-confidence. Hyper-confidence. Faith.
And what bases do I have for such confidence? The list came quickly:
- Other people's experiences: there are a whole bunch of people who have done well with LegalShield, and some who have done ridiculously well. Brian Carruthers is one of the latter.
- My own experience: Last year, I finally engaged in some very basic behavior as a LegalShield rep that could get me paid, and it did.
- The law of numbers: The more people I talk to about LegalShield, the more will say yes. Simple.
- The power of practice: The more I pay attention as I talk to more people, the better I will get at it, and the more people will say yes.
- The help and encouragement of peers and mentors: I am part of a group of LegalShield reps who meet monthly to help each other along, and I recently learned of a weekly meeting nearby.
- The company: Formerly Pre-Paid Legal, LegalShield has been around for 40+ years. If I do my part, they'll send the checks.
- Ephesians: Seriously - how can I believe that and not have mega-hyper-confidence?
Discovering that list within myself sparked an emotion that I had experienced too little in recent years, and that I want to prime myself to experience much more of in my remaining years: eagerness - the energizing blend of confidence plus urgency, often topped with curiosity: "I can't wait to see what happens!"
With all that in mind and in heart, the flame of desire begins to stir. There are some things that I really want, dang it:
I really want to establish a passive income of $50,000 a year. Because I want to devote myself to changing the world, not to paying bills. And because I want to play with money, not toil for money.
I really want to enroll 500 people as LegalShield members so that they can to live more wisely, more powerfully, more confidently and more prosperously by having access to a national network of law firms.
I really want to help 50 people to earn $100,000 - or to otherwise achieve their dreams - as LegalShield representatives.
There's more, but I want to define it more clearly before declaring it. And those three are enough to expand me; they're enough to make my flame grow.
*****************
NEXT: B.C. And Me, Part 2: Humbling Myself
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