Thanks to Diamond Matt Warren for sharing.
Wanted to share a few thoughts on momentum, Advo-success, longevity, and reality that hopefully will connect whether you're a veteran or brand new.
- On Sunday our pastor told of breaking his generational curse of the tendency to ALMOST do something great only to get sidetracked by boredom, a new challenge, etc. Seems like a human condition. very few people win this battle, and it is a battle. it's a battle that he and we made a very conscious decision of overcoming. I hope the same for everyone else who desires freedom and abundance.
- Robert Kiyosaki, author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" says to expect 5-10 years of persistence to build a solid direct sales business, and that most people will get either discouraged or distracted during that time, yet those who remain focused on the good thing they have end up winning big.
- We've seen a lot of people come and go over the past 6 years.. we've seen that "checking out" for a few DAYS is healthy and necessary. "checking out" for a few WEEKS is deadly to a business. be careful with this.
- You'd probably be surprised at how busy we're NOT. From the beginning, we've always been consistent with DOING THE 3 OR 4 MOST IMPORTANT THINGS EACH DAY and giving the BEST of our business energy to those 3 or 4 things daily.
- Kiyosaki also says the desire for freedom, not $, will be what keeps a warrior locked in long enough to build up their business. they truly despise others telling them when they can have time off, get a pay raise, etc.
- Looking back on our journey, we were willing to drive old cars and even live in someone's basement for a period of time simply for the chance at freedom. Had we insisted on the cool stuff and sweet rides, we'd have been tied to jobs that would have taken some time and energy from the pursuit of real freedom. Advocare is on track to pay us over 500K this year alone... but the freedom to make choices is what's most important, not the $.
- If you can persist and FIGHT THROUGH to the 50K-70K year solid Ruby mark, you've set yourself up for a "wealth trajectory". it doesn't matter how long it takes to get to solid Ruby, JUST GET THERE.
Notice the trajectory our biz took from 2007-2008, then from 2009-2010:
- 2005: 37K
- 2006: 37K
- 2007: 52K
- 2008: 145K
- 2009: 200K
- 2010: 500K (based on continued avg of 45K monthly income in 2010)
- Charlie Ragus' advice to early Advocare Diamonds: continue to invest in your Advocare business with your time, energy, and resources, AND BANK YOUR MONEY. Translation: keep doing what got you here, don't get fancy with investments and distracted by investing in "projects" and "opportunities". the first principle of investing is to protect the principle.
- Momentum is a precious gift that we've got to protect and extend when we have it, because winter always follows a harvest. the winter could be a challenging time in our business or personal life. how we treated our previous harvests and momentum seasons often times determines how cold, harsh, and long our winter will be.
- If you're going through a "winter" in your business, keep in mind that somewhere someone else at at the peak of their harvest; they're on fire and seemingly can do no wrong. It's key not to blame the program (Advocare) during your winters, because the same program is goin' gangbusters for someone else!
- There are lots of factors that lead to the end of momentum and the entry of a temporary winter, many of which aren't our fault. embrace the season for what it is, don't beat yourself up too badly.
- Momentum makes us look better than we really are, while a cold spell makes us look worse than we really are, so we should strive to be even keeled emotionally regardless of the season. not easily done, but certainly something to strive for..
- The winters can and should be the precursors to our greatest boom times. winter is a time for growth and reflection, a time to recommit to fundamentals, and the time when the priceless SENSE OF URGENCY falls upon us.
- Great leaders seem to have a way of imposing a sense of urgency upon themselves even when times are good. this is something we all must strive for.
