Blog Post #15 - And The Frustration Kicks In...

Well, it's been a busy couple of months and as a result I haven't had the opportunity to post here on the blog for a while. Things have settled down a little bit for the most part though so I figured I'd give some updates to my journey in mlm.

About 2 months ago I felt like I had hit a wall with my network marketing business. It was still growing but it seemed as if momentum had slowed some and I was frustrated. Actually, I was beyond frustrated.

When I decided to become a full-time network marketer I figured I'd have this whole thing figured out and conquered within 6 -12 months (ridiculous I know)! 4 months in, however, and I felt like things were progressing at a snail's pace. Most people know that I am not a patient person and I couldn't understand why it was taking so long! I started to question myself. I started to wonder if I had made the right decision in quitting my good corporate job. I started worrying about how I was going to make this work for my wife and family. Ultimately, I started to shut down. That's when I asked my sponsor if we could set up a video call for the next day to discuss my progress and future plans. I also thought that he would help pull me out of my slump....I was right.

Me and my sponsor, Craig.

Some of you reading this blog might know my sponsor. As I have mentioned before, his name is Craig Lindner. He lives in Hawaii and is a Double Diamond Executive with ASEA. What most people don't know, however, is that Craig is the most motivating and inspiring person I have ever met. You'd never guess by his quiet demeanor but that guy is a hard-nosed but brilliant and caring businessman. He is blunt, honest, and he doesn't put up with crap. For those of you that are familiar with the "personality shapes," Craig is 100% a square. When we spoke via video call, however, he was surprisingly gentle and complimentary. Here are the main points and advice that he shared with me:

1. Remember that so much time in the beginning of building your business is spent planting seeds. Unless you have years of mlm experience and a rolodex of mlm contacts, it takes time to find good, motivated people for your business.
2. It's at this point during the business building process that most people give up and walk away - and that's the biggest and most common mistake people make in this industry. You might not think anything is happening in your business but you have no idea what may come from your efforts later. Timing is everything for a lot of people so even if some aren't ready right now, they may be ready next week, next month, or next year.
3. Focus on finding people of influence. I have some great builders on my team but I got lucky when I found them. I was talking to everybody and just happened to find a few folks that were motivated and wanted to build a business. Craig's advice was to narrow down the prospecting field. Specifically target and approach people that are not only driven but ones that also have influence. For example, people that own gyms, a pastor that has a large congregation, people with previous network marketing experience, etc. It is very possible to build this business one person at a time but if you can get a few teammates that have a large circle of influence and can bring several other people with them then you can really speed up the process. He wasn't saying this was a silver bullet (those don't exist) but it could definitely boost my team.

Now, let me just state that I am very aware that this is not groundbreaking information. People talk about this stuff all the time. But there's just something motivating about hearing it from someone else (especially Craig) and getting some encouragement and reassurance from another person. I felt about a million times better after finishing that call.

A day or so later Craig called me. He told me that he had been worrying about me after hearing my frustrations. I laughed because people get frustrated all the time and it was no big deal - I was already in a much better space. He didn't accept that answer and he told me that I needed a break. I needed to get away from Utah for a while and have a little fun. He insisted I fly out to Hawaii with my family and spend some time with him and the Hawaii team for a few weeks. Long story short, that's exactly what we did. I took my wife and two little girls to Hawaii from September 22nd to October 19th.

On our way to Hawaii!

It was an amazing trip and one that I will never forget. I learned A TON and it completely changed my entire mindset about building a network marketing business.

Details on our month in Hawaii will be included in the next blog post so check it out!