An Agent of Change

Written by Jeffery Combs

Network marketing, direct selling and multi-level marketing are all terms that reference our great industry. What is it that these terms really mean? What do we do? What do we really get paid for? I am privileged enough to have been a part of this great industry for over fifteen years, ten as a marketer, and the last five owning my own seminar company. My purpose in sharing this information is to give you my perspective on what we really do.

First of all, we operate in free enterprise where there are no limits. We collectively have the opportunity to receive what the free market will bear. To receive more abundance in free enterprise you will get paid for your service and how much value you bring to your company and in our industry what we do is so unlike owning a traditional small business. Most small business owners have actually bought themselves a job with very little ability to leverage themselves.

In our industry you have the ability to leverage your energy through the efforts of other people, thus the term duplication. Our business is not just about products, services, companies, pay plans and how much money you achieve. Our business is really about change. Where do you have a greater opportunity to assist people with changing the quality of their health, wealth, spirit, emotions, and their outlook on life? The key to success lies in the ability to attract volunteers.

Everyone wants to be successful, however very few people are really willing to commit to this process. I believe that success is not a payoff, rather a process, and that committing to this process is where the true success lies. So many people focus on the technical know-how (scripts, websites, right words to say, right leads to buy, etc.) and it does contribute, however the great opportunity in our industry is changing yourself to assist others to change.

I am extremely passionate about our industry as I am living proof of what can happen when you stay self-motivated long enough to finally understand the process. When I starter in this industry in the late 1980’s I was coming off fourteen years of drug abuse and alcoholism. This industry gave me a reason to dream again. It gave me anchors to hold on to as I was putting my life back together. I have been tested in this industry and so will you.

At one point I was $65,000 upside down in credit card debt. I had to put my dreams on hold and get a job at one point after three successive failures. But were they really failures or opportunities to learn how to become a better entrepreneur? I really learned that success in our industry is a privilege never a sacrifice. Is success easy or is it hard? That will be a matter of each individual’s perception. The timing is now, and the question is are you ready? Are you ready to change?

If your answer is yes, then you are absolutely in the right place at the right time. Our industry is seeking leader and leader-growers, and we are now accepting applications! Our industry only requires that you have the desire and the courage to change. Courage is a trait that there is always a market for and will never go out of fashion Our industry doesn’t require resumes, education, royal bloodlines, Corporate America background, sales experience or degrees.

What our industry requires are average people who desire to become exceptional. The least likely is always the most likely in our industry, and I tell audiences all over the world that the more dysfunctional you are, the better your odds. We require doers: men and women who desire to make a difference. People who will stay in our game long enough to learn life skills not job skills. You see, we don’t get paid for time, we get paid for results. We get paid for sharing products and services, but what we really get paid for is developing ourselves so that we can develop others.

Our industry is made up of progressive entrepreneurs who are psychologically unemployable. We are mustangs, stallions, rebels and renegades. We are a collection of people seeking more than what life has to offer. We are out of the box and not fitting in with the status quo looking for answers. I ask people all of the time, “What are you going to be when you grow up?” It sounds funny, but very few people can truly answer. In our industry you have the opportunity to find your purpose. So many doors can open for you here, but you have to be willing to stay in the game.

“How long will it take me to be successful?” the average new person wants to know. This is not a tangible question because it will take what it takes for each individual person. Success is a lot like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder. The biggest challenge I see is that the average person only gives themselves room to fail, seldom room to succeed. In the last five years I have had the privilege of coaching over 1200 network marketers and I have committed over 5000 hours in my personal coaching practice to understanding why most people never live their dreams.

The number one reason more people don’t succeed in our great industry is they don’t stay in the game long enough to change their old conditioning. I tell all of my clients to commit to a minimum of two to five years in this process, and I also tell them that the process does not have to be hard or a struggle while they are changing.

The key to success in our industry is learning how to connect with people. Allow yourself to be creative as an entrepreneur. You have the ability to live in your creativity and to bring your ideas to the free market. You can be expressive, communicative and bring out all of the brilliance that you have been hiding. You can develop your love for people and become an ambassador for our industry. You can become a change agent – a marketer of peace, love and opportunity. When you start to operate from this perspective you will no longer resist the process.

The average person spends more time resisting the process than ever producing and connecting with people. We operate from two perspectives in life: pleasure and pain. That which you perceive to be painful you resist and that which you perceive to be pleasurable you do and have fun. Allow yourself to have fun and I promise you will stop resisting! Have fun and you will be amazed at how many people will want to be a part of your energy! You will start to attract a whole different level of people to your reality. You will wonder where they have been hiding. Your foundation will shift from sand to granite.

I was told early in my career that once networking got in my blood I would always chase “the game.” This has been true for me for the last fifteen years and I feel like I’m just beginning. I originally came for the money, but I promise you that those of you who stay will stay for the feeling. This industry called network marketing is truly a privilege not a sacrifice. It only takes one reason to quit and only one reason to succeed. Your success is truly your decision.

Jeffery Combs is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer, and author committed to assisting people with personal growth and development. He can be contacted online http://www.GoldenMastermind.com or toll free 800-595-6632.

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Jeffery & Erica Combs host The More Heart Than Mindset Conference each and every January to assist you to create quantum leaps to success in your enterprise by bringing world-class speakers and personal development experts together in an inspiring and empowering 3 day forum EVERYONE can afford to attend!

Just watch these live video testimonials, recorded at The More Heart Than Talent Mindset Conference in 2007 for a taste of what you will experience at this event in 2011!