A Message From The Global Partners Group
Blessings In DisguiseBy Paula Pritchard
Network marketing is the most amazing learning ground for life. As I look back on my career in this wonderful profession, I know that I can attribute all my personal development, positive attitude, goal setting skills and some of life's greatest lessons to network marketing. I have many stories, most of them including some trials and tribulations that turned out to be blessings in disguise. It is hard to pick and choose one story from my numerous experiences, but the most dramatic and memorable one happened to me fifteen months into my network marketing career. I had worked very hard during those months and had no significant success to show for my efforts. I had an organization, but we were not setting any records. So my upline decided that my organization needed to set a goal and reach it. He pulled my team together and inspired us all to commit to reaching a certain goal. I even announced my personal commitment to reaching that goal to the whole group. At the end of the month, hardly anyone in my group had participated in the goal we had set. I was very disappointed. I decided I had enough and was about to quit. I was so discouraged, I didn't know if I could take the pain any longer. Maybe network marketing just wasn't for me. Then a turning point happened. My upline mentor said to me, "Paula, if your group doesn't excite you, you've got the wrong group!" Now, you have to understand, that was the last thing I wanted to hear. I had just spent fifteen trying months getting this group together and now he was telling me it was the wrong one? And what did he mean by "excite me"? My group didn't excite me; I was constantly trying to excite them. In fact, I felt like I had a job. I was miserable. I was either going to quit or start over. The idea of starting over was very painful; yet I knew quitting would probably be even more painful down the road. So after a 24-hour self-pity party, I made the decision to start over. But this time I knew if things were going to be different, I had to be different. I knew if things were going to change, I had to change. If things were going to get better, I had to get better. I took full responsibility and left myself no outs. I became 100 percent committed. I was going to make it to the top or die trying, but I wasn't going to quit. To start, I knew I needed people, but I realized I wasn't going to work with just anybody. I changed my attitude: I let go of all doubt and decided I was going to the top no matter what. Don't misunderstand: I was not arrogant; I was strong. When I showed people the business, I told them I was going to the top and would like them to join me, but either way, I was going. The results were amazing. More people signed up with me than ever before and I believe it was because I was sold first. I realized people want to follow those who know where they are going. No one wants to be a part of your "test". When they knew I was 100 percent committed, they didn't want to be left behind. Within three months, I had accomplished that original goal and went on to reach one of the top positions in the company. In fact, I was the first single woman to reach that position in North America with a company today that is number one in the world. As I look back now, I realize how close I came to quitting this profession altogether. Sometimes in life we grow one step at a time. Occasionally we take leaps because of experiences that dramatically affect our lives. I found most of those experiences revolve around trials and tribulations. It takes incredible faith to believe that success can actually happen to you and that all your hard work eventually will reap financial benefits. I now understand that some of your greatest successes come after some of your greatest disappointments, if you just push ahead and persevere. Napoleon Hill, in his book Think and Grow Rich, devotes part of his first chapter to this very phenomenon. For me, my disappointment was a blessing in disguise because it took me to a place I needed to be. Who I am today is in a large part due to my defeats and disappointments. Life sometimes gives you a hard time and occasionally puts you at a crossroad where you are pushed to the extreme, where you are forced to make a decision. At the same time, it provides you with the opportunity to rise to the occasion. If I could talk to anyone who was contemplating quitting, I would encourage them to take personal inventory, to make sure they believe in themselves, their company and are 100 percent committed. If they have that part down and they're willing to push through and persevere, they will be amazed by how the forces in the universe will come to their aid. So, embrace disappointment; it is the universe's way of letting you know that success is just around the corner and it is your time to rise to the occasion. Paula Pritchard, Ambassador & Master Distributor Florida, USA |
