Where Are You Going?

by Andre Vatke

It's a time-honored tradition. Every year, as the New Year rolls in, just about everyone takes time to reexamine the course of their lives. We think about our health, our weight, our financial standing and about the future.

Every year we make our resolutions and we vow that this year we will actually keep them.

Yet we know from experience that the odds are against us. Sooner or later we are bound to give up. In fact, studies show that most people who make resolutions break them by the third week in January. One issue is timing: Exhausted after the holidays, people are not well-equipped to make life changes. According to psychologist Ellen Ostrow, “There is little correspondence between what people say and what they do.”

Simply knowing that our resolutions are good for us doesn't seem to be enough. We know that losing weight and getting in shape will allow us to feel better and live healthier, but it's not enough. We know that getting into action and building our businesses will bring with it better financial health and even complete financial independence, but it's still not enough.

What's missing? Where are you really going?

We seem to envy those who have achieved what we desire. We envy those who are in shape. We envy those who have built strong businesses despite a faltering economy. The key is not to envy or sulk but to study and learn what makes these people capable of achieving what we dream about.

“The issue is not what you can or cannot do today but what you are capable of learning and applying in the future. The bottom line is that you are the only person who can cheat you out of success.”

Regardless of your past accomplishments or failures, you are fully capable of achieving your dreams. The issue is not what you can or cannot do today but what you are capable of learning and applying in the future. The bottom line is that you are the only person who can cheat you out of success. And you can only do this when you give up.

People who achieve their goals know that nothing will be handed to them on a silver plate. Diet products the world over promise fast results with low effort. Anyone who has every tried a diet product for more than a month knows that there's a little more to losing weight and keeping it off it than that. Some people realize this and take the other actions needed to achieve results; namely they exercise and watch their caloric intake - they make a lifestyle change. The diet product can help in achieving results but it's not a magic solution. Yet many people assume that when a diet product fails, it's the fault of the diet product. And so, like misguided children, they move from one diet product to the next looking for a solution that doesn't exist.

Success in network marketing is no different. People often look to a product or "system" to solve all of their marketing problems and deliver success. It pains me how many times I hear people blame others, their leads, their products, their company, their upline, for their failure. But that's human nature isn't it? We always blame ourselves last. And that may be the real difference between those who achieve their dreams and goals and those who don't.

Achievers take responsibility for their own actions. By doing that, they know that they are the ones that need to change. If they feel unmotivated, they don't blame their upline, product or service. Instead they figure out how to get motivated. If they have trouble getting into action, they learn how to schedule and prioritize. They don't make excuses. If they fear talking to prospects, they learn how prospects think, what they expect and how to build rapport. If they have trouble with technology they read a book or take a class to overcome it.

Taking responsibility for your own actions leaves you in control. It empowers you to become the master of your own destiny. This doesn't mean that systems won't fail or that products and services will always be marketable. Those corrections can be made at any time. But before you look outside yourself for the problem, always look to yourself first. What could you do differently, what could you learn that could solve the problem. Then go out and do it.

As you make changes in your life, realize that change can be difficult. No matter what changes you are trying to make, research indicates that you must maintain positive action for at least three to six months before reaching anything close to stability - before it becomes a part of “the new you.” Before stability, the danger always exists of relapsing into old behaviors.

Relapse is often looked at as failure. But this doesn’t have to be if you look at it as a learning experience. The mark of an achiever is to acknowledge that you didn’t make it, figure out what you need to do differently and go forward from there.

It's the start of a brand new year. All possibilities are open to you. The choice between success and failure is up to you. Where are you going?

Recommended Related Leaders Club Training Programs:

• The Magic of Realistic Goals and Expecting Success:
  Is there a magic formula for success? Is there some ingredient, a missing piece of the puzzle or some genetic quality that makes successful people successful? What is the difference between those who succeed in network marketing and those who don’t? Find out as Success Advisor Kelley Vatke stops by the show to talk about how setting realistic goals and expecting success can change the outcome of your business and your life.
   
• The Secret To Living A Happy And Abundant Life:
  If you’re thinking that you’ll finally be happy when you make that first million or that you’ll experience a significant change in your life when you achieve financial success, you may be mistaken! One does not need to look very far to find wealthy people that are not happy or those on modest incomes that are. In this program André shares what may be the most important message of all: how to take control of your state of mind and start living both a happy and abundant life starting today.

About the author: Andre Vatke, is an independently certified marketing strategist and has created profitable marketing campaigns for numerous network marketing and traditional companies. He’s the founder of Leaders Club which has taught tens of thousands of network marketers how to create lasting professional businesses since 1994.

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