Push your business to its limits

I was reading a thread on a personal development forum about Dean Karnazes, an endurance runner. He gives his advice for pushing athletic performance to its limits. A lot of what he says is great advice for our business life.

Karnazes says to be audacious. Any goal worth achieving involves risk, he says.

We networkers often get stuck in what is called "analysis paralysis." We find something we think will work, but we want more information. We want to be sure.

So we sit and waste valuable time and energy searching for more information. If that time and energy would have been put up into the process we were considering, we would have been far ahead of where we are. And if we were going to put the time and energy into researching it anyway, why not put that time and energy into moving forward.

Karnazes also says to flirt with disaster. He pushed himself to near death to find out that he was strong enough to survive.

Less than a year ago, my business was near death. I was getting nowhere fast. I was nearly spent. Then I came across this business system which turned my business and my life around. I wanted to throw in the towel, but I pushed through that wall. I took a chance that's paying off.

Karnazes also says to promote yourself. His high profile motivates him because he knows his family income is dependent on it.

We network marketers sometimes look for ways to build our business with a low profile. We think we can stay in the background.

Network marketing is not a sales business, but it is a relationship business. We have to make a name for ourselves. You do this by simply sharing what you know and helping other people.

The beauty of building a business this way is that the more we help people, the more we better ourselves and the more we better the profession of network marketing.

One thing I liked about Karnazes' advice is that so much of it seems counter-intuitive. For example, he eats lots of junk and has cut back on his sleep.

Sometimes we have to go against the grain in order to reach our dreams. To some it doesn't make sense for network marketers to help people in other companies. People in competitive mode look on others as adversaries instead of what they are - our colleagues.

Take a chance. Be an endurance networker.

Steve DeVane
This free e-book changed my perspective on network marketing.