Does Your Family Support You?

It's all too common in network marketing for us struggle for years, fall short of our goals and dreams, and never find out why.  In many cases, we get in our own way and step on our own feet on the path to success. We set up our own roadblocks.

In many cases, those roadblocks are set up for us by others - our colleagues and neighbors, our friends and family, and worst of all, by the ones we most count on for support - our spouses!

Napoleon Hill writes in Chapter 8 of 'Think and Grow Rich' ...

"Close friends and relatives, while not meaning to do so, often handicap one through 'opinions' and sometimes through ridicule, which is meant to be humorous. Thousands of men and women carry inferiority complexes with them all through life, because some well-meaning, but ignorant person destroyed their confidence through 'opinions' or ridicule."

We've been listening to Robert Anthony lately, and we can now with confidence disagree with Napoleon Hill on this one ...

People who ridicule you are NOT well meaning, even though they cloak their comments with sugary phrases that sound as though they have your best interest at heart.

They DO NOT.

People who ridicule you DO NOT intend to be humorous, even though they cloak their comments with a nervous laugh, hoping that no one questions the source of their nervousness.

They are NOT trying to be funny or amuse you.  People who ridicule you ARE NOT ignorant.

They may plead ignorance of your feelings, but be assured that they know EXACTLY what they are doing, perhaps not on a conscious level, but they DO know what they are doing.

They are trying to bring you down.  They NEED to bring you down.

We've all heard the crabs in the bucket story where when one crab tries to climb out of the bucket, the other crabs reach up and pull the escapee back down.  Robert Anthony tells us that people MUST dismiss and trivialize our goals and dreams, because if they listened to us, they would have to question their own lives and think about the dreams that they have abandoned.

Too scary for most.  Better to mock than look within.

Bob Dylan says it best in It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

So this is our advice:

Every time you hear an opinion about your new venture, or a phrase that contains the words "you should", or a joking remark that stings, or any reminder of what you used to be, or where you came from, and how you will never be any better even though you know you can be, or any comment at all that feels like dogs leaping from the ditch and snapping rabidly at the wheels of your new vehicle ...

STOP.

Stop and ask yourself ...

    * Why does this person need to bark at me?
    * What is this person afraid of?
    * Does this person have my best interests at heart?
    * What will happen to this person if I change?
    * Why does this person want me to remain as I am and not grow as I want to grow?
    * What would I lose if I increased the distance between myself and this person?
    * What part have I played in this?
    * Should I have involved my family more in my business?
    * What can I do to fix this?

And then stop again and ask yourself ...

    * Why did I begin this adventure if I didn't intend to complete it?
    * If my spouse is not supporting me, why did we get married?
    * Will I allow others to keep me from my dream?
    * What's really going on here, and how can I fix it?

Tough choices and tough decisions.  Follow your heart and go back to the beginning of Chapter 8 where Hill tells us to make decisions quickly and change them slowly.  It's YOUR life.  Make a decision NOW about how you are going to live it.  Change that decision slowly, if at all.

If you'd like to join a mastermind group to discuss a chapter each week of 'Think and Grow Rich', Napoleon Hill's steps to success, start by downloading this free MLM report.

And to listen to some great ideas for promoting family and spousal support, you can listen to this call.

We look forward to helping you any way we can.

Bob and Anna
http://www.togethertothetop.com