Is your WHY Bigger than the Obstacle? - Two Stories

If you don’t think Sarah Harnisch has a strong reason for what she does, you need to read her Gameplan book. It is so inspiring. It is not about the money – it is about the freedom.

Darren Hardy, editor of Success magazine, gives a great analogy in his talk, “Making the Shift”, which you can listen to on our Training page - he says, if someone offered you $20 to walk across a plank two feet off the ground, would you do it? Maybe.

But what if the plank was two stories off the ground in between two buildings? Would you still do it? Probably not.

But what if the opposite building was on fire and your child was in the burning building and the only way to get your child out of the danger was to walk that plank?

There is no question, you would do it to save your child – $20 or not.

The point is, network marketing offers a huge opportunity, but the money is not what is going to drive you when the going gets tough. You have to know that that what you are doing is life-changing – you have to have a strong WHY – a strong reason for being in the oil business.

Your reason might be to get out of debt or pay for a better education for your children. Maybe you lost a loved one early in life and you want to help people discover a healthy lifestyle!

Your reason might be that you are so thankful for the oils that you want to share with them as many people as you possibly can! 

Or maybe you want the opportunity to be more generous – maybe you are tired of taking government handouts – being forced to eating government subsidized food because you can’t afford to buy real food for your growing family. You want a chance to be on the giving end, not the receiving end of money!

Or maybe you want to be able to quit your job and work from home or bring your husband home from a job he feels trapped in. It might be a combination of all these things! Whatever your reason is – it should be so strong it makes you want to cry.

Your desire to be free should be the “WHY that makes you cry”. It should be a burning desire for the freedom that comes with abundance.

There is another story about a young man who telephoned a successful mentor, a friend who was like a father to him and asked him what the secret was to his success.

The man told him to meet him at the beach. So the next day the young man met him there on the sand in his best suit and tie.

The older man said, “Walk out into the water.” The young man took his shoes off and pulled his pants up over his knees, so he wouldn’t ruin his suit and waded out.

The older man said, go out farther. The young replied, but I have my new suit on! The older man asked him, “How badly do you want to know my secret?” So the young man walked out to his waist.

“Farther out” the older man said. By this time he was wet anyway, so he walked out to shoulder height. The older man had followed him into the water. Farther out, the man said.

“But I can’t swim!” the young man replied.

“Its ok, trust me, I am here – I won’t let you drown, I’m an excellent swimmer,” the older man replied.

The young man took another step and his head went under. He began to panic. His arms started to thrash about and he reached out to his trusted father/mentor for help. But the older man, instead of pulling him in, pushed him under water again and held him down for 10 seconds. The boy was scared. 

He held him down for another 10 seconds. 

The boy was absolutely panicking. What was going on? Had he been tricked? Was his trust betrayed?

10 more seconds. 

The young man was about to pass out. His body started to go limp, but with one more effort he made a desperate struggle to get free.

The older man, pulled him up for air and walked him into the shallow water.

They stood there dripping in the shallows for over a minute. The young man panting and crying. He was so thankful to be alive, but couldn’t understand.

After a few minutes, the young man had regained his composure and the older man calmly asked him, “What were you thinking about while I was holding you under water?”

The young man said, “I was thinking I might die. All I wanted was a breath of air. All I could think about was how to get a breath of air.”

“Exactly,” the man said. “Son, when you want to succeed as much as you want to breathe, you will figure out a way.”

When you want to succeed as much as you want to breathe, you will find a way.

Here is a sobering fact for you: 98% of Americans are either dead or broke by age 65. The above chart shows 13% of Americans have over $300k for retirement, but how long will $300k last? 3-7 years maybe. Ten if you very frugal. A lot less if you are in a nursing home.

Yes, again, 98% of Americans are either dead or broke by age 65.

So if we don’t want to have a spiritually numb millennial pull the plug on us in the nursing home someday, because – well – we’re broke, then maybe we should do something about our future.  

How many of us have 20 years of savings or investments put aside for when we are in the autumn of life and no longer hire-able? 

How many of us are just planning on having our children take care of us when we are old. That’s great. I am hoping for that too. But what if they need help? What if I need 24 hour care and my son has 10 children of his own – and grandchildren.

Let’s frame the question another way. How many of us have 20 years of savings and investments set aside to take care of OUR parents when THEY are old? If that is the model we want our children to follow – and it is a good, biblical model, I am all for it – but let’s look at the realities of what that means.

My point is - do we have a plan to THRIVE in life with our family members – parents, children, and grandchildren – or are we just in survival mode – trusting God will take care of us, with the hope of some miracle happening someday down the road?

Let me ask another question - What other solutions to our financial problems do we have that are better than network marketing? How are your stocks doing? Mine are not doing so well. How many rental properties do you own? 

Are we living the American dream? 

Our ancestors spared no expense - risked their lives to get to America. They came for religious liberty and economic liberty. Is the American dream to work 40, 50, 60 year for a paycheck? The American dream is to run your own business - no? Do you want to build someone else’s business -their dream? Or do you want to build your own dream?

How many side businesses do you currently own? Guess what – all of you own at least one because when you bought your Young Living Premium Starter Kit for $160 you bought a business with unlimited growth potential!

The YOU factor – how much you work your business - is the difference between $0 a month or an extra $1k, $5k, $30k dollars a month in passive income like Sarah Harnisch is making now after 3 years in the business – an income stream that will continue for generations.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of the best-selling book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, says network marketing is the business of the 21^st century - for those of us who have very little capital to invest. 

We can create passive income – residual income - with virtually no capital - $100 a month in product purchases for things you would buy anyway. That is unprecedented in the history of the world. It is the 21^st century American dream.

But it comes at a price! Network marketing is not easy. Most people quit in the first year because they just can’t see the pay off on the other side of the 4 year career.

I am going to be frank with you. This is a hard business. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it already. BUT the difficulty actually works to your advantage because it keeps the opportunity alive.

Network marketing is difficult because it requires us to mature – we have to grow intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually, if we are going to succeed. 

We have to be able to emotionally handle rejection, self-doubt, envy, miscommunication, ignorance, real (and imaginary) criticism, negative thoughts, and a number of other obstacles that will be unique to each one of us because each one of us has our own strengths and weaknesses and our own circle of friends.

But let me tell you something. The personal growth process – the process of YOU becoming bigger than your problems or obstacles is worth more the any amount of money that NM can offer you. The journey of becoming a greater person through this growth cycle is priceless.

There are times I have wanted to quit, but I am so thankful I haven’t quit because I am becoming a better person. I am happier, my wife is happier, my son happier, and I love LIFE like I have never loved it before. It is NOT ABOUT THE MONEY – it is about the FREEDOM. We will never quit, now that I have tasted that freedom. 

Katy and I reached our first big goal of $1000 a month in passive income and our next big goal is $5000 in passive income. I want to succeed as much as I want to breathe!

And I want YOU to be free! I want you to wake up in the morning and smile at the blessings God is lavishing upon you.

I promise you this - 

I can’t promise you that you will make so many thousands of dollars in Young Living, or that you will reach such and such a rank, but I will promise you this – if you continue with us on this journey, you will grow as a person – the kind of person others are attracted to and you will be able to be a light to so many because they will listen to you -because you will be a leader to them. 

And I guarantee that after four years in this part-time business, you will be better equipped for ANYTHING God has for you in life.