How Network Marketing Made Me Better

The business of Network Marketing is a mental health clinician's dream! This sounds extremely odd of a statement but when you examine what's involved in the industry you begin to realize that the process of growing such a business is nothing short of a very long and very intense therapy session with yourself.  In fact, I bet 99% of people "quit" their Network Marketing business (or any business endeavor) just for this reason alone. Now, I'm not saying it's right or wrong to quit. There's no judgment here. Just as it's neither wrong or right to be in therapy your whole life (some will argue this point, I know...but work with me). There are some people who choose to be in therapy for a majority of their life, not because they have some great "mental illness" but because they simply want to get better. Become better versions of themselves. It's the small percentage of people who want to be self-actualized and what a beautiful thing that is. In two short years after starting my Network Marketing business, I've become a better version of myself. Here's how...

#1. It changed my relationship with Abundance. Before Network Marketing I had a million misconceptions about what it meant to have money...a lot of money. Thinking about acquiring a large sum of money actually made me anxious. Sounds terrible doesn't it? Sit for a moment and think about getting a $20,000 check in the mail...what feelings does it bring up for you? What would you do with it?!? Specifically, what would you do? See, we are so used to just going from check to check to pay bills and obtain the necessities, that we have yet to create a real plan, in our minds (and on paper) for how exactly we would use money as a tool for progress. In fact, most people say that if they win the lotto, the first thing they would do is give some away to family and friends or spent it on fancy material things.   MOST people do not say, INVEST and pay off debt. It's shocking to me now considering what I have learned. This is exactly why most lotto winners end up broke a short time after their winnings. Their financial situation changed but their mindset did not! I believe my anxiety came from the thought of having more responsibility. To acquire a large sum of money is a large responsibility. You are being entrusted with it, as you are entrusted with other gifts in life. It now becomes your job to ensure the proper allocation and use of it. Thinking about getting a $10,000 check in the mail also raised issues about being "spiritual". How many of us have heard the sayings money is the root of all evil or rich people are evil?  How about the meek shall inherit the Earth or "money doesn't grow on trees"? No wonder most of us are down-right AFRAID of money. AFRAID, I tell you! So how can you really attract something that you are afraid of? You can't! Now, you may attract SOME of it. The some that you absolutely need (and that number is different for all of us) but not the rest that will make you financially abundant. So there was a lot of work I had to do to get out of the fearful mindset and into the abundance mindset. This was not an overnight thing. It was a process like so many other things concerning the progression of the self. The first step was to really LOOK at my fear. I had to really be honest with myself about the dialogue I was having concerning money. It felt like a punch in the stomach since I didn't believe I was really fearful of anything. I mourned my old ways of thinking. In adopting a new mindset you have to GIVE UP your old one and no matter how outdated and unhelpful your old one is, it's familiar and hard to let go. After the mourning process, it was game ON. I entered into a new phase where I began to re-train my mind. Now, anyone can do this in any area of their life. I started with BOTH the conscious and unconscious minds. I wrote out what I wanted my relationship with money to look like and read it daily. After a while, the new script had been memorized and internalized as new truth. I worked on my subconscious mind (the trickier of the two) at night right before bed. I found an awesome abundance meditation (I'll post here for you to use if you wish) that I would listen to while falling asleep. This started to chip away at the underlying fears concerning financial progress. In my opinion, it is VITAL to work on both parts of your mind, especially the subconscious. So much of what we do is controlled by the beliefs embedded in this part of our minds. To really get control of it, you have to go in through “the back door” so to speak. Your brain is still taking in information as you sleep and so listening to material during this time will start to re-program your beliefs.

#2. I became more financially fit. This goes along with number 1. As I studied my mentor and the masters in the industry I found out very important things concerning how they used money. Before they gave a dime to anyone else, they paid themselves FIRST!  A percentage from every check they got went directly to THEM. I started with 10% and put it into a separate savings account which I now call my "Wealth Account". In the words of many mentors, "It’s not how much money you make, it's how much money you keep." So, this is an important practice whether you make $10 an hour or $700 an hour. It's the ritual of paying yourself first that begins to shift how you feel about money, yourself and the world. Robert Kiyosaki, explains this in his book Rich Dad Poor Dad. His rich dad told him that paying yourself first does not mean to neglect your bills. It means that no matter what bills you have, pay yourself first and if you need more money to pay your bills then you will find creative ways to do so AFTER you've paid yourself. This is really the first step in a series of steps to becoming financially fit but it’s an important one. The majority of people I talk to do NOT do this. They pay bills first and then spend what’s left. That means, they have nothing left to save and are not investing in the future. I know I was in this boat too, even when I was fully employed and making decent money. I was STILL living check to check with nothing to show for it and no savings accumulated.  Don’t say I didn’t tell you! Start NOW.

#3. The ways in which I can help people have expanded. As a little girl, I always knew my mission was to help others. I wanted to do that on a BIG scale. Yes, I wanted to save the world! As I grew older, my dream of being able to help massive amounts of people (and especially children who were suffering) diminished. While I pursued a career in healing and helping others, I still had a small desire to do more. I never imagined that starting a Network Marketing business would allow me to do just that. I've been able to help hundreds of people versus a few dozen in two years which is quite the difference. In doing that, I've seen a reversal in arthritic condition of my heart's desire. I now have hope again that I can positively impact people's lives on a larger scale. This is intimately tied into numbers 1 & 2. See, having financial abundance means you can give back in ways that you may not have been able to otherwise. Money becomes a tool to transform the quality of lives of others and fund projects that can have a profound effect on generations to come. It enables you to be MORE of who you are and gives you the power to do what you are truly meant to do in this world but BIGGER. Also, as a therapist, my audience is limited. Because of conflicts of interest and ethical concerns there’s just a whole population of people I actually CAN’T help. At least, not by talk therapy. My Network Marketing business has allowed me to offer something of great value to family and friends that I wouldn’t have been able to offer otherwise, including the opportunity to make additional money.

When I started my Network Marketing business I merely saw it as a way to obtain residual income. Now, residual income is super important, don't get me wrong and Network Marketing is a great way to explore that but there is much much more than meets the eye. Would I have expanded my thinking in the ways that I listed above had I not entered this profession? It's debatable but I gather not. Would my vision for more widespread change be reawakened had I not stuck it out or had I not said Yes, I'll try this 'in the first place? Highly unlikely. These are just SOME of the ways that I've grown as a result of my Network Marketing business. Of course, there is much more I can say about how my mindset, attitudes and behaviors have radically changed. A lot more. But my point is this, if you have an opportunity to grow...DO IT. If it's uncomfortable, DO IT ANYWAY. In fact, it’s SURE to be uncomfortable. If you are unsure of yourself, then GO FOR IT. It's is only by going through that we get over that which we are afraid of. We are here to grow and change for the better every day, whether we are in a therapist’s office or staring straight in the mirror in the comfort of our home. For the betterment of humanity, our communities, our families, our children and our selves we have to continue to make progress and work on the self. Find ways to do that. Find things that stir up new found uncomfortability in you so you can rise to the occasion and develop new insights and skills. If you’re in Network Marketing please know that you signed up for on-going psychotherapy and if you’re one of us people who are just plain addicted to the path of self-actualization…let’s DO THIS !  

In love,

Jen Hairston-Davis