Forever, lets challenge our comfort zones.

Opportunity knocks at your door once, so they say. Pessimists trash it simply because of all the worries and fear and let it slip away as they watch. We all do so, especially when we don’t understand it and many will still do it, even after reading my blog.

Big dreams push us into working extremely hard and many a time we feel stranded especially when we cannot see the road beyond today. We look at our incapability to attain those big dreams and stop there. We magnify our limitations and make a conclusion, this cannot be done.

The journey of a thousand miles starts with one single step. About two weeks ago, one of my cousins and namesake, sent me a message that reads:

“I am not sure if you have heard of network marketing or whether you already are into one. I would really like to invite you and your friends to a meeting on 14th June at Laico Regency Hotel. A very good friend of mine and my upline sponsor is going to be there. He will make some presentations and he will have a chat with you and your friends, and all the other people who I will invite. This is a big-time opportunity and the entrance fee is only Kshs 500.”

I read this once. At the back of my mind I remembered how many people have told me about network marketing and I have never felt motivated, not even once. I quickly replied to her message.

“Can I ask, this network marketing is it the same as that one of marketing and selling Aloe Vera products? Does it require me to join, then look for other people to join then sell the product and the scheme goes on and on, and I think the more you sell the more you earn. Something like that, right?

If that is the case, yes, I have heard about it. 3 people have told me about it. The truth is, I don’t think I am able to do this kind of business. Sales and marketing is clearly not my strong hold, and not my line of interest. I am too impatient and I am not good at convincing people to buy things out of persuasion. This is simply because, I know that if I need something, I will go to the supermarket and look for it. Why do I need somebody to convince me to buy something? Anyway, thank you for your thoughts. I am not ruling it out, I will create time and hear them out. Is that ok? (Note my reasons as to why I cannot do this.)

Not convinced by my self-induced limitations, Patience went ahead to insist that I need to hear them out. “Please create time. You know, I was introduced to this thing back when I was in college, I wish I was brave enough, I would have been very far by now. Looking back, I ask myself, why did I delay this much. And as you will realize, you need very minimal efforts. You actually don’t need to persuade anyone to buy anything. There is so much that you need to understand about this whole idea of network or multilevel marketing. Please plan to attend the meeting and make sure you speak one-on-one with my guy! He will make you understand this concept.”

The persuasion went on and on, followed with phone calls.

The meeting at Laico Regency was scheduled for last Friday at 5.30pm. I leave work at 3.30pm and on Fridays the temptation to go home is really, something special. I struggled with the idea of going home, of letting my cousin down and later explaining to her, ‘you know, I was extremely busy and couldn’t make it.’ I tried asking my colleagues at the office to join me for this, none could buy the idea. Finally I said, Patience, you will be stuck on the jam for so long, so instead of wasting your time and fuel, why don’t you give this thing a benefit of doubt? After all, you have nothing to lose. At 5pm, I left the office.

At 5.20pm, I made it. Looking around, there were absolutely no faces I could recognize. I thought to myself, this is really going to be a long evening. They would better start this. Trust Kenyans to be late all the time, the meeting officially started at 6.30pm. With one hour of waiting while reading one of my favorite books ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff,’ I kept repeating this, “It better be worth my time.”

Parked to the brim, the moment came, and the Forever Living Presentations begun. From the Managing Director, to the various testimonials and finally came the Tanzanian guy, Enos Salema. Young, energetic and focused to share his presentation. At that very moment, came the turning point. Listening to how he started and how far he has come, how he has managed to overcome his fears and now living his dreams, it was quite inspiring.

Getting all this information from Enos himself on a one on one, with the evidence of his financial rewards out of this business was clear motivation and that indeed anything is possible. Fear is and will always be the greatest setback for us to achieve our dreams. Self-inflicted limitations will always be the reasons as to why we can never reach our dreams.

Feeling inspired, fired up and ready to go, I booked for a private meeting with Enos so that I could bring a few friends to discuss how we can also manage to work it out. Your guess is as good as mine, only one person accompanied me in this. Of course, that is all I needed.

The rest? Everyone thought they had better things to do. I could understand this as many people have misconception concerning Network Marketing. “Finally you have fallen for the pyramid scheme Patience.  Focus on your career, you excel better that way or on businesses that do not promise instant riches and you will make your millions. The only way to quick riches is drugs or thuggery. Anything else is a hoax.  Those guys signing you the song have sung the same song to many others. And remember, you are not a hawker” Came in a text from one of my friends.

Then I consulted one of my uncles, who has always been my key consultants when it comes to financial matters.“It is a great business and you can excel in Network Marketing, only that it needs a lot of hardwork. I haven’t met any successful person from this business; they all start well but somehow fizzle out and change businesses.”

Now, that was encouraging. At this point, I know of people who have been in this business and who could show me their statements. I convinced myself, there is no reason as to why I should let this chance slip away. I am ready to challenge myself and see to it, that indeed, I can overcome my self- inflicted fears.

I know a number of people who have tried out this business and came out successful and I know a number of those who have failed miserably. As for me, I am going to go it my way and I am ready to give it a trial. Getting to know about the individual products and their amazing benefits on my body sounds exciting, getting paid to use these products even more exciting and my road to becoming a millionaire will one day be a reality, who knows? Feel free to join me and if you feel quite inspired by this, please join and let’s give it a try! “The truth is, when it comes to money, you are still going to have to take that first step. If you take it now, instead of later, you will be many steps closer to your dreams by this time next year.” Richard Carlson.

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