Caleb Wissink, our 7 year old son has been taking Karate for less than 8 weeks. Why is this significant? Because Caleb has developmental delays and has been receiving speech therapy since he was three. Yelling “keee yaaa” in front of 20 other people and walking confidently, yelling his name, age, and school in front of hundreds of spectators and a judge would cause fear in any 7 or 77 year old, especially one with speech challenges.
A few weeks ago Caleb went to his first Karate competition. He participated in all of the “showy” events. He did his best kick, he showed what he knew, he did his walk of confidence (which brought tears to my eyes) and through it all, he didn’t win one trophy, his goal for the day.
Each morning event brought me frustration, not because he didn’t win a trophy, because they were all events for “show”. To me, karate is about performance, putting together all of the best kicks and punches and doing it with confidence. Our business is like this as well. We can SEE people who look the part, walk the part and do so with confidence but if they are not able to put it together, they will not have what it takes to lead a team and to achieve success in our industry. In Karate, putting on a uniform does not make you a black belt. In our industry, putting on brand name clothes and driving big name vehicles does not make you a success in network marketing. Changing people’s lives is the trophy!
Network marketing is about putting it all together; using the tools the company provides for you, doing things that cause you fear and discomfort, and experiencing confidence despite the “nos” that we face each day.
By lunch time, Caleb was ready to leave the event. He was angry, frustrated and in tears. Caleb was ready to leave right before his best event – sparring. In class he was winning matches with belts higher than him and he was confident in his skills. He loved sparring!
How often don’t we quit something right before we have that crucial breakthrough? How often don’t new distributors quit right before that next sign up who could become the next director?
How often don’t we give up mentally and miss the open door right in front of us because we are too blinded by anger and frustration to see it?
As you can see from the picture, Caleb stayed to spar and won each of his matches in less than a minute. He was aggressive, going on the offensive and yet aware of how important it was to have his defenses up as well. He used his best kick, he led with his confidence and to him, it was FUN! Caleb left the event that day with a HUGE First place trophy, a trophy for participating and his yellow belt.
He is only beginning his journey in Karate but it doesn’t matter. He has the skills and a system to help him continue to develop his talent, discipline and to achieve each of his goals.
Karate, like our business, is not about being recognized as the top recruiter or top retailer. It is not about having the best kick or the loudest Walk of Confidence. Those are wonderful titles and certainly to be celebrated but being able to tie all of those together is what will earn the most money and recognition.
What will get you to the top is not the glitz and glamour but the daily punching it out. Small actions done over and over again with discipline, intensity, passion and fun will bring the greatest results.
Kiyaa!
Sounds like you a teaching him well how to stand tall, believe in himself and keep at it until he succeeds. Great recipe for a successful human in any business. Nicely done
Posted by: Susan/Second Income Business | January 14, 2009 at 10:01 PM