I have been reading the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson.

Actually, I have been listening to the unabridged audiobook version. This allows me to better utilize time spent on routine tasks that don’t require a lot of focus (such as jogging or cleaning up around the house).

Anyway, I’m finding this book to be quite inspiring, and a highly recommended read (or listen) for anyone building a home based network marketing business.

Here are four key ideas that I’ve taken from this book so far.

1) You don’t have to have everyone like to you be successful. Steve Jobs was often brutally candid with his team and the people around him, and offended many, but those who stuck around knew he was a creative marketing genius. He had quirks.

With Steve Jobs, you could be a jerk and failure one day and a genius the next. And, he would tell you so. Now, I’m not suggesting that it’s wise to go out and offend people, just don’t worry that everyone has to like you. In your business, take charge and do what you need to do and don’t worry about what people think.

2) He only wanted the best people on his team. He went out and sought people who could step right in and be major contributors to bringing his dreams and vision to reality.

How do I apply this to network marketing? When you work with people you sponsor, do you ever find yourself getting totally frustrated trying to help those with bad attitudes and negative thinking? Nothing can drain you faster than spending too much time with people who think “I can’t” all the time.

If you are like me, you want people who have desire and motivation to forge ahead and reach their goals and dreams. You don’t have time for complainers and whiners. Focus on the people that “want to” not the ones who “can’t”.

3) Jobs understood how priceless time really is. It’s so revealing when we realize how much time we all have wasted fretting over things and just delaying things we know we need to get done. Or start on.

In his commencement address at Stanford University in 2005, he said this. Give it some thought.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

4) Every year, he would take his top team members and have a mastermind retreat. They would brainstorm and come up with new ideas and strategies. He would then narrow it down, then again, and finally would come up with three ideas to focus on the next year.

In looking back on my network marketing and home business career, I’ve had best success when I narrowed my focus and concentrated on the fundamentals – what matters most. I’ve been through cycles where I tried to learn, master, and do too much too fast. That only produced frustration and failure. Narrow your focus and don’t try to do too much at once. Get laser focused.

There is a lot we can learn about the entrepreneurial spirit and success in business from Steve Jobs. I highly recommend that you get the book, or audio, and spend some time with it. It is quite long (24 hours for the unabridged audio) but worth it.

Can you do nothing for two minutes?

In our stressful and fast-paced world, it’s important to take time to relax every once on a while. This is especially true if you have a demanding job, a home business on the side, a family, along with the many other responsibilities of modern life.

How often have you felt just totally tensed up, rushed, hurried, and pressured during your day? It happens to all of us sometime.

I know there are the exceptional people who are always laid back and seem to function in slow motion, but even they might have fun trying this.

Sometime we just need a short mental break. If you’re used to working and doing at a fast pace, all day long, you might find it really hard to just “do nothing” for two minutes. It sure doesn’t seem like a long time, but it’s amazing how difficult it can be. When you’re in “hyper” mode, two quiet minutes can seem like an eternity.

Go for it – just click the image below then come back and let’s compare notes. Be careful because even moving the mouse just a little bit causes you to fail and the timer resets.

How did you do? When I first tried this, I thought it would be a total piece of cake. I was thinking, two minutes, that will pass by really quickly. What I discovered is that, at least for me, it takes some focus and concentration to do absolutely nothing but enjoy the waves for those two minutes.

The idea is to learn how to put yourself in a relaxed state, just briefly, to help refresh you both mentally and physically. Once you get the hang of it, it works!

If you’re having trouble making it through the two minutes, here are four stress relief tips you can use to help relax yourself before you try it.

1) Stand up and stretch your arms high over your head – feel the stretch and bend back a bit if you can.

2) Sit quietly and concentrate on your breathing. Take a slow, deep breath and hold it for about six seconds, then let it out slowly for six seconds. Do this four or five times. It helps your blood absorb oxygen and carry it to your brain, which helps you be more alert.

3) Look in a mirror and make really exaggerated faces. Stretch your facial muscles up and down, right and left. This definitely helps relieve tension.

4) Visualize a quiet, relaxing place that you enjoy being. This could be at the beach, at a lake, in the middle of a forest, or wherever you enjoy taking a retreat from the demands and pressures of life.

5) If you have a few minutes, go outside and take a brief walk. Just unwind and let yourself walk away from work for a few minutes. Enjoy the open air and just relax.

I like this “do nothing for two minutes” drill because it is excellent practice for learning how to truly relax. I think that most people think they know how to relax, but put to the test, really don’t. I’ve seen so many people burn out because life becomes all work and no play – don’t let this happen to you.

Get started with relaxing and doing nothing for two minutes every day. You’ll quickly begin noticing the benefits.

Beginning a home based business is the start of a journey that can take you far. Whether your overall goal is financial freedom, or perhaps the luxury of staying home with your kids, you should have a personal growth plan in place to help ensure your success.

The business world can be an intimidating place. Success in a network marketing, MLM, or direct sales home business requires a great deal of confidence and a strong upbeat attitude.

Let’s talk about four good foundations to begin your personal growth plan and your journey to success!

How Do You Perceive Opportunity?

There is an old story out there about two Australian shoe salesmen who were sent to the outback to sell shoes to the aborigines. After a time, both men reported in with their progress.

The first salesman said “There is no business potential here, the natives don’t wear shoes“.

The second salesman said “Tremendous sales opportunity here – the natives don’t wear shoes“.

Do you tend to see the glass as half full or half empty? If someone is already using a product similar to yours, do you see it as a waste of time to approach them (they already have a product like this) or as a great opportunity (they like this type of product and will love mine)? It’s all in how you look at it.

Learn to Rebound and Bounce Back

What happens when you slip on a trampoline and fall on your behind? You let the natural springiness of the mat help bounce you back up so you can continue jumping.

Success in business is like that. There will be times when many people in a row will reject your product or opportunity, and you’ll tend to feel down and depressed about it. You have to learn to bounce up and keep going.

Believe in your business opportunity and realize that most people you approach will not be interested right now. It isn’t the right time for them. Rebound and keep looking – each “no” gets you closer to the next “yes”. It really does.

Take Time to Work on You

A big part of your personal growth plan will be to make a commitment. A commitment to constantly work on you.

Are you getting better and moving forward every day? Do you start your morning fired up and ready to go to work in your business? Have you set down goals and dreams and committed to achieving them?

Go the extra mile every day. Make one more presentation, call one more prospect, do more than you thought you could that day. Constantly work on you and strive for improvements each day.

Absolutely Be the Best and Overdeliver

Today, competition for home business opportunity seekers is keener than ever. To make things worse, people looking to make money from home have many options they once didn’t have easy access to. All it takes is one Google search to find dozens or hundreds of other leaders offering exactly the same opportunity as you are.

Set yourself apart by being down to earth. Don’t sell your business with hype. Treat each prospect as a human being and focus on their wants and needs in a home business. Never make promises you can’t keep.

And…always overdeliver. Give prospects, team partners, and customers more than they expect. Success in network marketing is a numbers game in many respects, but once you get that prospect or new business partner, it gets personal. You promised great support, give it. You promised to help them achieve success, do it.

Your reputation for giving and exceeding expectations will spread and your success will explode as a result. Make sure you emphasize this as you put together your personal growth plan for the long term.

Dream crushers are out there hiding behind the scenes, just waiting for someone like you to inspire them to action.

You’ve started a home business because you have dreams. You have a vision of a better life that you want to create for yourself. You are willing to be reasonably content where you are right now, but you know there is more that you want, and you’re going after it.

When you decide to step out and become extraordinary, to reach out and strive for success over and above the norm, you become a target for dream crushers. If you’re prepared for them, you can overcome their negative influence and move forward unscathed.

There are two huge dream crushers to watch out for.

People Who Envy Your Success Will Try to Crush Your Dreams

As you are pursuing your dreams and striving to become financially independent, people who envy your ambition for success will do their best to convince you that you are stupid for trying it. Some will enjoy telling you stories about a friend or relative who lost thousands in a home business venture years ago. Others will feel self-enlightened and advise you to “wise up” because they want to protect you from failure. They want to be your savior.

Don’t worry about what people like this think. In many cases, they have long since lost all their own dreams and become bitter about it. Sadly, in many cases, bitter people have a deep down desire to spread and share their misery with others. Don’t let them! You’ll recognize this type of person right away. Understand that they may think they’re doing you a favor, but cheerfully and politely decline their assistance.

You May Crush Your Own Dreams

Starting a new home business, just like anything else new in life, will have definite ups and downs. There will be times when you’re overwhelmed with joy, and other times when it seems nothing is happening and all your prospects have gone  and signed up with someone else.

If you are the type of person who tends to get all worked up over temporary setbacks on your path to home business success, work hard to keep perspective. Be sure your goals are well defined, and keep your eyes focused on them all the time. This will help you get past the numerous bumps in the road that we all have.

If you find that you’re temperamental and prone to getting upset when things aren’t going well, work on keeping your cool and rolling with the flow. There is nothing wrong with getting upset sometime, who doesn’t,  just be careful not to let it take control of your business and cause you to lose momentum and focus.

The most successful home business people I know always seem to be on an even keel – it isn’t that they don’t have ups and downs like anyone else, it’s just they are either naturally calm and steady or have learned how to be. That’s important.

Hang in there and don’t let dream crushers take it all away from you. Hold on tight and continue the ride – you’ll be so happy when you start seeing those goals and dreams materializing right before your eyes!

Are you a network marketer or direct sales entrepreneur striving for home business success? Are you really excited about your business but it just isn’t moving along as fast as you’d like?

Do you find that you often put off important tasks you KNOW you need to do?

Do you have big dreams and goals, but find yourself fooling around when you know you should be working or doing something to build your business?

If so, you are most likely guilty of procrastination.

Procrastination is a very bad habit that can cause you to be unsuccessful in business and life, and it can create more stress in your life than you might imagine at first. It is self-destructive and crippling.

Here is a short video I found recently that illustrates this pretty well.

If you’re building a home business, and feel like you’re motivated but still find yourself putting off important things you know are critical to your success, it could be caused by underlying fear of failure and rejection. Many people start a network marketing business but don’t have the confidence to talk to others and promote their opportunity, because they are afraid of what might happen if they do.

Of course, the worst thing that could happen is someone might laugh and say “no”. That doesn’t feel good, and nobody likes it, but it’s something you must get past and learn to ignore if you want to be successful and prosperous.

How do you get out of this habit and get on track? Here are some things I’ve found helpful.

Just Get Moving

With the help of your upline leaders or mentors, create a plan of action and then get started with it, now. Don’t take the plan and try to tweak it or get certain things just right before you start.Over-planning and excessive preparation has killed the enthusiasm and momentum of many home business entrepreneurs.

Just dive in and be open to making mistakes and learning from them. I don’t care how much you plan and prepare, you will still make mistakes. You can plan hours a day for a year, then get started, and you’ll still make mistakes. Don’t sweat it.

Be Decisive

There will be many times when you know you need to do something that is in line with creating the home business success you desire. This could be something like scheduling time to sit down and call your latest prospects and leads. Inside, you might feel yourself churning because you know you need to get it done but you also have a certain comfort zone that is begging you to wait.

Fear will make you want to think “uh….well it’s late and I hate to bother people after supper time because they might be busy or maybe they go to bed early…so I’ll wait and do this at a better time tomorrow“…or whatever. You’ll know, deep inside, that this is wrong when you’re thinking it. Be decisive, sit down in a quiet place, and get it done.

Don’t let putting things off keep you from achieving the home business success you deserve. When you experience it, you’ll recognize it. Do all you can to overcome it. It will make a huge difference in your life.

Are you stepping gingerly forward with your network marketing business, and looking back at the same time? This is a home business scenario that is all too familiar.

It’s easy to get excited about an income opportunity, sign up, mentally keep your options open, and “give it a try”. Then, a few weeks later, maybe move on to something else.

Sometime, when success doesn’t come as quickly as expected, it’s just human nature to back off and look for something different that’s perceived as a better option.

I believe that for a real shot at success in this business, you must choose a solid opportunity that you’re happy with, then start moving forward with it and don’t look back. Honestly, even the most exciting network marketing business with the most pleasing products can begin to feel “undoable” after a few dozen “no” responses or perceived rejections.

Many people start MLM businesses because they want to leave their job, stay home with their kids, build up for retirement, or whatever reason. If the motivation is strong (as it must be), then why would anyone give up and quit doing something with such potential, only to remain in the situation that motivated them to start the business in the first place?

The key in many cases is the actual strength and depth of the motivation. Strong motivation with a truly meaningful “why”, combined with a laser focus and a “don’t look back” mentality, can get you there. If the motivation is more of a wish than a passion, it likely won’t be strong enough to push you through the tough times that we all encounter as we build our businesses.

Be sure you have the right motivation and why for building up a profitable network marketing business, then:

• get laser focused

• become a student

• don’t look back

Attend all the training events you can (online and offline) and never miss an opportunity to learn and grow. Emulate the success of your upline leaders. Contact those who have incomes and lifestyles like you desire, and find out how they got there. Just figure out how to do what you need to do. This is how you make it happen.

I received an email today with some interesting thoughts that I’d like to share. Whether someone is involved in network marketing or some other type of home business there is almost always one clear objective – to achieve prosperity and make money.

Whether you actually make money or not depends on many things, including your motivation and dedication to doing what it takes to drive success in your business. Do you sometime feel that you’re jumping from one approach to another, trying to find something that will actually take off and make money for you?

The key to prosperity in a home business is knowing what you want, sticking with something,  and understanding that ongoing self development and personal growth is a huge part of what it takes to be successful. Just blindly charging forward trying all different ways to make a buck won’t get you far. There must be a purpose and a plan.

Why do I call this the “hidden” key to prosperity in a home business? Because it isn’t always obvious, and many will follow a system or teaching that doesn’t put emphasis on the importance of it.

Thanks for Mike Klingler, creator of Marketing Funnel Mastery, for this. Think about it, it makes sense.

If you’re always chasing money,

It’ll always be somewhere out there.

Stop for a moment.

Catch your breathe.

Develop yourself a little more.

Develop your plan a little more.

Hang out with people who are doing the same.

While you implement that plan and those skills

Continue…

Developing yourself a little more.

Developing your plan a little more.

Continue to hang out with people

Who are continuing to do the same.

That makes you more valuable.

That’s when the money comes to you.

Keep chasing it and you’re just bait for the hype.

He’s talking in part about a trap that a lot of people fall into. In an effort to make money, they are easily persuaded by slick ad copy that promises an easy way to make big money automatically, or with minimal effort. It is so easy to fall into this trap of chasing easy money because the Internet is full of pitches, offers, and systems that promise a shortcut to wealth and prosperity.

Don’t believe the hype. Get yourself together, think about who you are and what you have to offer others, and develop a plan that puts “you” out there. Make friends, connect, be genuine. This is where wealth and prosperity begins.

Just posted by Doug Firebaugh on Facebook this afternoon…wanted to share…excellent insight into how to conquer that fear of rejection that most everyone feels at some point…

If you’re in a home business where you approach and interact with others, such as network marketing or direct sales, you’ve surely experienced this.

Anyway, Doug has some great tips here. Enjoy!

Don’t remember where I got this, don’t think i wrote it, but it is a Rocking Hot post on Conquering The Core of Rejection.

Whether it is a home business or a social media marketing campaign, these are GREAT Strategies and tactics to overcome Rejection.

Hope it helps!

The Secret to Conquering fear of rejection is Get to your CORE FEAR!

What causes fear of rejection? (Core Fears)

1) Not Being Approved of
2) Feeling of Being Abandoned Again
3) Doing something wrong – self conscious
4) Feeling inadequate Again
5) Reinforcement of Self Doubts
6) Previous life experiences of rejection
7) The emotions and mental pictures you have to deal with

What are the secrets to conquering rejection?

1) Redefine rejection
2) Redefine what you are doing.
3) See what result you want in your mind and FEEL the emotion
4) Make a list of what you will lose if they tell you NO.
5) Focus only on making a great conversation or a new friend
6) Don’t focus on results- but only on helping.
7) Call a friend or easy call first. –build your confidence
8) Read your “fan mail” and emails to build confidence
9) Don’t care what others think.

What to do:

1) See the phone or conversation as The SEPARATOR. – FOCUS on qualified REAL prospects – quit trying to be approved of because it is YOU who are in the position to approve of them as someone you want to work with.
2) You are not in charge in results, but helping people. – REALTY
3) See EXACTLY what you want to happen in your kind. – SEE
4) Declare what you are in business for and are going to do. DECLARE
5) DIAL the number to serve the prospect – DIAL to SERVE
6) Celebrate the completed effort, not the result- you are not in charge of those.

blessings…doug firebaugh

You see an awful lot of motivational material and training on the subject of “don’t give up”. This is the act of deciding what you want to achieve, then following your dream and making it happen no matter the obstacles.

You hear this so much, is it possible that the idea is overworked? Can it possibly be overstated?

I came across a web page this morning that had a long list of people who overcame incredible odds and achieved success despite discouragement and (often) a lack of substantial support from others.

At first glance, I almost yawned because it started out with the same classic cases I’ve seen so many times.

• the trials and tribulations of Abraham Lincoln

• how Winston Churchill overcame adversity and refused to give up

However, as I continued reading down the page, I saw many people highlighted that I’d read about, but never realized some of the things they overcame in their path to success in what they chose to do. After initially questioning and wondering if the idea of “don’t give up” is terribly overstated, I came to quite a different conclusion.

All of us in network marketing or any other home based business need encouragement and inspiration as we go along. In any business, there will always be obstacles and challenges to overcome. Sometime, it might seem like these hurdles are just too high, maybe just a bit out of reach.

Often, though, our challenges aren’t nearly as formidable as we imagine. Sometime it takes perspective – looking at adversity and achievement through the eyes of others who have overcome terrible beginnings and constant attempts to put them down.

Here is the page I’m talking about – take time to read through all of these. All the points are brief, but have significant impact. I came away refreshed and ready to roll. I believe you’ll come away refreshed as well, and further inspired to achieve greatness in whatever you desire!

http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/efficacynotgiveup.html

Have you read “The Greatest Networker in the World” by John Milton Fogg?

This book is the story of a network marketer who has become frustrated with his business, and is thinking about giving it all up. Quitting. How many of us have been in that position?

Anyway, he meets an older and wiser network marketer (also wealthier, I might add) who invites him to his home so they can put their heads together and come up with just what it takes to be successful and prosperous with a network marketing business.

The discussion turns out to be anything but what the young networker was expecting. No mechanics on how to make presentations, no instruction on what to say to prospects. Rather, he is given the real key to success in network marketing – knowing yourself, what you want, and why you want it.

The principles revealed in this book apply to any home business, as well as success in life in general.

At any rate, an excellent read and John gives it away free as an ebook or audiobook – so go pay a visit to http://www.greatestnetworker.com and click the link up top for the book. Well worth your time.