Russian Empire
It\’s September 2009 I just landed in Moscow, Russia, it was my first time in Russia. I did not know what to think about Russia all I knew we were growing a big team in Pre-Launch phase and had several committed leaders. As I was patiently waiting in the customs line I was focused on how Grateful I was to have this upcoming experience… So now it is my turn finally I go up to the window and show my passport…. which has my Russian Visa glued to one of the pages. Suddenly he calls someone and the Gentlemen asks me what I am doing in Russia… I quickly stated I was seeing some friends…. and wanted to see the beautiful city of Moscow plus had some business meetings… He then points to my visa and points to the expiry DATE… OMG it shows that I need to leave in 2 days. My plan with the leaders was to stay for 9 days they were all extremely excited I made this commitment, they were waiting for this trip from me for over a year. Many events planned my schedule was jammed pack. Its an obvious error by the Russian Consulate in Toronto. The officer tells me emphatically, he can\’t extend it and I need to leave Russia in 2 days …. I can\’t believe this, what I am going to do, I made a promise. I have come to learn as a leader you never break your promises, no excuses. I have seen to many times leaders who make promises and break them because at the time they want to tell people what they want to hear. In all cases not following through with your promises will destroy the biggest of teams. When Trust is lost more than likely you can never get it back…. The consequences of this now starts to permeate through my entire being, I know if I leave in 2 days more than likely I will lose this team, if I extend my trip past the visa expiry date there is a great chance I get arrested and thrown into jail. Growing up in North America we all are programmed into believing the Russian state is brutal, so the fear is so outrageous now I need to gather my self and focus on a solution. So I gather my bags and walk out of the baggage department a group of women leaders are there to greet me with flowers and a loud ovation their energy is so infectious, it caused a major scene. I could not help but think , the people all around observing this were all wondering who is this guy getting greeted like this by all these beautiful strong women….. As I get to the Hotel I sit down with the main leader Elena and I tell her my predicament, she responds in her broken English \”Joe you can\’t leave, it will destroy all our work the previous year\”. I ask what will happen to me if I stay passed my visa expiry date. She does not know….. Right then and there I made the choice, I am thinking to myself I made a promise and I will not break it, no excuses, I always follow through. So no matter the consequences I will honour it.. The 9 days were incredible( although it was difficult I tried not to think about the fear of the unknown and believe it was major fear) the team exploded with the help of my European leaders Tomas & Garth who had driven the market with their visits, Russia became a monster for us. No matter what the excuse, no matter how difficult things become, never break your promises to your team…. One of the top 3 leadership reasons organizations fall apart. I have personally witness teams into the 6 figures that have crashed and burned.. Our greatest asset in Network Marketing is our organization, always keep in mind it is very FRAGILE even in the best of times….
Making 2013 your BEST YEAR EVER!!!
This is one of my older most popular posts and I believe life changing. All the best in 2013… Making 2013 your best year ever I put a lot thought and effort on my last post of 2012, I hope you know it is coming from a place deep down in my soul!!! It is my longest blog post but entirely worth the read, I guarantee you. Enjoy!! How do I make 2013 my best year ever? Around this time of year I am consistently getting this question. To me the question is really easy to answer but probably not what you expected. To make 2013 you need to change your philosophy, change your Paradigm. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” James Allen began his book with that aphorism more than eighty years ago. As a student of the power of thought – I believe the book is more relevant today, than it was when it was first written. In my first number of years in this industry, I used to think the most important things to teach my people were prospecting and training strategies. But I couldn’t understand why after they learned them, they didn’t do something more with them. Then I came to realize that there were all sorts of mental blocks holding them back. Fear of failure, low self esteem, fear of rejection, feelings of unworthiness, and the biggest one–fear of success. I came to understand that to build a large growing network, it was critical to include a personal development program in the equation. So now, I work on helping people discover and put into action their innate personal power. This is what has the potential to transform your business and life. Thus the reason I launched www.steamteam.ca It’s pleasing to your ego to assume your group is not growing because of outside factors and other circumstances. It’s very convenient to blame your lack of progress on your company’s compensation plan, the price of the products, timing, the area you live and a host of other external factors. But the truth is, you are reaping the results of your thoughts. Your suffering is the result of your negative, greedy or lazy thoughts, just as the blessings in your life are the results of your positive, kind and loving thoughts. This is an immutable, unshakable universal law… You cannot change your thoughts without changing your life. In either direction. Fortunately, you can pick the direction. You follow the thoughts you allow yourself to be dominated with. Program your mind with Jerry Springer and reality TV and you’re certain to lead a life of victim-hood, lack and limitation. Program your mind with the fertile stuff of “As a Man Thinketh,” “The Magic of Thinking Big,” and “Think and Grow Rich,” “Science of Getting Rich” all which can be downloaded for free on www.steamteam.ca and you’ll be walking the highway of strong and high endeavor. Just as planting an acorn will grow an oak tree, planting positive thoughts into your subconscious mind will grow you a Great business and a life, of wonder, harmony, happiness and success. It is common for people to think that they will attract what they want. Unfortunately, this is not true. You actually attract what you ARE. And of course, you are what you think about. The whims, desires and even strong passions you have can quite easily be thwarted by the thoughts you have about them. Last month, I ran into a friend who works as a clerk on the graveyard shift. After our conversation I suggested He visited my training site site. I suggested he read the books on the site along with watching some of our webinar training’s. After devouring the site, he mentioned that he was trying to create a vision for the future as I suggested – but all he could see was cracked mirrors. He asked me what I thought would cause that. I replied that the likely causes were watching too much TV (he nodded), reading the daily newspaper instead of positive books (he nodded again), hanging around with negative people (now he’s nodding furiously), or all three. ‘Busted,’ he says. Like a lot of people I know, he wants a better life, and often asks me for advice on how to get it. I used to give these people copies of “As a Man Thinketh” and suggest they read it. I discovered they never found the time. Then I switched to giving them the name, and suggesting they buy it themselves. Most never get it. They spend so much time in thoughts of negativity – being a victim – they don’t release those thoughts and replace them with thoughts of self-improvement. It’s a chicken or egg thing. They don’t buy the book because they don’t have positive thoughts. They don’t have positive thoughts, because they won’t read the book. You will find a lot of parallels in your business. You need to believe you’ll be successful or you won’t be. But you have to believe it before it happens. Most people fail because they can’t keep this positive frame of mind until they actually manifest success. They start out believing it, or at least thinking they do. Then one of their people drops out, a presentation goes bad, or their first guests never show up to the presentation. They don’t realize it then, but this is the absolute turning point of their career… They will see these things as a challenge to be overcome – or an insurmountable obstacle and quit. If they accept it as a challenge, they build character and persevere. Until they get a little success. Which gives them some more positive thoughts – that build their belief – that lead them to their next success – which builds their belief stronger. They are on a win/succeed cycle. If they view the situation as an insurmountable obstacle, subconsciously they will look for validation to fail. The economy is