Want to read a great book?

I would like to recommend a book that in my opinion is probably one of the best, if not the best, about how to grow a network marketing business. I was in Frankenmuth, MI the early part of December for their 30th annual Christmas banquet. It's always a great event. Ellie Rogers, who is a long time friend and a very strong sales leader, gave me a very nice small package that was a book.

I thank you, Ellie, as this book has been a gift in many ways. I have read through it three times now and am sure will read through all the highlights again and again.   When I initially read the table of contents, it was clear right then and there that this guy who wrote the book knew about this business. I must say that I have enjoyed it and have learned from it.  

The name of the book is GO PRO by Eric Worre.  If you want to learn more about this industry but also learn some very specific things to do and say, then this is a book you will enjoy. Everyone I know who has read it says the same thing and that is they love it.  Believe me, this is a really good one.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

It's back to the future - a great new tool for teaching and building

First of all I must say that I am very excited about this message to you because it's about a tool that can be very important to your growth for your monthly PV which of course will also have a very positive affect on your income.

Don & Pat Simecka and their team of highly successful sales leaders have been working for months creating a tool to be used for in-home events teaching nutrition.  It is ready for pre-orders and if you truly want your business to grow this is a tool that I know will help you as it's very impressive and very easy to use.   This is worth the investment because it can make a huge difference for those of you who want to teach nutrition but at present don't have a great tool to use.

This is what I'm calling "Back To The Future." Think about it. It's been a few years since we in the field have had a tool like this to help present the idea for Shaklee nutrition.  THIS IS A GREAT TOOL. It's $65 plus shipping (payable via Visa, MasterCard, AmEx or check), and you can order by calling 970-498-9725. I strongly support this because we have purchased one and I know what this kind of tool can do for this business. I have also talked with those who have it and they are truly excited about getting started using this great tool.    

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

How to get better

There was a great article in the Minneapolis paper yesterday about a young high school wrestler.  As a freshman he was the state champion at the 182-pound class and as the coach said, "that is highly unusual for a freshman to be state champion at that weight." The article went on to outline everything this young man has accomplished and he is currently a junior in high school.

What caught my attention was how he talked about making progress and winning his matches. This young guy said, "With challenge comes improvement." This kind of thinking always grabs my attention. 

That is a simple comment but it's about getting better and that is what most of us  need. Plain and simple it's about getting better.

Having a dream and achieving goals is very realistic if we are willing to work at getting better. The suggestion is that we accept the various challenges we all face in one form or another.  It can't be said any clearer than ...."With challenge comes improvement." What is your challenge? Making a call?  Making an appointment? Giving a presentation?  Following up? Being consistent with your effort? There are probably many more things that challenge us.

The question is....Do you want to get better and become skilled at building this business? Believe me, once you become more skilled the business does get easier but it's going to take time and effort and accepting the challenges we may have.    Think about it. Let's all work hard at getting better and becoming highly skilled at what it takes to build. It's worth the time and effort.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

Who are you following?

I was asked if there were one or two specific things that we did that made a difference for us when we got started building this business. We just took the advice of our sponsor that it was important to use the products and be at his home for the meetings, start talking to people, have personal goals and put in the time.

For me the most important step in the process was to attend meetings. Why?  It was a positive environment, a place to learn, to meet people who have achieved various levels, get re-energized every week, to hear the stories how others were experiencing growth, product stories, sponsoring examples,and the meetings seemed to give me confidence that I could make this business happen.   I got inspired at every meeting and as I read on a banner a few years ago, "once a person is inspired they can do anything."

Now here we are over 40 years later and if someone asks me if there is anything they should be doing to grow? My answer is simple, attend every meeting you can. Put yourself in a growth environment. Get around people who are doing it successfully. Find people who have already achieved what it is you want to achieve and take their advice. It's a simple business but that doesn't mean it's an easy business. If it were easy it wouldn't be much of an opportunity.

Yes it takes time. Yes it takes work and what you put into it is exactly what you'll get out of it. Listen to your mentors.   Make sure that five years from now you find yourself saying to yourself, "I'm really glad I worked hard to build my business."   You don't want to say to yourself, "Boy, I wish I would have followed through on that opportunity."

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

If I try, I risk

There seem to be certain things that have the potential to move us forward in life as well as in business.  Making progress is what we all want. I learned that as long as I was active and trying my best, even though I wasn't very good at all the skills it takes to build, I could make progress and get better in the process.

The one thing it does take to make progress is we must be willing to step up to the line and take a risk. 

For some of us it's risky to make a phone call, or to ask for an appointment, or maybe just to ask simple questions, or to give a presentation. There were so many times in my first couple years where it just felt uncomfortable to develop the necessary skills because it required things I wasn't very good at yet.

The answer of course is we must be willing to step forward even though it feels uncomfortable.  Actually taking action even though it feels a little risky is how we have personal growth. Thanks to Sarah Drew for sending me the following.  This is something that many of you might want to print out and tape it somewhere so you get to read it every day.  

Invisible Risk

"If I try, I risk possible failure;

If I don't try, I risk certain failure.

If I change, I risk the unknown;

If I don't change, I risk being left behind.

If I believe in myself, I risk disappointment;

If I don't believe in myself, I risk a life of regret.

Invisible Risk is the risk you take when you try to play it too safe.

Personal development takes work

We hear a lot about personal growth and how vital it is for becoming the best we can be as an individual.

Very simply personal growth means to grow as a person. I recall in the early years that someone would be speaking and they would say that "one of the best things that happens for a person in this business is the personal growth that takes place."

I don't think I really understood that when I first heard it but as time went by it started to make sense. My decision was I wanted everything Shaklee had to offer.   I was like most people who come into this business because I had never done most of what would be required in order to make it work. Approaching people, make appointments, give presentations, follow up, maybe speaking at meetings, facing fears, feeling very uncomfortable as well as being challenged. YIKES!

Of course how we grow as individuals is we must be willing to learn to do things we haven't done. In the beginning almost everything felt uncomfortable and it was indeed a challenge. There seemed to be a lot of "What if...." Bottom line it comes down to being willing to learn and to accept challenges as they come up.   When you feel somewhat uncomfortable as you are learning this business, understand that there were many of us that have gone through the same steps and had the same feelings.

The good news is that as you're learning and getting better and better developing the skills you need in this business, you will experience your personal development. This is a skilled-based business - and that means it takes repetitions to develop those necessary skills. Stick with it. You'll grow yourself.  You will become comfortable as you become more skilled. Accept the challenges. As you grow and start to become the person you're capable of becoming, many people will call you lucky. That's the goal....to be viewed as being lucky when in fact it took a lot of work. You'll never regret working hard at this business.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

It was about a dream

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. day and many people will reflect back on the great speech he gave on August 28, 1963 in Washington, D.C.  It is considered to be one of the greatest speeches of all time.  The title of his speech was I Have A Dream.  Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country, black and white, traveled to Washington, D.C.  to hear this man talk about his dream.

I went online yesterday and read parts of his speech and something I heard a few years ago about this speech came to mind.  Martin Luther Kings's speech was I Have A Dream not I Have A Plan.  He had been talking about his dream in other speeches back in 1960 so that was his focus. People came to hear a man talk about a dream he had for this country.  

We talk about goals, having a process, following a plan, doing the steps and these are all obviously very important as they are more specific and will lead to success. A dream on the other hand is kind of a "wouldn't it be nice if..."  or "I sure hope it will happen." I had my dream start in 1970 when I joined Shaklee.  I didn't know what was true and what wasn't but it sounded good - no it sounded great. There were a lot of "what if's" but it always sounded great when I went to a meeting. 

I think it's a matter of keeping a dream alive. How do we do that?  It's by thinking and talking about it at every opportunity we might have. Talk about your dream, go for a walk and imagine what your life is going to be like in a few short years. It's the responsibility of each individual to keep their dream alive. We have something unique because we have the opportunity to offer a dream to others.  

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

How to get better

This will be a very short, simple message but I hope it will make you think. This thought isn't mine as I found it in some of my old notes a couple weeks ago but for whatever reason I didn't have a name to give proper credit to.

Whatever you commit to is what you'll get really good at.

Just think for a couple minutes about what is it that you would like to be really good at. How about prospecting, follow up, giving a compelling presentation, selling? Maybe being positive. It could be always being a "good finder" and not a "problem finder." 

So the question is, what are you committed to? Whatever the answer is for you is exactly what you'll be getting better at doing and/or being. Getting better developing skills takes practice.  Repetition is the only way to get better and better. You can't get better just listening to a CD or watching a DVD or going to a webinar every week. You can learn many things by listening and watching but in order to develop the skills you may need, that only comes from doing it over and over and over again.

Think about it. What are you committed to?

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

There are no secrets

I attended a one day golf school last week here in AZ because I felt I needed  a good golf teacher with a good eye for spotting some flaws I knew I had with my golf swing. I've been to golf schools in previous years and I always learned some new things and I was also reminded about things I already knew.   This one was no different as I'm re-inspired about what I need to do to get better.

Towards the end of the lesson I asked Tim Mahoney - who is one of the top 100 golf teachers in the country - a question.  I asked Tim if he knew of any statistics that showed what percentage of golfers pay to take lessons or will attend a golf school for one day. He was very quick to say that only about 20% of people  take lessons and continue to learn over extended periods of time.

I said to Tim, "It's the old 80 - 20 rule again, even in golf." Everyone wants to get better but most golfers don't practice very often. Oh, all golfers hit some balls before going out but that is warming up, not practice.

I started thinking about how this relates to this business. Everyone wants business growth. I think everyone would like to earn more every month.  Everyone would love to have new prospects or customers every month. I wonder what percentage of people in this business are willing to put themselves in the proper environment on a regular basis so they can be reminded of what it takes to get better at building their future.

Putting yourself in the right environment to me means attending a meeting.  Attending the annual Shaklee conference is a great environment to be in. Being in the right environment to me means being around people who want to grow and are growing, who are enthused, who have achieved a higher rank. Learning is a life long project. Getting better at selling and/or building sales leaders takes practice. Not just hours but years of practice. 

Do you put yourself in a good inspiring environment on a regular basis? Do you give weekly presentations because that is how you get better? Do you have mentors to learn from? Are you asking your mentor questions? There aren't any secrets about becoming highly successful in this business. If you want to become more skilled, commit to be a life time learner. You won't regret it.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

It matters

Let's start the week off with another page out of the fun little book I have: How To Be Interesting by Jessica Hagy.  This page deals with:

Offer to Help....Give, Receive, Because it Matters.

What you have is worth a lot. Seek out the people who need it. Know what you can do and tell people that you're willing to do it. They will treasure and remember you. Your time. Your talents.  Your compliments. A seat at your table. A cup of sugar. A clean pair of socks. 

The world needs whatever it is you have.

Kind of interesting isn't it. Find people that need and want what you (we) have,   I believe that there are many, many people who want what we have to offer and we're probably around them every day in our daily living routines. It's all a matter of being bold, and of course having the strong belief that people in fact do want what we have to offer.    Suggestion: find two or more people a day for this week that want and need what you have.  

It starts with believing that our products do in fact have huge potential to make a difference. It is also a fact that we have a compensation plan that also has huge potential to help people. If you believe it why not decide to be step up and offer to help a few people this week because as it says, it matters.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

What matters most for you?

I wonder what would happen to us and/or our business and future if we really paid attention to what really matters most for us? What if we were disciplined enough to do something every day that to us could make a huge difference eventually? Would it be easy?  Probably not. If we're always looking for easy and avoiding challenges I think it would be incredibly difficult to make progress - in anything.

"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Think about it and have a great weekend.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

So what if they...

I found this book titled How To Be Interesting, by Jessica Hagy.  The title kind of intrigued me and compelled me to look through it and it seemed like something that would be fun to read so I bought it a few weeks ago. So today I want to share what is on one page of this very fun little book.

Have No Shame

Sing badly and loudly.

Skip down the street.

Go to that open mic night.

Un-censor your personality.

More people will smile than laugh.

And if they laugh, that's their sad problem.

I've read this a few times this morning and each time it makes me think about our business. I know for a fact that many of us don't do things we want to do, or we don't talk to people we want to talk to about the business or the products because, what will they say? What will they think? Will they laugh or criticize?

Talk to everyone.  Be bold.  Have fun.  Build your future. Smile!

As it says, "if they laugh, that's their sad problem."

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke 

The future is now

One thing I've learned to accept and appreciate is the idea that my future is in my hands. I get to choose what it is I want to do with my time. It's the old saying that if it's to be it's up to me. I've had a number of different jobs in my life as I'm sure you have as well. A job is something you have or go to, while an opportunity is something to take advantage of. 

Thanks to Sarah Drew for the following Jim Rohn quote.  Short but very powerful and thoughtful.

"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you."

When I first read this my mind took me back a few years to the day I heard the Shaklee opportunity for the first time.  I had what many considered a good job, but to me in my mind I didn't have a future.  I was thankful to have every job I had but at this time in my life I decided I needed a future.  That first time I heard the Shaklee opportunity there  was something that compelled me to invest some time to check it out. 

I had four questions. Is it true about this company? Is it true about the products?  Is it true that some people are earning what this guy is talking about? I wonder if this is something I can do? I went to two meetings a week, every week, to listen.  I used some of the products. I met some people who were making it work. It took me approximately four months to build solid belief. I got excited about the idea that this could be something really special.

The bottom line is this: all I did is what so many other people were doing. I decided to take advantage of this opportunity.   Here we are in 2014 and we all have an incredible opportunity to have a very special year.

It's a choice.  it's a decision.  Your future is in your hands.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

Success is...

I think many people have a favorite quote, movie, song, or something that inspires or makes them think a certain way. I have done a lot of reading over the years and have read some very important and inspiring words from various people that have had a very positive effect on me. My favorite quote says it all about what it takes to be successful.  It's simple but very profound for me.

"Success is neither magical nor mysterious.  Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals."

- Jim Rohn

I can almost remember the minute when I first read that for the first time. It made a lot of sense to me then and it still does.   I think a major reason it struck me that first time was because since I was a very young kid I got started playing on athletic teams and every coach at every level seemed to talk about mastering the fundamentals.  From elementary school through college I heard that word over and over again during practice sessions. 

The point is simple: for those who have a desire to grow their business, we should work at the basic fundamentals that build this business. This is a skilled based business so when we work at the basic fundamentals we will becoming more skilled. The basics are prospecting, making appointments, giving compelling presentations, follow-up, in-home events, meetings.    

The more skill a person develops the easier this business becomes. It's that simple. Not always easy but it is simple.   Are you working at becoming more skilled? It's something to think about.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

Expectations or what needs to be done?

I found the following in a little book titled How To Be Interesting.  "Interesting people are motivated by things bigger than the status quo.  Are you doing what someone else expects you to, or what you feel, deep down, that you must do?   The only way to exceed expectations is to ignore them - and do what needs doing."

I love the words that say the way to exceed expectations is to not pay any attention to them and just make sure you're doing what needs to be done.  Think about that for a minute or two.  Read that again slowly. 

Our business is designed in such a way that in a odd sort of way, many of us are doing things we never thought we would be doing.  I can say that with confidence because there is no way I would have ever guessed I would choose a career to be in this kind of business and absolutely love it.   We learn to not listen to the negative but to go with our heart what it is we want to do.  Ignoring expectations and just getting out there in the world and working hard. 

So a fair question is this - What needs to be done?   Are we doing it?  If yes, great.  If no, why not?

Here is a little project you might want to do this weekend.  Make a short list of the two or three things you know needs to be done in order for this new year to be fun, exciting and worth your efforts.   Then ponder on those two or three things, and just do what for you what needs to be done.   I believe if we all do what we know needs to be done, it will be a year to remember.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

A new start

Happy New Year!

We get to start all over again to not just have a good year, but to continue the journey for our personal development and to make good, solid decisions for growing our future. I'm starting by being very thankful that over 44 years ago I heard an idea and decided to learn if it was really true. That day literally changed our lives and it has been an incredible ride.

Last night was New Year's Eve around the world.  Faye and I went and had a early dinner here in Scottsdale. I took a note pad along so we could talk about what we wanted to think about doing this new year. We talked about various things and made a list of projects and/or goals we will address this year. We decided on eight things we will want to focus on.  Some very simple and others will take more effort and focus. 

After dinner we went to an early movie, Saving Mr. Banks with Tom Hanks. The following is what I found online that briefly describes the movie.....

Spurred on by a promise he made to his daughters, Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) embarks on what would become a 20-year quest to obtain the movie rights to Mary Poppins. The author, P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), proves to be an uncompromising curmudgeon who has no intention of letting her beloved characters become mangled in the Hollywood machine. However, when the books stop selling and she finds herself in need of money, Travers reluctantly agrees to listen to Disney's proposition.

A great story. A story about a dream, problems to overcome, obstacles, barriers for making progress, setbacks, and what it took for achieving a major goal. This is a very moving story and worth your time and money to make a point to see it. All I will say is at the end of the movie no one left their seat. A very moving story. If you like feeling inspired and walking out feeling very glad you went....this is a movie for you.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke