It's about belief

One thing that makes such a difference in how we work and act is our belief.  So much depends on what we believe.  The following is a terrific principle I found years ago.  

This business is not about who believes the most, it's about those who believe the longest.

 

Of course we have to believe in ourselves but when difficult situations come up are we mentally tough enough to keep on keeping on or do we allow doubt to stop us and challenge our belief?

 

This goes for the products, the compensation and everything else that is meaningful about making this business work. How we maintain our belief for weeks, months, years and decades depends on what we read, who we listen to and who we spend time with.

 

I personally believe it's a choice. Every one of us is responsible to make choices that can literally guarantee our belief, which of course will help in building the kind of life you really want.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

Don't limit yourself

Here is another simple fact about this great business that all of us are involved in.  If this is accurate and you want a growing business then your choice of what to work on is very clear.

 

What you can do as an individual is limited......what you can do through duplication is unlimited.

 

What I heard at the meetings I attended here in the Minneapolis area in the beginning was to understand the idea is to continually duplicate yourself. That was taught, talked about, then repeated over and over so it was hard to not develop the belief that we should be sponsoring others and teaching them to do the same thing.....If they want a growing business.

 

Think about this and look at the numbers of people that are coming into your organization or have come into it over the past year or so. Remember, you want to have unlimited numbers of people coming into your organization. Talk about it. Teach it. Remember the principal that says, what you talk about you will bring about.   

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

Four ways to build this business

Many times I get asked about building and growing this business. I don't have any special answers but I do believe this is a simple business that is not always easy. In my view, if someone is looking for easy this probably isn't for them. On the other hand if someone is looking for an opportunity that literally changes lives in many ways I would suggest they take some time and get a good understanding of this business.

 

The following are four ways to consider working at this business. I believe these ideas came from Al Strauss.

 

Four Ways To Grow Your Business

 

1.)  Sell existing products / services to existing members.

 

2.)  Sell new products / services to existing members.

 

3.)  Sell existing products / services to new members.

 

4.)  Find new people to do 1,2,3.

 

Where is your focus?  Guess where my focus has been all these years.

My focus has been on #4 but also doing 1,2,3.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

 

Simplicity was important to me

I've been going through some of my notes from past years and am coming across many thoughts, ideas and words that I either heard or wrote myself. Today I came across the following.  

 

This is about approaching people and approaching people came down to three words for me.

 

WHY? WHAT? WHO? 

The following is very simple but this is what I would say once I got into a conversation:

- WHY I got involved was because I was looking for a new future.

- WHAT happened since is this opportunity has given us a terrific future.

- WHO I am looking for are success oriented people who have a strong desire to earn $30,000 to $200,000 a year working from home. I'm looking for someone who wants to build a great future, not just to sell a product.

 

I used that many times when talking with people and it made it easy for me because it is so simple. I learned very early in this business that simplicity attracts and complexity impresses. I have believed for many years that my job as I see it is not to impress people, but to attract them to an idea.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

 

 

 

A great principle

Over the years I have gathered various principles from books, articles, and of course from having the opportunity to listen to many presentations from Shaklee leaders. The following principle is one of my favorites.

Without the belief that you can build a wonderful Shaklee business, you won't have the inner motivation to stick with it when progress is slow.

 

Read the above again, slowly. That principle is suggesting that our belief is what we want to make sure we continually work on so we can make progress. You might be asking yourself, how do we build belief? Who do you listen to? What are you currently reading?  How many meetings do you attend or conduct every week? Are you using the products consistently?

 

I don't listen to negative people or people who constantly talk doubt. There are some people who feel it is their job to criticize others and  try to discourage people who are working to change their future. I try to do my best to stay away from those people.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

There are lessons to be learned

10/20/16

Terry Slattery who has been a long time Shaklee sales leader introduced me to a friend of his who is a top sales trainer. I met Terry's friend named Al Strauss a few years ago and the following comments are notes I took that day we met at Terry's home.

 

"You can build your business the hard way or the smart way. 

THE HARD WAY - No mentor.  Do it yourself. If you are always trying to figure it out yourself, you'll be doing things you could avoid.

 

THE SMART WAY - Have a mentor - Someone who has done what you want to do."

 

"Teach people to go through the numbers." 

What Al is saying is people must learn how to fail. Everyone fails in the early times. It's hard to find people who are motivated to fail, but everyone is willing to learn some lessons. Be determined to learn lessons.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

How to guarantee your success

10/19/16

The following is something I heard Jim Rohn say many years ago and I personally believe that when a person develops the following 4 habits, they can't help but become successful.

Develop 4 habits that will unquestionably guarantee your success.

1.  Show up on time.

2.  Always do what you say you're going to do.

3.  Finish what you start.

4.  Always say "Please" and "Thank you."

Think about those 4 simple steps. I don't think I have to say anything else.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke 

Every day you must...

Here is a very simple idea.  Every day you must decide:

What you could do

What you should do

What you must do

 

When I think of those three simple decisions we must make as we build our business, I think of the many times when I thought about what I could do. I would suggest that the what I could do falls under the heading of, "I think I'll do that tomorrow."   

 

I can also recall the times when I realized that if I didn't start getting more new people into our organization it would be impossible to grow and achieve my goals. That falls under the heading of "what I must do." The "could do" and the "should do" thinking can go on for many weeks. I know that's true because I experienced it.  

 

So here is a suggestion. Today is here, what must you get done TODAY?

The idea behind the word growth is I have to put myself in motion...TODAY!

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

                                                   

Obstacles!

Here is a simple message I found in my notes from 2006.  

 

We must understand what obstacles really are.

Obstacles are your brains creative way of telling you what you'll have to deal with to achieve your goals.

 

Kind of interesting isn't it? No matter what a person is doing there seems to always be obstacles. You have them and so do I. When I think about it there have been obstacles to overcome ever since I got started in this business. The difference is that today I understand that it's all a part of life and I just keep doing what I know will eventually work.

 

Think about it and make the decision that obstacles will never stop you from becoming what you're capable of becoming.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

 

Simple but thoughtful

Here is something very simple but thoughtful.

 

WISDOM is knowing what to do next.  What's next for you?

 

SKILL is knowing how to do it. Are you planning on doing it?

 

VIRTUE is doing it. The good result that comes from something done well.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

You have the answers if you ask the questions

 

I read that people who are highly successful do one thing that most people don't do and that is they ask themselves questions. Just think: something as simple as asking ourselves questions has the potential to help us in whatever it is we choose to do. If you want your business to grow to higher levels this is something that just might help you move forward.

 

Am I doing the activities that create growth?

Am I currently reading a good book about personal development?

When was the last time I read a good book?

What are my 90 day goals?

What do I need to be doing to reach my goals?

What is holding me back from being consistent with my efforts?

Is my personal group PV where I want it to be?

 

If we are looking for answers about building and growing this business, those answers might depend on the questions we are asking ourselves. Think about it!

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

 

Is there a secret for building this business?

At times I kind of wonder what it might take to help more people get serious about building this business to the level they would love to have. We all know there aren't any secrets but at the same time maybe there are reasons some seem willing to face obstacles, ignore negativity, solve  problems, fight doubt, and doing whatever it takes.

 

The heart of growth in this business is sponsoring. The simple way to express what it might take is as follows. It's not the sponsoring that drives the business.  It's the desire / focus on building the business that drives the sponsoring.

 

Are you driven to build this business so you can live debt free, earn more than you need, and help many others to do the same? As it says in the above paragraph, it's the desire to build the business that drives sponsoring. If you have that desire then my guess is you are having new people come into your organization every week. If there is a secret maybe this is it....NEW PEOPLE SPONSOR NEW PEOPLE.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

So this is what doing Shaklee is!

I was talking with Judy Ciasto a downline sales leader a couple days ago and we were talking about the business and what she was doing. What you will read is what Judy learned in September about working at this business. To me what Judy discovered was what it means to really do the work to move forward.  

 

I'm really very proud of Judy. She is doing a terrific job and is a great example for many.

 

Gary Burke

HI, Gary,

Thanks for doing the coaching calls.  Here is a summary of what we talked about last night.

My second director broke out in August. For Sept  I needed to have a group volume of 10,000 to become a senior director and remain in qualification for the Mexico trip in the spring.  

With one week left in Sept, our Group volume was 8000.  We had one week to get 2000 PV between myself and my 2 directors.  All 3 of us got busy contacting members and giving incentives such as free shipping.  We worked so hard at the end of Sept.  I was in contact with my 2 directors daily.  I learned so much that week, like the importance of calling people since they may be too busy to tell me that they have been out of products for months, or that their first order never arrived.  

I realized in the midst of the frenzy of work, that this is what  doing Shaklee is all about and this is what I should be doing every day not just at the end of the month! 

We reached 10,000 PV!  

See you in Minnesota at the end of the month!

Judy 

What direction are you headed?

I think the most difficult thing about this business is that each of us is in charge of getting ourselves moving in the right direction. So maybe we should be talking about the direction in which you are moving yourself and your business.

 

The first thing is to recognize that it is a fact that each of us is responsible to get ourselves moving. If you want to have higher monthly PV only you can make it happen. Do you want to be developing at least one or two first level Directors a year? Only you can decide that. Do you want to qualify for the incentives Shaklee offers every year?  Would you like to be debt-free?  

 

When I think back to when I first was introduced to Shaklee, I wondered if it really was true. I saw an opportunity that anyone and everyone could do and the more I learned the more I started to dream. My dream was to build this business that would give Faye and I a new lifestyle. It was Master Coordinator.    Was it easy? Of course not. Will it be easy for you to achieve your dream? Of course not.

 

What's your dream? Yes, it will take work. We all have obstacles of some kind that seem to want to hold us back from doing what we want to do. Keep yourself inspired by reading good books. Hang out with positive people. It is never too late to start over. I've started over many times. Think about it. Do whatever it takes to get yourself moving in the right direction.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have some ideas for your future?

So many times I hear people verbalize their goals and intentions and how excited they are about making this business be the answer for improving their future. I don't think there is any question about the fact that when people get serious about working at this business and at making their dream come true, it can happen. In fact it's happening all the time all over this country.  

 

Believe me when I say there are new people and experienced people working to improve their life and future with Shaklee being the foundation for making it happen. There's always lots of talk about doing this or doing that. I know because I've done that many times because it's inspiring to think about the future and to dream.

 

But bottom line, there has to come a time when our words and ideas must be followed by our actions. Stop and think about that for a couple minutes.  What ideas or activity have you been thinking about doing and talking about doing but have not taken any action on your words, ideas or dreams?  

 

Here we are in the month of October.  What ideas do you have for October? Do you have a plan down on paper? Do you want October to be better than September? Those are just a couple simple questions for you to work on.  You've got plenty of time to make October your best month of the year.

 

Why not? Why not you? Why not now?

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke