A plan for moving forward

The following quote is from SUCCESS magazine for October.

 

“Goals work because they allow you to get clear on where you are today and where you want to go, and in turn focus on the right things to help you achieve your targets.”

 

So the first question is, where are you today as far as your business is concerned? Have you gotten started yet? If not, decide where you want your business to be 90 days from now, or one year or five years from now. Or make a decision on what Shaklee rank you want to work towards.

 

If you have been in this business and have gotten started do you have goals on exactly where you are headed and what you want to achieve? I was 31 years old when I started my Shaklee career and I never had a goal written on paper. I started to read books that talked about how to be successful in life. I read lots of books and every one of them talked about goals.

 

I believe if I had not set goals and put them on paper and read them over and over and over I wouldn’t have achieved what I wanted. What I chose was Master Coordinator. Little did I know what it would take, but that was my goal. I wrote my goals out like the books suggested, then I wrote out the things I would have to be doing in order to reach my new goals.  

 

It’s never too late to start. And it’s never too late to start again and again and again. Do you have your goals on paper?  Do yourself a favor and write out your goals and start doing what the above quote says. You’ll be glad you did.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

Are you ready to grow?

Would you like to re-energize yourself and your business?  There are times I need to be inspired or motivated in some way and I would assume you could say the same for yourself.  I found it is easier to stay on track for moving forward when I have re-started myself by setting a new short-term goal.

 

If you use what might be called the "magic of 30 days" you can get yourself re-started any time you choose. Almost anyone can do almost anything for 30 days. What you want to do is create a 30 day goal. This must be a challenging goal that inspires you in some way. When you have a 30 day goal this is the time for an enthusiastic effort.

 

One month goes by rather fast and the idea is to revitalize yourself so you have to be ready to give it a really good effort for 30 days. Don’t allow anything to hold you back. I believe this is one of the best things to do to build some momentum for having highly a successful month as it will be a terrific example for you and your team.

 

Think about it. Challenge yourself. Get yourself mentally ready to give this your best effort.   Go for it!

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

A key for exciting growth

I have had some questions about what makes this business grow. The following is a message I sent out a few months ago.  

 

I think I'll start this message with a simple question.  Would you like to have more people being sponsored into your business?  Keep in mind that more sponsoring is the key for you to enjoy a business that is growing. The answer to most issues for a growing business is having new people coming into your organization.

 

Here is a major principle regarding growth.

 

It's not the sponsoring that drives the business.  It's the focus and desire on building a business that drives the sponsoring.

 

Read that simple statement several times.  Read it over and over until you really believe it.  Now ask yourself a question.  Do I want my monthly PV to be double or triple from what it was last month?  Do I want my earnings to do the same?  Of course you do!   Then what do I have to do to experience exciting growth?

 

To drive your sponsoring is what will create growth, the question is do you have the focus and desire to make that happen?  I'll give you a simple example.  Our business changed when I got serious about building.  I wasn't very skilled in approaching people and I wasn't very good in sponsoring.  But what I had going for me was I really wanted to have a successful Shaklee business. I mean I really wanted our business to grow.  I had a terrific desire to do whatever it would take.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

Don't be afraid of the answers

Building anything is a process and every process has steps to follow. Things don’t grow by themselves and they can’t grow overnight or grow by next week. But things do grow when you pay attention and do something every day about your future.

 

So, I think it helps when we develop the habit of asking ourselves questions. One thing to remember is it’s easier to ask those questions as long as we’re not afraid of the answers. What’s your next step?  Is it part of your plan to grow your PPV? Do you have targets or is today just another day that might slip by without doing something positive?

 

Questions you might ask: Do I have a plan? What are the top three things I will do today that I know I should do? The challenge in this business has always been simple to me - just getting myself moving. Doing something. I have learned that if I can just get myself to do one thing, it’s much easier to do another and then another. In other words, getting me going is the issue and what helps me to keep going is to get started.

 

How about you?  What three things will you do today?  

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

Are you one of the people?

Part of the experience of building a future with this business is the idea that when you go to work on something new you’re going to improve on everything you’ve been working at.  Another way of saying the same thing is, when you get better, it always gets better. "It" being your attitude, your PPV, your earnings, and your experiences.

 

Part of what our job is while working at this business is to understand that what we are doing is developing ourselves into what we want to be.  In other words, there are undeveloped Coordinators, Key Coordinators, and Master Coordinators, who are reading this message right now. The question to ask yourself is, “Am I one of those undeveloped people?

 

Don’t allow anything or anybody steal your dream for developing yourself into becoming what you want to be. It’s just a matter of being consistent with your efforts. Do something for your future every day regardless how small it may seem. The reason is simple: it is your responsibility to keep your dream alive.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

 

3 - Invest in yourself

One of the great things about investing your time in building your business is the personal development you will experience.  Personal development simply means that you, the person, can get better by investing in yourself on a regular basis.   This is one of those ideas that can help you become the kind of person you are capable of becoming.

 

I hope you realize that you have without question the ability to achieve whatever dream you have.   Yes, you do have that God given ability.   I know without question that reading good material is one of the best ways to develop yourself into the person you can become.

 

The following is a statement I first read in a book by Jim Rohn:

 “Leaders are readers and readers are leaders.”

 

I started reading good books in about 1971.  I got inspired, motivated, learned about attitude, goal achievement, belief in myself, create a plan to succeed, and of course leading others. I still read something every day. I also always have a yellow highlighter and highlight whatever kind of jumps off the page. I can pick up any book in my office and when I open it I read the highlights.  

 

I’m going to recommend four books to start. Make sure you have a highlighter and then get started. You might say you don’t have time to read. If you are serious about your personal development you’ll make time to read. This is the greatest investment in yourself that you can make.

1. GO PRO, by Eric Worre
2. LIVING WITH PASSION, by Peter L. Hirsch
3. MINDSET – the new psychology of success, by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.
4. THE ANSWER  – grow any business, by John Assaraf and Murray Smith

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

Are you hitting your targets?

We’re almost half way through September so I have a couple questions.  How is your September going?  Have you had any new appointments this month? Do you see your monthly PPV increasing? Are you working with any new people from July and August that want what Shaklee offers? 

 

Here is an interesting quote from Dr. Howard Hendricks:

“Your objective determines your outcome.  You achieve that for which you aim.”

 

Here is the point of the above quote: what is your objective for the remaining of September? What is your target for this month? When I reflect back about how

we built it was about having monthly targets and trying to be consistent with our efforts.  It seems like we were always talking about our target about getting to the next rank. Faye and I asked ourselves questions. What do we want to happen this month? Is Gary working with any new people from previous months?

 

It’s easy to aim if you have a target, but if there is no target there will be nothing to aim at.   At first new efforts feels very uncomfortable but the more often you do those new

efforts the easier it gets. That’s right, it will get easier if you work at new targets.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

 

An important principle

Today I want to send you something that I hope will make you think when you are prospecting for customers, members or distributors, or business builders. Prospecting is obviously the one very important step it takes to be building this business. Once you develop the prospecting skill you can grow anytime you decide to improve your business.

You can’t say the wrong thing to the right person.

You can’t say the right thing to the wrong person.

 

I believe that many people talk themselves out of talking to someone because they convince themselves that they know what they’ll say. Believe me when I say our job isn’t to go after people. Our job as I see it is to NOT convince or push people to get involved in Shaklee. Our job to tell the Shaklee story to as many people as possible, as simply as we can.

 

Let’s take the first comment…You can’t say the wrong thing to the right person.

I have learned that when I’m prospecting I don’t have to be an expert. Yes, but what if I say the wrong thing? But, what if it really doesn’t matter. Believe me, when you are talking to someone who is the right person, they will listen, ask questions, and will want to learn more.

 

On May 1, 1970 I heard an idea. On that day I was the right person because I was looking for a future. Now maybe I wouldn’t have been that right person if it had been a few weeks or months earlier. But on May 1^st I was that right person. Here is the point: we never know who is and who isn’t. On the other hand, you might talk to someone who’s had a bad day and they don’t care if you’re selling gold for two dollars an ounce. They don’t want to hear about this kind of business and it doesn’t matter what you think. That person isn’t the right person on that day.

 

The point in prospecting is to talk to as many people as you can and show them what this company is about and how awesome our products are and then don’t forget the earning opportunity we have for those who are the right people.

 

Gary Burke

A process

A few weeks ago I was asked what process I followed over the years to keep myself

somewhat inspired. I have been tinkering with that answer and have finally gotten it down to five words and maybe this will make sense to some of you and help you to move forward.

 

The following is my process:  FIND  -  TEACH  -  ENCOURAGE  -  BUILD  -  CHALLENGE

 

FIND: I was looking for a future and what I found was something I never thought would interest me. I didn’t want to be just selling stuff.  What I found was an idea to create a future. Then I had to find others who might want the same things I wanted. A new future.   Once I believed this new idea was for real, I got serious.

 

TEACH:  I had been teaching and coaching for a few years and I did truly enjoy teaching and coaching as it never felt like work. As I’ve told many people over the years, I haven’t had to go to work for over 46 years because I discovered an opportunity that was based on teaching and coaching. That has been my view all these years. Shaklee is a teaching, coaching business and I love to teach and coach.  

 

ENCOURAGE:  I needed encouragement and I discovered that everyone needs to be encouraged. Once I discovered that my job was to encourage people, I decided I was going to help those who wanted to be helped and I had a desire to convince them they could build a terrific future. I’ve been trying to encourage people for years and I love that part of this business.

 

BUILD:  I saw very early that this was more than just selling products. That certainly is a part of what we do but what I saw was an incredible opportunity to build not just sell something. To build myself, other people, the business, and especially to build an unusual  future. To this day that is the most exciting part for me. 

 

CHALLENGE:  I learned early that this is a challenging opportunity. But you know that if everything was easy there would be no opportunity. It’s been a challenge but I will say this: accepting challenges is a part of life.  Life isn’t always easy.  Go for it!

 

Gary Burke

Is it time to make a decision?

Today I just want to give you a few thoughts about what it is you really want. The good news is only you can make the decision of what you want. The bad news is you have to make a decision. Shaklee can't tell you what you should achieve, only you can do that. So the question is, what do you want?  Where do you want to go? Are you ready to put the effort in to make your dream come true?  If you don't have a dream, get a dream! Do you have a mental vision of what you want your future to look like? If you don't have a vision, get one.

Once you have the idea of what you really want, you will want to make sure you protect your dream and your vision. Keep your eye on where you want to go. In other words don't allow anyone to get your eye off your destination. Step out and make the decision and then just get started.

Do you have a mentor or a person you trust that you can talk with that will always encourage you?   We all need encouragement and a good mentor can be one of the best things you can have because they will listen and will not be negative. A good mentor is worth their weight in gold. Your future is waiting for you. Why not go for it? You'll never regret chasing that dream. 

Enthusiastically,
Gary Burke

I got a "C" in Speech

Here I am again with a message that has been used a number of times.  I think the reason I continue to come back to the subject of understanding failure is because it’s such an important part of becoming successful.  

 

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” - Robert F. Kennedy

 

Have you ever wanted to talk to someone about a Shaklee product or maybe the terrific opportunity but for whatever reason you just don’t do what you want to do? Have you ever wanted to invite a product user to an area meeting but you just can’t seem to do it?

 

I believe that most of us talk ourselves out of doing things that maybe we haven’t done before, or maybe we think we might hear “No.” While in college it was a requirement that all students take a speech class by their sophomore year.  I didn’t want to be in a speech class because it meant I would have to obviously give a talk or many talks in class. The reason was simple, I had a fear of the idea to standing up in front of a speech class. They caught me in my senior year and it was 'take the speech class and if you don’t you can’t graduate.'

 

So I took the speech class, eventually got a “C” for my grade and I did graduate.  But in every class I had fear that I would be called on to make a comment or to give a short talk. I hated it.  I remember saying to myself, “I’ll never again stand in front of people and give a talk.”  

 

But to build a Shaklee business I had to talk to people, give presentations, and even stand in front of groups to give a talk. I was scared but my desire to have a successful Shaklee business won the battle. Don’t let fear stop you from doing things you’ll have to do to have personal growth as well as business growth.  

 

Read the quote again by Senator Kennedy. He was absolutely correct.

 

What you talk about, you bring about

Greetings,

 

Here is a major principle that can help anyone move forward towards achieving their goals.  

What you think about and talk about is eventually what you will bring about.

 

If you want to increase your monthly PPV, you have to think about it and talk about it.  If you want to develop first level sales leaders, are you thinking about it and talking about it?  If you think it’s a good idea to go for a higher rank, are you thinking about it and talking about it?    If you want to sponsor three people a week for the next two months, start thinking and talking about it.

 

What happens when you focus your thinking and talking on making progress, the next step to take place is you will find yourself asking yourself questions about how to make things happen. When I decided to be a Shaklee Master Coordinator I thought about it every single day for eight years. I actually did that. Every day! Why?  I wanted everything that this Shaklee business offered.

 

Was it easy? No! Did everything go smooth with no problems to solve?   No!   Did I constantly ask myself questions? Yes!  I read something that suggested that if I wasn’t

trying to figure out what to do about moving forward I would never get there. I did a

lot of thinking and dreaming.

 

So, what about you? Are you asking yourself questions about how to increase your PV?

Are you encouraging yourself every day to be moving forward? Everyone has the God-given potential to do more than we’ve done.  Think about it. Talk about it.

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke

How to make September a great month

Greetings,

 

Here is a very interesting quote when it comes to wanting September to be a special month for your business.

 

“If your problem can be solved with action, you don't have a problem.”

- Mel Robbins

 

What are your goals for this new month? Is it new people? Higher monthly PV? Maybe it’s about making appointments? What would it take for you to sponsor 3 new people this week? I’m sure you get the point that you really don’t have a problem, it’s always about taking action.

 

First of all you need a goal, then it’s making that call or having appointments set for this week. Why not sit down right now and ask yourself some questions about the kind of actions you’ll be taking this week?

 

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke