My 'why'

It's a term you will hear constantly in Network Marketing, people will say 'you need to know your why' and when you are new you probably don't have a clue what they are talking about! In a nutshell your why is just that - it's the reason you joined the business you are in in the first place.

It sounds pretty simple, you joined because you wanted more money. There is no real point in pretending this is not the case, we all became Network Marketers because we wanted to bring in more money than we currently do. Your 'why' is deeper than that, and its a bit hard to explain too but I will try. Your 'why' is the reason you chose Network Marketing instead of picking up more hours in your current job - it's often flexibility, but again its deeper still. Do you want to be at home for your kids? That's a good 'why' and a very common one - great now why does that matter to you?

I know that sounds like a ridiculous question but that's how deep into it you need to get, you need to connect with your 'why' you need to know it inside out because on the days you cant be bothered, that's your motivation. That's the reason you attend that course, its the reason you spend time on the phone talking to people who may or may not decide to join your team, its the reason you stand outside in the pissing rain at stalls where you may or may not make enough money to cover your stall fee - your 'why' really is everything.

My why

Like most people, my why has evolved slightly over time. It started off pretty simple really - I needed to earn more money but I did not want to work any more (this was my first mistake, but more on that another time). I needed something that was simple, flexible and I didn't have a lot of money to put into it, preferably something that I could do at my existing job. Now I worked in a pub at the time so I had access to plenty of people and my boss was totally fine with me passing catalogues about and collecting money off people, in fact the bosses wife used to buy things from me on a regular basis.

I started looking for 'work at home opportunities' and one fell into my lap. Now I had no interest whatsoever in the products but that didn't matter to me, I signed myself straight up and started selling make up (the company is not the one you are thinking of, just for the record). It was great, until it became hard work - chasing people for money, knocking on the same door three times to deliver an order because so and so wasn't in again even though they promised they would be this time. Now the issue wasn't that I didn't love make up, ok that was part of the issue, but the real issue was my 'why' was not strong enough to make me do these things.

I gave up that company pretty quickly and moved on with my life. I went to college then on to university, got a 'real job' and earn what many people would consider to be decent money, although truth be told I was drowning in debt and given that I was the only one working the situation was not improving much.

So did debt become my why?

No it didn't, for a lot of people getting out of debt is their why but it wasn't for me. Getting out of debt is so finite - once you are out of debt you can no longer aspire to get out of debt. Now of course getting out of debt is a great thing, and I hope to be in that position someday soon, but you aren't going to build a four figure a month Network Marketing business if getting out of debt is your only reason why. This is simply because, deep down you are not playing the long game; and Network Marketing is a very long game.

My why is multifactorial, as I am sure most people's is if they really get to know it properly. Sure money is an element to it, I want to have more money. I want to have more money so I can have my house decorated nicely; I want to have more money so I can go on holiday at least once or twice, I want to have more money so that if the washing machine breaks one day I can simply go and buy a new one. There are many reasons I want more money - the reasons are the why, not the money!

I also want more flexibility. Now in my day job I work 12 hour shifts, I turn up when I'm told and I leave when I can (rarely after just 12 hours), I eat when I get a chance, pee when I can and hope for six or seven hours sleep between shifts. Now I love my job but I hate my schedule! I want to be able to do less 12 hour shifts, I want to be in control of when I work (this is possible in my industry if I was to go part time). I'm not in the best of health so having more flexibility would sure help in that department too but more importantly my poor mum is housebound without me. She cant walk more than a few meters and can no longer drive, I am an only child and she divorced my dad more than 15 years ago so there is only me to take care of her. I can't stand to think of her stuck in her little house all day with nothing to do because I can't be there for her that day to take her anywhere! I hate that she often has to cancel hospital appointments she desperately needs to attend because I am unable to take her that particular day. the reasons I need flexibility are the why

Lastly, I want to help people. Now I bet you are expecting a pitch from me here 'join my amazing company blah blah blah' - you aren't going to get one. I love my team members and I enjoy helping them but that's not quite what I'm talking about here. What I mean is the simple things, when someone orders a gift for their mother from me and they pick it up and are so happy with it because it helped them save time looking around all the shops. I love helping people within the company with their tech issues because I have unofficially become the tech geek in our relatively small company, I don't care if they aren't on my team it really doesn't matter. I love spreading random acts of kindness through the organisation my company supports and yes I love helping my team. I love helping them figure out what their 'why' is and help them achieve all the things they want to. I love pointing them in the direction of people much more knowledgeable than me in the field because I know that they will benefit from it. I love doing stalls to help raise money for a cause, hopefully I make a little money along the way but if I don't at least I know I have helped in some small way.

I feel like I have talked far too much, but that is what you need to do to really examine your reasons for doing this. You need to feel like your reasons are the most important think in the world to you because that is what makes all the hard work worth it.