How many times have you heard this phrase? "Pay the price.... to live life nice". If your in an MLM I'd imagine you heard this your first meeting! While I concede the fact that anything worth doing requires effort (see how I threw another cliche in there for you), it does matter what you spend your time doing. I heard Chris Brady of TEAM say many times "What are you busy about?". If you are spending all your time chasing the dream in an MLM like TEAM.....take it from someone who's been there and done that..... your time can be "invested" elsewhere!
After being hand dipped in the "system" for years, let's examine some of the choices I made to "pay the price". I was told that Tuesday night open meetings and monthly seminars were "can't miss" events. Unless of course you weren't a Leader, and didn't want to qualify for the "Power Player" program. So no matter what.....I was there! The only Tuesday open the TEAM ever cancelled was the one between Christmas and New Years... That's it. 51 weeks of the year, every Tuesday, my butt was in a seat. I missed Christmas concerts for my kids, school plays, parent teacher nights, family gatherings, weddings, nights out with friends who eventually stopped asking, and on and on. Oh I paid the price alright! But I was "fired up"......"doing what it takes"....."leading by example"....."digging depth"! WRONG. What I was doing was messing up my priorities.....ignoring the people who loved me the most....disappointing my kids.....SPENDING my time in all the wrong places. Sound familiar Ex-Teamers?
So what is the price I paid in the end (remember....begin with the end in mind LOL)? Well post MLM can be a lonely place. Most of my true friends stopped calling years ago. Tired of hearing no from me and afraid I would throw the "Plan" on them if they got too close....again. I seriously have to remind my extended family to tell me about family gatherings and the like, because they are used to me not coming anyway! My TEAM "Friends", were nothing more than people I saw on a weekly basis... who discarded me when I no longer was willing to chase the dream with them. The truth is I disappointed a lot of people, and have a long hill to climb to regain their trust and respect...if I can. However....I AM willing to pay the price to achieve THAT goal.
You seem like a decent enough fellow.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there's one or two people out there who would be happy to hang with you.
Maybe offer to buy beer for the next get together. That usually works!
LOL! Your awesome Rocket! No doubt.....I've got the first round buddy! ;)
ReplyDeleteThe point of the post was not to have people feel sorry for me! The point was to show people that there can be some long term effects for getting deeply involved in an MLM like TEAM, Amway, and Monavie! I'm doing fine and putting the work in necessary to rebuild the relationships that I can! I also have a very close friend who knows a lot about where I'm coming from!
Cheers.....