Ten Things You Can Learn from the Jedi About Network Marketing Success

from the office of Susan Wood, your Authentic Marketing Formula Coach

You remember the Jedi, right? You know… Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, light sabers, and “may the Force be with you.”

What are the qualities of the Jedi?

They are courageous.
They act quickly and decisively.
They do what’s ethically right.
They lead (they don’t command).
They serve.
They are calm and at peace, in control of their emotions.
They know that complete concentration and patience are essential.
They seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.
They balance the use of their strengths with the control of their weaknesses.
They work with the light side of the Force, not the dark side.

And, you may ask (I hope you are asking)… “What is a But-I?”

A But-I is the part of all of us that is resistant, stubborn, non-cooperative, stuck, grumpy, argumentative, and finding problems and faults everywhere… especially within ourselves.

A But-I says things like… “But I can’t do that. But I don’t know how. But I think maybe it’s too complicated. But I am not as smart as so-and-so. But I have a disadvantage. But I don’t have enough time. But I don’t have anybody to tell me what to do.” I think you get the idea. A But-I is the one with all the buts, and with the ifs and ands as well. If you find yourself full of ifs, ands, or buts… then you are a But-I.

“Oh, no!” you say… “I have a lot of ‘But-I’ in me! I must be a hopeless case!”

The good news is that you are not a hopeless case. We all have our Jedi qualities and our But-I qualities. So it becomes a matter of choosing the qualities we want to develop, and allowing the undesirable qualities to fall away. If you want to become successful at internet marketing, you are going to want to develop the qualities of an Internet Marketing Jedi.

Network Marketing Jedi Are Courageous

Courage does not mean having no fear… it means taking action in spite of fear—pushing through the fear. “Heros” are just ordinary people who acted in spite of fear. Successful people are people who made a choice to “do it anyway,” putting their fears momentarily aside.

Network Marketing Jedi Act Quickly and Decisively

It’s important to not get into the “paralysis of analysis” or to always be double guessing your decisions. If you need help making decisions, sit down with a piece of paper, write down the pros and cons, release any feeling attached to them, then make a decision. Once made, move forward with it. Might it be a mistake? Sure… it might… but everybody makes mistakes, and mistakes are probably the best way to learn. Don’t hold yourself back with indecision because you might make a mistake.

Network Marketing Jedi Do What’s Ethically Right

Basically, don’t cheat, lie, or steal. Be authentic with the people you connect with. This means being real, not being perfect. You’ll connect with people better when they feel you are genuine than if you pretend to be perfect.

Network Marketing Jedi Lead (and Do Not Command)

This goes along with that idea that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. As a leader, you provide information, encouragement, and support, but you can’t do make the decisions or do the work for somebody else. You can make a call to action (always a good idea) but you do it know that the other person may or may not take that action, and it’s not up to you to force it.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more
and become more, you are a leader. -- John Quincy Adams

Network Marketing Jedi Serve

You serve by providing information and value, by being available to answer questions, by pointing people to where they can find answers (not necessarily having to give them all the answers yourself). Another saying comes to mind here, which is “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, but teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” It’s important to let other people learn and do what they need to be successful, instead of trying to do too much for them. When we do too much, we take away the opportunity for growth for others when they learn how to do new things.

Network Marketing Jedi Are Calm and At Peace and in Control of Their Emotions

When I am not calm, I am not clear. When I am not clear I am confused, and so I am not effective. I need to give myself time and space to develop a peaceful and clear mind, and not allow my emotions to run amuck. Meditation and developing good organizational skills help me with this.

Network Marketing Jedi Know That Complete Concentration and Patience Are Essential

It’s important to focus on your task at hand. This is often a challenge for me. Multitasking is very tempting, and it also does not work very well! I am continually working on improving my focus and concentration so that I put other things aside when I am working on an important task. Maybe I work in spurts of one or two hours, then take some time to do smaller things, but it helps me to stay focused. And patience, of course, is important in all aspects of life. Patience allows things to develop, to grow, to improve, to expand. Impatience never allows anything.

Network Marketing Jedi Improve Themselves Through Knowledge and Training

There’s always something new to learn. The more I learn, the more value I have to offer to others, as well as myself. This helps me, it helps them, and it helps me help them. What I have to learn isn’t just in the area of marketing, but in the area of better mindset, good work habits, great health, better relationships. Learning anything new expands me as a person.

Network Marketing Jedi Balance the Use of Their Strengths with the Control of Their Weaknesses

We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. Frequently they’re two sides of the same coin, and what is usually a strength may sometimes be a weakness, and vice versa. Probably the most important thing is to begin to recognize where our strengths and weaknesses lay—then we can learn where to concentrate our efforts. For me, controlling my weaknesses means more being aware of them and allowing them to drop away as I develop strength, as opposed to trying to force out my weaknesses.

Network Marketing Jedi Work with the Light Side of the Force, Not the Dark Side

This means that you focus on the positive, not on the negative. What you think about, will come about. What you focus on expands. If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right (Henry Ford). We’ve all heard lots of sayings that relate to this… but it makes common sense, does it not, that if I put my thoughts and energy into something, I will get more of the same. So putting my thoughts and energy into what I want, what I’d like to create, what creates the most benefit for all involved, is way more constructive than focusing on the negative aspects of things.

What this all comes down to is mindset, doesn’t it? And taking action. The proper mindset will lead to proper action.

May the Force be with you!

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