The Farmer and the Sluggard

The career I’ve built for the last ten years in network marketing is paying me to accomplish some big dreams! The key is to have a dream that is so big that it’s almost impossible to achieve, and then you become the person to achieve the dream. It’s not really the dream that matters, but the person you become in the process of achieving the dream. The more that you achieve, the bigger your dreams will become, and in turn, the more you will grow into a better person to achieve those bigger dreams.

One of my favorite speakers is a man by the name of Mark Gorman. I have most of his CDs. Mark does business presentations for network marketing companies and I had a chance to hear and meet him in person at a company event in Vegas. (http://www.markgorman.com/)

One of Mark’s presentations is titled, “Stop Thinking Like Dirt.” It’s based on Proverbs 20:4 in the Bible, which reads: “A Sluggard does not plow in season; so when harvest time comes, he looks… but finds nothing.”

The dirt sits and waits for someone to give it something. Do you ever have people you’ve sponsored who sit around waiting for someone to constantly give them something, or do something for them? And, even when you do everything you can to help them, it’s never enough, is it? They’re not making things happen; they’re waiting for something to happen. They’re not headed anywhere or trying to do anything. They’re just trying not to go somewhere. They’re waiting on their upline. They’re waiting on the people they sponsor. They’re waiting for the company to do something. They’re waiting for their spouse to give them permission. They are waiting to make money before they will tell their friends about their business. They are waiting around like dirt!

Some people are waiting on God to do something before they’ll do anything. Guess what? God is waiting for us to do something first!

So, when harvest time comes, these people who are waiting go out looking and cannot figure out why everyone else is harvesting and they aren’t! After all, everyone deserves a harvest, right? Actually, they don’t! Everyone deserves the same opportunity, and we all have the same opportunity in network marketing, don’t we? It’s a level playing field, but everyone doesn’t deserve the same rewards! Only those who make things happen deserve the rewards!

Unlike the sluggard, a farmer makes things happen by taking the first step! He/she knows he/she has to plant when it’s time to plant before he/she can expect to see a harvest! A farmer is a business person and knows he/she has to invest in his/her business, and knows to do that, seeds must be planted in the ground.

So, what does a farmer do? A farmer goes to the bank, borrows money, goes to the feed store, buys seed, plants it, and then reaps the harvest. Then, do you think he reaps the harvest and sits back and enjoys the good life? Nope, the farmer then takes that harvest and pays the bank back and buys more seed to plant to reap an even bigger harvest!

We do the same thing in network marketing, which when treated like a business, will pay us like a business. First we’ve got to invest in our business by buying seed! We’ve got to get lots and lots of seeds planted, and those seeds require an investment. Then, we teach others—our team—to duplicate the same thing so that not only do they reap a harvest but we also reap from their harvest, too!

Let me share a story I heard a few years ago about Mark from a small town near Austin, Texas who was headed for bankruptcy. He was just about to lose his car and home. Mark wasn’t gonna sit around like dirt, so he looked for a way out and discovered MLM.

Fortunately, he had a wise sponsor who shared with him the promise: This business can set you free financially in one to three years. He also told him the real price for success: To succeed, you will have to face and conquer four major enemies.

Mark was ready to make things happen like a farmer. He invited 200 friends over to his house to watch a video. Of those, 80 said, “No, not interested.” Mark had encountered Enemy #1 – Rejection. He thought, “No problem. My sponsor warned me about that. I’ve got 120 people still coming over.”

Guess what—50 didn’t show up! Mark had just met Enemy #2 – Deception. Again, thinking like a farmer, Mark thought, “No problem, my sponsor warned me about that. I’ve got 70 people who watched the tape.”

Guess what—57 said, “Not interested.” He had just encountered Enemy #3 – Apathy. From Mark’s seed planting, 13 people signed up.

Guess what—12 of them dropped out of the business shortly after. Enemy #4 – Attrition had left Mark with just one serious associate.

That one distributor went on to create a huge harvest for Mark, earning him over $50,000 per month. Today, Mark earns hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in passive, residual income, all because he chose not to sit around like dirt waiting for something to happen. He went out and made things happen like a farmer, and now he’s reaping a huge harvest because he planted when it was time to plant!

My own story is similar. For years I’ve been planting seeds, making tons and tons of connections online. I started my business online in 1996. I worked very hard building a presence and branding myself for the first four years, calling thousands of people and hearing thousands of nos.

Why have I been so successful over the years? One of the main reasons is simply because I never quit! Another reason is many people have joined my team because of a lot of seeds being planted over the years.

Remember, where you are today is because of decisions you made or seeds you planted five years ago. Where you’ll be in the next five years will be determined by decisions you make or seeds you plant today!