• FDA will take an unexpectedly broad view of NDI notification requirments, and an extremely narrow view of grandfathered dietary ingredients

• This guidance could have adverse impact on up to 70% of supplement products now in the marketplace

• This is only a guidance document with a 90-day comment window

• Next steps for FDA beyond the comment window remain unclear

• FDA’s reduced budget further hampers the agency’s ability to enforce stricter regulation

• The political machine is now churning, and industry’s best advocate in this arena remains Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

After a series of articles questioning FDA’s ability to effectively monitor food safety in this country, the agency decided to bare its teeth and fight back. The NDI guidance now in the public arena continues a larger trend of FDA upping its scrutiny of supplements, and it also follows in the footsteps of aggressive regulatory posturing from EFSA, its European peer, around supplement health claims.

Sen. Orrin Hatch’s remarks:

“I encourage you all to take a very active role as the FDA moves this guidance forward. Inaction from your industry could result in federal bureaucrats dictating every last detail of how your businesses should be run. That is not what I want, and it is not what you or your consumers need.

“I am conscious that FDA has devoted significant resources to this guidance, but a policy needs to be more than manageable for the FDA. It also must enjoy the support of the industry.

“All of us share the common goal of consumer safety, and the present task is to do so as efficiently, and in as market-friendly a way, as possible. I worry that this guidance misses the mark.

Rod Cook, our Industry Watchdog has put together a simple opy and paste letter at:  http://www.mlmwatchdog.com/1_MLM_FDA_ATTACK_2.html

PLEASE Take Action

Kudo’s go out to JEFF POKORNY; LARRY BLENN; and KENNETH BUSIERE, Quixstar IBO’s who had the fortitude to hang on to their belief’s and claim since 2007 and through appeal which finally ocurred on April 20, 2010

It’s a Great Day for all MLM Distributors who have been burned by the unconscionable contracts that permeate their careers in MLM/Network Marketing and the unfair requirement to arbitrate vs. litigate when complaints come up.  Some of the substantial decisions of this case follow:

Page 13:  “the more substantively oppressive the contract term, the less evidence of procedural unconscionabilityis required to come to the conclusion that the term is unenforceable, and vice versa.”

AND

An agreement or any portion thereof is procedurally unconscionable if “the weaker party is presented the clause and told to ‘take it or leave it’ without the opportunity for meaningful negotiation.”

Page 14: This oppressive behavior is the quintessential characteristic of a procedurally unconscionable agreement. See Szetela, 118 Cal. Rptr. 2d at 867.

In addition, those rules were subject to unilateral amendment by Quixtar at any time. Thus, Plaintiffs were not even given a fair opportunity to review the full nature and extent of the non-binding conciliation and binding arbitration processes to which they would be bound before they signed the registration agreements or the BSMAA. These problems multiply the degree of procedural unconscionability of the ADR agreements. See Harper, 7 Cal. Rptr. 3d at 422-23

Page 15:  The fact that Plaintiffs signed or renewed registration forms containing the Agreement to Arbitrate does not assist Defendants.  The forms incorporated by reference the Rules of Conduct over which Plaintiffs had no say. Plaintiffs signatures thus served to make each a party to a contract they now challenge as unconscionable.

Page 17: The court identified three aspects of this ADR agreement that it concluded rendered it substantively unconscionable.  Id. at 307-08. First, the agreement lacked mutuality because only the plaintiff was required to resolve his claims through the ADR process, and no similar requirement bound the defendant. Id. at 307. Second, by “requiring [the] plaintiff to submit to an employer-controlled dispute resolution mechanism
(i.e., one without a neutral mediator),” the defendant “would receive a ‘free peek’ at [the] plaintiff’s case, thereby obtaining an advantage if and when [the] plaintiff were to later demand arbitration.” Id. And third, the ADR agreement placed stringent time limitations on the plaintiff’s assertion of any claims against the defendant without placing any similar limitations on the defendant’s right to bring claims against the plaintiff. Id. at 307-08.

All of the obligations and procedures relating to the non-binding conciliation process refer directly to IBOs, not Quixtar.  Conspicuously absent from this purpose is the creation of any duties or responsibilities for Quixtar.

Page 18:  Quixtar reserved to itself “the sole right to adopt, amend, modify, supplement, or rescind any or all of these Rules, as necessary with respect to cases of Rules enforcement.”

It was for this very reason that the Fifth Circuit held that a similar ADR scheme in a prior version of the Rules of Conduct promulgated by Quixtar’s predecessor Amway was illusory and unenforceable under Texas law. See Morrison v. Amway Corp., 517 F.3d 248, 254-57 (5th Cir. 2008).

Page 19:  As the district court concluded, the Rules of Conduct are “self-perpetuating”and therefore “inherently biased” against an IBO that seeks to challenge them.

Page 20:  This lopsided advantage enjoyed by Quixtar is precisely the type of one-sidedness that the doctrine of substantive unconscionability is designed to protect against. See Harper, 7 Cal. Rptr. 3d at 423.

Page 21:  Thus, as the district court pointed out, although Quixtar may be forced into binding arbitration when an IBO initiates the dispute, Quixtar is free to initiate and litigate any claim it has against an IBO in court without ever submitting the claim to binding arbitration.

Page 22: Soltani recognized that lack of mutuality is relevant to assessing substantive unconscionability, 258 F.3d at 1043, and relied on West v. Henderson, 278 Cal. Rptr. 570, 575-76 (Ct. App. 1991), which held that lack of mutuality makes contractual provisions “suspect” and upheld a nonmutual provision only after finding that it was supported by a specific justification. Particularly in situations like this one, where no special circumstance necessitates a non-mutual provision, a unilateral reduction in the statute of limitations is an indicator of substantive unconscionability. See Nyulassy, 16 Cal. Rptr. 3d at 307-08.

Another indicator of substantive unconscionability is the confidentiality requirement in the Rules of Conduct. This prohibits IBOs engaged in the arbitration process from disclosing “to any other person not directly involved in the conciliation or arbitration process (a) the substance of, or basis for, the claim; (b) the content of any testimony or other evidence presented at an arbitration hearing or obtained through discovery; or (c) the terms [or] amount of any arbitration award.”  Because the confidentiality clause swept so broadly, we concluded that it was substantively unconscionable. Id. at 1078, 1084.

Page 24: Thus, while handicapping the Plaintiffs’ ability to investigate their claims and engage in meaningful discovery, the confidentiality provision does nothing to prevent Quixtar from using its continuous involvement in the Quixtar ADR process to accumulate “a wealth of knowledge” on how to arbitrate future claims brought by IBOs.

Also contributing to the total substantive unconscionability of the binding arbitration provisions is the arbitration selection procedure mandated by the Rules of Conduct.

Page 26:  The use of Quixtar-trained arbitrators is to Quixtar’s advantage, and the IBOs who receive the letters are not informed of that pertinent fact.

Page 27:  As the district court succinctly stated, an IBO “should not have to pay extra” to avoid the unfairness created by Quixtar’s orientation program. The district court therefore properly determined that the arbitration selection process is substantively unconscionable.

Finally, the Rules of Conduct include a fee-shifting clause that unfairly exposes IBOs to a greater financial risk in arbitrating claims than they would face if they were to litigate those same claims in federal court.

Page 28:  Here we have an arbitration agreement that actually includes a fee-shifting provision and that places those costs on the IBO if it loses in a process already stacked against it.

Thank you, Judge Schroeder for your CONCLUSION:   For the foregoing reasons, we hold the district court properly determined that the Quixtar ADR agreements are unconscionable and therefore unenforceable under California law.  We deny Plaintiffs’ request for judicial notice as moot. We affirm the order of the district court denying Defendants’ motion to dismiss or to compel arbitration.  AFFIRMED.

Now there is precendence for ALL MLM/Network Marketers to hold out for their Companies and stop the substantively oppressive, lacking mutuality, inherently biased, one-sidedness type Contracts that usually force GOOD people to leave our opportunities or never consider it at all.

The Association of Network Marketing Professionals (formerly the Distributor Rights Association) has published a book on Standards that correlate closely to this decision.  Become a member and get a copy of the Standards book for your library!

If you would like a copy of the Appeal Court decision, just Contact Me and I will be happy to send it to you.

Let me know What you Think about this occurring, post your comments, I’d love to hear from you.

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Check these out:

This is on make-up moguls: http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=12888517&ch=4226720&src=news

And this is how people are turning to MLM in the soft economy: http://www.nbc13.com/vtm/news/local/article/people_turn_to_network_marketing_in_soft_economy/59952/

No matter what it is GOOD news for MLM, Network Marketers world-wide!

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Ever said any of these to yourself? We all have.

If I gave you $50, and you lost $20 - you would be very disappointed wouldn’t you? Yet you are still $30 better off than before I gave it to you.

We all spend too much time focusing on what we haven’t got…or what we have lost, rather than focusing on what we want…and how we can go about getting it.

You could afford a new car…if you stopped wasting money in other ways.

You could lose weight…if you really believed that you CAN be slim.

You see…it’s not what you haven’t got that stops you from getting to where you want to go…it’s your focus on what you already have that you don’t want that holds you back.

That’s quite a complicated sentence…so re-read it again just to make sure that you *get it*.

Action Point:

Are you currently focusing your thoughts on the wrong things?

In order for you to be truly successful…you need to make some sacrifices.

Now…I’m not talking about going hungry, or working away from home…I’m talking about sacrificing the very things that are holding you back.

You need to stop constantly focusing on why you can’t do something…and instead actually go out and prove that you can do it!

The Universal law is “What is Focused on Expands”!

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Do you see it as something that can maybe be a home based business?

Do you see it as Hard to do…or Easy to do?

Or do you see it as a Wealth producing Vehicle?

What and How you see this business… will become what your business grows to…or doesn’t grow to…

Your paradigm or Perspective on this business will direct and navigate you to creating what you see this business as…it will be like your “North Star” of your business…because everything you do will be in alignment to how you see this business…

Do you see this business as something to TRY? Or Do?

Do you see this business as a spare time spare change business…or a $100,000 a year income producer? Again…what you see this business as….will become the business you end up with…or don’t end up with…

Most people have bought into the idea that MLM is HARD…well….for those who think it will be…it is.

For those who think it’s easy…it is….

How you see the ease or difficulty of this business will become the pace of your business….and your efforts will correspond accordingly…

You need to take a look at your Paradigm about this business and your MLM company, and ask yourself:

“Is this really a SERIOUS business for me…or something that I will work when I get to it?”

Your answer will determine a lot of what happens in the future…and doesn’t happen…

Either this business is a PRIORITY…or it isn’t.

Period.

And your seriousness will determine Priority.

A Millionaire’s Paradigm contains 3 words:
** SERIOUS.
** UNSTOPPABLE.
** RELENTLESS.

Are you those 3 things?

Do they even enter into the picture of how you see yourself in MLM?

“Money Often Costs Too Much…” Mark Twain

That is so true. Many people in MLM are not willing to put the effort in that it takes to become successful because of:

** The Cost of Time it takes.
** The Cost of Effort it takes.
** The Cost of Belief it takes.
** The Cost of Failure it takes.
** The Cost of Focus it takes.
** The Cost of Actions it takes.
** but most importantly…The Cost of CHANGE it takes.

You MUST change who you are to succeed in network marketing…and that cost most are not willing to pay…

If you want REAL wealth in MLM…then you must embrace the cost of Change and Growth…and invest the Time and Effort to make that happen in your life…

Do you have Personal Development Time…15 minutes a day to listen to or read some Success Soaked Material…

If you develop Personal Development Time…

Those 15 minutes will become GOLDEN….

And those are the minutes which will produce the GOLD….within you….

IF you are willing to accept the Cost…

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If you can’t answer this question, you may need to ask yourself a different question:  Why are you in business?

Anyone can start a home-based business in the MLM Network Marketing industry, but to be one of those businesses that succeeds and continues to flourish isn’t so easy.  As a small business owner, it’s essential that you establish a vision for your business in order to understand where your MLM business is headed.

Another way to look at it, do you want to be in business for the long-term or short-term?

Here are 7 areas to review to have a complete picture of where your business is headed:

*Define success for you and your MLM business.
Successful businesses get what they want because they know what they want. Remember that there is the dictionary description of success, your business associates description of success, and your description of success.  Which description do you go by?

*Why are you in business?
Bottom line:  we’re all in business to make money.  So what does making money mean to you?  Does it mean fulfilling your passion for helping people?  What will the profits from the business provide?  Always keep in mind that just because you’re passionate about helping people doesn’t mean the people you’re helping want what you have to offer.  Your business must be a profit-producing investment or you have no business.

*Define what business you’re in.
Are you in the business of providing alarm systems for commercial properties, or are you in the business of providing security for business assets acquired by retail establishments? (see the distinction)

*Define your targets.
You can’t hit a target you never set.  You must have your goals (targets) clearly defined including action steps to achieve them.

*Understand the economics of the deal.
First determine the financial considerations of the business you’re starting, and then understand the profit margins of the product or service you’re selling.  You need to know the financial picture of your MLM business, don’t leave that up to your accountant.  They don’t understand compensation plans anyways.

*Define the perception of your chosen industry.
Perception in business can make or break your efforts.  What is perception?  In business it is recognizing and interpreting information.  What perceptions do you have of your industry?  What perceptions does your target market have of your industry?  Special note:  Managing perceptions in business is truly about managing expectations.

*Are you a good strategist.
Businesses who consistently win have a clear strategy. A good strategist develops long-term targets while hitting short-term targets while managing day-to-day activities. Why have strategies?  So your business stays on course, and avoids any alternative that does not get you closer to the established long-term targets.

By defining where your MLM business is headed, you’re on your way to establishing a long-term business enterprise.

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Think about it. Do you know who you’re looking for right now? What is your profile of the perfect MLM prospect?

What qualities do these people possess? Do you want them to be aggressive and entrepreneurial? Are you looking for leaders? Do you care whether they are in their twenties, forties, or sixties? Stop right now, take a moment, and make a list of the qualities you’d like to see in the people on your MLM team. Find a pencil or pen, and do it now before you read any farther.

 My People Would Have These Qualities and Characteristics:

Now, what will determine whether the people you want are the people you get—whether they will possess the qualities you desire? You may be surprised by the answer. Believe it or not, who you get is not determined by what you want. It’s determined by who you are.

Go back to the list you just made, and next to each characteristic you identified, check to see if you possess that quality. For example, if you wrote that you would like “great leaders” and you are an excellent leader, that’s a match. Put a check by it. But if your leadership is no better than average, put an X and write “only average leader” next to it. If you wrote that by who you are “entrepreneurial” and you possess that quality, put a check. Otherwise, mark it with an X, and so on. Now review the whole list.

If you see a whole bunch of Xs, then you’re in trouble because the people you describe are not the type who will want to follow you. In most situations, you draw people to you who possess the same qualities you do. That’s The Law of Magnetism: Who you are is who you attract.

If you want leaders, you must become a leader yourself!

So, look at the Team you have so far…is this right on?

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People from all walks of life, people with some of the most incredible life experiences, people that have gone from pennies to fortune and from failure to success have taken the time to write down their experiences so that we might share in their wealth of knowledge. They have offered their wisdom and experience so that we can be inspired by it and instructed by it, and so that we can amend our philosophy by it. Their contributions enable us to reset our sail based upon their experiences. They have handed us the gift of their insights so that we can change our plans, if need be, in order to avoid their errors. We can rearrange our lives based on their wise advice.

All of the insights that we might ever need have already been captured by others in books. The important question is this: In the last ninety days, with this treasure of information that could change our lives, our fortunes, our relationships, our health, our children and our MLM business for the better, how many books have we read?

Why do we neglect to read the books that can change our lives? Why do we complain but remain the same? Why do so many of us curse the effect but nourish the cause?  How do we explain the fact that only a small percent of our entire national population uses the library card they possess - a card that would give us access to all of the answers to success and happiness we could ever want? Those who wish for the better life cannot permit themselves to miss the books that could have a major impact on how their lives turn out. The book they miss will not help!

And the issue is not that books are too expensive! If a person concludes that the price of buying the book is too great, wait until he must pay the price for not buying it. Wait until he receives the bill for continued and prolonged ignorance.

There is very little difference between someone who cannot read and someone who will not read. The result of either is ignorance. Those who are serious seekers of personal development must remove the self-imposed limitations they have placed on their reading skills and their reading habits. There is a multitude of classes being taught on how to be a good reader and there are thousands of books on the shelves of the public libraries just waiting to be read. Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary. We must not permit anything to stand between us and the book that could change our lives.

A little reading each day will result in a wealth of valuable information in a very short period of time. But if we fail to set aside the time, if we fail to pick up the book, if we fail to exercise the discipline, then ignorance will quickly move in to fill the void.

Those who seek a better life must first become a better person. They must continually seek after self-mastery for the purpose of developing a balanced philosophy of life, and then live in accordance with the dictates of that philosophy. The habit of reading is a major stepping-stone in the development of a sound philosophical foundation.  And in my opinion it is one of the fundamentals required for the attainment of success and happiness in MLM.  I don’t know a single MLM Leader who would disagree.

So what Book are you reading right now?

Some of my favorites are:

The Possible Dream, Charles Paul Conn
Compassionate Capitalism, Rich DeVos
Being the Best you can be in MLM, John Kalench
The Greatest Networker, John Fogg
Heart to Heart, DeGarmo and Tartaglia
The Miracle of Intention, Pat Davis
Age Wave, Ken Dychtwald
Co-active Coaching, Whitworth, Kimsey-House, Sandahl
The truth…what it really takes to make it in Network  Marketing, Kim Klaver
Winning the Greatest game of all, Randy Ward

This is not my entire list, but these are ALL books that have been a major part of building my MLM skills and creating my own MLM success.

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Now why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think that it matters.

On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally doesn’t result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we escape from any immediate consequences of our deeds.

If we have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety days, this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate impact on our lives. And since nothing drastic happened to us after the first ninety days, we repeat this error in judgment for another ninety days, and on and on it goes. Why? Because it doesn’t seem to matter. And herein lies the great danger. Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it matters!

Now here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the formula for success is easy to follow: It’s a few simple disciplines practiced every day.

Now here is an interesting question worth pondering: How can we change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the formula for success? The answer is by making the future an important part of our current philosophy.

Both MLM success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If this is true, why don’t more people take time to ponder the future? The answer is simple: They are so caught up in the current moment that it doesn’t seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so absorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow.

But what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road? We would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with that valuable information, we would be able to take the necessary action to change our errors into new success-oriented disciplines. In other words, by disciplining ourselves to see the future in advance, we would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new habits to replace the old.

One of the exciting things about the formula for MLM success—a few simple disciplines practiced every day—is that the results are almost immediate. As we voluntarily change daily errors into daily disciplines, we experience positive results in a very short period of time. When we change our diet, our health improves noticeably in just a few weeks. When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost immediately. When we begin reading, we experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence.  When we start making the connections with others, we start building an incredible residual income.  Whatever new discipline we begin to practice daily will produce exciting results that will drive us to become even better at developing new disciplines.

The real magic of new disciplines is that they will cause us to amend our thinking. If we were to start today to read the books, keep a journal, attend the classes, listen more and observe more, then today would be the first day of a new life leading to a better future. If we were to start today to try harder, and in every way make a conscious and consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors into constructive and rewarding disciplines, we would never again settle for a life of existence—not once we have tasted the fruits of a life of substance!

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I’m not saying this is the intention of Networkers who use this phrase. I can understand what’s behind it. It’s an intention to have people be out there stretching themselves even though they may be fearful. It’s the idea that acting like you’re a success will create the behavior that really will lead to success. People also say this in an effort to get new distributors off the idea that until they know everything they can’t take action. You know the cliche — the ultra-educated Networker who’s never sponsored someone.

The problem, though, is that something drops out in the execution, and it happens to be the most important asset in our business: people.

In the Eighties, we were inundated with information about how to sell this and how to sell that, how to negotiate anything, how to overcome objections, “fake it ’til you make it,” — oh, and the other one I really want to kill, “feel-felt-found”: “I know exactly how you feel, I felt the same way, but you know what I’ve found. . . .” To teach people in Network Marketing that you actually know how a prospect feels is teaching them to be insensitive. Unless you were born to the same parents, living in the same household, having the same life experiences, you do not know how another human being feels.

All those techniques worked in the Eighties, but now we’re in a new millennium and the techniques don’t work. People are savvy, and dishonesty and evasiveness — not being a straight-talker — dishonors you as the distributor and them as the prospects. Techniques make you sound like a used car salesman now.

I say we’re beyond that in this industry. What people want is authenticity. If you stumble… stumble… but be yourself, because that’s what people are drawn to — the genuineness of human beings. All of us want to know that we can trust those around us, particularly those we want to be in business with. There’s still a trust issue for Network Marketing; a lot of people out there aren’t certain they can trust this industry with their future. Can you trust someone who’s faking to be something they’re not?

If you are driving a clunker of a car, don’t say you’re just driving it because your nice one’s in the shop, say what’s true — even if it’s, “Mr. Prospect, I’m not there yet, as a matter of fact I’ve been in for two weeks, but here’s what I’m excited about. . . .”

If you feel like you don’t know enough yet, there’s another choice besides putting off talking to people or faking expertise. Again, tell the truth. “Ms. Prospect, I am still fairly new at this. This is what I’ve personally done, and here’s what I’ve noticed. I know people who’ve had this a much longer time and this is what they said.”

People love to buy, they really do, but they hate to be sold. When Networkers use techniques, prospects feel like they’re being sold, but when you’re honest, people are drawn to that and want to buy. The fact that you don’t know everything about the MLM product or service doesn’t get in the way of someone wanting to join you. Does understanding the product help? You bet. Does understanding the MLM compensation plan help? Of course. But what’s more important is the benefits of what you’re offering that will support the individual you’re talking to so they can better their lives.

If you’re scared of talking to people, don’t pretend to be confident and experienced. Try saying what’s so. “Mr. Prospect, I’m brand new in this company and, to tell you the truth, I’m a bit intimidated and frightened about even opening my mouth. At the same time, I am so excited about what has happened for me, I know there’s something here and I want to share it. I thought because you have experienced A, B, and C in your life that you’d probably be interested, too.”

Who wouldn’t be attracted to that? Being that truthful makes many prospects think, “Hey, I could really do this.” This is such an emotional business, but some of the unpleasant intensity of that emotion is relieved for people who stop trying to hide fears and perceived inadequacies, like concealing the fact that they live paycheck to paycheck. Tell your own story. There’s something that you saw in this or you wouldn’t even be involved, so tell your story. And make sure you’re building your MLM organization because it’s your idea, because you want to do it. Don’t do it for an upline.

Of course, it’s understandable why it’s so hard sometimes to be authentic in prospecting situations. When we’re on the hotseat in life, all of our fears, founded and unfounded, suddenly show up in full force. Guess what temperature it is when you’re talking to a prospect? It’s hot. Maybe that makes us babble, say things we just want to kick ourselves for, feel awkward, insecure. This is especially uncomfortable when we’re talking to people we love and adore because the last thing we want is for them to think badly of us. That’s one of the most painful things a person can experience, yet in Network Marketing the first thing we teach people to do is put together a list and use a (fake) script! The inauthenticity it’s so hard not to display is about self-protection. If you’re not really being you, then how can you really be rejected?

We yearn as human beings to be connected to other people but we’re scared to do it. What generally happens is people look at their upline or at top people in the company and think, “Oh, they’re so good. I don’t have that knowledge, I don’t have that confidence,” forgetting that they already know how to do what it takes to be successful — be themselves. Never give that up, and know that you are already equipped to succeed.

I hope you’ll share this with your MLM Team and encourage them to be “authentic”! 

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