A classmate of mine in one of my MBA classes just turned me onto Google Translate. As in 5 minutes ago.

This thing is incredible! I’ve used online translators many times before, but this thing is on a whole nother level.

Try it out for yourself. And to really take it out for a spin try translating a whole document.

You are welcome.

Go here to enjoy Google Translate!

All of us at one time or another in our journey have felt like quitting. It seems like the easy thing to do would be to just give up and go back to “life as normal”

The easy thing to do would be to just throw our hands up in the air and chalk this one up as a failure.

The easy thing would be to change our mind about what we thought we wanted, just to make ourselves feel a little more comfortable about failure.

The easy thing would be to change our goals and desires to fit our “reality”.

So if the easy thing to do is just to quit. And since quitting leads to failure….

Would it stand to reason then that “not quitting” leads to success??

So before you quit….here’s a simple word of advice.

Don’t.

Eiro Research is a Dallas-based network marketing company specializing in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of premium, properly formulated nutritional, energy, and weight management products. EIRO’s validated, innovative wellness solutions contain first-to-market technologies which are leading market trends.

In his own words Mr. Glover said that he has been “intrigued by residual income” and is “excited to be an independent associate”

On a conference call where he was introduced to Eiro’s exploding nationwide organization, Mr. Glover said”We can be the architects of our own future.”

“EIRO’s innovative nutritional products are second-to-none,” said Glover.  “I have been exposed to the network marketing industry before.  However, I have never encountered a company like EIRO.  EIRO’s management team, products, and opportunity represent the best-of-the-best.  This is a great home for me, and I am proud to build a team along with such a great brand.”

For more information on Eiro Research click here

You’ve been praised all your life for your abilities-

“You’re so talented! The sky is the limit for YOU! You’re going to be SO successful! Just look how talented you are!”

You’ve basked in the glory of others adulation and admiration all your life.

You might might even feel that you could be successful at anything you put your hand to.

Why?

Because you’re talented.

You’re gifted.

Things come easy to you.

But I’m here to tell you it’s all a lie!

The biggest reason why you will probably fail is BECAUSE of your talents.

I know, right?! What a concept! But walk with me for a second as we dig a little deeper.

You will FAIL….
Because you’re so used to things coming easy to you so you find it hard to maintain a sustained and committed effort to the tasks at hand for any significant amount of time.

You’re always looking for the next best, most interesting task or goal to move onto instead of seeing things through when more than talent is required.

Talent is not enough. Persistence, commitment, and hard work will beat talent over time. Every time.

Calvin Coolidge said:

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Go ye and do likewise

Not you.

Not me.

Be great.

As we grow older society begins to shape and mold our thoughts and philosophies. We are told that we need to be more practical. That we need to aim for lower more “realistic” goals and ambitions. We are told that in order to be successful in life we need to go to school, get good grades, and then get a good job.

Soon we start to believe that our cherished dreams and ambitions were all just childish fantasies and that we really need to be more practical about our goals and purposes in life. So we enter college and decide upon “practical” degrees and courses of study. We choose programs designed to give us a chance at scoring a good job when we enter the work place. We work hard to keep a good grade point average (GPA) to give us the best shot at persuading a potential employer of the legitimacy of our candidacy.

Then graduation comes! Excited about our future we storm out into the world and begin playing the resume game, hoping to land our dream job or career. Some of us are even fortunate enough to land such positions right out of college. But for the rest of us we often find ourselves settling for the best job offer we can find. And in many cases this “best” offer isn’t close to what we had hoped for.

But we take it anyways, counting our blessings as we begin the 40-year, 9-5, 36,000 dollar a year mind numbing existence that we swore as kids we would never succumb too.

But we’re being mature, right? We’re being practical. We’re being wise.

Right?

Even those of us who manage to hit the illusive 6-figure income bracket often find that we have sacrificed more than we ever imagined.

But we have bills to pay. And since adulthood brings responsibility this is what “real” life is about.

Right?

What if it isn’t?

What if life is more about doing all the things you always dreamed about? What if life was defined more by the quality of the life you live than the quantity of the money you make? What if life was more about doing what you wanted than just doing what you had to do?

What if you retire at age 65 and look back over your life and realize that life didn’t turn out anything like you had hoped? You got caught up, going through the motions, living to work and not working to live.

The truth is that someone bought your dreams from you.

How much did they pay?

I hope it was worth it.

I just couldn’t figure it out!

I knew that the business worked. There were thousands of people making some really great incomes doing the same business. There were even people my age at that time making 10,000 + dollars a month! So what was wrong with ME?

As you can imagine I grew extremely frustrated. I started searching for answers. I was soooo motivated to make it big or even just make it at all in the business, but I couldn’t seem to make any progress. I went door to door to try and sell product, i cold called people out of the phone book, I harassed my friends. I tried everything I could think of to move my business forward BUT NO luck.

So I decided to take some time off. Burnt out, frustrated, and just ready to quit I decided that I would just relax for a while, and just collect my thoughts.

One day it hit me! I need a mentor! I need someone who’s already been through the struggles I’ve been through and still made it to the top. I need someone to show me what I had to do every step of the way.

That was it!

I started searching out mentors. I looked for people who had the results I wanted and lived the lifestyle that I dreamed about. I’d heard someone say that if you find someone who has what you want, do what they do, and you’ll get what they got.

Obviously everything is different now for me. My business is thriving. I live an incredible lifestyle. And I can tell you without a doubt that my success has come from finding a mentor who took me by the hand and showed me step by step what I had to do in order to be successful.

Today I want to introduce you all to my mentor, Muzafer Najfi of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Muzafer is currently one of the top leaders with Eiro Research, a pharmaceutical research company that markets its products through the network marketing distribution model.

Muzafer has been in the Network Marketing/Home based business industry for going on 15 years now. He has been with 4 companies and has reached the top levels in every single company, at a record breaking pace, building sales teams into the 10′s of thousands around the world. Having generated multiple six figures annually for well over a decade, Muzafer is considered NETWORK MARKETING ROYALTY.

My personal experience and professional experience of Muzafer is that he is a total class act. He is caring and dedicated first to his family, God, and to his team. He is truly loyal. His work ethic is unparalleled. He is the kind of leader who truly leads by example and expects the best and highest effort from his team because he gives his own best and highest effort.

Those who are fortunate enough to meet the man for themselves quickly understand that they are in the presence of not only a highly intelligent and driven business leader, but an all around great guy.

I highly recommend anyone who is serious and dedicated to finding their own financial freedom to take any opportunity they may have at working with an individual of Muzafer’s class and creed extremely seriously. There are very few mentors of his caliber left in the industry and it would be a shame to pass up an opportunity at being mentored by one of the best to ever do this business.

Muzafer and I are expanding our business and are looking for a few key people to partner with and to mentor to 6-figure residual incomes or to even just to help make some extra part-time money. For more info visit on partnering with us click here or email me: matthew@themeridianlifestyle.com

So you want to know how to experience life on the other side of the velvet rope? Look no further. This powerful series of posts will share with you some of the best techniques for gaining you and your friends access to a whole new world of possibilities.

Strategy:  Establish Relationships

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying; “It’s not what you know, but who you know that matters”. This is a very true statement, but I’d like to add my own little extension to this age old adage:  ”It’s Not So Much Who You Know, As Who Knows You.”

You can drop names at the door all night long, but if that decision maker who holds your access for the night in the cusp of their grubby hands doesn’t actually know you or remember that they know you then you’re in for a LONG, EMBARASSING NIGHT.

As a rule I would advise that you refrain from dropping names.  Just don’t do it. You just end up looking desperate when you need to be making a good impression with the gate keepers. But if for some crazy reason you do drop a name, you better be damn sure that if that person actually comes out to check on your “situation” that they know you and have the authority to vouch for you.

But I digress.

As stated above, your strategy numero uno is to establish relationships. You should be very deliberate in your networking. Your goal is to befriend as many of the gate keepers as possible – from the security guards, door managers, cashiers, to the VIP directors and promoters.  If possible, your networking should proceed your night out. These are busy people and the entryway to a club can be extremely chaotic so this isn’t usually the ideal place to start up a conversation. The best time to catch this group of people is on a slow night when there aren’t too many things going on. They’re a usually a little bit more open to talking when they dont have throngs of people all trying to get in. Trust me, they’re bored out of their minds and an interesting, witty conversation is a great shift from the tedium.

Always make sure you say “hi” and are personable to all of these people even if they don’t respond. You want to stand out in their minds. You want them to remember you. Most people are just rushing to get inside so being nice and giving a sincere compliment can be quite endearing.

If it is a slow night, spend some time talking to them. Don’t be in any rush to get inside. Be sincere, and interested in them for who they are. Creating conversation out of thin air may be awkward or difficult at first, but just try it. You might be surprised at how well things go. Just please don’t try to be a smart ass or silly.

Bring value – All things considered, clubs are businesses and are all looking to turn a profit. It’s an extremely competitive business as crowds are fickle and clubs can go from being the city’s hottest venue to a total failure in one night. Keeping this in mind, it’s a good idea to spend some time thinking about what you can bring to help improve the club. From talking to your new friends at the door you can discover many things the club might need. Your job is to think of solutions. Maybe you know an interior decorator that does killer work for cheap, or maybe you have a friend that wants to have a birthday party somewhere and you think this venue would be perfect, etc. Whatever it is, once you’ve identified a need, fill it!

Ask to speak to the manager (or someone in authority) about this issue. Tell them confidently that you can provide a solution, but don’t neccessarily give it all away. You want to keep them curious and your goal is to set a meeting with them outside of the club where the two of you can meet at a public location and discuss your ideas. Whether they take your suggestions or not, you should listen very closely to what they tell you. Build rapport with them. Ask them simple questions like, “How long have you been in the club business?” “What do you like best about your job?” “What do you dislike the most about your job?” etc.

People love talking about themselves. Your job is to listen carefully and discover personal needs they may have and then do your best to fill them.

The skill of building relationships and creating rapport with people is super important in business. I’ll discuss more about this tomorrow. But in the meantime, happy networking!

I remember the first club party I ever attended. It’s easy to remember because it wasn’t that long ago. It was Floyd “Money (or ‘Funny Money’) Mayweather live and in ostentatious person at Club Pure, making it the place to be that Thursday night in all of Atlanta (or so my friends at work told me). I got there around midnight because I was told that I would get in free if I was in line when the clock struck 12. I ended up paying 20 dollars and standing in line for 30 minutes, watching with utter dismay as all these glamorous (and in some cases, not-so-glamorous) looking people breezed on through the VIP access line, got their wrist bands, and sauntered into the venue for a night of fun.
“What’s so special about them?” I wondered to myself as I fought to maintain my skinny existence in line. “What do they have (money, influence, and connections) that I don’t?”

Okay. I’ll admit it. I was embarrassed. My ego was more than a little bruised. I felt like a second class citizen. You know what I mean? Nobody likes to stand in line, especially this little piggy. After finally paying my 20 dollars and entering the club I still couldn’t shake this feeling that I should not be paying or standing in line. It really, really IRKED me.

That night I made up my mind that I would never ever suffer the indignity of “the line” again. I would figure out what it would take for me to be able to walk up to any club, and be escorted past the line and right on into VIP every time.

“Oh no, Mr. Harris. Please, follow me this way sir. No need for YOU to stand in line with those people.”

Yes sir! I like the sound of that!

I’m happy to report that that fateful Mayweather party was the last time I’ve stood in line at a club. And now for the first time ever I’m going to share with YOU oh master-of –the –night-out how you too can get treated like the VIP you are. Not only am I going to show you how to use this skill to get into clubs, and pretty much anywhere else that has restricted access, but I’m going to show you how to apply it in your life and in your business. This strategy alone took me from being a no-name on the social scene in Atlanta to being on every important VIP list in the city in less than 2 weeks. It also allowed me to quit my job and have my boss drive 30 miles, in his white BMW 7-series to my very door step the next day to beg me to take on his company (my former employer) as my first client.

Can’t wait to share this powerful information with you!

Check back tomorrow for Part 2!

I will never forget those words. I was 19-years old and the gravity of my predicament was inescapable. One moment of youthful carelessness, and the State of Michigan could now alter the story of my life with a singular strike of the judge’s gavel.

Fast forward 7 years. I had just finished presenting at a private soirée for an NFL client of mine in Baltimore, Maryland when two, inquisitive college kids who were clearly star-struck with all the high profile people milling about came over to make small talk. “No way! You know Dr. J?! You have his phone number?! Do you go to a lot of private parties? What celebrities have you hung out with? Rihanna?! Akon?! You know UN ambassadors?!? YOU CHARGE HOW MUCH AN HOUR??”

Somewhere between answering their questions about my trips around the world, and whose speed dial list I was on is when IT HIT ME…

THIS REALLY IS MY LIFE!

Sooooo – How did, I get “here” from “there?”

MY TURNING POINT

The truth is, everything came together for me when I heard the judge tell me I was headed to jail.

It was at that very moment that I made a decision that would forever alter the direction of my life! I decided that I was going to take responsibility for myself; that I would live my life on purpose, that I would do, be, and
have better!

I cleared my throat and raised my hand…

“YOUR HONOR…”

What happened next was absolutely amazing! After explaining to the judge what had happened and taking responsibility for my mistakes and actions…he let me go!

I WALKED OUT OF THAT COURT ROOM, A FREE MAN!

The irony is that I have been free from the day I was born, but I had never fully understood what freedom really was until mine was almost taken from me.

By God’s grace I have tried to keep the promise I made to myself on that fateful day. I strive to live my life on purpose and my life has turned out more exciting than I ever dreamed!

I have learned that success can be as simple (and as hard) as making a decision; a decision to succeed and to never settle for mediocrity.

Make that decision. Believe me…It’s worth it!