Further to my post last week about blame or responsibility, I thought I’d take a closer look at commitment in today’s post.  How many of you find it hard to make a commitment? Or find it challenging to follow through to the end of commitment you’ve made? I’ve been observing my level commitment in different areas of my life, as well as other people’s level of commitment in those same areas.

The first thing about being committed to a person, job, activity or group is determining where it falls on your level of priorities.  I believe that the reason why so many people aren’t able to keep their commitments or follow them through is because of where their priorities truly lie.  For example, I made a decision to become more fluent in Spanish this year. From Sept – Dec, I attended my Spanish meet-up group every other week and took every possible opportunity to practice. After my trip to Mexico at Christmas, even though my desire to learn Spanish had not disappeared, the level of commitment to my Spanish group had changed because it was no longer a priority (i.e. no upcoming trip).  And now, I have pre-natal yoga on Thursday nights (same night as Spanish) so I have made the decision to commit to the yoga instead of Spanish. Even though I enjoyed meeting with the group and have learned quite a bit in the past few months, my priorities have changed and so has my commitment level.

In many other areas of my life, I have noticed that everyone seems to have a different level of commitment. And I often wonder why people choose to sign up and pay for different activities, yet rarely or never show up? One example is our Toastmasters group.  There is a fairly high level of commitment to be a part of this group as we meet every Monday night for 2 hours. Members are not required to attend every meeting and there is no penalty for missing too many meetings.  Yet there are members who only come once a month or perhaps only when their name is on the schedule. And there are other members who are there for every single meeting, or at the most have missed one or two since the beginning of this year. It’s interesting because both people may have similar challenges to overcome in order to attend the meetings, yet one of them is there and the other isn’t.  It comes back to a level of priority of course.  Where does Toastmasters fit into each person’s level of priorities, compared to the rest of their lives? Ironically, just like most things in life, you get the most out of the experience by showing up and being a part of it.  Which leads to a greater enjoyment and a deeper commitment. Of course, those who are never able to show up regularly will never have the opportunity to experience this.

Let’s say you’ve made a pretty serious commitment to a job, a business or relationship. And you’ve been delivering on that commitment since day one and holding up your end of the deal. What happens if you’re faced with a decision that would require you to break that commitment in order to move on to something or someone else? This is a situation that I’m sure many of you have faced before, as have I.   In my career so far in network marketing, I built a business with one company for 3 years, and had committed to building it to the highest level. Yet I quit the business before I got there.  There are moments in our lives where we will choose to break a commitment and move on, because that is the decision that is best for us at that time.  I had been completely committed to what I was building with the first company, and now, am committed to reach even higher levels of success with my current business.  This type of commitment is often the hardest to break and the most difficult to change – which is sometimes why we spend longer in relationships than we should or we stay at our job even though we haven’t enjoyed it for years or we stick with a flat-lining business because we’ve already put so much into it.

Bringing it back to my post last week about taking responsibility for our own actions, fulfilling a commitment is a big part of being responsible. Being in network marketing is an interesting business, it may seem very simple but it’s definitely not easy. One of the biggest challenges is that with such a low cost entry to open your own international business, often the level of commitment does not match what it will take to truly be successful. There are times when I do wish it cost $50 or $100 thousand dollars to open your own Agel business because I can guarantee you that the commitment level from most people (myself included) would change dramatically. Of course, the low start up fees is one of the reasons why our business is so appealing to so many people. The bottom line is that it takes at least one year to understand the business, at least 3-5 years part-time (honestly working 10-15 hours a week) to replace a full time income and anywhere from 3 to 10 years to be financially free and reach the top of the company. It takes hard work and commitment, just like anything else in life.

Take a look at all of the different areas in your life and ask yourself, how committed are you to each of them? Is it time to take a look at your priorities and re-assess? What are you committed to in the next 30, 60 or 90 days? How about in the next 1, 3 or 5 years? If you’d like some help to figure out your priorities and to focus your commitments for the next 10 years, I highly recommend Darren Hardy’s Program on Designing the Best 10 Years of Your Life. I committed to finishing it … I got to part 10 of 16.  Perhaps you’ll make it all the way!

Have a wonderful day today and with everything you do today, make a commitment to be your best!

One more thing – we still have open spots from Networking With Excellence and Integrity on Wed April 26th.  Email me to register.

It has been an interesting time for me over the past few months, as I have been branching out and creating new seminars, such as Networking with Excellence and Integrity. I am very grateful to have acquired the skill set to be able to not only network effectively, but to teach others to do the same. Let me ask you something, what is it that you are known for? What is your greatest strength? Are you a people connector, a creative artist, a talented musician, a great speaker, a gifted marketer? Now – the big question is – were you born this way? Or did you have to practice the skills in order to make it look like you are a “natural” at what you do?

This is something that I have always found interesting.  It is a wonderful compliment when someone tells you that you are a natural at something, yet in order for it to be “natural” for you, you’ve had to put in hundreds to thousands of hours of practice! We are all born with basically the same skills – the ability to breathe, cry, poop and sleep.  That’s about it – all of our other skills have be developed and worked on.  And the amazing thing is that you can start to develop your skills at any time in your life! My aunt became a talent pianist after the age of 60! My mom started a second career as a wine writer in her late 40s. One of my favorite Ironman triathletes, Sister Madonna Buder, became a household name for complete the Ironman in her 70s and continues to race today – she is 80 years old!!

Most of you reading this haven’t known me for that long.  What many people don’t know is that 4 years ago, I was a very different person, with a different skill set and a very different perspective on life. The past four years have been transformational for me, and have allowed me to develop into the person I am today. I am often asked how I became a speaker or a great networker – and the truth is, my experience in network marketing (or MLM) is a big part of how I transformed into the person I am now.  Not only that, I have seen many people I care about also become the best they can be through what they have learned.

Perhaps you’ve looked at MLM before, maybe even worked with a company or two.  Network marketing isn’t for everyone (although there is a place for everyone) because it is hard work and can be very challenging at times, and not instantaneously rewarding. Beyond using products that have been life changing for me, here are some of the skills and benefits I have gained over the past four years:

• The ability to network and prospect in any situation
• Making new friends and meeting new people wherever I go
• Creating and maintaining relationships with people around the world
• Presentation skills and the ability to stand in front of a group with confidence
• Personal mentoring by millionaires and multi-millionaires
• An open door into the world of self-development
• Learned how to meditate and how to visualize
• Remembered how to dream big and without limits!
• More self-esteem and self-confidence
• Disciplining my disappointment (as Jim Rohn would say)
• Attracted my perfect partner
• A better relationship with my family and my in-laws

Ask anyone who is passionate about network marketing, and they will have a similar list of “hidden” benefits to their business. Our profession may not be on the top of your list, but for me, it has been a tremendous blessing and I will always be grateful that one of my best friends, Leanne Grechulk, introduced me to it. We may not work together anymore, but my life has been changed for the better because she took the time to share with me this amazing profession of network marketing.

Perhaps the next time someone you trust or care about, asks you to come to a meeting or watch a video or listen to a presentation, maybe you’ll take a closer look. If you’d like to take a closer look at what I do, just click here for an audio tour of my website. You’ll have to enter your info in order to start the tour – this helps me to keep my contact database up-to-date.

What skills would you like to improve? What are you passionate about that you’d like to turn into a profession? Let me know – and maybe I can help – because that’s what networking is all about!

Have a wonderful day everyone and if you’ve got sunshine like we do – enjoy!!