Any time you bring a new idea to someone else, there is a good chance they will think it’s a bad idea.
Many years ago when I first started in networking, I did what I was supposed to do and took my new business idea to my friends and family to see if they would be interested in joining me. My sponsor did not prepare me for the reception I would get. She did not tell me that my friends would tell me I was crazy or that this kind of thing “doesn’t work,” or that I will “never make any money at it,” or “how could I fall for something like that?”
I felt incredibly rejected and I am a person by nature who takes things very personally. Was I really so gullible as to think I could build this kind of business when everyone I knew well thought it was a bad idea? I was unprepared for this negative tidal wave, and normally I would have walked away from it right then thinking “they’re right, what was I thinking?”
But I didn’t. You see, I KNEW other people were succeeding in the industry because I had met some of them. AND, I was at a turning point in my life…I was fed up with not accomplishing anything of note. So I made a decision…I took the attitude that I would show them. It took a long time, but instead of them making a disbeliever out of me, I made believers out of them!
Of course, that was 22 years ago. At that point, people were limited in their exposure to networking, and for many the only exposure they had was from a very deceptive, very negative approach. Today, it is common knowledge that this industry is one that many people are successful in. But that doesn’t mean everyone understands it and knows that they can do it too. For most people it still represents a new idea.
Here’s a few points to consider:
1. Most people base their approach to things on the box they have built for themselves out of their past experiences and their personal knowledge.
2. If it doesn’t fit in their box, they don’t understand it, and therefore it can’t be a good idea.
3. Putting yourself in their box is a bad idea.
4. In today’s rapidly changing world, there should be no box…as this represents a closed-mind.
5. A closed mind means your box, relative to the world, will get smaller by the day.
Some people will be open to your idea and some will not. The ones that aren’t….are they going to make your dreams come true? No, they are here to test your resolve. To see if you have what it takes to blow up the box.
I’m here to tell you….you have no box. You can be as successful as you want. You just have to ignore the naysayers and work your process. A funny thing will happen along the way…eventually you will go from being seen as someone who is making a dumb move to someone who is seen as innovative and forward thinking! Think of it this way…everything in your life currently, from the car you drive to the appliances in your house, to your phone and computer, was at one point a “bad idea.”
In the coming years, more households will have a home business as an income stream, than the ones that don’t.
