So many things we decide to do in life take a measure of dedication and perseverance to reach the goal we have in mind, but with the way the world works in 2016 that’s easy to forget. In an existence filled with instant gratification brought on the wings of technology we want life like Burger King serves up our Whopper. Our way, right away.
Hey, I get it. I’m that way too. I’m the girl that gets frustrated if someone doesn’t text me right away, or mutters angrily under my breath when the internet connection is slow. We expect immediate gratification, we demand satisfaction, and we desire immediate return for our efforts. It’s a life of twenty minute meals, 30 day fixes, and 8 minute abs.
What we forget is that the good things in life often take time, and that the very best things that God has for us don’t occur overnight. Waiting is hard, but as they say, Rome wasn’t built overnight, and anything that comes easy probably isn’t worth your time.
About five months ago I decided to embark on a new journey in my life with a skincare company called Rodan and Fields, and while the opportunity offered a substantial improvement in income for my family (early retirement even), it also was mentioned that it was in essence a 3-5 year business plan. So I should have been prepared.
I’m sure you can imagine what happened. As I started up my small business, with visions of being a stay-at-home mom dancing in my head, the reality of my endeavor befell me. It’s not that it was hard, per se, it was just that no one came knocking on my door to hand deliver a check for a million dollars. And no one dropped a Lexus off in my driveway.
I discovered that this great thing that I believed in and wanted was very much like other things the Lord had led me to. In fact it reminded me a lot of this blog.
You see, when I first began to blog over three years ago (something I felt certain God had led me to do) it wasn’t as I imagined. People blog for different reasons, but I had specific goals in mind. I wanted it to be a highly popular site, and I wanted to touch A LOT of people with the words I had to say. You can imagine my disappointment when I began to hit post, eagerly watch my blog statistics, and become crestfallen as only a handful even opened the link.
I would spend so much time and energy crafting a beautiful post, and then I would become very discouraged when only 20-40 people would even bother to read it. It certainly wasn’t what I planned it to be, and I couldn’t imagine how it could get to be where I wanted it if no one even gave me a chance!
I wanted to quit. It wasn’t worth the heartache, and certainly not my time. But I was reminded that good things are worth the wait, that I could only reach my goals through dedication and perseverance. So I kept writing.
Back then I got excited if a post got 100 views, and though I wasn’t a Jen Hatmaker, I grabbed tightly to those hundred readers and hugged them close to my heart. I let my small successes inspire me, I believed in my future triumphs, and most importantly I kept going. I kept going and watched 100 views per post grow into 1.5 million views for one post, and still I kept going.
I don’t know why we think that wonderful things must happen immediately, or why we get discouraged when we don’t see an immediate return for our efforts, but we do. I suppose it’s human nature, and I’ll admit honestly my own discouragement I’ve felt at times since I started working as a consultant with Rodan and Fields.
When you want something bad it’s easy to want it right away, but true success comes to those who keep going even when they don’t see huge results. They take the “no’s” as a “not right now,” and they take being ignored as an inspiration to keep going until they’re acknowledged. They certainly don’t compare their successes to those of another. That’s the stealer of joy every single time. Instead they use it as motivation.
I work as a Registered Nurse, and with over a decade of experience in the field I make a very nice salary, but after two months with Rodan and Fields I was making more than half my nursing paycheck. I took that success and I kept going.
This month, for the first time since I started, I haven’t signed a single Preferred Customer. I have two options. I could become discouraged at that, or I could use it to spur determination in myself. After all, you can only go up from zero.
Despite my newness with the company I can look at my numbers this month alone and see a residual income coming for me. Am I where I want to be with the company? Not yet. But the operative word is yet.
Good things happen to those who wait, but not simply by sitting still. The prize comes for those who run the race, who stay in it despite their fatigue, and whether they can see the finish line or not.
Why do you think more people aren’t successfully making a career with Direct Sales? I think it’s either because they don’t believe that they can, or that they quit when it doesn’t happen quickly enough. I think the ones who build an empire are those who believe they can, are determined to see it happen for them, and persevere when the journey isn’t easy.
For those individuals, when the going gets tough, they get tougher. When a spirit of defeat says quit, they keep going. So I suppose the question is, who are you, and what do you do when the going gets tough?
I keep going.