It’s madness
We live in a society that expects us to get good grades in school, go to college, get married at 23, get a job, have two or three kids, and work 40-60 hours per week until we can’t mentally or physically take it anymore. And then we’re supposed to “retire” on what little of our 401k funds we haven’t borrowed from (if any), what little equity we have in our homes (if any), and a tiny Social Security check (if it even still exists by then).
The lifestyle I’ve just described is a very traditional one. Sure, there are plenty that go a different route – some by choice, others by circumstance. Had I not gotten married at the young age of 20 and divorced less than seven years later, my life would be a lot different right now. If I would have found a “replacement” wife when I wanted to, my life would be a lot different right now. Whatever your religious or spiritual beliefs are it doesn’t matter, but most believe in some sort of higher power. I like to call it “The Universe”. Well The Universe had other plans for me. Ever thank God for unanswered prayers?
Life is SUPPOSED to be full of love, peace, excitement
Even sadness, disappointment, and grief. What we do with these and what kind of meaning we attach to them is completely up to us. It’s difficult to see the big picture with so many distractions in our life. So many. I would not be where I am today if I had been living the traditional lifestyle for the last 15 years. Yes, that’s how long it has taken me to grow up and realize what I REALLY want out of the remaining 40 or 50 years of my life.
Yesterday I touched upon what I think it means to truly live. Everyone’s path is a little different though. It saddens me that most people are so incredibly quick to judge one another. The easiest way for me to test my stress threshold is to read comments on news articles on just about anything really – but political and racial articles usually invoke the most hate and anger in people. There are plenty of people that share a given belief or perspective on any given subject and there are sure to be several angles and perspectives. As a HUMAN race, why are we so quick to hate on someone because they happen to see things from a different perspective or they are simply on a different path at the moment? If shared with respect, one’s perspective actually has a chance of influencing another’s – but most insist on anger, disrespect, and hate and this only encourages a similar response in return.
I believe that finances is one of the most common causes of unhappiness…
This bleeds over into other parts of people’s lives. Last year Americans spent over 70 billion dollars on lottery tickets. This surpassed the total for all other types of leisure and entertainment activities combined (http://money.cnn.com). People are desperate for a break. What most players don’t realize is that the majority of winners are broke again within a few years depending how much they win. If someone isn’t that well versed at finances while making an annual income of 20k/year, they are more than likely going to be just as inept at managing millions. After the dust settles and the money is gone, a lot of winners even state that they wished that they had never won in the first place.
What are your choices if you want to make some extra cash?
Some people are naturally adept at taking their hobbies and monetizing them but what if your hobby is fishing or cooking or playing video games and how much money could you really make even if you COULD monetize them? The most popular way to make extra cash is to start your own home business. What if you don’t have a product to sell? What if you’re not good at managing ALL the aspects of a business? What if you don’t even know where to begin? Most people in this category try their luck at network marketing (MLM). So does network marketing work? If you do a little research you’ll probably be scared away immediately. Have you ever heard someone’s bad experience with MLM? There are a LOT more bad experiences than good out there but there is a very logical reason why. Take ANY profession and pretend that you can own your business in this profession by investing a few hundred dollars and a few hours of training. How prepared will you be to truly give value to someone and how much money can your realistically expect to make?
Most people treat network marketing like a lottery ticket…
…a $300 lottery ticket (or whatever the startup investment happens to be). They mentally go through their list of contacts and think of 4 or 5 people that they’re just sure will see the big picture like they do. If none of those 4 or 5 join their cause, they give up because “it doesn’t work”. This is part of the reason the industry gets such a bad reputation and such skewed success/failure rates. It’s true that most people that are exposed to the industry are lured in with incomplete, inaccurate, or downright false information. The truth is that the only way to fail in network marketing is to give up. Some people are naturals. It fits their personality. They’re outgoing, they’re energetic and optimistic and have a large network of people that respect and respond to them with little effort. Sure, network marketing initially is much easier for someone like this, however it’s not the only type of person that can be wildly successful. It’s true – anyone CAN be successful in network marketing – some just require a little more time and training than others.
Let’s talk about that tomorrow.