MLM Woman Newsletter

Bodybuilding and
Network Marketing
By Sandi Krakowski

When I was in my twenties, I had a dream. It was a big dream and it was against all odds. I had hormones, family history, and my bodytype against me. I had a dream of being in shape better than anyone woman I personally knew. I had a dream of not having cellulite. I had a dream of benchpressing for 24 reps 250 lbs on a flat bench. I had a dream of winning just one trophy that showed I did it.

Well, I accomplished my dream. I got rid of the cellulite. In the days when women were not in the bodybuilding gyms (back in the 80's) unless they were trying to pick up guys, I went religiously to my workout, and I pressed on, I did my time, I did what it took, and I accomplished every single goal you see in the first paragraph and even more.

I ended up however losing myself after a few years, I lost who I was, I began to perform to please, I began to seek perfection to gain notoriety in the industry, get more sponsors from the tanning companies, the clothing stores, etc. I lost my dream and became a slave. As I stood in the back stage in 1984 before the US East Coast Championship, I knew this would be my last event. I had trained hard, I had done my best, but this was it. I decided right at that minute that I would only lift weights again for personal goals and fulfillment, no longer to please everyone else. I ended up meeting a man that loved bodybuilding and some of our funnest dates were lifting weights together, sipping on lowfat TCBY yogurts and well you know what you do when you are in love, playing kissy face and dreaming about when we'd be married and never have to be apart again.

Network marketing is about having dreams and achieving them. It's about going against the odds, and accomplishments. I have learned some things in those days of bodybuilding that will never leave my heart or my mind. I am applying some of them in my network marketing career and they have helped me to earn Top Earner awards with some companies, I have been the largest distributor in the nation of certain products and I have had a lot of fun along the way. I'd like to share with you some of the similarities in these two professions and how it can benefit you.

Remember, I was not bodybuilding for fun, I was pursuing the career as a National Champion. I started out having fun, seeking to be in shape, but I went far beyond that. My network marketing career has been much the same, I began to just see how I could do some 6 years ago, sold more than I ever even imagined, and was hooked for life.

I have fired myself, retired, and left the industry a few times because of health issues, I needed a vacation and even after a horrible lawsuit that nearly took away all that I had. But it is in my veins and it is in my blood and I am convinced without a doubt that I have learned more life lessons in this industry than in any other aspect of my life.

Let's look now if you will at some similarities between bodybuilding and network marketing:

1. Bodybuilding: If you don't work out on a regular schedule, you won't get in shape. You can diet, you can play with some exercises, but to achieve the goals I had, you can't do that playing around.

Network Marketing: If you don't work and develop your skills, you won't get anywhere. You can call some leads, place some ads, and you can play around, but to achieve goals that are going to take you to the top, you need to stop playing around.

2. Bodybuilding: If you don't constantly change your schedule and your plan, your muscles will get used to the same repetitive activity and you'll have a point where you cannot go any further.

Network Marketing: If you don't constantly keep changing your skill level (getting better and better, always being a student even if you become a trainer) you'll get to the point where your skills will grow stale and you'll be at a stopping point in your career.

3. Bodybuilding: If you don't challenge yourself and then see that challenge as coming true, you won't get anywhere. You need to have a plan in motion, take your challenge, break it down and then prove how you are going to achieve it. I wanted to be in the Michigan Championship: I wrote out my 12 month goal down to how often I worked out, what exercises I did, when to change my diet to get my bodyfat down to under 4% and I achieved that goal.

Network Marketing: If you don't challenge yourself, have an outlined goal of what you are desiring and a plan on how you are GOING to, not maybe, not might, but how you ARE going to achieve this, you most likely won't, or you'll come close, and honestly folks - who likes CLOSE?! I tend to be the kind of person that either doesn't even bother with something, or if I do anything I do it 100%. This is how you should be approaching your Network Marketing business. It is not just a toy, it is within your grasp the KEY to financial independence. I hope that you can catch that vision! Once you do - your life will never be the same.