The Shifting Role of Women in Business

The Shifting Role of Women in Business and especially in the Internet Marketing and Network Marketing Professions

In an interview with Eric Worre, Lisa Grossman, a top earning woman in the network marketing profession, provides a wealth of tips and lessons on what it takes to succeed.

From my own perspective, the ADDED VALUE she provides, relates to the shifting role of women in the business world, and in this profession specifically. The role of women is shifting, but it is not happening fast enough. If more women than men are making money from network marketing, why is it that the biggest checks are usually generated by men?

This is a profession with no inherent glass ceiling for women. This is not a corporation where women are expected to subordinate their career ambitions to the expectations of their masculine colleagues, their husbands and society at large.

Ladies in the network marketing profession are free to earn as much as they can…so why don`t they stand up more often to fulfill this potential, with the same determination that men do?

Why is the percentage of women, among the top earners, not equivalent to the percentage of women who are making some money in this profession?

The problem may stem from limiting beliefs. Many women are stuck in the socially accepted convention that it is the man who is, and should be, the primary financial provider. Although it is acceptable for women to work for some additional income, or for the opportunity of getting out of the house, it is still the man who is “supposed to” take care of the financial needs of the family. In the current social structure and the conventional job market, there may be some logic behind this. However, the network marketing profession, more than any other kind of business, serves as an equalizer between men and women.

Ladies, wake up!

This is something you can really reach top ranks in!
Just get rid of your limiting beliefs, and start doing what you are supposed to!
Do this with honesty and integrity, and people will follow you!

The sky is the limit!

For the complete interview, see: http://disq.us/1pru

Right or Wrong…and the Value of Listening

Over the years, I`ve learned that being always right, and having the right answer, doesn`t necessarily take me to a better place. Finding out that I was wrong can be very rewarding!

I may have an opinion as to what`s right about something, and feel very strongly about any conflicting opinion presented to me.

I did this with great debating talent when I was young. Today I realize that this does not improve my perception of reality, and neither does it improve my communication skills and my relationships

If I make the effort to put aside what I`m sure is right, and just “listen” to the other opinion with a “tabula rasa” state of mind, asking questions for clarification as I get to points that are most difficult for me to accept – I find that new horizons open up for me, and my entire experience becomes richer, both conceptually and in terms of the relationship.

I don`t always change my mind about what I think, although many times I do, but one very important thing always happens…
I become clear on all the possible ways of viewing a certain reality, interpreting it, and drawing logical conclusions that may differ considerably from mine.

I also get an opportunity to understand the logic behind other points of view, and respect them, even if I ultimately don`t accept them. And quite often, I do moderate my own perception.

Sometimes it just feels great to say “I`m sorry….you are making a valid point…and I was wrong”. It diffuses a great deal of tension for everyone involved.

On Changing Habits of Thought and Action

“The definition of Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results” – Albert Einstein

If we want to bring about a change in our reality, we must primarily bring about a change in our habits of thought and action. But that is easily said. The reality is that most of us usually fall into our familiar patterns of thought and action, even after we have been made aware of our need to change them.

Let`s focus on one habit that seems to be universal, and universally detrimental to our success, be the task what it may. The initial, and critical, habit, when approaching any task, is the habit of increasing muscular effort, tensing and stiffening, in order to achieve the task at hand.

No matter what the discipline – sports, art, business presentations- coaches and teachers agree that the greatest difficulty they face, is in preventing this habitual response of increased tension. This reaction is extremely detrimental to communication. As soon as someone tenses up, he is not in a frame of mind that facilitates listening. As soon as a person gets a stimulus to do something – either external or internal – and he responds by tensing up, his ability to understand and appreciate what is required to be successful at the task, has been impaired.

This is obvious when we talk about tennis, or golf, or even driving lessons. However, it is true when trying to achieve everything in life, even asking someone out on a date, or the building of a successful business. The problem goes deeper than the initial tensing up. The next step in doing anything, is assessing what it is that should be done and how it should be done, to achieve the desired results.

Ideally, if we could prevent the initial increased tension, the person doing the task would be in the proper frame of mind to realistically appraise the situation, and reach a well founded decision on what to do next. The more aware we are of the process that is underway, and the incidental consequences, the more it becomes possible to change and modify the process itself, as it unfolds, so as to get the results we are aiming to achieve.

But to get people to make this kind of change in habit, outlook and performance, requires more than just appealing to reason. It`s the entire habitual setup within a person`s organism, that has to be modified, in order to bring about successful change. Walter Carrington explains this in great detail in his book “The Act of Living”.

Habit is the thing that gets in the way of change. Many holistic body-mind techniques, such as Alexander Technique, Yoga, Tai-Chi, Chi-Gong, and all the various kinds of meditation, work on changing the entire habitual setup of a person`s organism, in order to bring about awareness and consequently – successful change.

This does not mean that change cannot occur without such holistic practice. Sometimes life situations force us into awareness that also brings on changes in our thoughts and actions. But in order to make these changes sustainable, we have to adhere to them with discipline, over an extended period of time. Otherwise, we will easily fall back into our old habitual patterns that will always be lurking in the shadows.

That is why it is so important to always be tuned in to positive thinking, listen to inspiring teachers, and protect our minds from any input that might hinder our continual quest for the change we are striving to achieve.

Become the change you want to see! Work on it constantly and never give up! The results will become evident sooner or later….

Spirituality in Business

Is All Business Spiritual?

When I use the word spiritual, I mean it in the following sense: In everything we do, we have the option of transcending the conscious level of our activity, in order to connect on a deeper level with the source of all that is.

This is true with regard to tasks demanding inspiration, such as creating a work of art, performing an opera, or conducting a religious ceremony. It is just as true with regard to mundane tasks such as preparing a meal, cleaning the car, or….. conducting our daily business. It is this spiritual connection that makes it possible for us to realize our full potential.

But this connection is not always evident to us because of all the mind-chatter that our conscious brain creates. We must first calm our mind-chatter, and focus beyond it.

Spiritual practice – be it what it may to each and every one of us – does exactly that. Whether it takes the form of meditation, prayer, religious rituals, or practicing any art form in a way that transcends the technical motions.

In the book Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel, the author makes this quite evident as he describes how he came to transcend the conscious, technical aspects of using the bow and arrow, in order to master the art.

It is our spirituality that enables us to tap into our own infinite power. Spirituality helps us create a life of passion and purpose. It helps us focus on our mission and calling, develop positive thinking and cultivate self-discipline. It helps us learn the value of time as a precious asset, and the value of consistently nurturing relationships. It helps us live our life to the fullest, one day at a time.

Are all of the above not just as essential for our business, as they are for all other aspects of our life?

Is Zen in the Art of Archery any different from Zen in the Art of Business?

I think not, but I am open to any other views you may want to share.

How Do our Habits Predict our Future?

* Posted by Osnat Bresler on April 7, 2009 at 12:18pm
* View Osnat Bresler’s blog

“My Habits PREDICT My Future* Do you need Habit Surgery?” - John Di Lemme

This question resonates in everything we do, think and feel. We seem to be driven by mental habits, emotional habits and even physical habits that seem to put us on automatic pilot. We fall into patterns of automatic responses to what we hear, see, feel and perceive. Thus, we often react in a way that we had not intended to. Much more critical is the fact that we do not even always understand our reactions. And most important to realize is that our habitual automatic responses frequently work against our better interests.

How we react to the forces working on us, creates our reality, because these reactions form a pattern of behavior. Our behavior affects our surrounding, the people we interact with, the challenges we face, the results we achieve. Therefore if we take a good hard look at our habits, we will be able to predict the reality we are creating for ourselves.

I`m sure that the above is obvious to anyone who has spent years working on developing their sense of self awareness by doing personal development workshops and practicing various body-mind techniques such as Chi-Gong,Yoga or the Alexander Technique. To some individuals, this may even be obvious without doing any work on self awareness. But is this obvious to everyone?

John Di Lemme`s question painfully reminds us that we are all surrounded by individuals who don`t have a clue.

Educator and philosopher, John Dewey, has addressed this issue with remarkable clarity in his introduction to to Alexander`s book “Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual” in which he advocates constructive education. He claims that we all enter everything we are trying to do, as an agency, ” But the hardest thing to attend to is that which is closest to ourselves, that which is most constant and familiar. And this closest something is, precisely, ourselves, our own habits and ways of doing things” conditioned in what we are trying to do. Modern science has enabled us to master unbelievably intricate tools, for achieving results. But the..”one factor which is the primary tool in the use of all these other tools – namely ourselves – in other words, our own psycho-physical disposition, as the basic condition of our employment of all agencies and energies, has not even been studied as the central instrumentality”. He goes on to ask whether this failure cannot be held responsible for finding ourselves incompetent to direct the history and destiny of man?

So, I totally agree that we have always been and always will be able to predict our future, on the basis of our habits. Because of the said above, I believe it is urgent for each and every one of us, to find our own preferred method for achieving “habit surgery”. This will enable us to better control our own automatic habitual responses, thereby better controlling the predicable results we can achieve in all spheres of our life and our business.

My own life experience has taught me that working the network marketing model has been the one most effective method in compelling me to face my own limiting habits and beliefs, and doing the “habit surgery” required for getting the results I want to get. Over the years, I have done a great deal of body-mind work to take charge of my automatic habitual responses. However, nothing has come close to the real life results that I have attained by becoming a network marketing professional.

The real beauty of network marketing is that while we are building our own business, and helping our team members build theirs, we are confronted with many of the life habits we have adopted. Through the support structure we have put in place, are able to help other people with the “habit surgery” that they choose to do, in order to get the results they want.

Transition from Employee to Entrepreneur

Posted by Osnat Bresler on March 15, 2009 at 8:04pm

I spent many years getting the best education and then working for the best corporation I could possibly have hoped to find. After a year or two of experiencing the demands of corporate life, I realized that for me personally, there must be more to a career than that. However, I had really fallen for the myth that I had been indoctrinated with – “get a good education, find a good job with a pension and benefits”, as Robert Kiyosaki describes in his book Rich Dad Poor Dad. For that reason alone I stayed put for years, until I became eligible for early retirement. I jumped at the first chance I got.

Since I was still relatively young, and didn`t quite know what I was looking for, I allowed myself to spend a few years enriching my soul with spiritual work, holistic body-mind practices, studying Far Eastern philosophies, and expressive arts. It was a wonderful time for me, especially since my husband had also opted for early retirement and was also doing his own soul searching . However, during this time, it became increasingly clear that for many years I had been stifling dreams to do wonderful things to help my family and friends; dreams of becoming independently wealthy, so as to enjoy the full extent of what life has to offer, and help others do the same. I had been stifling these dreams because the previous belief systems that had been dictating my choices in life, made no room for such dreams.

I started looking around for a vehicle to make my dreams come true, and finally came upon the network marketing model. For those of you who are not familiar with this model, please have a look at www.explorefreedom.com/dolife , in which the short film “Brilliant Compensation” explains how this model can be perfect for beginning entrepreneurs who share my experiences and feelings. I also spent time looking for the best company around and the best people to partner with. And the rest is history. My family and the friends on my team are now on the path to freedom, and to making their own dreams come true.

Each one of my team members is independently building his own business internationally and choosing to partner with the people they work best with. We enjoy supporting and encouraging one another, having fun and laughing, while building our dream teams and growing our circle of friends. For people who love people, and cherish their own independence, could there be any better kind of work?

Success is a journey

Sunday, March 1st., 2009

Focus on the journey…

 I went to visit my mother`s exhibition of paintings today. I looked around at the paintings, thrilled by the layout, and the abundance of colour and energy displayed. There it was – staring me in the face – Success is indeed a Journey.

A selection of about 20 of the many works painted by my mother over the past 60 years. A “life`s work”. Selected to show the progression of the creative talent expressing itself. She had never sold any, as she could not part with them. She had never exhibited her work. This was a record of her journey through life, through good times, and times of crisis, and it had always been private – her journal.

Of course I know each and every one of her paintings. I was usually there as they came to life. But they came to life one by one. Each one mirroring a fleeting moment, a bursting emotion. And there it was all in front of me, arranged by the curator to show the progression of her life.

The exhibition is a huge success. It is getting wonderful reviews, a series of lectures will be given on her work. She had never intended to be successful. She just kept working at it, immersing herself completely into the work, never losing focus.

There is a great lesson for me here, which I can apply to my own life and my own business. I believe in what I am doing, I love doing it, and I must never lose focus. Just keep working and doing what I love to do, building our team, teaching and helping new team members, with the same devotion my mother put into her paintings.

It rarely happens to me that some external event brings home such insight in a flash. I am sharing this with you because some of you may be able to apply this realization to your own journey through life, and I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience.