Law #3: The Law of Influence

   We have already gone over two of the five laws for success. As always, we hope that you are still committed to the one and only condition, to act these laws out in your own lives and business’s. We encourage you to click on the left side of the page and follow our blog to make sure you never miss out on our future posts, and please leave your comments at the bottom of each post, we are so anxious to hear how you have paid it forward and given back more than you took.

     Have you ever wondered why you work? It may seem like a no-brainer but allow me to break it down for you. Survive, save, and serve! Most of you have never looked at it like this; you simply work because you have to. There are three reasons why we all go to work every day. Survive-to meet your basic living needs. Save-to go beyond your basic needs and expand your life. And serve-to make a contribution to the world around you. The problem here is that most of you, including Cristalena and I, never spent our lives serving. Actually, most people spend their entire lives focusing on the first, surviving. A small number of people focus on the second, saving. But those rare few who are truly successful-not just financially, but genuinely successful is all aspects of their lives, keep their focus squarely on the third, SERVING!

The Law of Influence

     The third law of stratospheric success is the Law of Influence. Once you change your focus from seeing what you can get to what you can give is when your careers will really start to take off. No matter what business you are involved in you need to know how to develop a NETWORK. Some of you THINK you already have developed a great network, and maybe some of you have, in a sense, but not the kind of network that is important. By network I don’t necessarily mean your customers or clients. I mean a network of people who know you, like you, and trust you. They might never buy a thing from you, but they’ve always got you in the backs of their minds. These are people who are personally interested in seeing you succeed, because you are the same way about them. They are your own army of personal walking ambassadors! When you have your own army of personal ambassadors, you’ll have referrals coming your way faster than you can handle them.

     How do you create a network like this? It is simple, STOP KEEPING SCORE! Don’t keep track. That’s not networking, that’s poker. You should never do anything with the thought of, what will I get in return. Don’t ever live, Quid Pro Quo! When you base your relationships in business or anywhere else in your life on who owes who what, that’s not being a friend. That’s being a creditor. You should always make YOUR win about the other person, go after what THEY want. Forget win-win, focus on the other person’s win. That right there is the third law of success”

“Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interest first”.

     If I asked you what you think creates influence, what would be some of the things you would say? I am willing to bet most of you would say things like money, position, and a history of outstanding accomplishments. And most of you would have it backwards. Those things don’t create influence, influence creates them!

     Have you ever looked at someone and were just taken back by how attractive they are? I don’t mean good look, I mean genuinely attractive as a person? Magnetic? They love to give. That is why they’re attractive. Givers attract! And that is why the Law of Influence works. Because it magnetizes you!!!!

     Now we challenge all of to go out and apply this in your life, focus on building a network of people who are genially interested in seeing you win. People who, know you, like you, and trust you.  

Fundraiser for Richard

LET US GIVE MORE THAN WE TAKE

Richard is a seven year old little boy, amazing son, younger brother, and best friend to his twin sister. Just this past Thursday, October 4th 2012, he started to have a little trouble walking around the house. Stephanie, one of our Scentsy family members, watched him as he continued to stumble around the house. He had trouble focusing on things and following her finger. Just as any parent knows their child, she knew something wasn't right, she decided to take him to the doctor. After a few tests the Dr.'s decided to admit him to the children's hospital and await an MRI. The results of the MRI indicated that Richard has a tennis ball sized tumor on his brain (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma-DIPG). This is a form of un-treatable cancer. Stephanie and Richard have spent the past few days in the children's hospital and will be released today, Saturday October 6th 2012. 

Richard does not know the severity of his condition and the family is going to live his last days like nothing has ever happened. He is going to smile, play, and simply be a child with the ones he loves. 

     Stephanie will not be getting any time off from work and is going to struggle, but she and her precious babies are going to make it through this tough time. Her spirits are high, higher than ours would be if such a situation happened to our family. She said that she knows her son, Richard belongs to the Lord, and he was just sent here temporary, and his time to return to the Lord is near. Having an outlook like this just shows how strong she is. Cristalena and I cannot imagine what she must be going through right now, and we are wanting to help in any way we can. The Bible says in Acts 20:35, "In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" We have set up a Scentsy fundraiser for Richard and are not only going to give 100% of all proceeds, we are going to match dollar for dollar. We humbly ask everyone to help our drive to support the family. Stephanie can use any help so she does not have to worry about what to make for dinner, worry about all the bills that life will throw at her while she is out of work, and to give Richard the best last days of his life. If you cannot support with the fundraiser, please take five minutes of your day to kneel down, close your eyes and pray for not only his health, but for the support of his family. The power of prayer is amazing and together we can help Stephanie and the kids. 

     If you would like to support Richard's fundraiser please go to the link below and know that your help is appreciated in more ways than one. Thank you for your time, support, and most of all, your prayers.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven". Matthew 18:10

Stephanie & Richard Fundraiser

Law #2: The Law of Compensation

     I hope that all of you have gotten as much as we have out of the first law, The Law of Value.  And more importantly, I hope all of you who read it stayed commited to the one and only condition, which is that you must apply each law somehow in your own business' or your own personal lives. As we continue explaining the laws, we hope that you continue to apply them and watch how things turn around for the better. Now, lets talk about the second law.

The Law of Compensation

    
     The law of compensation is not what most of you are thinking about. It isn't about any monetary value that you reep in return for your work. It is something much greater than that. Something that a price simply cannot be placed on. The first law, The Law of Value, determins how valuable you are. In other words, your potential success, how much you could earn. But the second law, The Law of Compensation, is what determines how much you actually do earn! Like I mentioned before, do not look for any dollar figure or base it off of how many toys you have or how big your house is. If you live by the five laws, you will be paid so much more.
     The second law is defined simply as this, "your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them". To put it another way, your compensation is directly proportional to how many lives you touch. How many times have you made a comment about professional athletes, movie stars, or top CEO’s and how much money they make compared to the military, police officers, firefighters, teachers, nurses, and the many others who do noble work for little monetary pay? It always seemed so unfair, as if these great people should be paid more because they are more valuable than that, but it isn’t a question about their value. It is a question about their impact. There are two amazing things about this. First, it means that you get to determine YOUR level of compensation; it is always under YOUR control. If you want more success, then go and find more people to serve. It also means there are no limitations on what you can earn, because you can always find more people to serve. Martin Luther King Jr., once said, “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve”. Another way to say that might be, everybody can be successful because everybody can give. Do you see the trend here? It goes by what we have been told so many times before, “give back more than you take”! I can speak firsthand about the compensation of giving. In 2004 I found myself inside the city of Fallujah Iraq, in the middle of a war zone. On a daily basis I was surrounded by the children of Fallujah. These kids have lived a life that many of us cannot imagine. Walking on rocky, sandy streets with temperatures above 120 degrees, cracked feet, no water, no food, and numb to the violence which surrounded them. But when I pulled out a bottle of water, a piece of hard candy, or a package of crackers out of my pack and handed it to them, or when I asked to take a picture with them, the smile on that child paid me more than any amount of money could ever! This is the law of compensation.
     You can work your whole life for a paycheck, and you will get one. But you will always find yourself working harder for that bigger paycheck. Once you get it, you still will not be happy, you will continue to keep working for that bigger check, but never truly be happy. Only you can change this. Being broke and being rich are both decisions. You make those decisions up in your head, everything else just pays out.
     So remember, if you want to receive more, you have to give more. Do not ever focus on anything monetary, focus on the satisfaction of giving more than you take. And always remember that good things happen to good people.  

     As always, we hope that Law # 2, The Law of Compensation, opened your eyes to live a better life and helps your business. DO NOT forget about the condition. You must now go and pay it forward, appling the law of Compensation somehow in your everyday life and business.....READY.....SET....GO!!!!!!!!

Teamwork

     Here is something that Cristalena posted in some of her D2R Facebook pages. I read this and was floored to see how true it is. Every single point in this post has happened to us and we live it every day. We are spoiled to sit back and watch all of our teammates / best friends accomplish goals they never dreamd of and see families live without the added stress of money. We can't wait to see all of you turn your Dreams 2 Reality and join us on all the future team / family events!

     Teamwork is all around you in your everyday life. Take your family for example. A small team maybe, but none the less it’s a team. Imagine if there was no encouragement, no support, little communication? That team would not function smoothly, having a hard time reaching any goals they set. Now a family or team that communicates regularly, encourages one another, supports during good time as well as the bad; they will likely reach goal faster with greater success. It is very much the same way with direct sales. We are a family!
Teamwork is the foundation of our business. The moment you join a direct sales company you become part of a team. The team you have joined will be there to support and guide you along your journey. They will be sure to pick you up when you are down, and celebrate with you when you achieve your goals. Everyone has their reasons for wanting to join a direct sales company. The most commonly shared reason is to generate some type of income. But what most of us find along this journey are unbreakable friendships, and memories that we will cherish for a lifetime. So although our WHY might be different, we are still playing for the same team! Each team member has different unique qualities that make that person invaluable to the team. The hard part sometimes is getting that person to understand they are valued, and to believe in themselves. It is when a team works together during the good and the bad, that success is achieved. Yes, we are all independent consultants, I understand. But, if any of us, want to create a foundation for a long lasting business that can be passed down… We need to build strong, independent teams. Its not just about adding recruits to your team, it about getting to know them, teach them, and support them! Building a strong foundation for your business, is vital to the overall success of it. To do this, you must work as a team. What I am saying is not just about a nice paycheck. It is about watching your team members achieve things they did not know they could, to find the strength in themselves to go for their dreams, to step out side of that comfort zone, to believe in themselves. That is the most rewarding part of building a team. By helping them become successful, you become successful. This process repeats itself over and over through out the growth of a direct sales company. The home office taught us the ropes, we teach you, you teach your team. It is a pay it forward type of business model, one that I am personally proud to be a part of.
The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side. ~Margaret Carty

Law #1: The Law of Value

Before we indulge into the first law of stratospheric success let me remind you of the commitment you made to yourself. This commitment was; once you read each law, you have committed to applying it in your own everyday life. Remember that you cannot waste our time, all you can do is waste YOUR time! And this is something we do not want to see you do.

The Law of Value

     The first law is quite simple. Most of you already know this but you need to ask yourself, "am I applying it to my business or better yet, my LIFE"?  You say yes now but let me explain about the law of value and then at the end of this post, I will ask you again. Only YOU will know the answer, and only YOU can make a change.
     Let me start by telling you a quick story about a man who came to this country with a few dollars and a big dream. Ernesto had saved enough money to buy himself a traditional hot dog cart and the license to run it. Things were hard for him at first, he was just one cart among many in a fast paced city. This  was nothing to make a living from but Ernesto had some loyal customers and word began to travel about his little hot dog cart. After just a few years his cart was written up in the city's "best of guide". Not just best hot dogs, best outdoor dining experience in the city. How does a hot dog cart compete with all the swanky sidewalk cafes in the city? You guessed it, by adding VALUE! You see it wasn't the hot dogs that earned him this title, but the person serving the franks. Not the dining-the dining experience.
     You see, you can apply this to your own business right now. Anyone can go to some big retail store and buy your products or ones just like them. What they cant buy is the experience you can give them.                           Ernesto used to remember all the neighborhood kids' names, birthdays, favorite colors, favorite cartoon heroes, and even their best friends' names. Because of this, the children started to drag their parents to his stand. Soon their parents were dragging their friends there too. People love to be appreciated and that right there is the golden rule to business. People will always do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust.
     Let me ask you this, what distinguishes a good restaurant from a great restaurant? Some may say food, some drinks, some atmosphere, and some say service. I will explain a little more,  a bad restaurant tries to give you just enough food and service, both in quantity and quality, to justify the money it takes from the customer. A good restaurant strives to give the most quantity and quality for the money it takes. But a great restaurant, a great restaurant strives to defy imagination! Its goal is to provide a higher quality of food and service than any amount of money could possibly pay for. So now ask yourself this; what is the difference between a bad consultant, good consultant, and a great consultant? I think I already answered that one for you with the restaurant analogy. You just look at which one you fall into.
     The law of value is best summed up by this; "your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment". We all want to be successful with our businesses, but don't measure success the wrong way. Asking, "does it make money"? is not a bad question. It is actually a great question. But it is the wrong first question. When you first ask, "does it make money", you are starting out on a long road going in the wrong direction. The very first thing you should ask yourself is, "does it serve"? "Does it add value to others"? People, the point here isn't to have people pay you more money. No, it is to give them more. But when you do this you have to do it because you love to. Because you love to add value to others. This isn't a business strategy, it's a way of life. Don't just look at this post and apply it to just your business. Apply it to your life! Everyday, everywhere you go, everyone you come in contact with, add value to them. Give more to them, but don't expect them to pay you more. Do it because it is our way of life. In your own business ventures, give them an experience that they can't get anywhere else, that they cant buy in some big department store. Do it just like Ernesto did with his little hot dog cart. Remember, people will always do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust.
     All the great fortunes in the world have been created by men and women who had a greater passion for what they were giving-their product, service or idea-than what they were getting. Cristalena and I have had the greatest blessings with our business because we are excited about what we do. We are a part of a FAMILY that lives by these principles and we share it with everyone we come in contact with. We don't do it for any self gain, we do it because we truly want to see every ones life become blessed like ours has. When someone we know asks us about joining our team but they are torn between us and another friend of theirs. We simply tell them to go with whoever they feel will be able to best support them. Choose whoever you think you will be able to connect with the best, we tell them. And at the end of the day we feel good knowing that we didn't try to talk someone into singing up under us for sheer numbers, we guided someone for them to be successful and offered everything we have. When I watch Cristalena do a home party, explain the product at a show, or talk to potential consultants, I get excited to see how enthusiastic she is about the product. She gives them something they can't get anywhere else, nobody can be her, and nobody can be YOU! Just like this blog, we want the WORLD to see this, read it, learn it, live it, and hope it may help someone, somewhere live a better life.
     Just remember, The Law of Value = your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment!
     Go and apply this to your business, give your customers an experience that far exceeds their expectations. Apply this to your life, give more in service than you expect to get in return. Make it your way of life.
     I told you I would ask you again at the end of this post. Only YOU know the answer, and only YOU can make a difference. "ARE YOU ADDING VALUE TO YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR LIFE"?

If you think you know someone who may benefit from the first law of stratospheric success, The Law of Value, then share this with them, post it on your Face Book wall, email it to someone so we can all see more people turn their Dreams 2 Reality.
   

Five Laws for Success

Have you ever sat back and watched from the outside wondering how some people can be so successful? Did it sometimes fill you with questions, anger, jealously, depression because all you could do was say, "why not me"? Well I know I have! Cristalena always wants to drive around and look at homes in lavish neighborhoods, dreaming of one day moving our family into one of those homes. Me on the other hand, well I used to get angry because I wanted that too. Maybe it is just a thing of gender, women like to dream big of that Cinderella life and us guys just want to live it NOW! And we can't understand why we have to wait. Well after reading a simple book, my whole outlook has changed for the better.
     We came across this book while we were at Barnes and Noble called "The Go-Giver" by Bob Burg and John David Mann. Cristalena held the book up and told me that sooooooooo many people have told her how good this book was. So we added it to the pile of books to pick up.
     The next day I brought it to work and even though it was a short read, only 132 pages, I couldn't put it down. I finished it in one day adding it to my top 10 list of books ever read. It applies to becoming a stratospheric successful business person. I interpreted it as simply being a stratospheric successful PERSON!!!!!! There are five laws for success mentioned in this book, if applied to every one's everyday life, can and will make people live better, feel better, and in return become a successful person within their respected business.
     We have all heard the old saying, "you cant always get what you want". Well that is true but what is more important, you get what you expect! Just like our parents used to tell us, "if you go looking for trouble then that's what you will find". This is very true true, but not just about trouble. It's true about everything. If you go looking for conflict, that's what you will find. Go looking for people to take advantage of you, well you will find that too. If you look at the world as a dog-eat-dog place, you will always find a bigger dog looking at you as if you are his lunch. Ultimately, the world treats you more or less the way you expect to be treated. If you don't focus on selfishness and greed, even when it is all around you, it doesn't have an impact on you. It is kind of like a good, healthy immune system- the disease is all around you, but you don't catch it.
     In the days ahead I am going to talk about each one of the five laws, explaining them in detail. I hope you follow and benefit from each of the laws. But here is the catch, just like in the book there is one condition. Before you read any of the five steps you have to commit yourself to this one condition. Will we ever know if you do or not? No we won't. BUT YOU WILL!!!!!!!!
     The condition; well here it is. Once you read each one of the laws, you have to test that law by actually trying it out in your own life. I will post a new law every few days so you will have a few days to apply it as best as you can. But you MUST apply it. Find a way as soon as you read about each law to do it in your own life. Don't worry about us wasting our time by posting each law. You don't have that power, to waste our time. Only we can do that. We just don't want to see any of you waste YOUR time.

OUR FIRST POST

Hello to every single one of you. Well here goes our first ever blog. For the longest time Cristalena and I asked each other what the point of blogging was. We never understood why people always blogged. To be honest with you, we still dont know why some people blog. Maybe it is a means of venting, keeping in touch with friends and family, spreading the word about something, or maybe it is just a dear diary for them. We hope to use our Dreams 2 Reality blog to give ideas, share our thoughts, pictures, motivation, and give pointers from our own perspective so we can help each and every one of you live a more possitive, successful life and turn your Dreams 2 Reality!
     We will blog about books we have read, training calls we have taken part of, leadership topics, and everything else we think will help all of you live the life you all deserve. We are probably going to post about random family events that our family takes part in, like our new adventure coming up in Febuary 2013 as we transition from South Carolina to North Carolina and not only grow our business but spread the word of living good and giving back more than you take.
     We hope every single one of you spreads the word about our blog and we hope we can impact your life in a positive way.
     As always, if any of you should ever need help, have any questions, or simply just need to talk, don't ever hesitate to seek us out. We look forward to helping all of you turn your DREAMS 2 REALITY!