Success in a network marketing business is easier–here's why

"In the First World War, sailors whose ships had sunk floated around in lifeboats, cold and hungry, for days, sometimes for a week or so. Then they'd start to die. The mystery was that a greater proportion of the younger sailors died first.

"How could this be? The young mariners were fitter and should have lasted longer. Eventually it was realized that many older men had been sunk before, or knew a colleague who'd been sunk and had been rescued alive. Simply knowing that they'd been saved before reinforced the will to live. They knew there was a route to survival. They didn't fret or worry. They knew that hanging on to life worked.

"It was decided to brief all crew that they might be stuck in lifeboats for many days, yet that they would then likely be rescued alive. Survival rates soared."

From, "Living the 80/20 Way: Work Less, Worry Less, Succeed More, Enjoy More," by Richard Koch

This story helps explains why it's so much easier to succeed in network marketing (or franchising) compared to other kinds of businesses. In this industry, new people are surrounded by others who have had the success they seek. They can more easily believe they can succeed because there is plenty of "social proof" that they can. "These others did it, using the same tools and the same systems, so I know I can do it, too."

And when you believe you can, it is much more likely that you will.

That's why stories are so important. It's why going to the big events are so valuable. It's all about building belief.

W. Clement Stone, founder of Combined Insurance Company and publisher of the original "Success" magazine said, "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve".

Paul J. Myer was a friend of Stone. Mr. Myer owns over forty companies and was a pioneer in the personal development industry. I have the following quote from him on my wall:

"Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe,
and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass."