It is my intention in this piece to convey what I have learned about success and failure in both Network Marketing and life in general and the one common factor that is often unrecognized because it will masquerade as other common problems in Network Marketing. Problems so common they have become clichés in our industry. As you grow as a leader you should make personal notes about what makes the successful people around you succeed as well as the traits that cause others to fail. The following is based on my journaling activities from sales and network marketing compiled over the last ten years.

I often hear people blame a poor plan as a common reason for failure in Network Marketing. I however, believe a more common cause of failure to actually be over planning. The truth is most good Network Marketing companies have great plans in place. All the new marketer needs to do is follow the plan. This error is often termed as "reinventing the wheel" but I don't think that term accurately describes the cause of this particular problem at least not in the majority of cases. You see when we say someone is "reinventing the wheel" we are also inferring that they intend to take action and give them the benefit of the doubt that they will follow the new plan once it is written. In truth most of the time people don't "reinvent the wheel" because they honestly don't think the existing plan is sound. No, there is a far more sinister and elusive cause at the root of this issue and many others as well.

The cause of over planning is the fear of taking action. Regaurdless of what action the plan may call for all sound plans call for action and the new marketer often fears taking it. It could be calling warm market contacts, cold prospecting, good old fashioned selling or just simply getting out from behind the computer and making some new friends. These fears and many others are the true cause of over planning and so many other commonly sited reasons for failure. This is why I don't generally use the term "reinventing the wheel". While I do think developing ones own system rather then following the companies system is a huge mistake I don't believe it as common as going into planning as a permanent profession. In fact while one is better served 99.99% of the time to simply follow the existing plan if most people simply made the mistake of writing a new plan and then took the action and actually worked the plan they developed success rates would improve drastically. It is not improper action that causes the majority of Network Marketing failures it is failure to take any action or at least failure to take any relevant action that causes such high failure rates in our industry.

Fear is what lies at the root of just about all commonly named reasons for failure in Network Marketing. Another often-sited reason for failure is a poor upline. Fear is the common root of this as well. While I work hard at being a good upline I can tell you that no upline can make anyone successful. Again it is the actions or lack of actions of that will determine your success. I have had people come to me and ask to be "moved into my group" because they were not getting "any support from their upline". On more then one occasion after asking such people who was in their upline I learned that they had a great upline and even in a few instances learned we had a common upline. My upline is great so I knew it was the individual making excuses for not taking action. Of course fear is what was paralyzing those networkers not a bad upline. On the other side of the coin I have seen and read about many people reaching the top of a comp plan with a terrible upline or even when their entire upline quit. Of course those people took action and mastered their fears. Now it is true if you are a good mentor you can help your downline master fear but just like you must choose to master your own fear so must your team make that choice as well. You cannot do it for them nor can your sponsor (no matter how incredible), do it for you.

Another common cause often sited is the belief that no product or service needs to be sold. Poppycock! We all know better then that and again this is an illusion that covers up the root cause of inaction, which is fear. No one can possibly truly believe you can build a group of 10,000 plus agents accounting for millions of dollars in revenue and not sell any product or service. Now many companies have systems that make selling easy to do. In fact you might not even recognize it as selling at all because most people have no clue what professional selling actually is. While the definition of professional selling is not the subject of this piece just realize we all know in our hearts that goods and services must be exchanged for money to account for all those big checks we want to get in the mail.

It is fear that makes us fail to gain customers and fear that causes agents to tell their new partners they don't have to sell anything. Even if you work with a company that provides you with a way to acquire customers with advertising you must retain the customers and the same goes for partners. A new agent who doesn't build is useless to you. Selling is not getting money from someone it is actually transferring belief. When your heart is ruled by fear you don't have much of value to transfer so it is hard to retain customers or help your future leaders build a business and master their own fears.

Now I don't want to get too metaphysical on you here and certainly not too religious but the following is the best way I know to explain fear at its' core and tell you how to master it. Fear is nothing but a survival mechanism and in that light it has a purpose. For instance if you see a car about to hit you it is instinctive fear that will make you jump out of the way. This is fear's only purpose because in any other type of situation fear is nothing but an illusion yet a very powerful illusion indeed if you permit it to exist and empower it by believing in its' power or by denying its existence and refusing to face it. Do either and fear will control your heart and over time destroy your chances for success.

Fear is best described as darkness and darkness and light cannot coexist. While this may sound like mystical sage wisdom it is really quite easy to understand. Just go into a dark room turn on a light and the darkness is destroyed. Why because it never existed in the first place. The color of darkness is black and black is not even a color but the lack of color or lack of light. Once light is expressed the darkness is gone banished into its' own nothingness. This is how fear works. Fear is not a real emotion but the lack of other emotions like courage, love and fortitude. Now as I said there is another way to empower fear or darkness. Walk barefoot into the dark room and deny the existence of the darkness and soon you will stub your toe or worse. Only by acknowledging the darkness and taking direct action to destroy it can you over come it. Both inaction and denial will get you hurt by something that technically does not even exist. Spooky huh?

So just what do those abstract metaphysical concepts have to do with failure and the defeat of failure in Network Marketing. Everything and in fact they have everything to do with defeating failure in life in general. It works like this all one must do is be aware that fear is the most common cause of failure and constantly be on the look out for it. When you begin working your company's plan and catch yourself holding back look for the fear preventing you from going forward and don't ever deny that it is there. Focus on it and see it for what it is a powerless illusion standing between you and success. Understand that it is nothing other then what you allow it to be and that you have the power to do away with it by simply taking action and that alone is like turning on the light switch in a dark room.

The fear simply cannot exist for long once you begin to bring it into the light. Sure from time to time you may have to change a bulb and you may even experience a brown out or two just make sure you pay your electric bill by constantly building faith in yourself, your company and your team and never let even a small fear hide. Bring it into the light of understanding and fry it like the useless illusion that it is. If you can learn to do that you cannot fail. Even if the company you build with fails you will simply adapt find a new home and move on and continue to succeed.

Fear is the root of the 95% failure rate in Network Marketing. Just remember only by denying it or by empowering it can you give it the power to steal your dreams. Identify every fear that confronts you and know once you find a fear the next thing you need to do is take the strait line route conquer it. You don't plan to conquer it because that gives it power. Go strait at it and take the action you fear taking. In the words of the great Nike "just do it".

If you're afraid to work your warm market admit the fear then go do it with the intention of conquering the fear not with the intention of recruiting your warm market. Judge your success by how many people you talk to not how many say yes to you. If you fear calling leads just start calling them. Make the act of calling them your goal not the result you get when you make the calls. Fear is the enemy not the number of No's you get. The real victory is not the number of new agents or customers you acquire or the size of your check but conquering the fear preventing you from following your plan of action.

No matter what you fear doing go do it (within reason please don't see this as a suggestion to drive 100 miles an hour in reverse on a side street or take up other hazardous activities) and make the conquering of the fear the goal. Do this consistently and follow the system your company provides you with and you will succeed because the numbers will average out over time. In summary remember there is no such thing as a major defeat or an insignificant victory in Network Marketing. Success is not that difficult to achive simply follow the system your company provides, celebrate every victory no mater how small it appears, consider any failure a learning experience and make the destruction of fear your primary goal.

Jack Spirko has lived for years by the motto "the customer comes first". Having reached the top in Corporate America he is currently building an incredibly successful group with Cognigen Networks. You can email him at mailto:jack@providetechnology.com or visit his web site at http//:www.nmarketingpitbull.net