Writer’s block, arrgghh!  Not a single usable blog post idea comes to mind. Nothing! Zilch! Nada!

If you are anything like me, you are starting to get pretty nervous right about now. You know that your readers are waiting for your blog post. You don’t want to disappoint them, yet for the life of you you can’t think of anything that would provide the value your readers are used to.

Pretty horrible feeling, isn’t it?

What happened to last night when the juices were flowing, well, bubbling over actually and keeping you awake? Where are those great ideas now and why in the world did you not get up and write them down?

Because you thought they would still be there in the morning, right?  But they’re not. They’re gone. Gone forever.

Darn!

But all that “shoulda, coulda, woulda” doesn’t help you now, does it?

Writer’s block is a terrible thing and it gets the best of us.

Yes, you could try to go for a walk. Or, you could take a shower and wash that frustration right out of your hair. You could try some uplifting music.

Or, …you could try any of these…

21 Sure-Fire Blog Post Ideas

1. Lists – People love lists. So you could write a blog post about…
   “Top 10____,” “Best of_____,” “Recommended Reading List,” “Top Recommended Business Tools,” or whatever really.
2. Reviews – Have you read a great book lately? Write a review about it. Or how about a product review? Or a company review? Reviews are great to give people inside information about something.
3. How To Tutorials – I personally am a great fan of these. I love step-by-step tutorials on how to do something. (I even found a tutorial video about knitting on YouTube recently. Can you imagine teaching someone how to knit on YouTube? Crazy! )
4. Awards – I have been nominated for several of these in the past.  Let’s see there is the “Blog Mastery Award” and the “Versatile Blogger Award.” They are a lot of fun. You should try it some time.
5. Tips and Tricks – These are always welcome. Maybe you’ve learned a new skill recently that you could share with your audience.  My friend Adrienne Smith just shared how to install Facebook Timeline for example.
6. Quotes – Oh I love quotes and I imagine (at least that’s what I see around Facebook and Twitter) so do many other people. Quotes can be very motivating or inspiring. At times they can even make us laugh. And who doesn’t welcome a good laugh every once in a while.
7. Guest Posts – Why not invite another blogger in your niche to write a guest post for you? This is really a win-win situation for both you and the person who guest posts on your blog. You get a break and he or she gets more exposure.
8. Share a Video – Maybe you found a great video on YouTube about a topic related to your niche. Why not share it on your blog?
9. Things you don’t know about me – This could really be fun! Write a post about a few things your audience doesn’t know about you. Blogging is all about building that personal relationship. Here’s your chance to be” really up close and personal.”
10. Highlight a person that you look up to and maybe learned a great deal from – I wrote this post about Mavis Nong, a young lady whom I really admire and who taught me a lot about blogging. When I grow up I want to be just like Mavis.
11. Visit a forum in your niche and look for problems/questions people are posting – Pick one and answer it on your blog. (And then link back to it from the forum for extra traffic.)
12. Make a list of your favorite blogs – Share the blogs you visit on a regular basis with your readers. If you find value in the information shared by other people in your niche, so will your audience. I just did that kind of in my last post.
13. Share an inspiring story that relates to your niche – People like uplifting stories they can relate to.
14. Google Alerts – This is a great one too! Set up Google Alerts in your niche to get ideas on what to write about.
15. Pain or pleasure – Wouldn’t you agree that we as human beings respond best to either pain or pleasure? So, what’s the biggest problem people in your industry face? Write about solutions that could ease their pain.
16. Share your biggest goof offs – You will find that other people are really not so different from you. So go ahead, share your mistakes, your mishaps, your goof offs. I bet you’ll find people that can relate.
17. Comments – Read through your comments. Often the comments people leave you provide excellent topics to expand on.
18. Point out common mistakes in your industry – You’ve been there and done it. Or maybe you were lucky enough and someone took you under their wing. Now it’s your turn to pay it forward and prevent someone who may just be starting out from making those common mistakes.
19. Re-purpose existing content – Re-write an old blog post and give it whole new view point. Or better yet, turn it into a SlideShare presentation or a video.
20. Expand on someone else’s blog post – Maybe you have come about a great post by someone else, but there is something they left out or something you could expand on further.  Go for it!
21. Share your Top Posts – There’s a reason these are your top posts. People searched for them, they like them. So share them – again— because your new readers may have missed them.

So there you have them 21 ideas for blog posts if writer’s block should hit you one day. I don’t know of anyone that hasn’t happened to before. If it hasn’t happened to you yet …trust me, your time will come. But now at least you are prepared.

Oh, and please,  I would so appreciate your feedback. So if you have any other “blog post ideas” please feel free to share them with us in the comments below. Thank you so much!

To Your Massive Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

Related posts:

1. Enlightened Networker Taking a Break | Guest Post on Attraction Marketing Online

Tim shared his disappointment about a prospect he spent money and a lot of time on, educating him about his product and then in the end, lost to his sponsor. The prospect’s reasoning, Tim’s sponsor was a “bigger deal.” Huh? Are you for real?

Sound familiar?

If you’ve been in the network marketing industry long enough, I bet it has happened to you too at least once. I know it happened to me before.

Yes it stings. Your ego gets rattled a bit, but you can’t let that get to you. And for God’s sake, don’t let self-doubt creep in. It has nothing to do with you.

When someone passes you by and joins with your sponsor instead, because “he’s a bigger deal” there’s nothing you could have done. Don’t worry, karma will take care of it. What goes around comes around.

Besides, every big shot started out as a little shot that kept on shooting.

But on to the story I was going to tell you….

The Donkey in The Well

One day a farmer’s donkey fell into a well. The poor thing cried piteously for hours as th farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally he decided since the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. So, the farmer invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed shovels, and began to shovel dirt into the well.

All the other farm animals were very upset about this, because the donkey was their friend. But they discovered there was nothing they could do to help him. At first, when the donkey realized what was happening, he cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well, and was astonished at what he saw.

With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off, and take a step up on the dirt as it piled up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well, and trotted off!

Takeaway from this story: Life is going to shovel dirt on you. All kinds of dirt. But each obstacle, road block, and yes, lost prospect can be a stepping stone. What happens to you isn’t nearly as important as how you react to it. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not giving up!

Shake it off, and take a step up!

There will be many more detours on our way to success. Taking the “scenic route” can be a great learning experience. I am a strong believer that everything in life happens for a reason.  Sometimes we find out what the reasoning was for certain things that happened in our life, and sometimes we don’t.

So, never let self-doubt creep in. Keep believing in yourself…
and keep on shooting!

To Your Massive Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

No related posts.

Well, on New Year’s Eve I received my first annual report titled “Your 2011 Year in Blogging.” What I found out in this report was very interesting to say the least.

For example it showed me…

• How many visitors I had during the past year.
• Where they came from.
• My top referring sites.
• Busiest day of the year and the most popular post of that day.
• Which posts received the most views in 2011 and the most stunning revelation that some of my most popular posts were actually written BEFORE 2011. Hmmm! That oughta give me something to think about.
• It also revealed my most commented on post and it told me who my most active commenter was…and a lot more.

Overall this little plugin gave me quite some insights which I am very thankful for. If you haven’t installed it on your own blog you can find it here Jetpack by WordPress.com It also prompted me to think about making some changes to my blog this year.

But before I do that I would love your input and  I would like you to be completely honest please.

Top Commentator Award

As you can see I already changed the way I will highlight my Top Commentators from now on forward. In the past I wrote a post at the beginning of the month thanking the top 3 commentators for the past month.

A couple of things happened … Sometimes they were the same people just in a different order. The other thing and what I kind of didn’t like was that the post I wrote to thank and congratulate them was only visible for a short time before it scrolled down on my blog.

I thought a better idea would be to spotlight the Top Commentator in the sidebar where it could stay visible for the whole month. Since there isn’t much room in the sidebar I thought of just highlighting the #1 Commentator for the month.

Your thoughts, suggestions, ideas?

Most Popular Posts

I mentioned above that some of my most popular posts were “How To” posts. To add a “How To” category has actually been on my mind for quite some time. So you can expect me to share more of those in the future.  Is there anything in particular you would like me to share with you?

The other most popular post where story posts  like…

“What Can You Learn From A Mayonnaise Jar And Coffee About Life”

“Can You Make A Difference? | The Starfish Story”

“Whatever the Mind Can Conceive and Believe | An Inspiring Story of Determination and Realizing Your Dream”

These types of posts are actually my favorites too so if you would like more like these just let me know.  I am here to please

Please leave me your feedback in the comment section below. Thanks so much!

To Your Massive Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

Related posts:

1. Top 3 Commentators at The Enlightened Networker for October
2. No More Faceless Blog Commenting on The Enlightened Networker
3. Enlightened Networker Taking a Break | Guest Post on Attraction Marketing Online
4. My Sincerest Thanks to The Enlightened Networkers November Top Commentators

Why are quotes so popular?

Well, for starters they inspire, motivate, encourage and empower us. They give us hope, they teach and at times they even make us laugh.

“Bessie Braddock (to Winston Churchill): Winston, you’re drunk. Churchill: Bessie, you’re ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober.”

Sometimes they are the golden words of great leaders leaving behind their wisdom in just a few simple words. Other times they are the empowering and encouraging words of successful people we are looking up to.

Walk into any doctor or dentist’s office and most likely you will find some pictures with quotes hanging on the walls. My husband, who recently was called for jury duty even found quotes hanging on the walls of the court house.

Why?

Because people want to be surrounded by positive thoughts. With all the negativity around us we are clinging to those things that are positive, that give us hope, encourage us.

If you have a MLM home based business like I do, then you know, that there will be times when things don’t go smoothly. The road to success is paved with many obstacles and challenges. It takes courage, persistence and perseverance to stay the course.

Quotes are the perfect “motivational candy” I need to keep me going, keep me motivated and inspired when I hit a rough patch either in my personal life or in my business.

I would like to share 25 of my favorite motivational quotes with you.

Here they are in no particular order. It will be really hard to pick just 25…

1. “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending”.  _Author Unknown
2. “You are today where your thoughts brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” _James L. Allen
3. “GREAT stands for: Get Ready for Everything And Try.” _Author Unknown
4. “It is funny about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the very best you will very often get it.” _W. Somerset Maugham
5. “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” _Isaac Newton
6. “You don’t have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great.” _ Les Brown
7. “An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” _Friedrich Engels
8. “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” _Vince Lombardi
9. “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.” _Vincent T. Lombardi
10. “Do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.” _Thomas Huxley
11. “Minds are like parachutes, they work best when open.” _Author Unknown
12. “I Could Have Quit $10,000,000.00 ago.” _Dayle Maloney
13. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” _Albert Einstein
14. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day, saying… “I will try again tomorrow.” _ Mary Anne Rademacher
15. “Sometimes in the winds of change we find our true direction.” _Author Unknown
16. “Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” _Brian Tracy
17. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” _Martin Luther King
18. “Success is something you attract by the person you become.” _Jim Rohn
19. “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” _Zig Ziglar
20. “It’s not where you start – it’s where you finish that counts.” _ Zig Ziglar
21. “The only thing that stands between a person and what they want from life is often the will to try it and the faith to believe it’s possible.” _Rich DeVos
22. “To begin is the most important part of any quest, and by far, the most courageous.” _ Plato
23. “The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, Just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat. “ _Napoleon Hill
24. “If you can DREAM it, you can DO it.” _Walt Disney
25. “That’s why when people say, ‘Zig, motivation doesn’t last’ I say… ‘Bathing doesn’t either, that’s why I recommend it daily!” _Zig Ziglar

Like I said motivational quotes have become part of my daily routine.

I just simply love them and I love to share them with others.

Here are a couple of ways I do that…

I tweet them out to my followers on Twitter.

I share them with my friends on Facebook.

I add them to blog comments.

I send them out in greeting cards.

If you can come up with other ideas on how to share motivational quotes or if you would like to add your own favorites, I’d love to hear them. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.

To Your Success…

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. If you liked this post, please don’t forget to share it with your followers on Twitter and Facebook.

P.P.S. For more motivational quotes please visit my friend Mavis Nong.

Related posts:

1. My Top 10 Favorite Quotes About Success

New Year's Resolutions

It’s 6 days in to the new year. So how are you doing with those New Year’s Resolutions? Are you still keeping them, or did you throw some of them overboard already?

Statistics show that “45% of Americans usually set New Year’s Resolutions;  17% infrequently set resolutions; 38% absolutely never set resolutions.”

I’m afraid I belong in the second category. I very infrequently set resolutions.  I always vow to do better next year, … but then, oh well.

I am also very good in breaking them. Not on purpose of course.  I have every intention to stick it out, but then reality and life set in.

The two most popular New Year’s Resolutions are …

1. Improving your health
2. Improving your finances

While pretty broad I think those are great goals to set for ourselves and they are on my list again this year. Along with two others…

1. Simplifying my life and business
2. Keeping my focus

Let’s see how I will do as the year progresses.

What I like about starting a brand new year is that I can leave the old one behind. So no matter how I did, how bad I might have messed up or how many of those New Year’s Resolutions I may have broken, it doesn’t matter anymore. I can start with a clean slate.

Years ago, when our boys still played competitive ice hockey, there was a Bauer Hockey commercial which to this day remained my favorite commercial ever.

It went like this…

“If I give you a clean sheet, what will you write?
Will your words be long and graceful, or short and sweet?

Will it be poetry, or just plain English?
If you have something to say, say it now.

For soon, always too soon my sheet will be filled.
And this chapter will end sure as the next will begin.

… With a clean sheet… you authors … and a million possibilities.”

I absolutely love this!

You can apply this to anything you wish.  A new career, a new day, a new month and definitely a new year as well.

Before you lies a brand new book with 365 clean, bright and empty pages.

What will you write on them?

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. I would love to see your feedback in the comments below. (This is a DOFOLLOW blog and you will get some link juice back for commenting.) Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions this year?

P.P.S. If you liked this post please share it with your friends on Twitter and Facebook. Thank You!

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Latest Blog Post Makes It 100

…97…98…99…100! Here I Am 100 Blog Posts Later

I can’t believe I am writing my 100th blog post today. I started this blog back on 30 May 2009, right when I was going through one of the “down phases” of the network marketing roller coaster. (Yep, if you have been in the industry long enough you know there are ups and downs. However, the downs make the ups so much sweeter.)

By writing inspirational and motivating posts I was hoping that I could find my way up again, and maybe help inspire someone else to stay the course as well …if by chance they found my blog in the sea of millions of blogs out there, haha.

My very first blog post was “Marketing Out-Side-of-the-Box”

For the next six months nothing much really happened. I was lost out there in cyber space and nobody seemed to know that my blog even existed. My visitor count was so low that I could count the people who found my blog on one hand.

But in January 2010 all of a sudden that all changed drastically.

Somehow I found Jason Better’s blog. (You can read what happened next here, “Why You Should Surround Yourself With Successful People”.)

I hooked up with the “Better Bunch” and things started happening like magic. I posted more often. Made new friends by commenting on their blogs and replying to the comments on my own posts. (Something I didn’t know I needed to do. Duh!)

So here I am today writing my 100th blog post.

And because it would not have been possible without the people who inspired, motivated, encouraged, and supported me with their expertise, thoughts and comments I want to make sure I acknowledge them and thank them properly. Some of them have become very dear friends.

So here they are…(If you haven’t hooked up with these leaders yet, I strongly encourage you to do so.)

Susanna Hess, Twila Jacobs, Ken & Melisa West, Anne Theriault,  Ana Hoffman, Carla Gardiner, Susan Daniels, Jason Better, Dwayne Huggins,  Tommy DiPietro, Chris & Tragena Owen, Josh Garcia, Derek & Monique Alvarez, Jerome Ratliff, Marcus Baker, Mitchell Dillman, Wayne Vassell, Eric McMillan, Michael Cole, Wayne Wu, Fred Williams, Ryan Biddulph, Peter Fuller, Jonathan Sweeting, Soren Egstrup, James Hampton, Hector Cuevas, Murray Lunn, Adam Paudyal, Jose Lasa, Kimberly Castleberry, Carl, Joshua Black, Kirian Finn,  Robert Strong, Chris Bernardo, Mirdza, Richard Goutal, Michael Wilbraham, Mavis Nong, Slavik G….

Thank you so very much for sharing your wisdom with me and my readers. I truly appreciate you all and I value your friendships.  Without you, this post would probably never have been written. So, again thank you from the bottom of my heart ♥♥♥

You have inspired me in so many ways. You have brightened my days with your sometimes hilarious comments .  You taught me new tricks and helped me grow. And most of all I could always count on you to be there. ♥ Thanks!! ♥

So since my first blog post here on The Enlightened Networker I have made it to an even one hundred…

To the next 100 posts! Hope you continue the journey with me!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

Related posts:

1. Discover 21 Sure-Fire Blog Post Ideas to Beat Writer’s Block
2. No More Faceless Blog Commenting on The Enlightened Networker

The Starfish Story

I thought it was time for another story. I love stories. Do you?

Stories have a way to connect and stay with us like nothing else ever could. They tap into our inner feelings and make us part of it. The reason why we remember stories is because they pull on our emotional strings. … They make us think and they make us feel. And it’s that feeling that helps us remember.

The story I am going to tell you today is one of my all-time favorites.

So… without further ado, here it is…

The Starfish Story

adapted from The Star Thrower
by Loren Eiseley
1907 – 1977

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”

“I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, “I made a difference to that one!”

Great story, isn’t it?

We often think we are too insignificant or too unimportant to make a difference. We couldn’t be further from the truth.

One person CAN make a difference.

Just like there are many starfish out there that need saving there are many people out there who are hurting financially in these tough economic times. We can’t save them all, but we can save some of them and then teach those to save some more. That’s called leverage.

Eventually, together, we can make a difference to a whole lot of people.

Did you know, that just $250 extra a month would keep many people from bankruptcy? A home based business could help accomplish that. On top of that, owning your own business has great tax benefits.

To your success,

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. If you liked this story, please share it with others. Thank You!

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Stepping Out Of Comfort Zone

You’ve probably heard MLM trainers before recommending that you should “step out of your comfort zone.” Well, I even mention it on a few of my blog posts here at The EnlightenedNetworker.

That’s great advice! But what if you are just not quite ready?

What if you don’t feel comfortable of stepping out of your comfort zone completely and do things you are just not ready for yet. That’s okay! We’ve all been there at one point or another. It’s all part of the growing process.

Don’t panic!

Instead of freezing and doing nothing at all try to just ‘stretch your comfort zone’ a little bit. It’s much better to grow a little than not growing at all.

Build on your small successes and then stretch it a little more.

You will find that with every little stretch your confidence builds a little more.

Success is a great confidence builder.

I remember a few years back when I was asked at an opportunity meeting by a corporate member of our company to get in front of the audience and give my testimonial.

Oh dear! If there would have been a hole in the ground I would have gladly jumped in to it. With every passing minute I was waiting for my turn to speak my palms got sweatier and my throat dryer. I was terrified.

“What if I get stuck and can’t find the right words?” Or, … “what if I accidently throw in some German words?” That sometimes happens when I’m nervous.

All kinds of thoughts were going through my head. (F.E.A.R – False Expectations Appearing Real.)

When I was called to go up there and speak, it took a whole two sentences and I was calm like an old pro. I wasn’t nervous at all anymore, didn’t get stuck, and as far as I could tell no German words slipped out either. At least nobody in the audience seemed to be confused about what I was saying. Everyone just looked at me and really listened. Which by the way, really made me feel good and gave me a lot of confidence.

I stepped wayyyy out of my comfort zone that day. Or should I say, I GOT stepped out?

But I am so glad it happened. I build on that success and started stretching my comfort zone on my own.

It’s important to celebrate our small accomplishments.

Every little step we accomplish on our way to success is cause for a celebration. It gives us more confidence.

Ralph Waldo Emerson says …“A mind once expanded can never shrink back to its original state.”

Substitute the word “mind” with “comfort zone” and the same holds true.

Once you expand your comfort zone, it will never shrink back to where it was.

Are you stepping out of your comfort zone? Or at least stretch it a little bit? Share your experiences with us in the comments below.

To your success,

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. If you found this post helpful, please share it with your friends. It’s easy to share on Twitter, Facebook or Digg using the buttons at the top.

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Walt Disney …. Was fired from a newspaper because he “lacked originality and had no imagination.”

Lucille Ball … had been dismissed from Drama School with a note that said, … “Wasting her time. She’s too shy to put her best foot forward.”

Harrison Ford … was fired from Columbia Pictures and told he “was never going to make it in the business.”

Michael Jordan … was cut from his high school team saying he “wasn’t good enough.”

The Beatles … were turned down by Decca Records saying, …”we don’t like your sound and guitar music is on the way out.”

Abraham Lincoln … failed in business twice, had a nervous breakdown, his fiancé died and he was defeated in eight elections.

Thomas Edison … was told that his inventions were of “no practical use.”

I could keep going but I think you get the point.

All these people failed. But they never gave up trying. And because of that, all of them eventually succeeded.

Think back to when you were a baby…

When you first started walking, did you give up after falling on your butt a few times? No, of course you didn’t. You got right back up and tried again to the cheers of everyone around you.

What has changed?

So alright, maybe nobody is cheering you on anymore. (But maybe you’re wrong about that one. Your peers are watching and they want you to have success. Especially if you are part of the “Better Bunch.”)

Maybe FEAR has set in. Fear of Failure!

But think about what F.E.A.R really means … False Evidence Appearing Real. Do you think FEAR of failure stopped any of those people above? They were not even thinking about that. Not for a split second. They failed and they pushed on.

So, is failing in Network Marketing an option?

Absolutely! It better be! But only if you let failure stop you from trying again have you really failed.

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” _ Henry Ford

Maybe you have heard of the failure rate in network marketing being 97%. That’s 97% of the people who join network marketing who give up because they failed at one time or another and didn’t push on. They quit.  And that made them fail permanently.

So, are the 3% that made it just lucky? No, luck has nothing to do with it. They succeeded because they didn’t let failure stop them. They used it as stepping stone, pushed on and never quit.

What would have happened if Thomas Edison just would have given up in his efforts to find a stable filament to make his electric light bulb invention work? He tried thousands of different versions and none of them worked. His comment: “I have not failed. I’ve simply discovered ten thousand ways that don’t work.”

So go ahead, embrace failure!

Because, for one, it’s going to happen anyway. Unless you stop trying all together. And two,  it’s the only way for you to get to where you want to be. And if you persevere then you will write your own network marketing success story someday and people will know your name too.

There is no success without failure. The only time you have really failed is … if you quit. Then failure becomes permanent.

To Your Success,

Ilka Flood

P.S. Let’s make some noise and share this post on Twitter, Facebook or Digg. Thanks!

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Time Out!

Sometimes I feel I write this blog just as much for myself as for you, my visitors. I have been extremely busy lately. Learning new things, figuring out new WordPress plugins, and gadgets and widgets. I’m almost at the point of burnout.

You can only burn the candle at two ends for so long.

Last night, while laying in bed, unable to sleep because my mind was still going a thousand miles an hour, I remembered this story below. I love motivational and inspirational stories. Lately I’ve been putting them into custom greeting cards and sending them to my customers, team mates, friends and family.

So here’s the story …

The Mayonnaise Jar and Coffee

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar… and the coffee…

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.  When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.  He then asked the students if the jar was full.  They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.  He shook the jar lightly.  The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.  He then asked the students again if the jar was full.  They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.  Of course, the sand filled up everything else.  He asked once more if the jar was full.  The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.  The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, ” I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.  The golf balls are the important things – your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.  The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.  The sand is everything else – the small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.  The same goes for life.  If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.  Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.  Play with your children.  Take time to get medical checkups.  Take your partner out to dinner.  Play another 18.  There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.  Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.  Set your priorities.  The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.  “I’m glad you asked.  It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

That really puts things in perspective, doesn’t it? I’d really love to hear your thoughts.

To Your Massive Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

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