Since we are all different, success will mean different things to you and me. To some people success is just getting up in the morning. To others it means reaching the lifestyle of their dreams.

Success isn’t a destination. It’s a journey. It has peaks and valleys, twists and turns and yes, also the occasional road block.

Success needs planning. But before you can plan you need to know exactly what you want. That’s where the clear vision comes into play.

For the occasional speed bumps and roadblocks
I like to have my favorite success quotes handy.

Today I would like to share them with you starting with number 10 and counting down to my very favorite…

10. “Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.” _Ross Perot

9. “Success is tons of discipline.” ~Al Tomsik

8. “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” _Michael Jordan

7. “Every single successful entrepreneur I know has studied and accumulated information on their industry that is the equivalent of a Master`s or PHD”. ~Mike Dillard

6. “Success Starts With A Dream…Followed By Action.” ~Unknown

5.  “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” – Les Brown

4. “In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” _Bill Cosby

3. “Success is steady progress toward one’s personal goals.” ~Jim Rohn

2. “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” Vince Lombardi

and my #1 favorite….

So there you have them, my top 10 favorite quotes about success.

One that reminds me almost daily to adjust my attitude is one I came up with myself.

“Success starts and ends in the mind. Period.”

It’s really true! Whatever mood you start your day with sets the tone for the whole entire day.

For example this morning my mood was pretty good when I got up. But then life set in at the Flood house. My youngest wanted to check his email and started to complain about the slow internet. The oldest got mad at the stuck door handle when he tried to leave for work. One thing led to another and within minutes I was in a bad mood.

Thinking that today was the day I needed to write a blog post I found myself in a real pickle. “How will I ever get something positive and inspiring down in that kind of mood”, I thought.

And then, wham, my quote popped in my mind ….”Success starts and ends in the mind. Period.”

I changed my attitude and look what happened.

To Your Massive Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

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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.

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How Big is Your WHY?

When you started in your mlm home based business, one of the first things your sponsor probably told you was to establish “Your WHY,” the reason you are doing whatever it is you are doing. You’ve got to have the desire. You’ve got to have passion. You’ve got to dream and you’ve got to believe you can do it.

It is very important to find out what your “WHY” is, because there will be times when things get tough, when you get frustrated and discouraged. And if your “WHY” isn’t strong enough you might not have the drive to go through when things get rough.

If your “WHY” isn’t strong enough you also might never get started in the first place … which reminds me of a little story I heard not long ago.

The Story of the Howling Dog Sitting on the Porch

A salesman was going door to door in a neighborhood where just about on every porch there was a dog either sitting or just lying around enjoying the day.  They would all bark to greet him as the man walked by. But on this one particular porch there would be a dog just whimpering and whining and howling like he was in some sort of pain. Every time the man walked by that dog would just whine and howl and it just wouldn’t stop. He couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t just bark like all the other dogs in the neighborhood.

So after a week curiosity got the better of him and he couldn’t stand it any longer. He walked up to the porch and knocked on the door.  An older gentleman opened and asked if he could help him. The man said, “Sir, is there something wrong with your dog?   Every time I come by here he’s just moaning and groaning, whimpering and whining. It’s been going on for an entire week. He should be barking like all the other dogs on the street, but all he does is just moaning and groaning. What’s wrong with him?

“Well, he’s actually sitting on a nail“, the owner replied.  Quite puzzled the salesman asked, “Why is he sitting on a nail and why doesn’t he just get off?”  The owner replied, “Well, it just doesn’t hurt him bad enough.”

A lot of us get caught up in that situation. We’re sitting on a nail, but it doesn’t hurt bad enough yet. Our situation doesn’t make us uncomfortable enough to do something about it. To change things. But if our “WHY” is strong enough and if we really want it with every fiber of our being, it will move us off of that nail and make us take action.

Think about “YOUR WHY”. Better yet, write it down. Studies show that if we are just thinking about something, we have a 50/50 chance of accomplishing whatever we think about. However if we think about it and then write it down it jumps up to 75%. If we think about it, write it down and then tell somebody else that jumps up to 85%. Pretty powerful, isn’t it? So make sure you write your “WHY” down.

Why did you get started in your mlm home based business?

Of course “YOUR WHY” would be unique to you, but here are some examples…

Maybe you would like to pay off your car? Pay off credit cards? Buy a new, larger house? Send your kids to college? Bring your spouse home to be with your children? Quit your job? Maybe you are about to lose your home to foreclosure and desperately need to make some extra money to keep it. Now that would definitely move you off of that nail, wouldn’t it?

If your WHY is big enough, powerful enough it will not only move you off of that nail, but it will also provide you with enough motivation to keep going when things get rough.

To Your Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

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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

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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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You can’t finish if you never start.

A Chinese proverb says, “The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.”

Even the smallest accomplishment has great value.

How’s that?

Because it gets the ball rolling and it sets in motion a positive momentum. Once you begin to create value, you easily and naturally move toward creating even more value.

Get the ball rolling.

Once your ball is rolling … keep it rolling. Keep things moving. Things that don’t move are dead.

Have you ever tried to move a boulder?

It’s very hard isn’t it? It’s like moving dead weight. Well, because it IS dead weight. But once it’s moving it’s a lot easier to keep it moving, right?

So go ahead and start small. And if you’re not able to start small, then start tiny. But DO start.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

Sometimes people say, “I start when … I have the money.” Or, “I wait until … the kids are back in school.” Or, “I start when … (fill in the blank).” Or, whatever their excuse. And they never do start.

Don’t become one of them. There’s always something you can do. There’s always some small step forward you can take. That first, that second, that third tiny step of your journey of a thousand miles.

Move a little bit further forward and create a little bit of success… every single day!

See how great it feels. And just keep going.

Just for inspiration …Click here for “Favorite Zig Ziglar Quotes”

If you like this post, don’t forget to share it. And as always, please leave me your comments =)

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As I awaken with the gift of yet another day and prepare for the tasks at hand, I offer up this most ardent prayer.

I pray for continued clarity of purpose so that I may hold my vision steady and keep my focus on the needs and success of others, which in turn shall bring me success.

I pray for the wisdom to epect abundance in my life, that it surrounds me and is available for the taking and to be shameless and unapologetic upon its receipt, for I deserve abundance.

I pray for a cheerful countenance, be it clear or cloudy skies and that I may radiate and infect others with my positive attitude.

I pray for the trust of others that they may recognize my sincerity and true intentions so that we may move forward together.

I pray for the strength to fend off adversity and use my desire and determination as both weapon and shield.

I pray for the courage to carry forth my convictions during the battle of business and to resist temptation to a quicker monetary result when such temptation compromises things for which I stand.

I pray that I may be used as lightning rod to collect the amazing ideas already present in the universe and when blessed with such inspiration, that I may be able to apply my talents and abilities to turn the power of thought into measurable advancement of my goals.

I pray to retain my childhood wonder so that I can recognize and revel in the small miracles of each day that others may miss.

I pray for an infinite supply of self-confidence  for it alone fortifies faith, strengthens my resolve and conquers the largest enemy I will ever face…fear.

I pray for a compassionate spirit and the patience to offer those  who seek my advice and my help, my full and undivided attention.

I pray for good health and a feeling of well being, and the continued desire to improve those areas of my physical life I may be neglecting in the name of my spiritual and entrepreneurial advancement.

I pray that today is a day of excellence and at its conclusion I can acknowledge and be grateful for the forward motion I have made and the growth I have experienced.

I pray most of all for the understanding and support of those closest to my heart, my family, that they will equate what may seem like endless hours of apparent pre-occupation with affairs of business to what is at the very core of my being, that which drives me, for once I achieve what I have set out in its fullest, I will become that more complete being I strive to be.

It is for these things I pray, for I am an entrepreneur.

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Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it”;
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

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3,900 Saturdays

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday morning. Perhaps it’s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about “a thousand marbles.” I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.

“Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure they pay you well but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It’s too bad you missed your daughter’s dance recital,” he continued; “Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.” And that’s when he began to explain his theory of a “thousand marbles.”

“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I’m getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail,” he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.

Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

There’s nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.

Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.

It was nice to meet you Tom. I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 year old man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!”

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.”

“What brought this on?” she asked with a smile.

“Oh, nothing special, it’s just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.”

This is a story from the book “Charging the Human Battery.” You can get it at SimpleTruth.com

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Did you know that…

• At 211 degrees, water is hot.
• At 212 degrees, it boils.
• And with boiling water comes steam.
• And steam can power a locomotive.
• The one extra degree makes all the difference.

Are you reaching your goals, your dreams, whatever you set out to accomplish in life? Maybe you need to push just a little harder. Remember in last year’s Summer Olympics, Michael Phelps won another Gold Medal by one hundredth of a second.

So many times in business as well as in life (or sports) it is that one extra degree that makes all the difference in the world.

“To get what we’ve never had we must do what we’ve never done.”

See you at the top!

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