Commitment Versus Commitment

Many people that get involved in network marketing find themselves making a commitment when the first join to do x. X can be many things. Maybe they agreed to stay in the business for a certain amount of time, maybe they agreed to add a certain number of people to their business, maybe they agreed to contact a certain number of people, or maybe they agreed to buy a certain amount of product. Whatever the x might be, it can be very dangerous (not to mention disappointing) to fashion your business around any of those commitments made.

Often commitments made at the beginning of a business are made with incomplete knowledge. This incomplete knowledge can also come in many forms. People often underestimate the time they will have available to work their business. Sometimes their network marketing business is not given priority. Maybe it turns out they don't like the products. Maybe they just forget to order. Sometimes they are resistant to the training and are not having the success they thought they would have. They begin to doubt their abilities or the validity of their network marketing company. Whatever the reason, their network marketing promises are either forgotten or unfulfilled.

Life being what it is, it is also impossible to predict when life events will interfere with plan. Sickness, changes in financial status, and unexpected expenses are just a few of the things that will interfere with any business, but can be particularly harmful to a home-based network marketing business.

Network marketing is a team sport and requires the COMMITMENT of all its team members to benefit everyone on the team. The more people on the team that chose not to participate, the more the entire team suffers. Network marketing is also an individual sport in that everyone owns their own business. As a leader, you really have very little leverage over anyone that decides not to follow their commitments. Added to that, for many people, their network marketing business is just something "extra" that they do. They are afraid to put in the effort that would be required to actually build a business that would support them. Getting them out of the "I can't work my network marketing business because of X and X is why I need the extra money that I could earn from my network marketing business" can be challenging.

By communicating, providing training, and being available, you can keep as many people on track as possible, but recognizing that a certain number of people are not willing or are not able to honor their original commitment will save a lot of disappointment.

There are only two options regarding commitment. You're either in or out. There's no such thing as a life in-between.

Pat Riley

(Former American National Basketball Association player and coach and the current team president of the Miami Heat)


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