A Shocking Revelation

My friend, Isaac, sent me a video clip of a man and a woman standing on an upward moving escalator in a shopping center. Suddenly, the escalator stops moving. The man and woman are shocked and awed. They start calling out for help, as they stand of the stationary escalator, half-way up. Then the woman borrows the man’s cell phone to call 911 for help. They are disgusted and indignant that nobody rushes to assist them. They stay exactly where they are, calling out for help, instead of simply walking up the escalator to the next floor.

I recently talked with someone who had bought into a business opportunity. This person paid her money and is impatiently waiting for someone to magically step in and do the work for her. Welcome to socialism, entitlement, laziness, apathy, and plain ignorance. The shocking revelation is that you have to WORK. Just because you paid for the privilege to get into a business doesn’t entitle you to an income for the rest of your life, Virginia. That’s called communism. That’s the world of bureaucrats, politicians and collectivists. In a capitalist system, you get paid for the value you create. Nobody is going to do it for you. Sorry, old thing. You paid for training and support. Now you actually have to work.

The same goes for people who join any organization. You pay to become a Member and access the Member benefits. You are not buying a group of able-bodied and willing slaves to work for you for the rest of your life while you crack another beer in front of the television set. Is it true that when I buy an electric drill from Sears, I can take it home and leave the drill in my workshop to drill all the holes by itself while I take a nap? I think not. A business opportunity is a tool. Membership in any organization is a tool, an opportunity, access. What you do with the tools and opportunities will determine how much money you make. There are no escalators to success – the ladder to success has to be climbed - a shocking revelation to people who are used to being carried by others all their lives.

Here’s how you will know if you’re dealing with a leader or a passenger, a winner or a loser, a creator or a leech: When people ask you how much other people in your organization or club are making, you know you’re talking to a loser. In every group, there are people who use the tools, follow the rules and make the money, while others will whine and grumble and find excuses to stumble. When a winner joins any group or gets involved in any organization, she will proactively create success, using the tools at hand. She will be circulating and percolating, making the contacts and writing the contracts, moving and grooving. She will perceive every glass as half full and focus on the positives, while rising to the top like the proverbial cream. She will emerge radiantly, like a lotus flower, from the muddy rat race of plebes. When the escalator stops, she will bound enthusiastically up the stairs and reach the top floor while the majority (yes, the 90%) are still shocked and awed and blaming the elevator company for their lack of progress and slothfulness.

There is very little competition at the top of the ladder; it’s not crowded. The cream is 10%, the milk 90%. By choice. It’s all about having a great, proactive, responsible attitude and creating the future you want. YOU have created the circumstances you are currently experiencing. I can blame that drill all I like for the lack of holes. I can curse the escalator company, the weather and George Bush, but at the end of the day, “If it’s to be, it’s up to ME.”

Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com