Making Choices, Paying Prices

In the last weekend of March 2016, the team made a trip to KL for our company’s Success Seminar where we would learn from the best in this business. We had made all the necessary preparations – plane tickets, hotels, even planned for transport when we touched down in KL. And our meals!

The night before, newcomer Cindy, who was travelling with us for the first time, had a mini ‘crisis’ at home. Her four-year-old son, Marcus, who had never been separated from her, was freaking out at the prospect of spending the weekend without his mum. Understandably, the child was upset and cried long and hard.

To make matters worse, Cindy’s mother became upset with her at seeing her grandson in such a state. Cindy was in a bind. Despite the drama at home, she turned up at the airport, visibly upset, but calm. Her young son and helper came to the airport to see her off and the drama continued unabated at the airport. It was such a difficult situation, especially when the trip was seen by Cindy’s family as not totally necessary.

Somehow, Cindy managed to disentangle herself from her son and flew with us for an awesome weekend of learning and inspiration.

At the end of the trip, our team leader asked why she decided to come along. Without missing a beat, she replied that there were two reasons.

The first was that she had already promised me that she would come. I was impressed by her commitment to keep her word.

Secondly, she really began with the end in mind. “What kind of relationship do I want with my son? What kind of young man do I want to bring up?” She didn’t want to set a precedent where she gave in to tears and temper tantrums. If she did that once, then Marcus would know that these behaviours work for him and would pull them off again the next time. The battle would get harder and harder and Cindy might end up conceding to him each time.

For Cindy, the right thinking got her to make the right decision.

Her sharing got me thinking about a number of other issues.

MLM is often begun as a part-time business, done in between the cracks of a very busy life. How do I squeeze in a business when I have a full-time job, a family, and a myriad of other things to look after? It is with intention.

With intention. And by being willing to pay the price in the short-term so that the long-term benefits of MLM can be realised. And by being unreasonable.

Some prices are easier to pay than others. Often, when they affect our family members and close friends, they become painful to pay. Being unreasonable is not the norm for me. I grew up with the belief that nice girls are reasonable and it’s good to be nice, or seen as nice.

Truth be told, I nearly went soft on Cindy. I almost found myself saying, “I can understand, maybe you come along another time. It’s so hard to leave when your son and mum are so upset.” (I mean seriously, the son was bawling his head off non-stop in the airport!)

Good thing for me my leader believes that being unreasonable is sometimes a good thing. He held the context for being unreasonable in this case. George Bernard Shaw said: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

All progress depends on the unreasonable man. Our leader was clear – going to the seminar was important to help Cindy move forward in this business and chart a future of time and financial freedom.

If I keep adapting myself to the world, I would be moulded by the pressures of the world. Cindy’s son was none the worse for that weekend away. But if Cindy had decided not to go, she would have missed out on enriching her soul and having her dreams lit up.

I am going to remember this episode and Cindy’s example whenever I am lured into the path of least resistance and reasonableness.