The sixth chapter of Proverbs has one of my favorite passages in it:
Go to the ant, you lazybones;
consider its ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief
or officer or ruler,
it prepares its food in summer,
and gathers its sustenance in harvest.
How long will you lie there, O lazybones?
When will you rise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior. (Prov 6:6-11, NRSV)
Working from home, I have a very flexible schedule. Unless I am teaching a class or webinar or am otherwise engaged, I do enjoy taking an afternoon nap from time to time. Societies that take a siesta seem just a bit saner than our own nonstop pace of life. I had the pleasure of living and working in Mexico City in 1981, and my colleagues and I often enjoyed two-hour lunches in the middle of the afternoon.
And yet, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,” and God knows what disasters await.
Fortunately, this tension between too much work and too much leisure can be resolved. The key is self-discipline. This passage in Proverbs begins with an admonition to the “lazybones” to consider the ant. “Without having any chief or officer or ruler,” the ant does whatever it needs to do to prepare for the future. It does not shirk its responsibilities. And it manages all of this without a boss cracking a whip over its head.
One of the mental hurdles many people need to overcome when starting their own network marketing business is to move beyond an employee mindset. Two significant areas are involved. (1) You become your own boss, so if you need a boss to crack the whip overhead, guess who has to start cracking? You. Self-discipline is key. And (2) you trade linear income for residual income. Many network marketers work long hours with little reward at first. It takes time to build a residual income stream.
But the only way to fail in network marketing is to quit. Those who stick to their guns (and don’t jump from opportunity to opportunity) inevitably reap rich rewards.
So, you lazybones, make up your mind. Are you more suited to an employee mindset? Do you need a steady paycheck and a thank-God-it’s-Friday attitude about the weekend? If so, then network marketing may not be a good fit for you. But if you are willing to invest some low-pay or no-pay time up front, the rewards down the line can be tremendous.
Take your cue from the ant. Work tirelessly on your business, and the harvest is sure to be beyond your expectations.
