Going the Distance
by Tricia Caliguire

The road to success in network marketing is paved with many descriptive words, such as "persistence," "commitment," "faith," "hard work," "timing", and "teamwork." Any and all of these words describe necessary qualities as we travel that road, but one phrase covers them all, and that's "going the distance."

I recently again watched the original Rocky movie, and noted how Rocky's success in boxing is analogous to our success in network marketing. Rocky had no money, no family, no connections, no education, and no real future. Then he was given a shot at the heavyweight championship of the world, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to raise his existence to a level he had only dreamed about.

What did he do then? Did he spar with a couple of boxing partners and decide this wasn't for him? Did he jog a mile for a couple of days and then say his training wasn't working for him? Were there days when he said, "I really don't wanna do this today, I'll just skip my workout"? What would have happened if he had? Would he have reached his goal?

Rocky put hours and hours of effort toward reaching his goal. What was the goal? "I just wanna go the distance," he confided to his girlfriend Adrian the night before the big fight. His goal was to last 15 rounds in the ring and still be standing when the final bell rang, and he did everything he could to reach that goal. He made every effort, made no excuses, and did what it took EVERY DAY to reach the goal. He "did the dailies," and the goal took care of itself, and he did indeed remain standing at the end of 15 rounds.

Network marketing is all about "going the distance." When we start our career, we have a goal in mind and network marketing is the means we've decided on to attain it. But to reach that goal, we have to be willing to do what it takes, to "do the dailies." That means once you've decided on that goal, you need to work closely with your sponsor or upline mentor, as Rocky did with Mickey, his coach. Decide together what you need to do to accomplish this goal. Determine how long it will take to reach it, and then divide the activities you need to perform to get there into yearly, monthly and weekly goals, but most importantly, into DAILY goals. Know that if you make X number of calls, place X number of ads, talk to X number of people EACH day, the law of averages will be on your side and you WILL reach your goal.

Like Rocky, if you do whatever it takes, you'll be able to "go the distance," and the success in network marketing which so many say they want and only a comparative few are willing to work for, will be yours. As Rocky said to his opponent, "Go for it!"


Tricia Caliguire is a network marketing professional who has over ten years of experience in marketing and sales, and has a keen interest in health, fitness and helping others achieve their goals through network marketing. She is also a professional writer and her latest feature article, "The Gift that Makes the Difference" is set for publication in the spring of 2000. Tricia and her husband, Greg, and their daughter reside in Brandon, Florida.

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