What you are about to read comes from Eric Worre, one of the all time top income earners in the network marketing industry. It is without a doubt one of the best pieces of wisdom and advice we’ve ever run across. If you are looking for success in Ambit Energy far beyond the norm, it is a must read… but beware! What you are about to read will very likely cause you to call into question the core of WHO YOU ARE, more importantly it will help you see WHO YOU MUST BE to succeed at a large level in Ambit Energy, but most important of all you will be forced to determine WHO YOU ARE WILLING TO BECOME.
In my experience, there are basically three groups of people in the world: The first group are the Pessimist, The second group are the Realist, and the third group are the Visionaries
I’m not sure what group you’d put yourself in, but before you do that, let me walk you through a general description of each one, starting with the Pessimist.
If a pessimist is a 10 on a scale of 1 to 100, they generally think they’ll probably go to a 9 given enough time. Because of this belief, they are usually right. And, one of the amazing things I’ve found is that Pessimists are actually proud of the fact that, once again, they accurately predicted the outcome.
The Realist is slightly different. If they are a 10 on a scale of 1 to 100, they don’t think they’re going to go down. But they aren’t comfortable claiming that they’re going too far up either.
How they are “perceived” by the world around them is a BIG deal to the Realist. They never want to be embarrassed. They never want to lose face. They never want to be proven wrong with one of their goals or assumptions. Because of this belief, they set very small goals for themselves.
Back to our model… if they are a 10 on a scale of 1 to 100, they might set their goal at 12. Whatever it takes to make sure they achieve their goal. And, if they ever miss a goal, they’ll lower the bar even further the next time.
That leaves us with the Visionary. The Visionary is a strange animal. Especially to the Pessimists and the Realists.
If a Visionary is a 10 on a scale of 1 to 100, or if their project is a 10 on the same scale, the Visionary sets their sights on being a 90! And guess how many times they achieve their goal in the time then envisioned. Almost never … but in reaching for 90, they might get to 50.
Now, if every person or project was a 10 on a scale of 1 to 100, and you were to evaluate these three groups based upon sheer results, who’s would you rather have? The Pessimist’s at 9? The Realist’s at 12? Or would you prefer having the Visionary’s 50? Easy answer, right? Everyone says they want the Visionary’s results at 50. But it’s easier to say you want to be a Visionary than it is to actually do what it takes to stay a Visionary.
Visionaries take a lot of heat.
Since they are well under their mark most of the time, their judgment is called into question. People roll their eyes. The Pessimists and Realists spend a lot of time talking about how the Visionary missed their mark by not getting to 90… instead of seeing how valuable it was to get to 50.
A person who’s trying to be a Visionary for the first time, might say to themselves “Why don’t I just set my goal at 50 and make everyone happy?” Here’s the problem with that approach… it’s been my experience that when you set it at 50, you almost never make it there either. You might make it to 40 and still be ahead of the others. But then you set the next project at 40 and hit 30. Then you set the next one at 30 and make 20. And in a very short period of time, you’ve become a realist… setting expectations so low that it would be hard to miss them.
If we’re judging on sheer results, that’s not a great place for a leader to be. For an organization to do great things, to a certain extent, the leader must be a Visionary.
People will listen to a visionary. People will follow a visionary. People can become better by being around a visionary.
A huge portion of people in this world will spend a lot of their time trying to convince you to be “reasonable”. I’m going to suggest you do the opposite, and here’s why…
The Reasonable person conforms to the world around them.
The Unreasonable person asks the world to conform to their way of thinking.
Therefore, all progress in this world is dependent on the Unreasonable person.
Here are a few examples:
Martin Luther King and his vision of racial harmony.
Bill Gates and his vision of a computer in every home and on every desktop.
Oprah Winfrey and her vision of creating a daily television show that would feature information on improving your life.
John F. Kennedy and his vision of putting a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.
Ted Turner and his vision of delivering news on cable television 24 hours a day.
Mahatma Ghandi and his vision of justice for his people without the use of violence.
The list goes on and on.
Now, what did these people have in common? All of them were Unreasonable about their beliefs. They held to them regardless of what other people said or thought. And… over time… they were each successful in getting the world to conform to their way of thinking.
Believe it or not, the world needs Pessimists. Someone has to be thinking about winter all summer. Someone has to be thinking about worst-case scenarios.
The world also needs Realists. Someone has to take the bull by the horns, make their lists, put their head down, mute out all the grand talk and do the work the organization needs to be done every day.
However, to build a large and successful organization, you can be neither of the two.
You might allow yourself to be 10% Pessimist and another 10% Realist, but you’ll need to remain at least 80% Visionary. To build a large organization it’s absolutely vital.
But here’s the downside…
You’re going to have to live with the fact that some people in your organization and even people outside your organization will spend a good amount of time rolling their eyes and groaning at the crazy beliefs and expectations you’ll be throwing at them on a regular basis. It might sound easy, but I have to tell you it’s hard to withstand the constant criticism.
What makes it even harder is the fact that 95% of people are in the pessimist and realist camp and you know what they absolutely love to do? They just love to point out the fact that you, as a visionary, missed your goal! Even though you’re much farther ahead than they are, they actually feel superior!
It’s a strange thing, but you need to understand, in order to build a large organization, being a visionary is part of the deal and you either have the choice of accepting that now, or deciding to change your expectations to a hobby level business and moving down into the realist camp.
By far, the most frustrated group of people in this industry are the realists. They just don’t understand why they aren’t farther along. They know all the details of the product. They know everything about the company. They’ve attended all the trainings. They present the opportunity perfectly. And yet, they have this constant revolving door within their organization. People just won’t follow them. They just won’t do what has been logically and rationally explained to them.
These people are what I like to call “tacticians”.
The realist loves to focus on tactics and minimize people’s emotions. To the realist, this is a job just like any other and if people learn the tactics, that should be enough. They shouldn’t have to manage anyone’s emotions.
Visionaries utilize tactics, but they’re much more interested in the emotions of their group. They’re what I like to call “Culture Builders”. If you look at the big money earners in this industry, they’re all visionaries and they’re all pre-dominantly culture builders, because that’s what inspires people to follow and to take action.
The best mix I’ve seen is about 20% tactician and 80% culture builder.
For my first five years in this industry, I was the exact opposite and it was unbelievably frustrating. I would bounce from tactic to tactic to tactic and my organization just wouldn’t grow. Once I finally figured this out, I turned it around, everything changed and my organization finally started to grow. We’ll talk more about tacticians vs. culture builders in future lessons.
So, the big question is… where do you see yourself ?
Do you see yourself growing into a pessimist? Do you see yourself growing into a realist? Or do you see yourself growing into a visionary?
I hope the answer is to grow into a Visionary. I understand you might not be all the way there right now and that’s okay. Just as long as you’re willing to do what it takes to grow into one.
So spend some time thinking about where you see yourself and then decide how much sniping you’re willing to take from the pessimists and realists on your way to the top.
I assure you it’s worth it.
Yours in success,
Shawn Cornett
Ambit Energy Founding Executive Consultant
Top 20 Income Earner
Six Time 5-Star Club Qualifier
Pacesetter, Powersurge & Pure Energy Award Winner
(210)232-6032
ambitpros@gmail.com