Treasure Your Dreams

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor souls who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” –Theodore Roosevelt

Never be afraid to take risks; to have the courage to pursue your dreams; to take the chance of failing at something. Failure is really never possible unless you simply quit trying – until then, it is simply a delay on your journey to success. Successful people not only dream big, but DO big as well – when you dream big and complete big actions to follow those dreams, success won’t be too far behind.

 

 

Have you ever read “Beach Money” by MLM Millionaire, Jordan

Adler? This book, and this man were really my inspiration for

seeking out and joining a local BNI Chapter here in my area.

Jordan Adler says that 25% of his monthly residual check of over

$80,000 (yes, I said MONTHLY) comes from people he and/or his

team members while being an active member in their local BNI

Chapters. I don’t know about you, but that was enough to get me

interested!

I searched the website and found a local group that was 1

member short of having enough people to charter and become an

official BNI Chapter. Diane Hart (the regional director for BNI)

asked me to attend their weekly meeting and check it out – she said

this would be the last week they would accept visitors before

chartering and if I didn’t come then I would have to wait about 2 ½ months (until after

the Grand Opening) to attend a meeting.

I was VERY nervous about my first meeting… to the point that I drove into the parking

lot, business cards and notepad in hand, and parked at the back so I could use Michael

Clouse’s “Mirror” method safely without being seen. After about 5 minutes of psyching

myself up I walked into the hotel conference room to find a room full of what at the time

looked like a bunch of grumpy old business men in suits. Yikes!

I was almost back out the door (this didn’t look like something I would be interested in)

when one of the 3 ladies in the room approached me and said “Jordan?”

It was Diane, and she was just “sooo glad!” I was able to make it to the meeting… she

quickly ushered me over to the sign-in table where one of “the suits” wrote my name down

and asked if I would be paying by cash or check for lunch. Unfortunately, I only had a

debit card on me (my checkbook was in the car) so I informed him I would “be right back”

and off I went out of the building.

Once back in my car I went so far as to start the engine, throw it in reverse and actually

re-park two rows over before I convinced myself that “I am the best” and “Everyone loves

me”. I turned off the car, grabbed my checkbook and headed back in to face the suits.

That was one of the hardest and most beneficial business decisions I have ever made.

I wrote out my check and handed it to the suit at the sign-in table (who I later

discovered is a fellow MLMer) and stood around awkwardly shaking hands with one of the

nicest groups of people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

After finding a seat in as inconspicuous of an area as I could find, sitting through the

hour and a half meeting and standing up in front of the group to give my “Sales Manager

Minute” (more about that later) I was hooked. Diane gave me an application to fill out and

send back and I was on my way!

Unfortunately, my nerves returned as quickly as the adrenaline from the high energy

room left. I spent the remainder of the afternoon convincing (or attempting to convince)

my mom that this “wasn’t for me” but she wasn’t having it. So, reluctantly I returned the

following week with my application and $430 check in hand.

It took about 5 minutes of “mirroring” before I was able to walk in, but I was once again

greeted by a group of friendly people who all seemed to remember my name (though I

could remember few of theirs). I went through the same awkward greetings, sat in the

same seat and recited the same Manger Minute as the week before.

This feeling carried on for quite a few weeks – to the point where I would stress so

much the day before the meeting and I woke up with a severe migraine two Tuesdays in a

row and actually got dressed and ready for the grand opening event before throwing up

and deciding not to go. Luckily, that feeling is gone now – and I can honestly say that I

genuinely look forward to my Tuesday lunch dates with some of Lubbock’s finest business

people!

You may be wondering why I shared all of this with you, and some of you are probably

thinking that BNI sounds like the scariest thing on earth and a person would have to be

insane to even attempt it.

Not insane, just determined.

Every time I got scared, I picture that check. 25% percent of $80,000 – or $20,000 a

month from joining BNI and encouraging his team to do the same. That was enough for

me to get over my fears, step out of my comfort zone and attend those meetings.

In the past 2 ½ months that I have been a part of BNI I have sold 6 gift baskets totaling

$350 in sales (and I was out of town for almost a month during this time). In addition to

that I have received 2 strong fundraising leads and have a meeting with a realtor in the

group this next week to talk about using my gift baskets as closing gifts for her clients – if

all goes well I will be selling a $40-$50 gift basket to her every time she sells a house.

With the holidays coming up several people in our group have approached me about

using my products for Christmas gifts for their clients, employees, family and friends.

Even more than that I now have the opportunity to share my product and what I do

with over 30 local businessmen and women each week – MANY of whom have turned out

to be MLMers themselves.

I highly recommend this for anyone who is wanting to seriously grow their business.

Sure, the start-up fee is a bit steep – make it happen. I will have mine completely paid

back in sales within just a few weeks.

Each week you get 60 seconds to give your Sales Manager Minute stating who you are,

what you do and who your “perfect client” for that week would be. You also have the

opportunity several times a year to give a 10-minute showcase presentation on your

business and product.

Another thing we do is meet up with fellow chapter members in what are called “Oneto-

Ones” for an hour at a time to share a little about ourselves and our businesses with

each other. The entire focus of BNI is to help other people grow THEIR businesses and

have them help you grow yours.

This past week I took my bead stackers to my one-to-one and walked out of there with

an order for a $50.00 gift basket – it’s THAT easy!

It took a lot of work for me to step out of my comfort zone and get involved in this

organization, but now that I am I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity and the

wonderful people I have had the privilege to meet and get to know.

Now, when I walk into that conference room for lunch each Tuesday, I am no longer

greeted with the sight of intimidating suit-wearers. Instead, I am greeted by

- Alan, a veteran MLMer and aspiring public speaker

- Mike, a CPA who recently left the corporate world and started his own firm

- Jonathon, a 23 year old making his future in MLM, just as I am doing

- Greg, a full-time youth minister striving to make his MLM business work for him

- Velma, the lady I’ll go to when I buy my first house

- Tracey, the lady I’ll call to get the mortgage loan for that house

- In addition to the man who now changes the oil in my car, the person I buy my

business cards from, my chiropractor, computer repairman and many more wonderful

people.

BNI has changed my outlook on networking, retail sales and the power of referrals – I

 

 

expect it to do nothing but get better and better over time!

 

 

“Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing, it’s when you’ve had everything to do and you’ve done it!” –Margaret Thatcher

As a procrastinator at heart, I love this quote. It’s a great motivator for me as I go through my day to keep to the task at hand, knowing that at the end of the day as I’m climbing into bed I will be able to let out a sigh of satisfaction at what I’ve completed rather than one of dread of the day to come. Remember this quote, and remember this feeling as you go about your seemingly-endless daily tasks – know that in the end, it will be worth it!

Texas Tech Football – “I Dreamt It in my Head”

 

I’m sure anyone who follows college football even the slightest bit has heard by now about the incredible last second (literally) touchdown pass from Graham Harrell to Michael Crabtree that led to the upset of the #1 ranked Texas Longhorns by the #7 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders this past Saturday night.

What a game!

I had the privilege of sitting on the 50yd line with my cousin, who is a red-shirt freshman for Texas Tech, and to experience a history-making night of football. As I’m sitting here writing this tonight (now 2 nights after the game) my voice is still hoarse from screaming for the Red Raiders.

This is the most talked about season in Tech football history – for the first time in decades Tech is now 9-0 and ranked #2 in the BCS polls which puts them in reach of not only the Big 12 Championship, but the National Title as well. While there are many skeptics, I have to say I believe they can do it – and here’s why.

Visualization.

Let’s start back at the middle of this summer, in July, when the host of a local radio morning show began the countdown to “The Day Texas Tech Wins the National Championship!” – while it was predicted that we were in for a great season, it was by NO means predicted that we would make it that far. The radio station (home of one of the most listened to morning show in town) has embraced this countdown in full force — they have even composed a song (which they play on the radio every morning and usually several other times throughout the day) with lyrics such as “Texas Tech Red Raiders win it all, Texas Tech Red Raiders let’s win that crystal ball!” Needless to say, the radio host is not the least bit surprised that we are entering into the 11th week of the season undefeated.

This past week was the craziest in Lubbock I have ever seen. Over 1200 students spent the week in tents camping outside the stadium gates… news stations were broadcasting from the end-zone… billboards and commercials were seen all over the place promoting “BLACK OUT to BEAT TEXAS”… shirts were made by local retailers, sold out within 48 hours and made and sold out again – excitement was in the air, WINNING was in the air.

Of course, we were all skeptical. But we knew that this was our year – our game – we had as good of a chance at taking on #1 and winning as we ever had in the past. Everywhere you went you could overhear conversations about the upcoming rivalry game, and virtually all were positive.

Let’s jump ahead to Saturday morning, where the crew from College Gameday was broadcasting from Memorial Circle on the Texas Tech campus. This was their first ever visit to Lubbock, Texas and everyone was anxious to see who they would pick to win.

At the end of every broadcast Lee Corso brings out the head of the mascot of the team he has picked to win that day – as #7 going up against #1 we were definitely the underdogs, but he must have seen something in the faces of the fans and in the determination of the team to make him think we had a chance because lo and behold he brought out the head of Raider Red along with two pistols and fired them into the air as the fans behind him went wild!

Excitement continued to mount as the time for kickoff got closer – and by 6:30 the stands of Jones Stadium were black with fans who had shown up in their black-out shirts to cheer Tech on to victory. Never have I witnessed such electricity in the air of that stadium – not only was a new record set in attendance, but all 56 thousand+ of us were on our feet screaming for all 60 minutes. The noise of the fans yelling “RAIDER POWER” drowned out the noise of the announcer, and the only times his voice was understood was when the roaring crowd would join him in announcing another “RED RAIDER FIRRRRST DOWN” (which turned out to be quite often!).

Against all odds Tech led throughout the entire game – that is, up until the 4th quarter with 1:31 left to play on the clock when the longhorns scored the touchdown that put them ahead 33 to 32. Hearts sank and then rose again to pound in everyone’s throats – surely, after all we’ve done, we weren’t going to lose like this.

Tech fans have a reputation for giving up — for the stands being empty by halftime if it didn’t look like the red raiders were going to pull out a victory, or if it looked like victory was eminent. Not this time. Not a soul left from that stadium – for the last minute and 30 seconds every person was on their feet and, if it was even possible, that stadium became even louder.

The sound of the celebrating longhorn band was drowned out by “Fight Raiders Fight” blaring from the instruments of the Goin’ Band from Raiderland, chants of “RAIDER POWER” rocked the stadium and with each gained yard the excitement rose.

Finally, with 8 seconds left in the game, the Red Raiders needed about 10 more yards to put themselves into field goal range before calling their last time out to save the game. Apparently, that wasn’t going to be good enough. As the ball snapped Harrell hurled the ball towards the corner of the endzone where Michael Crabtree was scrambling to free himself of two Texas defenders. The ball flew into his hands as if powered by a magnetic force and Crabtree hurled himself out of the arms of the Texas defender struggling to pull him down. Keeping his feet merely inches apart in order to keep from falling out of bounds the Crab took one step and then another – yard by yard he seemed to effortlessly control his body in what appeared to be a super-hero like fashion as he stepped into the endzone and won the game.

The crowd went wild – fans rushed the field and the band belted out tunes of victory. I remember looking at my cousin, screaming, high-fiving, being picked up and spun around by a complete stranger and finally hurdling over the fence and onto the field to congratulate the Red Raiders on the biggest win in Texas Tech history.

In a post-game interview Michael Crabtree was asked to recap that trip into the endzone – his only words were, “I dreamt it in my head – and it happened!! I do that all the time but it happened – it kind of shocked me!”

That line was quoted in countless articles over the next 24 hours – the game was won because Michael Crabtree “dreamt it in his head”. He later went on to explain that he imagined catching a pass and running it in for the game-winning touchdown. He says he imagines things like that often, and all I have to say to that is do you think it’s a coincidence?

Michael Crabtree is the top receiver in the NCAA – although he is only a sophomore plans are already being talked about of him playing next year for the NFL. He is a local hero here in Lubbock, and has been now since the first couple of games of his first season with the Red Raiders. That just goes to show that talent mixed with “dreaming in your head” (aka: visualization) can really go a long way.

Texas Tech is getting ready to go through what announcers are calling “The Gauntlet” over the next few weeks – playing Oklahoma Sate this coming weekend here at home and then Oklahoma University at their home stadium. Some announcers are skeptical – others, think we can pull through. The fans though have never been more excited or more optimistic. I have yet to hear a negative word as to our fate for the rest of the season – tickets for the upcoming OSU game are selling on eBay for over $1500, and the announcement to “RED OUT” is making its way through the air and dreams of victory bells are playing in our heads.

I can’t say what will happen to the Red Raiders this season… but I can say that if I were you I would keep an eye on this team – and with every victory remind yourself to dream in YOUR head the things you want to see become a reality in your own life. When you dream it, anything is possible!