Ryan McMullen's Blog » Quotes

Dr. Suess, Motivational Speaker?

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:12:04 +0000

Last night, I was reading a book to my 2-yr old daughter Maeve before she went to bed and was not only pleasantly surprised, but almost floored by Dr. Suess’ message. I will never forget that “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” was Maeve’s first in a long line of personal development books.

Did Dr. Suess mean to have this effect? Not sure. Am I crazy? Perhaps. But, take a look at the following passages and tell me how you would perceive it:

You can get so confused
that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…

…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

“A most useless place…The Waiting Place…” That is brilliant! Maybe it’s because I value self-development so greatly that I took it this way, but can you really deny his point? I think it is absolutely awesome!

I explained it to Maeve (let me reiterate that she is two) that you cannot wait around for things to happen; that you make your own way in life. Those folks that wait around for the world to come to them are the same ones complaining about how unlucky they are. Do you think she got it? I do.

It was really a great learning experience for the both of us and I’m so happy we got to share it last night. I gave her a big hug and kiss and thought to myself, “That little girl is going to be alright.”

Even if you don’t have kids, please take the five minutes it takes to read this book. It is totally worth it and it will make a great gift for the little entrepreneur in your family.

I love to hear all of your feedback, especially if you had a similar experience, so please leave a comment and pass this along to anyone you think may enjoy it.

Your partner in success,

Ryan

Take The Responsibility Seriously And You’ll Get The Big Pay

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:59:55 +0000

For those of you have spent any time with me, you know that I hold a special place in my heart for Napoleon Hill. If you haven’t read “Think And Grow Rich”, run out right now and buy it. It literally changed my life.

Recently, I made one of my best Amazon.com purchases in awhile. On a sidenote, Amazon should pay me some sort of affiliate commission for as many people I send there. I bought the aforementioned book on CD. Now, I can listen and be inspired while I’m driving, running, cutting the grass, you name it. I’m not cutting much grass these days in the St. Louis winter, but you get the gist.

In the spirit of my acquisition, I wanted to share one of Mr. Hill’s quotes that I thought was particularly applicable to our industry.

Big pay and little responsibility are circumstances seldom found together.

It makes you really take stock in how much time you are really spending on your business. It’s so great to go online or your company’s newsletter and read about the top producers who drive the Ferrari, live in the house on the beach and take ridiculous vacations.

We all want the big commission checks and the time to go to these far off places. But, how many of us are willing to do the work? The numbers say ONLY 3% of us!

I don’t want to bring you down because there is hope. I talk to a lot of network marketers and that 3% stat is skewed. In my experience, I would estimate that about 90% of associates in any given company do NOTHING with their business. The other 7% just don’t have enough direction or guidance to make them successful.

That means, assuming you are putting forth a legitimate effort, you have a 70% chance of making it. Those odds are not too shabby. If we take the responsibility of owning a business seriously, you will reap the rewards.

Now, to cleverly tie this all together. When Mr. Hill uses the word seldom, I believe he is referring to the MLM/network marketing industry. This is why…once you have taken that responsibility and built your business to the level you desire, the leverage of your downline is going to carry the majority of responsibility for you, thus leaving you with the big pay.

If you want true time freedom, there is absolutely no other game in town. Sleep well at night knowing that you are in the right industry and, if you haven’t already, take the responsibility seriously and you will be in the 3%.

Your partner in success,

Ryan

It’s An Obligation To Succeed

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:29:53 +0000

Recently, I spent some time in Washington, DC and it got me thinking about how many opportunities we have in this country and other similar countries that afford us the freedom to start our own businesses. I’d love to put it into words as well as Seth Godin, but since he is a bestselling author, here’s an excerpt from his book, “Tribes” that sums it up perfectly:

The Obligation

Not too far from us, a few blocks away, there are kids without enough to eat and without parents who care. A little farther away, hours by plane, are people unable to reach their goals because they live in a community that just doesn’t have the infrastructure to support them. A bit further away are people being brutally persecuted by their governments. And the world is filled with people who can’t go to high school, never mind college, and who certainly can’t spend their time focused on whether or not they get a good parking space at work.
And so, the obligation: don’t settle.
To have all these advantages, all this momentum, all these opportunities and then settle for mediocre and then defend the status quo and then worry about corporate politics-what a waste.
Flynn Berry wrote that you should never use the word “opportunity.” It’s not an opportunity, it’s an obligation.
I don’t think we have any choice. I think we have an obligation to change the rules, to raise the bar, to play a different game, and to play it better than anyone has any right to believe is possible.

Who can argue with that? How many people have given you trouble for starting your business, your “pyramid scheme”. Honestly, I don’t know how those people make it through the day with no freedom in sight. It’s easy to sit back, follow the rules and chastise those who are trying to do something extraordinary. It’s so much harder to put yourself out there and challenge the status quo.

My hope is that nobody gets discouraged by the naysayers and gives up on their business. If you haven’t yet, go out and get “Tribes” by Seth Godin. It’s an easy read and has some great material.

Your partner in success,

Ryan