The Difference Maker Is ...

Your ATTITUDE

"The last of the human freedoms is to choose your attitude in any given set of circumstances." ~Victor Frankl

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes." ~William James

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes."
~Chuck Swindoll

Talent Alone Cannot Guarantee Greatness...

Reinforcing that there is no such thing as "a-free-lunch" when it comes to achieving success, there is vast evidence that even the most accomplished people need around ten years of hard work before becoming world-class, a pattern so well established researchers call it the ten-year rule.

Read this awesome article "What it takes to be great" by Geoffrey Colvin

"Plan Purposefully ~ Prepare Prayerfully ~

Proceed Positively ~ Pursue Persistently"

William A. Howard's Formula for Successful Living

Sometimes ...

... just an extra degree of effort can make all the difference in the world.

"The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way." -Robert Kiyosaki

God uses small things to do BIG stuff ...

We can do no great things; only small things with great love" ... Mother Theresa.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to travel about 80 miles north to meet and share with other fellow "water sharers". It was a beautiful late summer morning when Cathi and I made that trip. Upon arrival, we immediately met our hostess Nanci and another lady who was quite excited to share her testimony with both us and the meeting's other attendees. This lady told us about her life-threatening health challenges she had suffered from over the past several years; about her recurring bouts of cancer which progressively got worse and worse until she found herself reaching the point of "no hope". But then this past spring, she was introduced to my friend Nanci who generously shared hope in the form of ionized water with her. And now fast-forwarding to this beautiful morning, she was telling us about how Nanci's small act of kindness turned into a BIG "no more cancer" victory for her body! Simply amazing!

While driving home after our meeting, I found myself reflecting about that lady's amazing testimony. It was then I realized something very personal, very humbling. I looked over to Cathi, saying "Do you realize that had we not decided 3 years ago to buy our ionizer and freely share our water with others, then most likely that lady we met this morning would have never been blessed with her BIG victory." {FYI: we shared with Martha, who shared with Ted & Merrie, who shared with Rocky and Karen, who then shared with Nanci} For me, this humbling realization was once again a dramatic proof-positive reminder about how our "heavenly anointed" action which at the time Cathi and I took seemed quite "isolated, small" yet by now has blossomed into a very large network of like-minded compassionate "sharers"; and even more incredibly how our Lord is continually blessing our team's collective "human-based marketing efforts" for His glory, to accomplish His BIG purposes HIS WAY!

"When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others." ... an old Chinese Proverb

I Hate Selling ....

Okay, I admit it. I hate selling. That's why I don't do it. But let me further clarify this for you. I don't sell the "worldy-way". So what does that mean you might ask? For me, it's all about someone being pushy, manipulative, selfish, and even at times deceitful so that they can chalk up their "win" at someone else's expense. I bet you have been on the receiving end of this kind of selling numerous times, right? Pretty distasteful, wasn't it?

For me, selling does not have to be done that way. First, find something that you can be passionate about; something you absolutely believe in and know without any doubt whatsoever that others can also truly benefit from. Then, your mission (i.e., selling) is to simply get others to also come to believe in and benefit from what you have for them; but always carried out in a thoughtful, compassionate way. Think of this kind of compassionate selling as being synonymous with "passionate caring", always triumphing over any "fear of rejection" you might harbor, empowering you to engage even with complete strangers, and knowing that only until someone realizes you really care for them will they be open to explore what you have for them.

Also very, very important, when pursuing your mission of selling, don't go it alone! Call on our Lord; asking that His favor go before you in the form of divine appointments, other's open-minded willingness, etc. And finally, don't be motivated by "living the good life"; instead aspire to "be the good life" for anyone He brings to you. This is a style of selling that resonates with me. In fact, now in my late 50's, I can visualize myself doing this kind of "selling" for another 25 years, just like my 85-year old friend and fellow teammate Rocky is doing along side me today!

"You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands has produced this wealth for me.' But remember the Lord our God, for it is He that gives you the ability to produce wealth." Deuteronomy 8:17-18

Artwork by my gifted "love of my life" Cathi.
     "Father God, I ask for a divine appointment from You today and that I have eyes to see it, ears to hear it, an open mind to grasp it, courage to act on it, and graditude in my heart to receive it; whether it be helping others, meeting someone new or reconnecting with another." 

Check Out This Book ....

Dr. Mu Shik Jhon’s "The Water Puzzle and the Hexagonal Key" is a must read if water is at all important to you. Dr. Jhon can make a significant contribution to your overall knowledge of water. His academic and professional credentials are impressive. He is an expert in the field of statistical liquid mechanics and in his book you will find comprehensive information on hexagonally-structured (i.e., ionized, reduced, restructured, alkaline) water which he considers to be the “water of life.” His research has identified this water as the preferred biological choice and his “Molecular Water Environment Theory” states that "replenishing the Hexagonal Water in our bodies can increase vitality, slow the aging process and prevent disease."

Having studied water for more than 40 years, Dr. Jhon believes that water awareness is in its infancy. He says that if we truly understood “its mysteries” we would be more aggressive in preserving its quality. Because, after all, the total amount of water on the earth is finite. Between the earth and the atmosphere, water on the planet has been calculated to be between 1.3 and 1.4 billion km and that total volume never changes. It only recycles.

Even A So-So Sales Guy Can ... (Part II)

[If you haven't done so already, I suggest that you first read my previous blog entry before reading this one.]

About 5 months into launching my water business/ministry, I decided to take a crack at conducting a direct mail advertising campaign. Using an attractive tri-fold 4-color glossy brochure, I mailed it to a little over 900 recipients who lived nearby, at a cost of about $1,300. I had surmised that these recipients were probably preventive health-oriented people since I had found them listed in an online database of people who consumed a high-end line of dietary supplements. So my hope was this this somewhat targeted campaign would do even better that the typical 1% response rate; that I would hopefully get 25 responses and 10 resulting sales, netting me around $10,000.

But in the final analysis, I only received about 10 responses, the latest occurring over 9 months following the campaign mailing date. But fortunately, 6 out of these 10 responses ended up purchasing their water ionizers. So my costs were covered and I even made about $5,000 from those 6 direct sales. Not what I had hoped for, but nevertheless satisfying. Yet incredibly fortunate for me (and for countless others as you will soon discover), the impact of my advertising campaign adventure didn't stop there.

For you see one of those people responding to my mailing was Merv. When he called me, he told me that my brochure really sparked his interest, particularly the part about "water loaded with antioxidants". But before too long into our conversation, he asked me how I got his name in the first place. So I told him I found him listed in a company's online database of their supplement product consumers. Merv's response was "I don't know who that company is?" leaving me speechless. After a several-second awkward pause during our phone conversation, Merv said "I know how you found me. Jesus Christ led you to me!" Needless to say, I was stunned; sensing that this was truly the beginning of a "divine appointment" arranged for both Merv and myself.

Fast forwarding to today (3 years later), Merv not only purchased his ionizer but with my training and encouragement and his energy, focus and personal contacts, his one sale has turned into over 1,000+ sales (and still growing!) which we have both financially and emotionally benefited from. Plus the physical lives of thousands of others have been positively impacted so far by our collective efforts. Just an incredible blessing from our Lord for both of us as well as for all of them!

It is so very true that when we "give freely, then we in turn will be blessed in good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over." Luke 6:38. Because we serve a God that "gives good gifts to those who ask Him!" Matthew 7:11

Artwork by my gifted "love of my life" Cathi.

Even A So-So Sales Guy Can Be Abundately Blessed!

If you have already been following my blog, you would know by now that I'm a so-so sales guy. I have and continue to break just about every Sales 101 rule in the book. I do this intentionally because I really want to solely rely on my Lord's grace, on His blessings, not on my own brute self-efforts and worldly sales techniques. For example, I never ask for a sale, I never fire-hose "benefits of my water" at prospects, etc. But what I do try to do is treat my prospects like I would want to be treated; being truly appreciative and respectful of other's opinions, reservations, timing, constraints, etc. as well as wait on His favor, His timing, honoring His injunction to "love thy neighbor as thyself" found throughout His Word.

Please don't misunderstand me, what I'm not saying is that I just sit around twiddling my fingers waiting for His blessings to be poured out upon my business. Instead, I stay busy, continually praying for His favor to go before me as I go about finding others interested in knowing about my water, then freely sharing my water with them and teaching them as I share. And of course, I also keep very busy helping others on my sales team "learn the business" and assisting them with their initial marketing efforts.

From one perspective, my personal experience of averaging 1.25 sale referrals per month during my initial 3 years is not too bad considering I'm wired as an analytical, introverted sort of guy. But from another perspective, lets say I was employed by someone as their sales guy, I would have probably been broke by now and/or lost my job a long time ago.

But fortunately for me, the referral compensation plan I have in place with my manufacturer acting as their sales rep compensates me in two ways: I earn commissions for my own sales referrals and well as earning overrides on the sales of my fellow-teammates whom I have recruited and trained over time. It's this second means of being compensated that has really resulted in the financial windfall I have enjoyed so far; truly allowing me to use my "real" giftings (administration, software development skills, teaching others) to achieve financial success in my business endeavors.

Stay tuned; in my next blog entry I going to tell you the story about my marketing campaign I conducted during the Spring of 2007. I believe this story will really shine the spotlight on the financial leverage (i.e., blessings) one can experience by attracting and training others who are like-minded, but not necessarily like-gifted. Just as it is said in Ecclesiates 4:9-10: "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend (e.g., fellow-laborer) can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"