Do You Have The Stamina? (written February, 2009)

I would like to talk to you about stamina. Stamina by definition means: “Physical or moral strength to resist or withstand illness, fatigue, or hardship; endurance.” How many of you have had the stamina to stick to one program and promote it daily for more than one year? Two Years? Even 6 months? That’s your problem. I am with two of the same programs now for more than 15 years – 15 years! How come you do not have the stamina?

I cannot tell you how many times people called me and told me how enthusiastic they are to join with me in a program. They tell me how enthusiastic they are to be in a program run by people with such integrity. They tell me that this is the program that will lead them into financial freedom. Then just a short 2, 3, 4 months later, they drop out and join into something else. Does this sound like you? Half the calls I get are by good people with such a burst of enthusiasm, I have to caution them – “Mail Order/MLM is a marathon – not a sprint.” When you sprint, everything is over in a blink of an eye. You dash to a finish line trying to out run your competitors. That is a sprint. We are not sprinting here. We are in a business. Business is business. Your business is long-term project. It is like a marathon. You are not dashing to out run your competitors. You are trying to outlast and overtake them. People need to spread their enthusiasm over the long haul. A few months is not long term. That is why so many of you fail. When you finally pick a program to work and people to work with, you need to be committed for a minimum of one year – that is: committed to promoting it daily for one year. Many of you good people like to tell me you have been with a program for a year or two. But you fail to tell me that you are not promoting it anymore. When a person is committed to a program, they are promoting it. So when I say that once you find something you feel will lead you to financial freedom, you need to commit to it for at least a year – I am talking about committing to promoting it for at least a year!

Got a call from a nice guy the other day. It went like this: “Larry, got your stuff and I am so excited, I can taste it. I have been burned so many times, I am sick of it. Got your stuff, I want in. I am retired and I can taste success is around the corner.” By the way, before I continue, it is nice to hear this kind of stuff – this kind of enthusiasm – but the problem is that this poor guy has no stamina – like so many of you good people. As I always do I asked him one question, “Which program were you promoting daily for a minimum of one year that you felt burned you?” Of course as always, he wasn’t with any program for one year – even 6 months! So I asked him, “How did you get burned by these programs when you didn’t have any stamina for the long haul?” Of course, silence. In this good fellow’s mind, I am an idiot at this point. He doesn’t realize I am trying to re-program him to think like a winner! Instead he thinks I am a smug jerk!

What so many of you good people don’t understand is that I am not a smug jerk. I am just sick and tired of “the lack of stamina” syndrome that runs so prevalent and freely within our industry. It truly is a disease. It must be cured. It doesn’t work. I do not care what others may be trying to do to hype you into believing you can make “quick” money. You can’t. You can certainly make money. You certainly can make a full time income. I am living proof of this. However if you are in for the short term, play the lotto. You have better odds. If you are in for the long haul and if you can re-program yourself to understand that you need to have stamina – enthusiasm for the long haul – then you will succeed. Nothing worthwhile comes quickly in life. Success in general is just a state of mind anyway. This poor good fellow I spoke to over the telephone told me he was retired and needs a supplemental income to offset his retirement. He was desperate! So I said to him, “If it took you 62 years to get to where you are today, why are you only giving yourself a few months to get out of it?”

Don’t get me wrong. Enthusiasm is great! I love enthusiastic people. “Real” enthusiastic people! Not fakes. Not people who are enthusiastic today and depressed tomorrow. This business is like all businesses. It is a marathon. It’s long term. If you don’t have the stamina, the enthusiasm, the long-term mentality, the commitment to promoting a program for a minimum of a year, you will fail. No doubt about it! That is what so many of you have done so far. Why not try the right way now? It’s a shame that 99% of the people I talk are such good people – honest people – people just like my family and myself – the difference is the programming. You need to re-program yourself to be more realistic in your approach at succeeding in this industry.

It starts with stamina. Do you have it? Do you have the resistance to withstand the ups and downs – the hardships associated with any business? Do you have the endurance to withstand these hardships? Do you have the stamina? I hope for all you good people’s sake, you do.

The author of this article is Larry Costello, President of All-American Print & Mail, 2200 Wilson Blvd #102-57, Arlington, VA 22201.