Back to Work
Hi, Everyone...
Back to work after an extended (for me) bit of recovery time over the holidays! I am like many here, not wanting to make a lot of resolutions as I think nothing has changed...We have a date behind us (the New Year) and the year ahead awaits...
The down time and away time was therapeutic in so many ways for me. I got the plans for the coming year in place, have a content and marketing plan in place, plus a set of goals for the year in front of me at this moment. I am ready.
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Looking through the glasses, what do you see? Each of us must look, and be the best we can be!
Moral Dilemmas...100 Referrals...
I had to do some work through a moral dilemma as well over the holidays. I could have stacked the deck to achieve the 100 referrals and made that trip to Las Vegas, but it would not have been the right thing to do...
Our business is growing albeit at a slower pace than I had hoped for. Long-term it will be all that I envision and more likely. But to stack the deck to achieve the Super Affiliate status would not have felt right.
Not right nor fair for Kyle and Carson, who I respect so much, and not right for me nor the referrals I bring in. If I do the Las Vegas trip, it has to be under the right circumstances. So at the end of the day (or month?) I made a decision to do it the right way...
I did wrestle with this...
It came down to ego as well...One side of me said make it happen anyway, and you will be forever known as a super-affiliate. Very nice for the self-esteem, but that nagging thought that you did not deserve the designation would be there forever too...
I decided to do the right thing for me, for Kyle and Carson, and other affiliates too...I will wait and earn the designation using ethical means! So I ended up with 49 (I think?) referrals for the year...Still not too bad?
Other than that, taking care of the health side of things was also a priority over the holidays, and enjoying the family and coming generations (grandkids) was the order of the days...Not a bad thing at all!
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The Coming Year...
The airplane at the top of this page will be there, and as our business grows that big number will continue to get lower, and that trip to Las Vegas will be achieved. It will be done ethically, through assessing the new people that are interested in growing an affiliate marketing business of their own.
The successes we have had to now will continue to grow and the people that we bring in will have the chance to build their own businesses while they work with us earning as well. The sky is the limit for them and for all of us here within the community...
I am so glad that this was the direction I chose. I can live with myself and not be a poser, a fake, someone who gamed his way into the free trip and designation. If it is meant to be it will be, but it will be for the right reasons.
On the personal side of things, I will continue to work on the family things so that when I get back to Germany this year, we can pick up from where we are at the moment (a good place now and likely a better place when I get there)...
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What About You?
Did you have any epiphanies over the holidays? How were the family sessions/events/activities? Did they go well for you and are you ready for the coming year? What things are you going to do better this year, starting today?
The one good thing about having markers in your day to day life like a new year, a holiday period where you step away for a bit from the day to day stuff you are doing the rest of the time is that you can reflect and make adjustments...
I do hope you all are rested and ready to pick it up again (I am). The road ahead we do not know, but we can plan and take action to make that road follow the path that we have decided we want to take...Of course, adjusting fire is always a good thing as you move down that road too...
Wishing you all a great 2020, and all the best for your business and your personal lives too. Now, let's get busy and make the resolutions (or plans) reality! A new decade, a new chance to shine, today is the first day of the rest of your life. Make the most of it!
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Cheers!
Dave : )
Recent Comments
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Hello, Tim...That is a beautiful phrase and one that packs a lot behind it too! I think the day I stop learning is the day I stop living. I would not have it any other way! Cheers and all the best for 2020! Dave : )
I applaud your decision to do it ethically. I've always been of the opinion the doing anything unethically will come back and bite you in the @ss.
The biggest epiphany, if you can call it that, that I've had over the holidays? Goals. Having customer-focused goals that will allow me to grow my business by providing more value to each of my potential customers.
All the best,
Michael
Hi, Michael!
Thanks for the kind words, and ethics and truth do still matter (to me). Totally agree that karma works its magic on all of us whether we see it or not...
Goals are so important. If you can nail them down and tie them to action they become guideposts that will keep you going in the right direction no matter the figurative storm that may be around you...
Customer-focused goals are some of the best too. It really changes all of the content and how you approach things when you have these in mind and at the forefront.
All the best to you too in 2020! I have confidence that it will be a good year for us all!
Cheers!
Dave : )
Thanks for the post. Its very challenging. I was not sure how you would "stack the deck" to get 100 referrals, but I appreciated the fact that you decided against that. You have a great attitude.
Hey, Dr. J...
It is possible to do this as I have a unique business model that offers Wealthy Affiliate as a part of the program for employees...We have a long list of people that want to join us, hence I could have made them all referrals here...
The thing is that it would have been only for show/the referral credit...So I could have blown the numbers up to achieve that 100 target mark and more...
BUT the same people likely would not have been premium members for long...This is not in line with the intent as I understand it of the super-affiliate program nor the free trip...
What I am building is a sustainable business, so it would have bastardized the process in a number of ways, for the referrals, myself, and for Kyle and Carson too, as they would have not gotten their money's worth for paying for a trip to LV for me...
On the other hand, over the year that is here (2020), I can build the business slower and naturally achieve the target number of referrals...That ethically is a better way as all will win versus only me winning...
Plus...
You can win in more ways than one, and winning means a lot more if everyone is winning versus just you...I go back to my school days and days as a leader of large groups of people...
Machiavellian models of leadership state the end justifies the means, but I do not buy into that...It hurts too many people on the path to "winning" often and the win is a rather hollow one...
Winning for me means that all win, not just me. That moral dilemma was the dark side inside me saying "Do it..." but the rest of me knows what is right...Right won...
I won but just as importantly, the right side won too for us all...We are better than the people buying into the win at any cost model...
It is easy to live with yourself if you at least tried to do the right thing, even if the outcomes are not what you would want/desire...
Unintended consequences no matter the decisions you make have to be dealt with too...
Delay of gratification is a skill that I learned long ago, and the outcomes (consequences) are generally better.
This is merely a delay of gratification and the coming victory/achievement will be much sweeter when I hit the numbers...
I will always choose to live with the consequences that come from trying to do what is right, as unpleasant as they may be at times.
Anyway, just a quirk on my part I guess.
Most people may have gone to the other side on this one these days...Damn everyone and what may be right, they want to win for their ego at any cost.
Not me...
Happy New Year and let's hope it is a super one for everyone!
Cheers!
Dave : )
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Good afternoon Dave,
One should always keep an open ear to that little inner voice which after all knows best.
I will soon start my incognito mode, I will be here but not very visible. I want to concentrate on reading, learning, and writing, the time is ripe.
Greetings from the south of Spain,
Taetske
Hi, Taetske!
I do hope that you and hubby had a wonderful New Year in lovely Spain, and it is good to hear from you...
The incognito mode is a good one, as you will get more done. It can be easy to get distracted (I know that hehe!) here and on the social platforms...
I too have a quite vigorous road ahead laid out for myself and the business, for sure 14 hour days are in the mix for me...I do not mind as it is leading us in the right direction(s)...
The hard right is always better than the easy wrong...It is what you do when people are not looking that matters...That is when what is inside you comes to the forefront.
In any case, thanks for stopping by and I wish you all the best. It looks like a crazy time coming in the Middle East thanks to certain people...
We are right here for the fireworks, not the New Year type either...I hope it does not get out of control...Wag the Dog comes to mind (the movie but it may be that it is turning into reality)...
Let's see...Anyway...
Cheers from sunny and warm (relatively) Dubai!
Dave : )
Good afternoon Dave,
It certainly looks critical, just now I was watching 2 things on this, I will forward on PM.
Greetings from the south of Spain,
Taetske