Natural Networkers

Ants? Yes! I learned some lessons from a massive move of ants on my North Carolina pantry last year. After returning from a last minute trip to the Myrtle Beach, SC, we discovered ants, thousands of them, eating our cereal, cookies, and breakfast pastries. They had even managed to find their way into sealed packages! Yes, we were frustrated! Not to mention feeling the pains of having got in the way of their work.

After spending a day cleaning up after the ants, throwing away boxes of food, vacuuming the ants, and screaming at the kids to stay away, I started thinking about those ants. I thought about how they worked with great determination. It was apparent they had a goal. Then I began to see that I had a lot to learn from them.

I grabbed a piece of paper and brainstormed the qualities in ants that make them great networkers. Ants are goal oriented, determined, know what they want and go after it, are over comers, persistent, team oriented, and they never make a conscience decision to quit.

If you have ever taken the time to look at a trail of ants when they are in the process of gathering food for their colony it is clear that they are goal oriented. They know what they want. Food! And they go after it! They don’t wonder around without a plan. They know they have to have food. Their lives depended on it.

Networkers have to have goals also. Clear goals are necessary to stay on course; to reach the prize.

So what are your goals? Those ants knew my baseboards, walls, cardboard boxes and sealed plastic packages would not keep them from attaining food for their colony. They knew what they wanted, knew how to get it, and then they went after it. Do you know what you want in your business? Do you know how to get it? Have you gone after it?

Determination was another quality that I saw in the ants. Determination is important to obtaining success in Network Marketing. If you don’t have determination you’ll never get anywhere. Imagine for a minute if those pesky little ants had not had determination. They would have wondered aimlessly around my floors and walls never getting anywhere. So activate determination in your Networking adventure and with it you will see things happen in your business that you have never seen before. You’ll reach your prize!

Know what you want and go after it. Those ants knew what they wanted. They knew what would give them fulfillment. What is it that you need? Make a list of what you want. Create a dream board or a dream book. The dream board or book will keep you focused. Write down your why on the dream board and put a picture beside it that represents your why. Place your dream board or book somewhere you can see it every day so it will be that perfect reminder of what you want.

Have you ever observed Ants as over comers? Are you an over comer? Ants will not let barriers get in their way of their goal. They don’t suddenly come to a dead end or a huge barrier and throw their legs up in frustration. They look for another avenue to travel. And if you are like me, you know what it is like when you get in the way of a determined, goal oriented ant: they bite! Don’t let barriers and dead ends get in your way and hurt you, "attack" back and overcome it by looking for creative ways to go around the barriers and the dead ends. It is possible!

Those ants…. they are persistent little creatures. I remember when I was a kid, I would sometimes interrupt an ant trail. I would run my foot through their ant trail and then watch the ants scramble to find their pheromone path again. No matter how many times I would disrupt their trail they always managed to find their original pathway. Dealing with the ants in my home was the same way, no sooner had I vacuumed them up then more ants would appear under the baseboard going along the same trail as their predecessors had done. We need to be persistent too! Don’t let something that seems bigger than you disrupt your pathway to success.

Ants are also team oriented. They don’t do the work of gathering alone; they work together with consistency, strength, and knowledge. Ants consistently do their job. They don’t lie around, use excuses, or work half heartedly. They put their all into their work. What kind of excuses are you using today to not work your business? Or is your "business" really just a hobby wanting to be a "business?

Ants are very strong insects and they can carry anywhere from 10 to 20 times their own weight. Why not try carrying 10 to 20 times your own weight! Great mental picture! Right! Ants know their strength and they use it to succeed. Have you ever seen an ant struggling with a dead insect or food particle that exceeds that 10 to 20 pound range? They struggle. They wobble. Their load shifts. What happens next? Quickly their team mates pitch in to help carry their load. They don’t tug and fight with who gets to carry the lighter or heavier end. They just take their side and go. They work together!

What are you doing to work together with your personally sponsored team? Even your crossline? Your upline? Find ways you can share your strengths with others in your organization. You will be surprised with how it makes you feel, let alone those you help.

Ants also use their knowledge to help the life of their colony. It takes knowledge and instinct to forage for food and then to move that food to their ant hill. What knowledge do you have that you are sharing with others? Hope you aren’t keeping it all to yourself! What good does that do? Nothing! You might get lots of immediate signups, make lots of money at first, but then if you are not the type who is willing to share your knowledge, what can happen to your team? They begin to give up on your abilities to lead them, and they leave disappointed. Don’t let your team down. Share with them what you have been given! And even if some do fall by the wayside, you at least know that you did your part to share your knowledge with them. Just do not take it personally.

Finally, ants never make a conscience decision to quit before they have gotten what they came for. Ants simply are not quitters! Don’t ever make a conscience decision to quit before you reap the benefits of what you have worked so hard to obtain. Give yourself time to develop your business. Ask for help! There is always someone out there willing to help. Find that mentor! Set a timeline to get your business going if you need to, and then commit to genuinely work your business with consistency and steadfastness. You never know what might happen next! Just make a conscience decision to succeed no matter what and then GO FOR IT! You will reap the rewards in time!

Get it Organized!

I almost laugh at the title of this post. You know why? I am a mom of three busy children in a home that most days seems about to burst forth from its seams. You know... the stuff you accumulate! Like most moms who decide to tackle their kids closets to organize the toys or to clean out the clothes that have gotten way too small, you get it looking great, BUT...! Yes, you know what I mean! Disaster strikes....again, in the form of your wonderful children. I could share lots of organizational tips on cleaning out the closet, the toys, etc. except around our house that type of organization lasts for almost 30 seconds. Even before I step out of the room there they go diving into the closet, again! Oh, well.

Anyway, I thought I would share with those who have found me by way of Lysa Terkeurst's blog (visit the link through the title above or through the button tab below) about organizing something that doesn't deal entirely with the kids. (Well, almost!) What is it? My pantry! This bit of organization came about last year by way of some pesky little creatures called ANTS!

While we were away from our house for a few days in 2007 a hungry Army of Ants decided that it would be awesome to have a dandy picnic in my pantry! Imagine my horror when we got back to find ANTS in our cereal boxes, cookies, snacks, and even in Ziploc bags still wrapped Easter candy! I was "enraged" enough to battle those determined little creatures that had invaded my territory and seized my family's food! Needless to say we got rid of them! One Battle won!

But....

What could I do to keep those determined creatures from finding an "unguarded"way back into my house to come back for a second invasion? I went to Wally world! I commandeered a few plastic see-thru storage boxes in various sizes and I went to work. Those ants were not going to get back in my cereal boxes, cookies, snacks, and ziploc bags of candy! Not my chocolate! Oops, the kids chocolate!

So this is what I did: I placed my cereal boxes in the larger sweather box, and then I divided the remaining boxes into categories. I labeled each "air tight" storage box with a waterproof pen according to the contents inside. Not only do I have an orderly pantry shelf with our food protected from the invading Ants, but now everything has its place. It has actually cut down on the number of boxes of prepackaged snack food items, and the clutter (for the most part). Plus the kids know where to find what they love to eat for an afternoon snack!

I did learn a thing or two from the ants. I will have to share my Ant article with you another day, but it has to do with their sense of teamwork and determination to reach their goals no matter the obstacles. Come back and visit with me often. I would love for you to!

(Even though I started organizing my pantry I did stop at the snack foods. If you have some additional ideas for how I could further organize my pantry that would be great...I do need some additional help with it. I do tend to buy items that I already have one or two of in the pantry when I don't need them. With food cost rising I need to get it streamlined to cut my shopping costs down. My 6 yr old son eats like crazy and any little tips you can give would help me from overbuying plus save some cash.)

Latanya