Age Discrimination.......I Can Feel Your Pain!

I am currently sitting in a training session for my responsibility as an employment specialist and listening to the concerns in this room about the difficulty of age discrimination in getting a job interview. It is so tough for them. There is so much frustration being voiced.

These people are trying to secure jobs to provide for their family. Some of them have been pushed out of jobs because of their age, and others just want to re-enter the workforce but just can't seem to find the key.  Sometimes the jobs they are qualified are just not out there anymore.  

We also talked about how most online application procedures are intended to limit the number of applications human HR personnel has to process.

Occasionally these older applicants might be offered an interview, but often times can't get past the interview stage.  It is really frustrating for them.

It really increases my appreciation for network marketing. Network marketing doesn't care about your age. It is all about how you perform.  You don't have to jump through hoops just to get in front of a person who can/will hire you.

I really would like to spread the word that there ARE other options out there.

---Roger  

Write It Down!

I saw a great tidbit of advice from Jim Rohn today.  Here is his quote: "Be a collector of good ideas, but don't trust your memory. The best collecting place for all of the ideas and information that comes your way is your journal."

I can't tell you how valuable this advice is.  I have read a good number of books, and each one has had a goldmine of information within.  But how many times do we read a book and then quickly forget what it said?  

Sometimes a quick read will help us to feel good as the concepts ring true to us, and sometimes that is helpful to just influence our attitudes.

But to get the meat out of the book, you need to study and internalize the concepts.  But how do you remember the good stuff out of all the books you have read?

What I do is to keep an online journal open on my computer at all times.  Then when I am reading a book and a passage jumps out at me, I either write it or copy and paste the nugget into my journal.  Then that valuable thought is available whenever I need it by opening my journal and rereading the information.  

Many online journals are keyword-searchable so you can find the posts that contain the thought that you are looking for.

This technique may slow down your reading some, but the advantage is that the thoughts that can change your life are available to you even after you no longer have to book.

Give it a try and see how it goes!  If you already keep a journal for your thoughts, share with us which journal application you use.

-- Roger Cox  

I Tried, But It Just Ain't Working!

I recently read some thoughts from Jordan Adler from the book Best Worst First by Margie Aliprandi and Martha I. Finney, and those thoughts really stuck in my mind.

Suppose you wanted to be an airline pilot. Or a plumber. Or a doctor.  Perhaps your dream is to run a marathon with an acceptable time.  Or anything else that you could dream of. Would you expect to be able to accomplish any of those things with just a few half-hearted efforts? Would you expect that the Olympic medalist on the stand was able to get there without any bumps or bruises?  Would you expect them to fail or to fall a time or two?  Or maybe even a bunch of times?

As Jordan says, "There is going to be a level of pain that comes with those dreams." You just know that there is going to be some discomfort to get to where you want to be.

But how do we approach our network marketing business?  Do we expect to gain a level of success with half-hearted efforts and quit after a few rejections?  Sometimes we see the successful people on stage and we don't realize the hurdles and challenges that they had to overcome to get to their spot on the stage.  We think that we are failures because we haven't reached that level yet, but we fail to recognize we all will have tremendous challenges, but the successful ones will continue on until they overcome.

The lesson?:  If you have a dream to be successful in network marketing, know that you are going to have some growing and developing to do.  Identify the skills that you lack and begin developing those skills.  Work as hard at your networking marketing business as you would if you were pursuing a graduate degree from a university.  Take the falls and failures in stride and continue on.

If the dream is worthwhile, the hurdles will be stepping stones.  IF you keep working and growing and refuse to quit.

--Roger Cox

Teach What You Learn

I just read a posting by Rosie Bank, a person in my industry that I am acquainted with.  She was telling about one of her associates that attended a lot of workshops and training but was feeling like she lacked a lot of what her trainers had.

Rosie's advice to her was to let what was going into her mind come out.  In other words, don't sit on the knowledge that you acquire.  Teach someone else what you know.  Two things will happen:  1.  You will begin acting like the people that are doing the training.  You will start acting on what you know. 2.  You will begin attracting others who want to know what you know.  You will gain a following.

Which is a good thing.

-- Roger