CHAPTER 01
Not every story begins with nothing
A conversation with a business partner made me rethink something. We were discussing the personal story we share about WHY we joined this business.
Anyone who has spent time in network marketing knows how important that story is. This is a people's business. People care about the products and the company, but they also buy into YOU. They join your team and decide to follow your footsteps.
Over the years, I have heard remarkable stories. Stories that moved people to tears. Many were rags-to-riches journeys: people with almost nothing who built a different life through this business and could then help others around them.
I love that about our industry. Your starting opportunity is not determined solely by education and degrees.
But what if you do not have a story like that?
CHAPTER 02
My life was pretty okay
I grew up as an only child in a good family. My parents invested time, energy and money in my education. I was not the best at school, but I did well enough. Then university, science and a PhD.
No rags. But no extraordinary riches either. Nothing spectacular to talk about. Having a doctorate mostly meant that people were less likely to call me stupid. That was about it.
A degree and an okay environment do not automatically create a hungry networker. Burning desire can drive you. An okay life gives you a Plan B.
And Plan B can become Plan A's biggest enemy.
Where is the moving story when you stand on stage? How do you communicate “If I can do it, you can too”?
People often told me: “Sven, you could have succeeded in any profession. But that person over there really had no other option.”
What was the difference? When I started this business, some people called ME crazy.
CHAPTER 03
An okay life has value too
Look around. Many people have an okay life. The job, car, home, holidays, relationship and income are all okay. Their friends are okay too.
Good morning, Mr and Mrs Average. Welcome to the family.
These are the people we meet every day. We encourage them to dream a little bigger. But we can overlook something important: They have already built a life. They have something they could lose.
Which is harder? Going full speed when you have nothing left to lose and desperately want another life? Or giving up something you have spent years building, even if it is not a masterpiece?
The conflict is not only with those who have nothing. It is also with those who have something to give up.
That conversation shifted my perspective. Rags-to-riches stories deserve recognition. So do the people who leave a career, business, income or familiar security behind to create a new life.
CHAPTER 04
My own crossroads in 1994
I have met people who left jobs supporting their families to build full-time. Some struggled badly at first. Money became tight. Relationships suffered. Friends thought they were crazy. For a while, life was worse than before.
I tell that story because those journeys deserve recognition too.
In 1994, after a year and a half working part-time in the business, I turned down the attractive job offers arriving while I was completing my PhD. I chose my own network marketing business. I chose freedom.
People shook their heads. “What did he do his PhD for?”
I remember a conversation with my professor particularly well. He had brought me another appealing position with a six-figure annual salary. I declined and explained my plans.
He asked whether I had studied all those years for this. I answered that it was not for this, but the years had still been worthwhile.
A few years later, I showed him the first network marketing magazine article featuring my story. He told me he had always hoped I would succeed and never regret taking that risk.
I never regretted my decision. That does not mean it was easy. After nine years working towards a well-paid, relatively safe profession, I had taken a different road. The point of no return arrived quickly. There were sleepless nights.
That was my story. Not starting with nothing. Starting with something valuable that I chose to exchange for another path.
CHAPTER 05
Your story is worth telling
Once you have chosen this path, faith in your decision and committed action matter. A casual “I will try it” does little to carry you through the difficult parts.
If your previous life was okay, returning to it can be especially tempting. You know the alternative. It is familiar. It worked.
That conversation reminded me how often we see the impressive success story while missing the inner struggle that came before it. Leaving an okay life can be a substantial challenge too.
So let us also recognise those who made it after leaving something behind.
A story does not have to begin with “We had nothing” to move people. Every honest story is worth telling. Yours too.
Be faithful. All the best, Sven