You want to change the world? Transform yourself.

If anyone tells you that starting your own business is easy, you have my permission to laugh out loud. If anyone tells you that you don't have to work hard, you can hold your stomach and roll on the grass. If anyone tells you that you can pay off your mortgage next month, please, gasp for breath.

But if anyone tells you that the hardest part of succeeding in your own business is working on yourself, please go very still and listen with every fiber of your being. You are talking with someone who has been down that road and grabbed the prize. You have found a leader who can help you succeed.

You should listen very carefully to people who have succeeded. You should ignore the blathering of those who have failed. They'll only enable you to fail, too.

I've worked very hard to succeed at network marketing. Learning to talk with people was pretty fun, because it got easier and easier. Learning to describe our compensation plan was pretty fun, because I love describing how money flows into your bank account. Learning to burbble about our product was fun because I absolutely LOVE our product. All of that was easy.

What was hard, was me. Sometimes I was in a bad mood, and didn't want to return phone calls. Sometimes I felt overwhelmed, and then sorry for myself, yearning for some time to just stare at the walls. Sometimes it was hard to pick myself up off the floor, because I had battered my self-esteem so thoroughly that I was numb with indecision and fear.

And so along the way, I learned to treat myself as well as I treat other people. I started asking myself, would I ever say that to someone else? Maybe I should take that back, and then forgive myself for even saying it.

I learned to let myself stare at the wall, when that's all I could do. That wasn't too hard. What was harder was not beating myself up for wasting time staring at the wall. If that was what I needed, then that is what I would give myself.

I learned to recognize that I'm a very hard worker, and that I work better if I'm filled with joy. I learned to focus on the joy, and consistently turn away from the ickies. I went on an icky fast. And just like any determined fasting effort, the ickies started to drop away. Then I learned how to not put them back on. I am icky-slim. I move through the world, icky-free.

Every once in a while, I'll pick up an icky and give it a try. You know what? It tastes icky now. I have the ability to choose between joy and icky, and I've learned that joy tastes way better. I've learned to discern the difference.

So I have succeeded at network marketing. I make all the money that I want, that I need. That's nice.

I have succeeded at network marketing. I am joyful; I laugh easily, from the heart; I smile at everyone, and they smile back, brightly. I am transformed.

That's more than nice. That's wondrous.

You want to change the world? Transform yourself.