Another good ad with a good message: 9 to 5 till I'm 95?
I sighted this poster while mailing a package to a prospect at the post office, and it made me stop a while and think about things for abit.

I remember a time in my past when I used to be employed by someone. In those days, I used to be a designer, which was great: I had a passion for visual stuff, and I really did enjoy designing websites and stuff for clients. They say when I enjoy what I do, a job ceases to be a job, right? Well, not quite.

I did enjoy myself at the start of my career, where everything was new, and I carried out my job like it was an adventure. Then, after a while, I started to realise that my average day was marked by key events that happen without fail.

The first was the dreaded alarm clock, which wakes me up with a start at 7am in the morning. Don't you just hate that? When I finally get up, still groggy, I force myself into action, preparing myself for work in a flurry, before gulping down breakfast like a python (meaning to say, I didn't chew much; just swallowed.)

When I finally arrive at work by 9am, I look forward to the next time marker: lunch. This means working sluggishly on the project that I was tasked to do, even though I don't feel like doing them; and time moves v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y during this stretch. Sometimes I wished a lightning would strike me down, just to spice things up a little :(

And FINALLY, lunch arrives, and I go expectantly for lunch with my colleagues, who, from the looks on their faces, have been looking forward to it for a long time too. We go off somewhere special for lunch, have a great time bonding over our meals, while keeping a close watch on our watches to make sure we don't overshoot our lunch hour.

Before we know it, the lunch hour is over, and we drag our feets back to our desks. By this time, I know time will move more slowly until tea break at 3pm because now I'll have to fight the urge to take a post-lunch nap. Sometimes I just nod asleep, and my equally exhausted colleague sitting right next to me will nudge me awake, despite her own droopy eyelids.

The 3pm tea break comes and go very quickly, and I'm now looking forward to 6pm, when I pack up and leave for home. The time passes very quickly at this stretch, and I do a few miscellaneous things like chat with my friends on the Instant Messanger, download a few MP3s on the internet, or browse a few websites, and voila! Time's up. Its time to go home.

But no! Don't celebrate too quickly, buddy! There's more work to be done, so its time to work OverTime. Aww man, do I really have to? Yes you do, you're getting paid for work. Now get cracking! This is by far the most demoralising time stretch in my day. In retrospect, this happens almost every day, so I don't know why I never quite got used to it. Perhaps its the thought of missing my favorite 8pm TV Serial that gets to me.

By the time I get home, its fifteen minutes to nine, and I toss my bag at the corner of my room, and plop on the bed, mentally drained from the numbing work in the last few hours. I'm too tired to take a shower, and too tired to fix dinner for myself. I do want to reclaim the lost hours of my day not having REAL, PROPER FUN, so I carry myself to my computer, turn on the computer, login to MSN, and start chatting with my friends online, who ends up talking about nonsensical, inconsequential stuff, or complain about their day at work. I finish my "fun" about 2 hours later, more exhausted than I was when I first reached home. I plop on to bed, close my eyes, and before I know it...

... the alarm clock buzzed away.

I recall enduring the exact same routine day after day, and months go by. The job helps me scrape by for a living, but it does nothing for my life. I don't enjoy myself, I have no hobbies, and even though there are things I want to do for myself, I don't get to do them, because there are so few hours in a day to do things that I want.

And so, I ended my life as an employee and started taking action to make my own money. Nine to Nine till I'm Ninety-Five? Not for me!

Have you ever felt the same way about the days in your life?

I had a conversation with my friend, Lance, on our way home from supper, when he asked me, out of the blue: "Kelly, what do you say when someone asks you 'what do you do?'"

"What I do?" I echoed, taken aback by the question.

"Yeah. What is it you do for a living?"

"Well, I tell them I am a head-hunter and coach."

"Really? How does that tie in with your Network Marketing business?"

"Because that's exactly what I do: I head hunt suitable people for key leadership positions in my organisation, and then whereever necessary, I coach them and guide them to succeed as business owners. " I imagined that some people would be wondering where the selling part comes in for MLM, so I added "- not as sales people. There's really no two ways about that."

I'm glad Lance asked me that question, because it made me think again about what exactly do I do as I build my Network Marketing business. It's an honest living (though we could be making more than a living with it!), while making the lives much better for others who have dreams and goals they can't quite achieve with what they have on their plates right now.

Network Marketing, or MLM, has long been misunderstood by people because it is radically different from anything they have ever seen: is it a scam? is it just another sales job? Actually, its an industry built on nurturing people to become better than they already are. That is how I experienced it in my two years of business, and it is my wish to show others this wonderful aspect of Network Marketing.

And have I managed to get that message through?
Well, I got a comment on one of my earlier posts, from Peacemetta. She said:

"though I am not keen on MLM, your blog is interesting to read. I find MLM and you integrated as ONE. seldom meet pple with your passion and sincerity towards MLM. U treat ur job as passion not a tool for u to make $$$$. "

Its only one comment, but that's good enough for me :)

Thank you Lance, for that thought-provoking question, and thank you Peacemetta for the compliment! (p.s: I did try to email you, Peacemetta, but I couldn't find an email on your site to do so)

So all you Network Marketers out there, be proud! :)