I got involved in the “orange fog” (aka Arbonne) 18 months ago. A very trusted friend introduced me to the opportunity. At the time, my husband and I were at a very rough place, financially. I had been a stay-at-home mom for three years and had just had our second child. I went to an opportunity meeting and heard one of the top NVPs speak and I was in hook, line, and sinker. I actually promoted to management level very quickly (went into qualification for Area Manager my 1st month in the business). I was so excited, I truly believed that I was helping other people be able to work from home and have a potentially great income. As I ran out of my warm market after several months, it became harder and harder to “sell the dream”. I started dreading sharing the opportunity with people, scheduling parties and drop-offs, etc. I hated the feeling that everyone was a prospect and if I wasn’t sharing the Arbonne story with someone everyday, and for sure everyone that I came into contact with, then I wasn’t a good person. The rhetoric and catch-phrases started to sound so empty to me. “Don’t quit until payday”, “Fake it ’til you make it.”, “Is your fear bigger than your why?”. I slowly began to feel like if I wasn’t rah-rah-rah about Arbonne, pounding the pavement to sign up new people, launching new business builders, etc, then I wasn’t much of a person. I mean, how could I put my own fear and doubts in front of the financial security of my children? What kind of mother did that make me?
Looking back, I can see that I was desperate and depressed, two emotions so totally foreign to my personality that I was drowning in self-doubt and self-hatered.
And then it hit me. I don’t have to do this. I don’t have to be gone from home for endless opportunity meetings and parties and showcases. I don’t have to travel all over the country for one more “life-changing” training. I don’t have to become that person who everyone avoids because I’m always trying to promote my business and my products. And so, I WALKED AWAY!!!! Wahoo!! No more Sunday night conference calls. No more opening my calendar and feeling guilty and ashamed and worthless that it’s not filled with 6-10 presentations each and every month. No more wondering who I can ask to host another party for me. No more, no more, no more.
I know what my life’s purpose is. And it’s not to drive a white Mercedes paid for by Re9 sets. It’s to be a happy and fulfilled person, who feels value for who I am, not what my title or my paycheck says. (BTW-I was an Area Manager, starting in June of ’06 and made a whopping total of $72 for the year. That’s subtracting out all of my expenses-travel, and products ordered, and business aides, and fees for craft fairs, etc., etc., etc.)
For so long I’ve felt like a failure because I couldn’t motivate myself to take this business to the top. The irony is that I’ve never felt more successful than when I walked away from the Arbonne fog and into the light.
“What’s your why?” It’s any number of things, none of which will ever be fulfilled by handing out one more damn Re9 sample.