Several years ago my sponsor with a company then known as A.L. Williams and Associates was Bob Turley. Bob had been a pitcher for the NY Yankees for the better part of his 13 year major league career. One thing I’ll always remember about Bob was his competitive fire and his work ethic. I also know that God blessed Bob with a cannon for an arm. In his early career he could throw 96 mile per hour fast balls.

On one of the occasions I was staying at Bob’s home in Atlanta he was telling me that if he relied solely on that particular talent, that his career in the majors would have been about 4 or 5 years or about average. He said the reason he was able to play for 13 years in the majors was that he developed a curve, and a slider and several other off speed pitchers. He was able to do that by working with a catcher for thousands of extra hours, over and above his normal team practice schedule.

It was tough and outside his comfort zone but the results speak for themselves. Bob Turley won the Cy Young award given to the best pitcher in the majors (there was only one at that time) in 1958. He also won the Athlete of the Year Award for all sports that year. That work ethic and desire to perform, even when it wasn’t comfortable, made Bob a tremendous success after he retired from baseball also.

Gary Player was one of the greatest international golfers of all time. On one occasion after a tournament that didn’t go so well for Gary, a man about his age came up to him and told him that he’d give anything to hit a ball like Gary could. Gary had just had a pretty bad day and looked the man straight in the eye and told him “No you wouldn’t! You wouldn’t get up every morning at 5am and hit hundreds of golf balls until your hands bleed. Then go inside and wash them up and put a band aide on them and go out and hit hundreds more. You wouldn’t go out and play 36 holes day after day in the off season to remain at the top of your game.” Maybe you could say Gary wasn’t as polite as he normally was, but you couldn’t say he wasn’t truthful. Gary put in the uncomfortable hours and hours each day for years to get to and then remain at the top.

The same principles apply to winning in network marketing. You must spend hours and hours performing outside your comfort zone to win big. You have to be willing to spend hours on the phone prospecting and following up with prospects. You have to spend hours and hours reading books and listening to tapes looking for that little thing that might give you the winning edge. You have to be willing to spend money on tools, advertising and seminars that can make your business just a little bit bigger.

Winning at network marketing is all about embracing the uncomfortable. It’s about being hungry to do the dirty, nasty things that others aren’t willing to do. It isn’t supposed to be easy. If it was, everyone would be a champion. While I don’t believe you are any less of a person for not making the sacrifice of selling out to your dreams, you have to know, there is no other way to get to the top.

My friend Ken Seto worked hard every day for over seven years to be his company’s top money earner. He didn’t start out in that position, as a matter of fact far from it. He was on the verge of bankruptcy with over $300,000 in debt. Network marketing offered him hope and opportunity. He got in his old, broken down car and drove from Vancouver B.C. to Utah to see the company for himself. He had a slight stop on the way because his car broke down. He called a friend who loaned him some money to get back on the road. When he got there, he liked what he saw. Ken went back home and went to work. He worked impossibly long hours for months and years.

No, Ken wasn’t what some would call lucky. He stepped way outside his comfort zone and worked day and night. In spite of an overwhelming dept that he had hanging over his head, he sold out to his dreams....AND he won. I can’t tell you how much respect and admiration I have for Ken and others like him.

Winning has much to do with your tolerance to pain, your perseverance and your willingness to work long hours outside your comfort zone. It isn’t all pain though, the heightened sense of self worth you gain along the way is something you can never quite get any other way. It is also something that will always be there for you when times get tough. So if you want to start winning today, if you need to turn your life around, start walking outside your comfort zone…..you’ll find the danger was all in your mind.