COMPENSATIONCORNER
A Lesson in Life
Goals and Activities Have To Be in Balance!
Chris Nelson
National Vice President
of Sales, Northeast &
North Central Regions
Personal
enrollments give
us the ability to
find and develop
personal
leadership.
Personal
leadership gives
us the ability to
advance in
status.
In the mountains of central Idaho, the
Salmon River becomes one of the most
treacherous stretches of water in the
United States. Great boulders, fallen from
the mountainside, make the river churn
and create dangerous rapids. It was here, one
day last year, that I learned one of the most
valuable lessons of my life.
Early one morning, I drove by one of these
spots where the river becomes extremely
dangerous. All of a sudden, I noticed a mother
river otter and her small baby. I stopped my
car and, for the next 45 minutes, observed
these two animals as they searched for their
breakfast. What I witnessed was something
profound.
The water was incredibly strong, yet this
mother and her baby would swim into the
rapids with confidence. As they entered the
water, the mother would dive and her baby
would follow. After a few minutes, the mother
would come up with a small fish, but the baby
would come up with nothing. I was surprised
to see that the mother would then swim to the
bank and eat the fish—without sharing any
of it with her baby! This process happened six
times, each time with the mother eating her
fish and not sharing with her baby. I wondered
why this was happening. Did the mother not
care about her baby? But then I saw why: The
seventh time they went under, I watched as
the baby otter came up with a fish of its own
and went to the bank to enjoy its reward.
I then understood that sometimes
lessons are hard, but rewards are great.
Have you ever thought about your personal
activities in relation to your Melaleuca
business, and how your organization reflects
your activities? If you said “yes,” then you
need to ask yourself two very important
questions: “What do I do really well?” and
“What does my organization do really well?”
It’s amazing to discover that, more often than
not, it’s the same activity!
Everyday I visit with Marketing
Executives to discuss their financial goals. I
hear everything from a hundred dollars per
month to thousands. I know everyone can
reach their goals if those goals are in balance
with their activities.
To better illustrate this, let me give you
an example:
While working with a Director II recently,
I asked what her financial goal is. She said,
“$5,000 a month.” I then asked her how many
personal enrollees she had and she answered,
“ 14.” I asked how many of her personal
enrollees were Directors, the response was
“one.” I said, “Of the 13 who are not Directors,
how many of those will ever be a Director?”
and she said, “None of them will ever be a
Director.” I then asked the most important
question: “When was the last time you
personally enrolled a customer?” When she
said “five months ago,” I said, “You can never
make $5,000 a month unless you change your
activities.” Our goals and our activities have to
be in balance!
Think about how closely our personal and
organizational activities tie to our financial
success. A year ago I talked with Alan and
Mary Jo Tolliver about President’s Club and
what that would mean to earn that honor and
go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip. They asked, “Do
you really believe we can make it?” They made
a plan and went to work. They personally
enrolled 38 customers and developed 11
personal Directors, many of whom advanced
to Director III and beyond, two new personal
Senior Directors and one personal Executive
Director. Alan and Mary Jo advanced from
Executive Director IV to Executive Director VI,
averaged over $23,000 in monthly income and
qualified for President’s Club. It all starts with
personal activity.
I know we can take control of our
businesses. I work with two families, Phil
and Janet Crescenzo and Dave and Lynn
Crescenzo. Dave told me several months ago
that his focus was elsewhere, that he was
investing in property, building a new spa and
that Melaleuca was just not his focus right
