Some time back i was involved with a multi level marketing company that taught and offered personal growth material. The learning was invaluable on many levels. Many people take a dark view of MLM’s and other network systems. I have always believed the training offered by most is very good and useful. I have also experienced the dark side, being ostracised within the group and in other situations finding friendships suffered when i did not show interest in their latest venture.

Unfortunately the way MLM’s are set up, they stifle creativity and imagination, it is the classic paint by numbers way to increase one’s wealth. It works if our only interest is the bottom line. Cults can be easily formed when one follows the step by step, follow the leader way of business. I saw this first hand when people with low integrity and poor self esteem began the downward spiral of joining the dots training structures. Anyone or anything that questions any part of the system is seen as a threat and a danger. The really fascinating part was when the “team leader” appeared to be threatened, it was the underlings who were the most dangerous. Really good people lose their common sense and attack the enemy to protect their pack leader. Their was a case some years back where followers of a particular guru tried to kill another member to protect the “tribe”.

It is classic pack mentality, where everyone knows there place and are safe within the structure. When there is a challenge to the “supremacy of the “chosen one” every level of the hierarchy becomes unstable and people shuffle the deck chairs on the sinking ship. Out of fear the new kid on the street becomes the target for the insecurity of the mob. No one knows their place, their role and each scrambles for their little piece of control. Wolves at the Door is a great documentary to help understand the pack mentality, the mob rule agenda.

If one is able to walk the sane line MLM’s can offer some wonderful training as already mentioned. The personal growth material is usually very good. The particular group i had been involved in offered some of the best personal awareness material i have ever seen. I still listen to the audio material and go back to the recommended reading list regularly.

Teachability was one step i have found to be valuable and useful in my own life. Otherwise referred to as willingness or psychological reversal, the lesson is one of willingness to learn, willingness to change. Both parts are important and together open us to being more able to grasp opportunities that come our way. Willingness to learn, has many aspects, being capable of adapting to changing situations, to take advantage of the new situations that arise. One aspect is about the capacity to Shut Up and listen. When we are talking we regurgitating information we already know. When we can be silent and listen we open ourselves to new information, different opportunities. The listening can be to others or our own still inner voice.

Willingness to change can be profound, relationships in trouble? Life not working? What are we willing to do differently to be the person we want to be? Doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity or so says Lao Tzu. Recognising what we are doing and then looking for ways to change is a key for success in any area of our lives.

This relates well to goal setting. Many of us are really chasing things and stuff to make us feel better. The real goal takes some courage and commitment to be uncovered, it means stepping out of normality and pursuing our own dreams. So often, when working with clients or listening to people’s stories they are chasing other people’s dreams, trying to live up to or down to someone else’s expectations. Cutting away all this old stuff adrift and pursing one’s own unique gifts is the best way to express who we really are and why we are here. Willingness to learn can also be about opening ourselves to learn from others, especially learning from their mistakes. I am now so much more aware of how easy it is to get caught up in the cult mentality and become a follower while sprouting the edet of leadership.

Taking on the lessons from others can be valuable, whether it is learning from their success or their failures. Reading books, watching documentaries, studying the things that interest us and choosing to apply our new skills keeps us moving in the direction of our aspirations. Staying open to the little signals that lead us in the right direction is the benefit of being willing to learn and willing to change.

Many times we tend to think we need to change the negative stuff, work on our issues. It may be more appropriate to work with allowing, accepting and recognising our hidden talents. The personal attacks and negativity projected towards me during my short sojourn in MLM land taught me more about myself than i had ever been able to recognise i was capable of. At first i thought there was something wrong with me and the others were right. It took awhile and the mists of deception began to lift, a self deception where i was unable to recognise a skill set that i had developed. This is not some egoistical rant about how great i am, it is more about coming to terms with characteristics and talents that i had not been able to see. The resistance from those around me made me look deeply within and begin to come to terms with the fact there were things that i did not know i did not know. In trying to do me harm these people actually helped me heal and move into a more comfortable me. Their actions were a blessing to me as i uncovered talents and skills that had gone unnoticed. By coming to terms with my own worth i am now able to assist others to find their own hidden gems. To reach this point i had to be willing to learn, willing to change and look at my life with fresh eyes. I had to able to confront my fears, with love and move deeper into heart-space and away from the fear ladened headspace. It is this journey that many of us resist, we hold back, step away from our greatness, our divinity and merge back into the shadows of our existence, lingering between pain and desperation, always wondering what could have been.

 

Depression, anxiety, addictions can all be issues that stem from teachability and an unwillingness to learn or change. Being stuck in our old stuff and constantly rehashing it is not going to break the cycle.  We need to learn from our mistakes and create solutions that assist us to change .

Kevin Trudeau covers this topic in his cd series Your Wish is Your Command. Willingness is one of the first skills taught in the Motivational Kinesiology. If one is not willing nothing will change. There are signature characteristics for those wrestling with unwillingness. If this is you it might be time to book a session.