Life Angles: LIFE Acronym #2 - Learning Increases From Experience

LIFE Acronym #2:
"Learning Increases From Experience"

It's the quintessential catch 22: a company won't hire you unless you have a certain amount of experience. Yet, how are you ever expected to GET any experience if nobody will hire you?!

Too many people get college degrees and are left earning minimum wage or slightly better. And at this point, it's not just something I hear about or read about. I have seen it myself many times.

You can get all of the book smarts about a subject, and that will prepare you pretty well. But, it's not until you couple that knowledge with STREET smarts that you will REALLY metamorphose into a force to be reckoned with.

I have experienced this first-hand. Back in 2002, I went on a 2-year mission for my church. I was called to preach the Gospel in the Spanish language, in Dallas, Texas.

In my church, when someone is called to serve in a language other than their native language, they are sent to an intensive training facility for 2 to 3 months, depending on the difficulty of the language.

I had 4 years of high school and college Spanish already, and was proficient enough that they put me straight into the intermediate class, skipping the beginning level.

For 2 months, the missionaries in my class lived in this facility, ate there, and never even left the premises. We were literally taught the Gospel and the Spanish language for TEN HOURS of class per day, for 2 months. We learned from lectures, books, and computer software, and were even expected to do our best to speak only Spanish amongst ourselves for the whole 2 months.

I was obsessed with the Spanish language, and felt almost fluent by the time the 2 months were up. By that time, we could communicate pretty much anything that we wanted to. We had memorized literally THOUSANDS of nouns, verbs, verb conjugation rules, tenses, etc. We started dreaming in Spanish occasionally. Let me tell you, that is a very cool experience!

The next thing scheduled to show on the theater screen of my life's experiences was the shocker that I was on for when being faced with the task of communicating with real natives!

It was December 6, 2002 that I was thrown into the field in Dallas, Texas. They had me translating in church! They had an English-Spanish mixed congregation, and had headsets that people wore to listen to the translations.

Speaking it was not the problem. I did fairly well at translating, for a beginner (greenie). I probably kept up enough to correctly translate about 70% of what was said.

The SHOCKER came when I found myself in someone's house, listening to a language that I had previously deluded myself into thinking that I was proficient in.

It was almost 100% UNFAMILIAR! It sounded like gibberish! They spoke so fast! Slurred their words! Added slang! Everything ran together like a zoomed-in view of a Claude Monet watercolor painting!

It took another 3 to 6 months in the field, practicing and hearing these natives speak every day, before I really understood them and felt like I was actually mostly fluent in Spanish.

Now, if I were to end this blog post now, I'd be leaving you saying to yourself, "I already knew that experience was important. I already knew the difference between book smarts and street smarts. What good it it do me to read this blog?".

But now is the part where I tell one more important story, and then relate it to YOU. My job here is to give YOU some semblance of actionable data, or remind you of something that is important to know.

Life is all about reminding ourselves of the things that are most important. We are flawed beings, and are quick to forget. So, remind you I will. But first, one more story.

This next story is about Network Marketing. But do not skip it if you are not a Network Marketer, because the principles can be applied universally to many different industries and business structures. They can even be applied to non-business aspects of life in general. Read on!

When I was 17, I was introduced to my first Network Marketing company. I was enthralled by the idea of how the whole thing worked.

Think of it! Everyone owns their own business, and works together for a common cause. But, unlike a tradition business structure, all the paperwork, product fulfillment, warehousing, manufacturing, customer service, website creation and hosting, and things of the like are taken care of. All I have to worry about is marketing and customer retention.

Add on top of those benefits the fact that the potential for building up a residual, nearly hands-free income is staggering! The whole thing glistened in my youthful, teenage eyes.

Picture the wonderment that fills the mind and heart of a child as he gazes upon the pile of presents on Christmas morning. Can you picture a child's eyes reflecting the magical glow of the tinsel, glass ornaments, and multi-colored strings of lights on Christmas morning? The excitement and the curiosity? The euphoric sensations dancing through the brain?

This is how I felt. And it wasn't just dollar signs in my eyes. It was freedom and potential. It was free time and resources. You might say, "what 17-year-old thinks like that?" Well, I did.

Prior to this point, I had dedicated myself somewhat to the study of wealth, due to the fact that when I was 10 years old I had decided that I would someday become a millionaire. And I was already somewhat adept at business, having proven myself as a top salesman by out-selling every kid in my entire high school in a fund raiser (I sold something like 450 candy bars, for $1 each). But, back to the story.

Having learned of the existence of this exciting Network Marketing business model, I was so excited that I called the corporate headquarters of the company, and begged them to give me an exception to the age limit of 18. They conceded, and thus began my adventure in Network Marketing.

How good would a 17-year-old kid do in this type of business? What would happen? Where would this adventure take me? Read on to see how it unfolded.

I became obsessed with studying the business and products, inside out. I had decided in that little teenage mind of mine that I really needed to become proficient and professional with the information, before I talked to even one person. And it was partly that I didn't feel comfortable and confident with my own ability and knowledge.

As a result of my false paradigm that kept me from talking to anyone until I had gleaned all the knowledge I could, I ended up fading out. I never even talked to a single, solitary person about the business.

If I had just jumped into it, swallowed my pride and insecurity, and started talking to people about it, I would have likely met with some success.

We've all heard the old adage, "Experience is the best teacher". This is no lie, but that does not mean that you cannot succeed without it. In fact, quite the contrary.

It's been proven that in Network Marketing, there are two groups of people who build huge organizations, fast. Those two groups are:

1. The newbies who don't know all the details, but are just plain excited, happy, sanguine, positive and enthusiastic. They splatter excited confusion all over people, and it works! Their prospects become curious and ask questions, then get referred to someone who knows more, and BAM! They are suddenly a new business partner! Beginners on fire are far better than professionals on ice.

2. Speaking of professionals, they are the second group. But it's not "professionalism on ice" that this group consists of. It's "professionalism on fire"! Where there are successful business builders, without fail there also can be found rampant action. That's the common denominator.

This second group has a double-edged sword; they wield EXPERIENCE, AND action! This group is the group that helps the first group close their prospects.

Remember, you always want to be in one of these two groups, never in between. As a member of the first group, your goal is to develop yourself into a competent leader, and eventually graduate to the second group!

Salient Facts:
• You can gain knowledge by study. But knowledge alone benefits you comparatively very little.
• It is the APPLICATION of knowledge that makes all the difference.
• You can only gain EXPERIENCE by getting out there and WORKING! Work is where the experience comes from. Without work, experience lurks in dark, hidden crevices, far from reach.
• KNOWLEDGE without WORK is dead.
• But WORK without KNOWLEDGE breeds fast success, when coupled with business partners who have the knowledge and experience required for streamlined progression.
• KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, and WORK together are the TRIPLE-THREAT for success, and the simultaneous possession of all three should be the goal of every person who aspires to accomplish anything of meaning.
• So it is an inter-connected triangle, all designed to build upon itself and lead you to success, if you follow it correctly.
• A lack of consistent WORK, in the VAST MAJORITY of all cases, is the principal culprit that is responsible for failure in Network Marketing. Remember that fact, because you can take it to the bank!

Those bullet points may have gone in one ear and out the other, but they are fairly deep and philosophical when you give them some more dedicated thought. That said, I recommend that you go back and take a moment to re-read them, and ponder them...

...Done reading? Good. Now go get to work. :)