"COMPETITION" - AN ANALYSIS

COMPETITION

A competitive world has two possibilities for you. You can lose. Or, if you want to win, you can change.

- Lester C Thurow

In the globalized world, big and small coexist, but the smaller one always lives in the fear of being gobbled up by the big. But can the mighty ones take their survival for granted?

The intensity of competition has increased so much that no matter who we are, all of us are under constant threat. For every success, there are ‘n’ numbers of aspirants who constantly work to displace the leaders.

Most people treat competition as a threat. We tend to forget that sometimes the threat posed by competition is a necessity to bring us out of our complacency and to hone up our survival instincts. Until the eighties, Bajaj Auto had only one brand in the two-wheeler segment: Chetak. However in the last decade, it has introduced more than six original designs and brands in the motorcycle segment alone, and has again started doing exceedingly well, so much so that, now it is one of the strongest contenders for the top place in the Indian two wheeler industry. Hero Honda is the world’s largest producer of motorcycles and TVS group is renowned world over for quality products and services. India’s two wheeler industry has come of age and is competing with even the best in the world. Nobody is complaining.

However, someone has rightly said, “Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people.”

Darwin’s theory of “survival of the fittest” suggests that man is basically selfish. He wants everything for himself first, and will go to any extreme to fulfill his selfish interests. As resources like food, land, career opportunities are limited, human beings inevitably see other human beings as threats and enemies. The results are war, hatred and jealousy.

We live in a competitive world. It doesn’t mean that for us to succeed, others need to fail. It is also wrong to treat life always as a Zero-sum* game.

EVERY MORNING in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. it knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle- When the sun comes up, you’d better be running. - inspirational sign on an office wall

* In a zero-sum game, win for one necessarily means loss for another and the sum of all wins and losses is zero. When two people gamble with each other, it has to be a zero-sum game.

Role of Human Psychology In MLM

ROLE OF HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY IN MLM

The amazing business of MLM is all about dealing with people. It’s about meeting people, interacting with people, learning from and teaching the people, convincing people, motivating people, reasoning with people, and above all, managing people to build, lead and expand a successful organization of MLM under your belt. This business is essentially about inspiring people to strive to materialize their dreams and ambitions with the help of the truly fruitful business opportunity that they are equipped with in the form of MLM. In a nutshell, this business is about human psychology and its intricacies.

Hence, one of the most important traits that are required to succeed in Multi Level Marketing is a practical understanding of the human psychology. In fact, it is indispensable if one is serious about making a career out of MLM and really making it big, and for part timers too, a little knack of understanding the way the human brain acts and reacts is a must for achieving the desired results in this immensely rewarding yet highly competitive business.

In order to understand, explore and learn about this fundamental phenomenon comprehensively, we, at Zillion 2^nd Innings initiate a series of significant related topics, herewith, wherein the readers/users are welcome to post their comments/articles on the different aspects of the subject being analyzed i.e. the ROLE OF HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY IN MLM. The selected comments/articles would be published in this Blog together with the name of the author.

To start with, let us take a look at a very basic form of amusing yet highly educative comparison between a young boy and a young girl’s psychology, which often outwits a trained psychologist by its very practical nature. Go through the following pictorial analysis:

Now, go through the Girl’s mind:

The obvious conclusion that one can arrive at would be that there is a great deal of difference between how a young boy and a young girl’s mind react to each other. No two brains are similar. Hence, people often react differently to a given situation. They may agree with one point but be at loggerheads with the other. The very human nature is the basis of this profound study on human psychology. It’s not due to the difference in the two sexes, but due to the difference in the two minds that a boy’s actions and reactions are typically straightforward in contrast with that of a girl.

Hence, it’s important to understand the situational behavior of the people with different mindsets. Observe the following example carefully:

THE STORY OF 4 PEOPLE (Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, Nobody) There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about it, but it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody would not do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when actually Nobody asked Anybody.

Everybody has his/her own point of view and a different attitude towards things. It’s very human for people to love being in COMFORT and ease. In fact, that’s what everybody works hard for. Hence, shouldering responsibility and to lead by example is the trait of the rare breed. And ironically, that rare breed is the one that is most likely to view things with a positive attitude and, hence, most likely to succeed. Nobody likes to work hard yet everybody has to do exactly the same in order to achieve what he/she wants.

Hence, it is a very fundamental lesson that since people love comfort, you show them how to achieve the same with the least amount of effort. And that can be done not by WORKING HARD (they hate it) but by WORKING SMART with the help of the much tried and tested business of MLM.

Picture source: Funtoosh.com

EARN HEFTY POCKET MONEY BY E-TUTORING

There’s a new way to earn as you learn. If you are a student of math or science and have decent communication skills, you can make up to Rs. 17,000 a month e-tutoring kids in America and Europe. Educational Process Outsourcing (EPO) is enabling over 100 Delhi students make handsome dividends from a few hours spent answering queries and clearing doubts. Manya Education Private Limited, an e-tutoring firm, recently began campus recruitment in IIT-Delhi, Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia.

Academically strong students from the Sciences stream were selected and trained for a month. The e-tutoring model requires these student-teachers to log on to a chat-based software and answer queries from students in the US and Europe.

For an average four-hour session, they earn between Rs. 12,000 and Rs. 17,000, depending on competency. Varun Thakur, a Chemistry (Honours) student, is back from office in time for classes in Venkateswara College, after four hours spent interacting with American students in grades IX to XII. “E-Tutoring is exciting. I work from 3.30 am to 7.30 am and am back home before classes. The courses in the US are the same as ours. The only difference is the teaching methodology,” says Thakur. Beginning with Math, Physics and Chemistry, Manya Education plans to include social sciences lessons. The teaching fraternity has welcomed the initiative. “E-tutoring is a great option for bright students with a good grasp over their subjects,” said Rihan Khan Suri, placement officer, Jamia Millia Islamia.

News Source: The Daily Telegrams, Port Blair

THE MILKMAN OF INDIA

The Milkman of India

Finishes education in India.

Leaves for the US on a scholarship.

Returns. Works for a government creamery.

Finds the job unchallenging.

Joins Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd.

Helps set up their processing plant.

And hence marks the birth of Amul.

Architect of Operation Flood.

Father of the White revolution.

Masterminds the world’s largest dairy development program.

And makes India the greatest milk producer in the world.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1963.

The Padma Shri in 1965.

The Padma Bhushan the following year.

The World Food Prize in 1989.

The International Person of the Year in 1993.

And the Padma Vibhushan in 1999.

Dr. Varghese Kurien

THE MILKMAN OF INDIA.

Gave a rural nation its identity.

Gave over 10 crore farmers their future.

And the world, “A TASTE OF INDIA”.

NEWS ALERT FOR INTERNET SURFERS

"BREAKING NEWS"

PERSONAL DATA SHOULD NEVER BE

PUT ON WEBSITES

Watch out if you are surfing the Net. The father of the World Wide Web has cautioned that his brainchild has become one of the biggest, most permanent data “archives” in human history.

Nearly two decades after inventing the World Wide Web, TIM BERNERS-LEE stepped into the increasingly frenzied debate over internet privacy with a warning to surfers jealously to guard their personal space with one eye on the future.

Berners-Lee has long admitted that he never realized the potential and scale of his invention when he thought up a project based on the concept of hypertext to facilitate information-sharing among researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory known as CERN.

But on Monday, the 17^th March 2008, he cautioned the world’s multiplying millions of surfers on its destructive potential in the future. Personal data, he said, was precious and deeply personal and should never be put on website, not least social networking ones suck as Facebook and My-Space.

Surfers should think of their future grandchildren reading the archived net data, he said, in a reminder that the internet has a longevity that goes beyond inscriptions on stone tablets, rock etchings and papyrus. “Imagine that everything you are typing is being read by the person you are applying to for your first job. Imagine that it’s all going to be seen by your parents and your grandparents and your grandchildren, as well.”

Berners-Lee’s comments are seen to underline increasingly acute anxiety about individual privacy in so public a space as the World Wide Web. Already, Facebook and My-Space have recorded their first fall in new and continuous users in their second-most popular base, the UK, as surfers grapple with issues of privacy and data retention.

Berners-Lee compounded his warning on the perils of the Net with an indictment of its creeping commercialization by big businesses, who snoop on surfers.

Striking a blow for net neutrality, he said consumers needed to be protected against systems which can track their surfing activity. Describing ongoing controversial moves to institutionalize and legitimize tracking services, he said his data and web history belonged to him. “It’s mine-you can’t have it. If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me. I have to agree, I have to understand what I am getting in return.”

Internet service providers, he said, were supposed to supply a neutral service just like water companies supply water to a property.

Berners-Lee’s opposition to web tracking comes amid plans by some of Britain’s leading internet providers to use Phorm, a tracking company to create personalized adverts.

But the father of the web said this constituted a serious breach of privacy and raised the spectre of a web-based big brother watching all of us, at our peril. Surfers who visit sites about cancer could find their health insurance premiums going up because of some deduced ill health, he warned.

Phase two of the web, said Berners-Lee, would include sorely-needed guidance of its future because there are more web pages now than neurons in the human brain, yet the shape and growth of the web were still not properly understood. “We should look out for snags in the future,” Berners-Lee said of his creation, pointing to spam e-mail as an example of things going wrong. “Things can change so fast on the internet.”

[DISCLAIMER- Dear readers, the above article has been included as an excerpt from a recent news article published in The Times of India , as we think that it is of prime utility and supreme interest to the internet users the world over.]

However, we would like to advise the net surfers to be utterly prudent and cautious about putting personal data on websites, while surfing the internet, as it is now an emphatically established fact that personal data is highly vulnerable to tracking or hacking or even unauthorized misuse if posted on websites with insecure connections, and whether it is still safe on websites with secure connections is an even bigger and more sensitive issue that now remains to be addressed by the web gurus, in the aftermath of the jolting revelation by none other than the father of the World Wide Web, himself.

Finally, as a contextual appendix, the age-old wisdom that every invention registered by the human brain invariably carries its pros and cons, stands vindicated. It is for the users to exercise prudence while using it.

- CEO, Zillion 2^nd Innings

SOME TIPS TO SUCCESS

NEED x FAITH = MOTIVATION

1. Develop faith and belief in the Business Concept.

2. Have faith and belief in the Corporation; faith in totality i.e. in its Products, its Management, its commitment, everything.

3. Have unconditional faith and belief in your Up-line, i.e. your Line of Sponsorship (LOS), who are interested only in your success. Keep regular contact with your up-line and get all questions and problems clarified and solved at the quickest possible time to improve your credibility to your down-line.

4. Have faith in yourself and in your spouse. Develop your self image, develop your level of conviction, build your commitment, and give this business of MLM, the priority. This will change your life and that of your down-lines also.

5. Remember that you are helping people by unfolding a unique business opportunity to them. A little bit of an INDIFFERENT ATTITUDE will work best for you in this matter. Your attitude should be like- “If you accept this opportunity, good for you; if you don’t, not bad for me; rather, you are losing an opportunity that doesn’t come your way too often”. Never be persuasive or nagging type. Behave in a friendly, debonair manner, and of course, uphold your own image and those of your up-lines, as well. Understand and remember that your ROLE is of a GIVER and not that of a TAKER. For these developments to take place, follow the system of success in MLM consistently and persistently. FIGURE OUT YOUR OWN DREAM AND WRITE IT DOWN and

a. Attach a date to it, fix it in such places where your eyes will frequently fall upon (on refrigerator, tops, mirrors etc, and don’t feel ashamed to do it. [VISUALISE]

b. Speak about your dreams (which are, now, your GOALS as you have already attached a date to them) with your spouse and children and also with your LOS (Line of Sponsorship). [VERBALISE]

c. And program yourself, accordingly, to reach those Goals. [VITALISE]

6. Read recommended books and listen to recommended tapes to educate yourself about human psychology, how to influence people and convince them and to improve your POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE (PMA). Attend seminars and other functions to associate yourself with the people who are already successful in this business and whom you would like to follow.

7. Be Teachable- Accountable- both to others and to yourself.

8. Develop a habit of reading recommended books for 30 minutes/day and listening to recommended tapes for 15 minutes, everyday before going to bed- no matter how tired you are. That proves your accountability to yourself.

9. All these, will raise your level of conviction which will, ultimately, help you in your success in this business of MLM. Until and unless you can improve your level of conviction, you can’t be successful. While, you are Showing the Plan (STP), the people who are watching you are constantly judging you. So, it doesn’t matter what you say, but does matter how you say. They are interested in seeing how much of conviction, you have in this business concept, how excited you are about this business, how committed you are towards this business. Hence, remember, they are always judging you.

10. LEARN AND TEACH YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS

This gorgeous business of MLM is a trade, which is very closely related to your life, in general. Learning and teaching is a continuous and consistent process that has to be followed to the T. In this business, you ought to learn from your seniors i.e. the already successful people, who know how the game is played and what the ins and outs of the trade are; and to teach your down-lines the very same in an officious and selfless manner. Remember your down-lines’ success is your success. So, give your optimum to their cause in order to get the same back from them for your sake.

11. TAKE THE BEST POSSIBLE CARE OF YOUR DOWN-LINES

You have to do it just the way you take care of your kids. They are your biggest assets in the business. Convince them, nurture them, motivate them, and build healthy long term professional relationship with them. Do whatever it takes to help them identify, strive for and achieve their goals, because doing that will ensure your goals being materialized in the process. This is the beauty of this business. Sponsoring 15-20 direct down-lines/distributors and helping them in the manner described above would ensure, at least, 4-5 of them becoming the stalwarts of your organization. And once, a strong foundation of your organization is prepared, you can build an empire of successful MLM Leaders leading and managing their own healthy and rapidly advancing organizations under your able, efficient and inspiring guidance and leadership.

12. TOUGH TIMES NEVER LAST, TOUGH PEOPLE DO

Inculcating sound business habits and ethics within yourself and your organization and building a very high standard/level of confidence based on the knowledge and skills of the system of the business, always results in enabling you to be fully equipped and prepared and TOUGH so that you and your organization are able to overcome any form or dimension of TOUGH TIMES or obstacles/hindrances that may come your way in the process of expanding or executing your business. Hence, always make sure you and your organization are tough (well equipped and capable) in the trade and also see to it that the same trend or ethics is being duplicated down the line in your entire organization’s generations because POWER BREEDS POWER.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

1. “How to win friends and influence people”- Dale Carnegie

2. “Magic of thinking Big”- David Schwartz

3. “Think and grow rich”- Nepolean Hill

4. Master key to riches”- Nepolean Hill

5. “7 habits of highly effective people”- Steven Covey

è (You can buy the above books and many more highly useful ones from the exclusive and reputed stable of AMAZON.COM (see the side bar) at exceptionally low prices) Q