Good work habits are created...which are rewarded with positive results... which encourages more good work habits.  Probably the two biggest requirements to building a big network marketing business are a dream, and the willingness to trade ten to 15 hours a week to get that dream.

You need the dream because that causes you to find the hours. You need the ten to 15 hours a week, because that’s how much time the business really takes to start.

Now of course your new team members will need to develop skills. But those are all readily learned if they are motivated to do so. And that’s why dream building is so important. I don’t think any of us do enough of this in the business. Here’s what I’ve discovered: you will make or break your new distributors during their first two weeks in the business. Here’s why:

We are creatures of habit. And success in this business comes from replacing old habits with new ones.

The average person watches five or six hours a day of television. They spend a couple hours surfing the Net. Maybe they have a hobby or other diversion. These things pretty much command all of their time when they are not sleeping, at work, or eating. You have to break that cycle. The TV has to be replaced by prospecting, the Internet by training calls, some of the hobby time by attending events. Network marketing takes sacrifice. It’s not fashionable to say that, but it’s the truth. People have to be willing to sacrifice some comfort now, for greater comfort in the future. When I started the business, I had a mantra: “I am willing to do today what others will not, so tomorrow I can do things that others can not.” That served me very well. Now I truly can do things that most people can’t. I plan my whole schedule around my softball, split time between the States and Australia, drive my dream cars, work when I choose, and lots of other lifestyle perks. But that’s because I was willing to sacrifice early on. In my case, my dream was to be able to work from home, travel the world, and not have to make buying or lifestyle choices based on cost. I had a dream board with those kinds of images on it. I wrote and spoke affirmations. I crafted a movie script of my perfect day. I made the dream so real that I was willing to go through sacrifices to get it. You must do the same thing with your new distributors. You have to help them help themselves, by getting them really in touch with the dream that made them sign up to begin with. If they’re like most people, they would rather stay home and watch TV. But if you really get them in touch with their dreams, then TV will move down the priority list. And so will the other numerous distractions that most people fill their lives with.

We have to change the way they are spending those 24 hours, and that’s where the first two weeks are so critical.

The way your new distributor spends that time during those first two weeks will greatly determine their chances for success. If they spend those two weeks analyzing brochures, watching the company video one more time, getting ready to get ready – the two weeks go by and nothing has really happened. His excitement fades and his dream gets farther away.

Now, if, during his first two weeks, he is actively learning the business by taking action steps, having some small successes, and actually getting people into his group - momentum begins and his excitement level rises.

Good work habits are created...which are rewarded with positive results... which encourages more good work habits. The place to start is knowing his dream. And making sure it’s a big one. Something about the presentation he saw excited him. You need to find out specifically what that was.

'When your new distributor has a big enough ‘why,’ the 'how' comes easy.

Find out the big why, and you’ll get the ten to 15 hours. Structure those initial hours right, and you’ve got a leader in the making.