How to Avoid Over-Working Your Young Living Business

The beautiful thing about network marketing is that it’s set up in a way that allows you to do the ground work today and still get paid 5 years from now. The concept of Enrol, ER, Invite is oh-so-simple. (That's not to say it’s always easy- no business is ever ‘easy’ otherwise everyone would do it!) Despite the concept being so simple, we often find ourselves trying to fill our day like a 9-5.

We’ve been conditioned to believe this is what we need to do in order to run a business.

What we're actually doing is over-complicating the system - adding meaningless work, ‘busy’ work, or simply wasting time and hitting burnout fast.

I’ve personally done all of these things and I want to make sure you don’t go down the same road. Remember to appreciate the way network marketing sets us up: we can work a handful of intentional hours a week and get paid like we put in 40 hours a week…if we do it properly and don’t fall into the traps I’m about to walk you through. Once you master the simplicity of the business there will come a point in time where you’re working a handful of hours a week and getting paid, in a month, what most double-income households make in a year.

Let’s look at the ways you can avoid over-working your business so you never face burnout.

1. Doing your members orders.

Do not do this.

I repeat.

Do. Not. Do. This.

What happens if you mess up? You’re responsible. You now carry that financial burden, you now have to waste even more of your time trying to resolve the problem and how’s your stress level at this point? Sky high?

If my 68 year old Mom and 65 year old mother-in-law can figure out the VO, there’s hope for all of us, trust. Did I have to help them a billion times…yes… but that was almost 3 years ago, they eventually figured it out and now they’re two completely hands-off members for me. Imagine I was still doing their orders every month, yikes! By now, that would have been 72 orders not including my own that I would be responsible for- no thank you.

The other consideration when you believe it’s ‘better if I do it’ is that you’re sucking the joy out of your members placing their orders. Do you love doing your monthly order? Of course you do! It’s an online shopping experience, dopamine hit! Don’t take that away from someone else because you assume they’ll screw up. Put in the time, send them a video walking them through the process, be patient, and support them going forward.

The last problem with placing your members' orders is the long-term implications. What if this member decides he/she would like to run a Young Living business but now they believe that this is what it looks like; placing orders for hundreds (eventually thousands) of people each month, who’s going to sign up for that? That would be a huge turn-off for the majority of people.

2. Putting our Energy into the Wrong People

Your energy expenditure is 1 of your 2 most valuable commodities (time is the other). Too often we find ourselves tapping into our energy reserves for the wrong reasons; this leads to burnout. You should always be checking in with your own energy- you determine how much you have to offer others. Don’t give more than you have.

In our business, this often looks like pouring into brand partners who are half on-board and half not. These are the dabblers. They’re not your race horses. It’s not your job to be a personal cheerleader for those who haven’t fully decided if this is their gig. That’s ok! There are 8 billion people in this world, find your race horses and run with them.

Not everyone will match your work ethic. Since you’re here reading this, you’re likely a highly motivated, high performing individual. We want everyone to operate at the same capacity we do because we love results! But the reality is, not everyone will run as hard as you do, and that is a-ok. Your business can be very, very successful with dabblers. Slow enrollers who are consistent is a gift. But don’t put in to them more than what they’re putting into themselves. Match their energy or yours will tank. Spend more time with high performers who make you want to run harder. Don’t spend too much time with the dabblers, eventually they’ll either be fully in or fully out, but committing to those who are fully in right now is how you can stay energized and happy in your business.

3. Staying Consistent

This is a big one. When you’re consistent it’s because you’ve built a habit. A habit of showing up, sharing, doing classes, and talking on social media. It’s second nature and doesn’t require any additional energy on your part. It doesn’t create stress because you know it will get done- just like brushing your teeth when you wake up. When you’re consistently showing up, you’re operating on autopilot.

If you’re showing up here and there, when there’s a sale or when you’re trying to invite people to a class, it takes a lot more energy and effort, a lot more explaining and time on your end because it’s not a natural daily habit for you. It can also be off-putting to your audience. If you’re showing up every single day in some way, it literally takes seconds. How long is a story sequence at max? 15 minutes. If you were to max out all your story bubbles you’d be at the 15 minute mark per day. That’s not that much to share your life and products. Most of us aren’t even coming close to maxing out our story bubbles every day. So, really, it’s not an issue of time, it’s an issue of choice. Choose to show up daily; it will transform your business.