Finding Your Motivation: Moment Of Realization. Desperation Marketing.

Anthony Robbins once said: “In life you need either inspiration or desperation”. In my journey from “Zero to 1 million dollars in online sales”, I have found this to be more than just a quote. I would rather claim that desperation is an essential part of succeeding online, albeit a part of success that is often overlooked.

In 1997, after coming out of an unhappy and failed marriage, I found myself in a state of confusion. I was in heavy debt, and my vision for the future was rather blurred by the speed of things happening at that time.

The only thing that I took with me to my new life was a few personal belongings and an old computer. I had my door-to-door sales job with an offline advertising company which gave me some hope. This was the only thing that I could hang on to. I was hoping that my door-to-door selling job would help me get out of the rut that I had put myself into.

I soon came to the following sobering realization, and it was this: The company I worked for cared a lot about their bottom line but nothing about me, and putting in more hard work for them was actually putting me in more debt than before. I decided to quit.

Now I had put myself in a very precarious and desperate situation. I remember when I started online, it wasn’t a maybe. I had to make it work. I was desperate, and you know what? I am glad I was in that position. For sure it was not a nice situation to find myself in, but in retrospect it was actually a blessing in disguise.

For millions of people failing at making a living online, this is actually the missing factor. Sometimes ‘trying’ is just not enough.

I once read the following passage from a hugely successful entrepreneur by the name of Dan Kennedy: “Some people think and talk in terms of ‘trying’ a business or ‘trying’ out the entrepreneurial experience. Before achieving major success in business myself, I went through considerable agony, corporate and personal bankruptcy, stress, embarrassment, humiliation, and near-starvation. If I’d just been ‘trying’, just taking a test-drive, I’d have quit. And make no mistake about it; my experience is the norm among ultimately successful entrepreneurs.”

Here’s another real life example to illustrate just how essential desperation can be in making it big in business:

Rich DeVos and his lifelong partner Jay VanAndel have appeared on the annual Forbes magazine list of the 400 richest men in America. Certainly many envy these two, who are successful enough to even be able to buy a basketball team of their own. (Rich and Jay bought the Orlando Magic a few years ago.)

But how many envied Rich and Jay when they were being laughed at by friends and family, when barely surviving in business. Mail-order guru Jeff Paul was drowning in credit card debt and living with his family in his sister-in-law’s basement.

But Jeff was not trying out the business experience. He was determined and committed and is wealthy today, not because he tried, but because he did.

I’ve heard people say, “you’ve got to have passion” to make it big in something. Passion is a great motivator, but I think ‘Desperation’ is as strong a motivator as any passion could be. When you are put in a ‘Sink or Swim’ situation, you not only swim faster and harder, but you start innovating the techniques to stay out of the water.

You develop the techniques that actually give you the ability to fly, just like a water plane. If you are in a situation where you feel desperate, realize the power of it and act fast. Desperation is a huge motivator. Use it to keep that momentum moving for you. The trick is to realize it early on, instead of giving up.

Henry David Thoreau said: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

Remember, if you do nothing when you are at a lowest point in your life, you will probably give up. Start singing your song today, even if it is out of tune.

Abe

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