After a much-needed break from the movie industry to be with my young children, in 2007 I chose to work on (what I thought would be) a small, quick film called Wanted.

The movie and my responsibilities quickly grew to a point where my three three-week stints, with a month in between, turned into a solid six-month engagement.

While I did enjoy the experience, I was at first puzzled by how difficult it was for me. The work in itself wasn’t difficult, but rather my attitude I had in approaching the work.

Luckily, early in the process, I happened to read Florence Littauer’s book, Personality Plus.

I first became aware of Littauer years earlier because her book, Your Personality Tree, is on World Wide DreamBuilders’ recommended reading list.

Reading Personality Plus did a lot to put the sequel, Your Personality Tree, in a bigger context that made it even more meaningful. Your Personality Tree explains how we will mask our true temperaments, based on our environment, particularly when we are around our family.

What I realized was that my true temperament, my true personality, was not in line with the type of work I do.

My work is very detailed, and must be done in isolation.

By nature, I am not detailed, and I am social.

Because I had been away from the movie world for an extended period of time, my true personality/temperament had a chance to manifest itself. And so when I went back into that environment, the evidence of past masking was apparent.

The attempt to understand the different personalities and temperaments of those around us, in one form or another, is nothing new. The idea behind this analysis is to help a person understand themselves, their strengths and their weaknesses.

Some systems are a little more involved, like:

Myers-Briggs, which breaks it down into four basic elements and from there into 16 personality types.

DISC, which stands for Dominance, Inducement, Submission and Compliance. This system also takes four basic elements, then carves up the personality puzzle into 15 pattern types.

Other systems are very basic, such as those that classify people through the metaphor of four animals: Are you a lion? An otter? A golden retriever? A beaver?

All of these approaches can be traced to Galen, an influential 2^nd century Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher who coined the types as sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic.

Using those four terms, Littauer explores the strengths and weaknesses of each of these personality types. Significantly, the subtitle of Personality Plus is How to Understand Others by Understanding Yourself.

The biggest benefit I derived from Personality Plus is how much it helped me to genuinely appreciate others. What I once saw as a weakness in someone, I now saw as a much-needed asset.

Relational conflict as well as my critical spirit towards others have been greatly diminished because of what Littauer, in her humorous, witty way, communicated through her book.

If it weren’t so sad, the ignorant hysteria that swirls up when Amway’s name lands on some people’s radars would be comical.

The latest is the news that Amway will have a presence at Citi Field, the ballpark for the New York Mets, one of the highest profile Major League Baseball teams.

The corporation’s presence comes in the form of the Amway Business Center at Citi Field for Amway Independent Business Owners (IBOs). This is the first facility of its kind in the United States. Others exist around the world, including Asia, Australia and Europe.

These business centers, while open to the general public, have been designed with IBOs in mind–to support them as they grow their Amway businesses.

Unfortunately that important distinction seems to have eluded the media. (Cue the punch lines littered with tired references to Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes and cults.)

Big Apple publications like the New York Daily News and The New York Times couldn’t resist drawing some link between the Mets’ ownership being scammed by an actual Ponzi scheme shyster, Bernie Madoff, and this multi-billion-dollar, globally respected brand.

While Madoff scammed people out of a reported $65 billion, is the media aware that Amway in its 54-year history has paid almost $40 billion in cash and incentives to distributors? And that it employs 21,000 people in 100 countries and territories?

Reporters predictably are trotting out the usual negative stereotypes and selective fodder to mock the move. For example, the Daily News sub-headline refers to the class-action lawsuit against Amway that I wrote about in mid-January.

Some coverage has a tone of incredulity, as if this is something so strange and out of the blue. But even casual sports fans know that Amway has long had ties to professional sports, most notably Amway co-founder Rich DeVos owning the Orlando Magic of the NBA since 1991.

News flash: the Magic play at Amway Center, which is 875,000 square feet. And some people are freaking out about what amounts to a tiny fraction of that?

In addition, Amway is a sponsor of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League and, until this past fall, was a three-year sponsor of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer.

Through its Nutrilite brand, the world’s #1 selling vitamin and dietary supplements brand, the connection to achieving optimal health—a highly relevant trait for professional athletes, obviously—is clear.

Equally clear is that Amway, which has been around longer than the Mets franchise, isn’t about to shy away from forging such prominent sports-related partnerships.

The initial flurry of potshots is like the first day of spring training: in the big picture, it’s just another day at the office.

It’s our weekly ritual: After I pick the kids up Friday afternoon from their “one-day-a-week program for home schoolers,”   we go to Panera and each get a bagel.

We are not coffee, tea, juice, soda or milk drinkers, so we usually just bring in our water bottles. But this time we forgot., and my disdain for unnecessary plastic kept us from getting any cups of water.

So there we were, my kids flanking me, contentedly eating our Asiago toasted bagels with butter.

About three-quarters of the way through, an older woman came over to our table. Standing across from me, she leaned toward us and exclaimed, “Oh, I bet those rolls are so good!”

I remained calm and matched her cheerfulness as I said, with a somewhat filled mouth, “They are bagels.”

“Oh, I bet those bagels are so good!” she replied. “I bet a warm drink with them would taste so good!”

Still calm, but guarded, I mustered something like, “Um, no….thank you.”

She then said, “Oh yes,” firmly placed a folded $10 bill in the middle of the table, and walked out without looking back.

I attempted to utter a sound, though I had no idea what I’d say. It didn’t matter, anyway, because she was already out the door.

I looked back at the $10, I looked at my daughter, I looked at my son. They were as bewildered as I was. I looked around at the people at the other tables. Did anyone see what just happened? Did anyone have any insight?

Should I run out and give this woman her money? If it were a hundred dollars, yes, but was a $10 bill worth the awkwardness? The effort? The…whatever?

We looked out the window and saw her get into a White Escalade that her male companion had pulled up.

I then realized that they were the older couple who had been sitting next to us, having finished a full meal and reading the newspaper. I hadn’t paid them much attention. Were they watching us during our snack?

Why did she…oh no. Does she think?…I looked at the three of us. I tried to view myself as someone who didn’t know me.

Just three bagels. Does that seem pathetic?

I looked at my son. It was freezing outside, and all he was wearing was a couple of sweatshirts. But my daughter had her good winter coat , and I had mine, I reasoned.

I had showered only a couple hours earlier, so my hair (I thought) looked good, and I was wearing makeup. Did we look…needy?

The three of us sat there, frozen. And then I burst out in laughter.

It was one of the oddest things that has ever happened to me. I was not at all offended, and really, I don’t know this lady’s motive. Regardless, it was a sweet gesture.

It’s been a little over 24 hours since that vignette. The conversations, the observations, the quips and the reactions that have come out of it—from my kids, my husband, family, friends, acquaintances—have  brought more laughter as well as reflection.

So, thank you, Sweet Grandma Lady In The White Escalade. Thank you for the gift that goes well beyond that folded $10 bill.

Tonight my family finished its basketball season as my husband coached both our kids’ park district teams.

Every Sunday afternoon, for the last two months, along with 50 other parents and family members, I jammed inside gyms watching my 9-year-olds, cheering them on as they would defend their basket and try to score some buckets of their own.

When you have that kind of diversity in one room, you’re bound to encounter someone who rubs you the wrong way. And if you’re lucky like me, you may even find a handful. Ha!

But what I’ve learned over the years, as my kids have participated in a variety of sports, with many of the same children, is to keep the big picture in mind. A lot of times, who was once their opponent, now is their teammate. So that annoying parent on the other team now becomes my comrade, my fellow cheerleader.

It’s been these youth sports in a tight-knit community like ours that has given me the opportunity to put into practice what Greg Duncan has taught (through his words and through his example) over the years.

Along with his wife, Laurie, Greg has grown one of the most successful businesses with Amway through the World Wide DreamBuilders (WWDB) organization. And one of the pieces that has helped create their own organization’s longstanding strength: Greg’s passionate belief in preserving relationships.

When I first became aware of this core value of his, it annoyed me and I questioned the value of not “writing people off.” I knew enough not to broadcast to the whole world when I would sever ties, but Greg was actually saying to take active steps to maintain relationships that could best be described, on a good day, as struggling. To persevere to preserve.

As the lesson took hold with me, I imagined that the lesson would be driven home by more “important” relationships with my family and friends. But it’s been through participating as a parent these last three years in youth sports, and interacting with acquaintances, that I have had much more practice in witnessing the value of taking Greg’s advice.

Now, with the conclusion of basketball, softball and baseball season is only a few short weeks away. My kids have already begun gearing up, ignoring the freezing temperatures and gusty winds to begin playing catch in the park.

And as for me, I am ready too—whatever, and whomever, the rosters bring our way.

There’s a difference between calling someone a liar and saying that someone has a habit of lying. Or that someone is generous, as opposed to “she has a habit of doing generous deeds.”

The first parts of those phrases are defining statements (someone IS so associated with the trait that it defines him or her); the second are more fluid, still to be developed before reaching full maturity.

Habits can make or break us, but the good news is that we can change the ones that threaten to break us. And what I have found is that the best way to change isn’t to “stop” a particular habit, but to replace it with a contrary one. Over time, the new habit can so overwhelm the old one that it simply fades from view without my having consciously tried to get rid of it.

That’s a key part of Bill Hawkins’ story. Along with his wife, Sandy, Bill was quite a party animal in his 20s. When he wasn’t teaching high school English, he was fond of playing softball and hitting the bars.

Then, about 35 years ago, he saw the Amway business opportunity…and a way to replace Sandy’s income as a legal secretary and his income as a teacher. As Bill has related at conferences hosted by World Wide DreamBuilders (WWDB), he didn’t exactly resolve to cut out his drinking. Instead, he got so busy with pursuing his goals and dreams.

Along with Sandy, Bill read self-improvements books, listened to audio of other successful distributors (now known as Independent Business Owners), attended business seminars, and pursued the “core habits” necessary to succeed.

Within two years, he retired from teaching high school and ever since he has become one of the most respected teachers among Amway leaders. He is a member, and former chairman, of the Independent Business Owners Association International (IBOAI) Board, which is the primary advocacy organization for North American IBOs affiliated with Amway.

In my own life, especially as a mother the past 10 years, this approach has been helpful—this recognition that I can separate a habit from a person.

For example, it has meant the difference between telling my son, “Stop being so critical of your sister” and working on an intentional plan for him to point out some of her positive attributes on a regular basis.

Rather than use language like “that’s bad…don’t do that,” I’ve let him know that “You have a habit of being critical. Let’s work on creating a habit of being encouraging.”

As I have told both my children frequently, who I am and where I am in life didn’t just happen—it’s the product of millions of choices, some good that have served me well and some not-so-good that have done the opposite.

The empowering truth, however, is that I’m not predestined to be stuck with my bad habits. Change isn’t easy, but the consequences of not changing are even harder.

Here’s an insightful synposis, author unknown, of the power of habit: 

Who am I?

I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half of the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed – you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great individuals and, alas, of all failures, as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine, though I work with the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a human. You may run me for profit or run me for ruin – it makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I?

I am Habit.

I just finished watching the movie, Hungry For Change.

For this post, I was planning on boiling it down and writing a few keys points, not knowing just how thorough of a job the filmmakers did.

It is packed, wall-to-wall, with truth. Unless you know that the deck is stacked against you, unless you know the game, you won’t know how to win the game.

What’s taken me decades to learn about health, stress, food, sleep, weight loss, weight gain, feeling good, is laid out in this 90-minute film.

It’s free to watch until March 31st. Make the time and watch. Take notes.

Here is its powerful 3-minute trailer:

And here’s a link to view the movie, plus extra features: http://www.hungryforchange.tv/

After my recent post encouraging people to watch Hungry For Change, a comment was left on my blog.

When I went to reply, my word count and hyperlinks got out of control and I realized it was no longer a comment but another post–though I’ve preserved my stream-of- consciousness, conversational style.

First, here is the comment from David:

Hmm, well I was onboard until I saw in the trailer they were promoting people like Joseph Mercola and, worse, Mike Adams, who haven’t met a piece of health BS they don’t like as long as it bashes the mainstream.

Normally I wouldn’t even bother watching a film that promotes those two, but on your recommendation I’ll give it a go!

And now, for my response:

Yeah, Joseph Mercola has said some off-the-wall stuff over the years, so my antenna was up when he talked in the film.

He lives in this area, so Chicago Magazine did a fair and balanced article on Joseph Mercola, asking if he was a quack or a visionary.

I found him to be pretty tame (or maybe the filmmakers edited him well) in this movie.

His comment about us redefining what “sugar” is, I think was helpful. Most people don’t know why spikes in your insulin level is something to be concerned about, and that other foods such as rice, pastas, pancakes, waffles, breads, can cause such spikes.

And I appreciated that he mentioned the fact that many “studies” that are done, are actually being funded by the food manufacturers, so you have to take what they say with a grain of salt, even if the FDA doesn’t.

Or at least we should look at a study’s scientific protocol to evaluate its validity. As you know, double-blind placebo-controlled studies, which are peer-reviewed, are the best, though very costly.

Yes, sometimes the interviewees use hyperbolic language, and a couple times I thought, “Hmm, I need to research that claim.” (I didn’t know Mike Adams before this movie. He was the one talking about MSG making mice fat, which I don’t think is true. It’s not the substance that makes you fat; it’s that it’s a flavor enhancer and it makes you want to eat more, and overeating makes you fat.)

But overall, I think the filmmakers did a good job, and didn’t go overboard, as they could have trying to turn their viewers into raw foods, juicing, organic vegans. (Not that there’s anything wrong with raw foods, juicing, organic vegans.)

I think the filmmakers were sensitive to their audience. They meet them where they are at, and are looking to get them to be more conscious about what they are putting into their bodies as well as the effect of those decisions.

I don’t know how it is on your side of the world, but here in America our food is…well, as one expert says in Hungry For Change, “We are not eating food anymore, we are eating food-like products.”

A good start to better health is ridding ourselves of processed foods. Or, at the very least, I hope more people become curious enough to read labels of ingredients, not just what the marketers write on the front of the box.

This is what makes up the “blueberries” in a store-bought bagel.

As Mike Adams accurately pointed out that there are many processed foods, using General Mills’ Total Blueberry and Pomegranate Cereal as an example, that what they show on the front of the box is not always an accurate representation of what’s in the box (Note: I looked it up and, in fact, this aforementioned cereal contains neither blueberries nor pomegranate).

One mom, Lisa Leake was on a journey to eat real food and she is now inspiring hundreds of thousands to do the same. Her website is 100DaysOfRealFood.com.

But, as the consumers get educated, the food folks do get trickier, and just rename something that starts to get a bad rap. So although 80% of our processed foods have MSG in them, most people don’t know it because MSG is now being called by other terms.

Here’s a list from Livestrong.com of some of the many names for MSG.

All that to say, just like I had to wake up to the hard cold reality that big banks are not my friends and they are in business to make money, I had to learn the same about food manufacturers.

For another eye-opening movie about the food industry here in North America, particularly our animal agriculture, I recommend Food, Inc. It really is disturbing what can legally be done to the food supply in this country.

Homeschooling, for me and my husband, started as just a kernel, just a seed of an idea before our twin children were even born.

From that humble beginning, it has turned into something truly significant in all four of our lives. Explaining that significance to those who ask has never been very easy.

Recently, though, I read this mom’s reasons for homeschooling. She’s an MD and her 18 reasons are my 18 reasons.

My shift to homeschooling didn’t start with such a long list. In fact, when I first heard the concept of homeschooling, I had a fairly narrow, ignorant view of it. Then I heard various Amway Diamonds associated with World Wide DreamBuilders talk about their experience with homeschooling and, more specifically, their reasons for making such a choice.

I would have thought that a private education would be the preferred choice for these folks. But what I came to realize, as with many aspects of their lives, is that when you are not tied to a location and you have the ability to make significant money in less time than most people, you tend to redesign your life. And that includes how you “do school.”

For me, the seed of homeschooling was planted when one WWDB Diamond couple, Greg and Laurie Duncan, decided to homeschool when they butted heads with their kids’ school because they kept pulling them out to travel.

What’s the point in the parents having flexibility if the kids don’t too? So while that was the impetus, over the last four years of our homeschooling journey the reasons and benefits have grown significantly.

In her list, Dr. Berchelmann eloquently and clearly communicates many of my thoughts—so much so that it’s hard to highlight just a few. Practically speaking, though, the major reasons/benefits were time and sleep.

On a warm April day four years ago, when my kids were in half-day kindergarten at the local public school, I stood on the playground and imagined what it would look like for them to attend full-day first grade in the fall.

They would be away for seven hours a day. I imagined all the time I’d have, what I’d do with all those glorious hours. Six years of caring for twins, and I was now going to get some of that time back!

But then I started to think about how early we’d have to wake up, and how early they’d have to go to bed, in order to get the 10 or 11 hours that they needed to be fully rested.

I reflected on how much time we’d actually have together as a family, squeezed in between getting ready in the morning, school, food prep, homework, after-school activities, shuttling around, getting ready to for bed, and sleep.

The more I thought about it, the more I kept going back to the reasons that attracted me to the Amway business. In particular, I value the flexibility of time and space that it affords, and how that flexibility positively affects my relationships, starting with my husband.

Based on all of that, when we had children it seemed that “normal” schooling would be not only awkward, but disruptive.

Still, I hesitated when making the move to homeschooling. The biggest factor, frankly, was my concern that homeschooling would be too much work for me. Would I be overwhelmed and fail at it?

So far, so good, and in the bigger scheme of things, the extra work has been more than offset by the reduced stress attached to this non-traditional way of living.

More work doesn’t have to equate to more stress. They are not one and the same. This is one of many life-changing truths that have come my way through the decision to homeschool.

In my community, there’s a fascinating election coming up that will determine who is our next village president.

What makes it so intriguing is that the two candidates, both of whom appear to be good, upstanding men,  could not be more different.

One is a longtime “insider” who has built up a resume that includes park district director, interim village manager and village trustee. In other words, on paper, he fits the mold of what you might expect in a candidate.

The other is a classic “outsider”—no political experience whatsoever. Instead, he is a longtime restaurant owner, including one in our town that has been a big success.

When he first announced his candidacy, I thought it strange. Didn’t he know that he had to pay his dues and serve in some lesser capacity before being a serious village president candidate?

Over the past month of this dynamic race, though, I have been much more impressed with the quality of this second candidate’s campaign. While the “insider” seems to be content to preserve the status quo, the “outsider” speaks from the heart about leadership and has inspired people to want to become involved.

He also has clearly done his homework and challenges governmental business-as-usual as he takes aim at many important issues, such as the escalating tax burden on residents.

Most of all, I am struck by his go-getter attitude. Sure, he has gaps in his experience and, if elected, would face a steep learning curve on certain aspects of the job. But with his mindset and determination to get things done, those are just details, not derailments.

When I think of this man, what comes to mind is a book that I read years ago, from the World Wide DreamBuilders (WWDB) book list: The Go-Getter.

Written by Peter Kyne, The Go-Getter is a great tale of a war veteran and amputee, William Peck, who overcomes a variety of outrageous obstacles to deliver a blue vase to an individual. As it turns out, rather than being some cruel plot, it’s a test of his resourcefulness and resolve to see if he is qualified for a job.

To be a “blue vaser” is to be someone who stops at nothing to accomplish a task.

Brad Duncan, Amway Crown & WWDB Leader

Brad Duncan, an Amway Crown and one of World Wide DreamBuilders’ (WWDB) top leaders, has often cited The Go-Getter as a great illustration of what you can achieve if you put all your mind, heart and soul into a cause.

Brad and his wife, Julie, embody that kind of relentless spirit, and it’s what has made them some of WWDB’s most sought-after speakers, teachers and motivators.

So, on the local political scene, as we approach the election in 11 days, I am somewhat amused by those critics who point to the go-getter candidate’s lack of government experience as evidence that he wouldn’t know how to do the job or how to solve problems.

That’s a massive misunderstanding of what’s at the heart of go-getters like him. They possess what is truly important—the mentality to figure it out and get the job done, one way or another…or another…or another.

There are some books that you read, put on a shelf and never touch again. And then there are books like The Right Words at the Right Time. Edited by Marlo Thomas, this is a powerful collection of essays from notable people.

Whenever I flip it back open and review one or more of its 111 short stories, I am inspired by the likes of Walter Cronkite, Hillary Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Paul McCartney.

The unifying principle that links this collection is that each individual shares a story of someone whose words helped shape their lives, in ways big and small. It’s a tremendous reminder of the power of the words we speak, as well as the words that others speak into us.

Interestingly, the “right words” that left their mark on these famous people were not always words of encouragement and belief. Instead, in many instances, they recall words that were intended to deflate and discourage.

In his essay, boxing champion Muhammad Ali tells how he and some of his high school classmates in Louisville were “always talking about being the next champion” and the reaction of one particular teacher.

“She kept putting us down and acting like she was disgusted with all these puffed-up boxers…She came up to us one day while we were sparring in the hallway, looked right at me, and said, ‘You ain’t never gonna be nuthin’.’”

Rather than embrace her harsh assessment, Ali believed in himself more than ever, converting the encounter into fuel to prove her—and any other naysayers he encountered—wrong.

A few years later, after he won an Olympic Gold medal, the first thing Ali did when he got home was head straight to the teacher’s classroom, dangle his Gold medal in front of her and ask her if she remembered what she had said.

“I am the greatest in the world,” Ali said, then repeated it, before walking out of the classroom.

It would not be the last time Ali made that declaration. He became a master in wielding the spoken word as a powerful force. He understood the potency of self-talk long before most had heard of the term, and that insight helped make him one of the most recognized and beloved figures in the world.

As his essay reveals, Ali is also an example of someone who was “negatively motivated.” He rejected others’ negative comments and replaced it with his own positive spoken word to forge ahead. For anyone seeking to achieve anything of significance, it’s an absolutely indispensable characteristic.

I first learned self-talk and how to implement it in my own life from Amway Diamonds working with World Wide DreamBuilders (WWDB). Through audios and books, I became equipped to combat the negative that came not only from others, but my own internal voice of doubt and criticism.

If there is a Diamond in the Amway business who has not had to deal with negative critics in their pursuit of success, then I haven’t come across their story. Time after time, especially when hearing the experiences of WWDB leaders, there is a point in every story when they relate how they bore the brunt of at least one individual’s negativity.

Some, like Dave Severn and Brad Duncan, come from the Muhammad Ali school—they are more prone to expressing an ‘in-your-face, told-you-so’ reaction.

Others, like longtime WWDB leaders Ron Puryear and Theron Nelsen, have taken a more low-key approach.

Although their external reactions varied, all share the same determination: to succeed.

One criticism about the Amway business is that it is a “get-rich-quick” scheme and geared toward those with an easy-money mentality.

But an accurate understanding of the business model, particularly its compensation plan, shows that to be a misconception.

Do some people become Independent Business owners (IBOs) because they think it’s a path to easy riches? Sure, just like any other business, particularly in the world of multi-level marketing where simple and potentially swift are confused with easy and virtually overnight.

But reality sinks in and when it’s clear that it takes work, as with just about anything else short of a Powerball lottery ticket, those people either change their view or drop out of the business.

That “flushing out” process is something that Ron Puryear, the founder of World Wide DreamBuilders (WWDB), has frequently mentioned as one of the great things about the business: it’s just hard enough to weed out those easy-money types.

At the same time, the Amway business, especially when you have guidance from successful mentors such as WWDB’s Terry and Linda Felber, Matt and Sandee Tsuruda, and Bob and Shelly Kummer, is just simple enough to be accessible to just about anyone with a work ethic and the willingness to develop self-discipline.

As WWDB’s Dave Severn has taught so passionately, the biggest leaders are first the best followers whose self-discipline enables them to effectively lead themselves first.

The Amway business works by duplication as you train people, who see your example and then follow the same steps that you demonstrated as you provide guidance to ensure that they are doing it effectively.

That dynamic reminds me of my work, nearly 20 years ago, as a server at Leona’s, an Italian chain restaurant located throughout the Chicago area. For my training, I started by following a wait-staff person around and seeing what he or she did. I would help them out, but wouldn’t get paid for this phase.

After doing that a couple times, I became the lead server as the experienced server shadowed me and gave me feedback on what I was doing right or wrong. Because I was taking up their stations, they would get to keep all the tips that came from those customers.

Once fully trained, I would then get my own station and be on my own. The similarities with the Amway business, though, go only so far.

One way in which it differs is when a sponsor helps a new IBO, whether showing the business plan or retailing products via grand openings, a skin care or nutritional clinic, or an event booth. In those instances, any profits generated are kept by the new IBO—even if the sponsor is the one making it all happen.

And the Amway plan is unlike the long-term financial outlook at the restaurant. At Leona’s, those people who trained me did not make any profit from the tables I waited on beyond my brief training period. Once someone is trained in the Amway business, the sponsor (or trainer, to use the restaurant analogy) continues to benefit by earning income on a percentage of sales generated.

And here is an important distinction that sometimes isn’t very well understood: income for the sponsor does not come out of the new IBO’s pocket, but from the Amway Corporation, which rewards the sponsor for a training job well done.

My sponsor has not showed the business opportunity or helped me retail in my business in over a decade. But in those first few months of training and directly supporting me, she invested a lot of time and effort in training me and training me to train others.

And today, as my business “leg” continues to generate sales volume, she continues to receive money from the Amway Corporation, month after month, because of her efforts years ago.

Duplicate the process enough times and train enough other “servers,” to refer back to the restaurant metaphor, and that is how people make significant income in the Amway business.

Back in January I wrote about Amway sponsoring an event called WeDay, designed to reward and empower the younger generation as agents of change in their community.

For WeDay Minnesota happening October 8th, Amway is sending five winners, each accompanied by a parent, to this life-changing event. All travel and accommodations are included.

In addition, Amway is rewarding  $10,000 to each of 10 winners for them to donate to a non-profit organization of their choice.

All prizes are through a contest, called Who Cares Challenge, which is open to those in the U.S. and Canada between the ages of 13 and 22 who have given back to their community either by volunteering or creating their own program.

When I was growing up, I never even heard about community volunteerism, let alone took part. The first I heard and (barely) participated, was in college through my sorority, Kappa Delta.

Many times I have heard Amway Diamonds with World Wide DreamBuilders say to adults like me, who weren’t taught this as children or as teens, “Take your eyes off yourself and put them on other people.”

It’s such a simple concept, but putting it into action takes guidance along with an awareness of our natural tendency toward self-centeredness.

Giving young people an alternative to their self-involvement, which has hit an all-time crazy high with social media like Facebook and Instagram, is desperately needed.

Rather than posting photos of themselves in that new shirt, or “awesome” pose in their bathroom mirror, how about photos of the local park they helped clean up?

Or the children for whom they are raising money to help find a cure for their disease? Or those whose lives were saved because of their service to fight teen suicide?

The 100 semifinalists of the contest are determined by popular vote. Until June 5th, you can vote daily for as many submissions as you want.

So even though my kids are too young to enter the contest this year, we will participate by reviewing the entries and voting. And in the process, my children will be exposed to a world where kids just like them are helping others and changing lives.

Especially among those who didn’t go to college, you might hear it said that someone is a graduate of the “School of Hard Knocks.”

It’s a declaration of the truth that the traditional classroom is far from the only place where learning happens. Knowledge and wisdom can come from an infinite variety of sources, as I am reminded with each passing day.

One thing that I have learned is that I miss some lessons. Fortunately, there are others that are clearly labeled—such as the name of a book that I saw years ago on the World Wide DreamBuilders’ recommended reading list: Og Mandino’s University of Success.

The title intrigued me and when I got my copy, I encountered a cover that makes some strong claims:

“The greatest self-help author in the world presents the ultimate success book.”

“This amazing volume contains a complete course on how to succeed—taught by fifty world renowned experts—and will advance you, less by lesson, into the world of exceptional achievement.”

In the 500-plus pages inside, those bold statements are backed up in essay after essay. Each is an excerpt from a different author’s book, ranging from Ralph Waldo Emerson, J. Paul Getty and Dr. Joyce Brothers to Rich DeVos, Benjamin Franklin and P.T. Barnum.

And because University of Success draws from the absolute top material from these experts’ writings, readers get the meat and potatoes–none of the fluff or filler that you might find in other books for the sake of filling pages.

In other words, if you like to highlight key points as you read, you may end up marking up most of the book.

As I came across University of Success on my bookshelf recently, Amway Diamond Joe Foglio came to mind. During a WWDB Family Reunion some years ago, Foglio mentioned how people are frequently impressed with speakers’ brilliance…for a while.

Joe Foglio and his wife, Norma.

Then, after reading some of the books on the WWDB Recommended Reading List, these same people discover that the speakers had simply gotten a head-start on reading some of these great resources.

That’s Joe Foglio in a nutshell—humble, humorous and genuine as he communicates a huge lesson: the path to greater knowledge is at our fingertips and all we need to do is invest some effort.

One of the strengths of University of Success is the diversity of authors, while a common thread is Mandino, as editor, playing the role of tour guide as he sets the stage for each “lesson,” as the chapters are termed.

In the book’s introduction, Mandino also offers counsel on how to get the most out of the book: “Read it from beginning to end. Do not skip any of the lessons. They were arranged in the order they are presented, after much deliberation, in order to assist you in making a gradual transition from the person you are today to the person you can become.”

With that sense of order in mind, over the next month or so, I will be creating more posts based on some of the lessons contained in the 50 lessons organized within the book’s 10 “semesters.”

Those posts will not be a substitute for reading the book. Instead, my hope is that if you don’t already own a copy of University of Success, the vignettes I share might inspire you to change that—and grow in your own pursuit of success, however you define it.

The recent North American Growth Council trip to South Africa for Amway’s top North American leaders, in a word, was spectacular. I wasn’t there, but if the photos are any indication, it was a trip of a lifetime.

First on the agenda were strategy sessions in Cape Town at the luxury One & Only Resort.

Then what followed was a week which included:

* shark diving
* a hot air balloon safari
* a cable car to Table Mountain
* a private game reserve, Kapama River Lodge.
* a Winelands tour

Here’s a sampling of the photos, with hundreds more posted courtesy of Amway Achieve Magazine.

World Wide DreamBuilders Diamond Leaders at Amway’s North American Growth Council in South Africa 2013

No less spectacular is to be reminded of how Amway is a legacy business. As World Wide DreamBuilders has long taught, this is an enterprise that you can pass on to your children.

On the South Africa trip were Jim and Kelly Puryear, the son and daughter-in-law of Founders Crowns Ron and Georgia Lee Puryear, as well as Ryder and Nicole Erickson, the son-in-law and daughter of Executive Diamonds Theron and Darlene Nelsen.

World Wide DreamBuilders – Jim & Kelly Puryear

World Wide DreamBuilders – Ryder & Nicole Erickson

They have developed solid businesses with Amway in their own right, and now they are in the process of taking over leadership of the organizations that their parents have developed since the 1970s.

One of the fun parts of traveling is tying in a side-trip on your way to or from the main destination.

Multi-tasking is an essential part of our day-to-day lives. As we buy some groceries, we realize that we should also fill up the tank and pop by the post office to deliver a package that has been sitting in the car for a few days.

But what do you call it when you tie in a fun side-trip on your way to or from your main vacation destination? How about multi-vacationing? Multi-adventuring, maybe?

Twenty-five summers ago, when I was vacationing in England with my mom and sister, it occurred to us that we were too close to Italy not to check out that beautiful country where some of my mom’s ancestors had lived.

So we hopped on a plane and spent a week primarily in Florence, visiting museums and enjoying the food and the architecture, with train rides to Pisa and Milan.

On a smaller scale, this multi-adventuring approach led me and my family to Niagara Falls five summers ago. As we headed back to Chicago in the family van after a visit with relatives in New England, we decided to make a detour and got a taste of a “bonus” experience.

I bet some of the top leaders with World Wide DreamBuilders (WWDB) have similar feelings after their recent “side trips.”

This came after their week in South Africa as part of the North American Growth Council trip for Amway’s top North American leaders. That included a safari with other WWDB leaders such as Greg and Laurie Duncan, Ryder and Nicole Erickson, and Jim and Kelly Puryear.

Thereafter, it was off to Zimbabwe and Zambia for Amway Triple Diamonds Greg and Laurie Duncan, while Crowns Brad and Julie Duncan and Executive Diamonds Howie and Theresa Danzik jetted to Dubai.

They stopped in the United Arab Emirates city on their way back home from their South African adventure.

Instead of flying straight back to the U.S.A., the two couples hung out in Dubai for several days.

Among other activities, the Duncans and Danziks visited a sheik’s palace, took a helicopter tour over the city and stayed at the Dubai Armani Hotel, inside the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.

For many people, the closest they have gotten to the Burj Khalifa came through the world of make-believe when they saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. In that 2011 movie, which came out the year after the building was completed, actor Tom Cruise performed some breath-taking stunt work outside the building:

But for the Duncans and Danziks, this trip is no fiction.

While in Dubai, they not only took in some sensational moments more than 7,000 miles from home, but shared them with WWDB Independent Business Owners.

In the process, they truly embraced and embodied the role of “worldwide dream builders.”

Going on an African safari and hanging out inside the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, are pretty obvious “bucket list” items.

The dream-come-true nature of those experiences permeated According to Bridgett posts earlier this week:

The first described the North American Growth Council trip to South Africa for Amway’s top North American leaders, and the second recounted some details of a spin-off trip to Dubai taken by World Wide DreamBuilder leaders Brad and Julie Duncan as well as Howie and Theresa Danzik.

But having dinner on a train as it chugs along tracks in Zambia? For me, that one was off the beaten path—until I saw how Greg and Laurie Duncan, Amway Triple Diamonds and WWDB leaders, had taken such an excursion.

Elegant, luxurious and memorable only begin to describe the Royal Livingstone Express. During their four-hour trip, the Duncans enjoyed fine dining as they glided through the country and watched the sunset.

The train ride was only one chapter on a weeklong trip in Zambia and Zimbabwe during which they rode elephants, walked with lions and took a helicopter tour of Victoria Falls, which borders the two countries.

Victoria Falls is the largest waterfall in the world (in height and width) and is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

Of course, Greg and Laurie didn’t stay in a Motel 6. Their accommodations were at The Victoria Falls Hotel, a 5-star, Edwardian style structure that overlooks the majestic force of nature and is known as “the grand old lady of the falls.”

It’s inspiring to watch someone lead a life well beyond the confines of kids’ soccer games and keeping pace with the laundry and prepping family dinners, and then communicate it in a way that helps other people identify and expand their own dreams.

Through photos and stories that they relate at conferences like WWDB’s Family Reunions and Free Enterprise Days, that’s what Greg and Laurie do.

Whether our current aspirations are similar to theirs or completely different isn’t the point—sometimes you have to see someone else’s dream come to fruition in order to ignite your own.

With an estimated net worth of more than $5 billion, Amway co-founder Rich DeVos celebrated his 87^th birthday this March as the wealthiest man in Michigan. Globally, he’s “only” the 239^th wealthiest person.

But that’s just the start of talking about his riches. He has huge abundance in other ways, too. In one of those categories—the ability to dream—the trait, without a doubt, is one of the key ingredients that led directly to DeVos’ financial wealth.

In the “Second Semester” of Og Mandino’s University of Success, in the lesson “How to Give Your Dreams a Chance to Come True,” an excerpt is taken from DeVos’ 1975 book, Believe!

DeVos humbly notes that he is no expert on motivation, but offers straightforward views on what it takes to succeed. And it all goes back to the one-word title of his book: “I do have a firm conviction that almost anyone can do whatever he really believes he can do.”

“There are no areas of life which are immune to the combination of faith and effort,” DeVos later states. “The personal philosophy of ‘I can’ does not apply just to business but to politics, education, church work, athletics, the arts, you name it.”

When both were in their 30s, DeVos and his longtime best friend, Jay Van Andel, began the Amway business. It was just the latest in a series of business ventures, including an aviation school and a drive-in restaurant—both of which they had no experience in before launching those enterprises.

That lack of experience didn’t discourage them, and likewise for me and so many other Amway Independent Business Owners over the last half-century, the absence of any prior business ownership hasn’t stopped us.

That’s a similar path taken by many leaders in World Wide DreamBuilders who likewise possessed zero business background.

“One never knows what he might accomplish until he tries,” DeVos writes. “That is so simple that some people completely overlook it.”

I am far from mastering this issue of giving new and often-intimidating things a real try. But with each triumph that I achieve, it’s another steppingstone toward whatever could be next—if only I am willing to go through the uncertain outcome that follows each new pursuit that I attempt.

While it is tempting to poke fun at World Wide DreamBuilders’ name as hokey, it’s really not when you consider that throughout history any truly magnificent accomplishment has come only on the heels of someone’s outlandish dream.

And in partnership with Amway, World Wide DreamBuilders like Norm and Pam Kizirian nurture and create an environment for those fragile dreams to be protected, to grow and ultimately to come to fruition.

But when we lose that drive, what is it that keeps us from trying? A major point that DeVos emphasizes is that often those we are closest are the ones who put the kibosh on our dreams, if we let them.

“Why do so many people let their reams die unlived?” DeVos writes. “The biggest reason, I suppose, is the negative, cynical attitudes of other people. Those other people are not enemies—they are friends, even family members. Our enemies never bother us greatly; we can usually handle them with little trouble.

But our friends—if they are naysayers, constantly punching holes in our dreams with a cynical smile here, a put-down there, a constant stream of negative vibrations—our friends can kill us!”

It’s a great reminder that to others in my life, who are going after their dreams, I am the potential naysayer, the one who could be flashing that cynical smile or making a put-down.

And I am determined not to be what DeVos describes as the “easiest thing to find on God’s green earth… someone to tell you all the things you cannot do.”

Amway India Chairman and CEO William S. Pinckney was among the three arrested, then released. (Photo by The Economic Times)

Business as usual: sadly, those three words go a long way toward capturing the heart of the story about three Amway executives in India who were arrested earlier this week.

By “business,” I don’t mean Amway—I am referring to the habit of some foreign countries to apply antiquated or flat-out ignorant laws that are nowhere close to being up to 21^st century standards. These laws don’t adequately distinguish between illegal pyramid schemes and legitimate multi-level marketing companies such as Amway.

So, following a script that has played out previously in countries like South Korea, authorities make an arrest and then shortly thereafter release the “suspects” amid sensationalistic headlines about the charges pending against them.

The charges come under those authorities’ apparent interpretation that the three executives had violated the nation’s Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act.

The Economic Times called India’s policy “obtuse” and in an editorial stated “the arrest stems from the official machinery’s inability to appreciate what distinguishes legitimate multi-level marketing from pyramid schemes whose sole purpose is to swindle people out of their money, promising them swift and high returns.”

Claims of this kind are nothing new. In South Korea, which is now a $1 billion market for Amway, the leading distributor with roughly 80% of the market, is Leonard Kim. A highly respected leader with World Wide DreamBuilders (WWDB), Kim on at least two occasions has been jailed and then released.

Amway’s international scope is reflected by the variety of foreign nations’ flags outside its Ada, Mich. headquarters.

Ironically, what these governments allege—that these Amway distributors or employees are part of a pyramid scheme—is directly opposite the truth.

And that truth is revealed by Amway’s persevering in those markets: this corporation is not some fly-by-night operation looking to make a quick buck and then move on to the next scam victim.

Founded in 1959 and now in more than 100 countries and territories across the globe, the company is in it for the long haul. Along the way, Amway has learned to weather these temporary storms as part of the price of exporting the American Way, and the opportunity that goes with it, to these other nations.

For some very good insights that provide more context about the perils of Amway’s international expansion, check out this post at The Truth About Amway.

In India, where Amway opened in 1998, the corporation has 500 employees and 550,000 distributors. It will begin building its first manufacturing plant later this year, at an investment of $95 million—surely a compelling sign of commitment.

It’s more than a little ironic, too, that the latest place where Amway is facing harassment from authorities is in a country infested with a longstanding caste system. That’s the social order in which people’s value is ranked largely by the happenstance of their birth.

And to think that it’s against that cultural backdrop that these officials would bring such dubious charges against a company dedicated to providing opportunity for anyone to succeed, no matter their socio-economic background.

The whole MLM industry really has Amway, as the #1 multi-level marketing company in the world, to thank for paving the way for other businesses to expand to countries all over the globe as it works to educate governments on the crucial legal distinctions that separate genuine businesses from pyramids and Ponzi schemes.

Here’s one simple test: is there a money-back guarantee on products? Because no pyramid is going to let you get your money back. Providing a money-back guarantee is one of the cornerstones of Amway’s business model and practice.

Economic Times graphic

To its credit, The Economic Times prominently noted that fact in a story following up on the Amway executives’ arrests in India (see graphic, left).

One of the great aspects of the Amway business is how it empowers and inspires distributors to look ahead to a brighter future.

Same goes for Amway India as a whole, where time will reveal this latest turn of events will be part of what makes the corporation, and its individual distributors, stronger as they conquer misperceptions in the marketplace.