How to Deal with Stress in Your MLM Business

Today, we’re going to take a few minutes and talk about how to deal with stress in your MLM Business. Let me preface by telling you I am not a doctor or psychiatrist. I am only going to speak from my personal experience.

I personally believe that stress is normal. It’s not necessarily a bad thing either, although it can be bad. Stress lets you know that you are alive. Everyone I personally know has dealt with stress at one point or another in their life. For some people, it’s a daily thing. For others, it’s just something that happens from time to time.

There is a good stress and bad stress, often referred to as eustress and distress. It’s how you deal with stress in your MLM Business, and in life, that can make you or break you. Stress can put you in a downward spiral or it can be your motivation to improve your life for the better.

Stress is officially defined as:

A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.

Remember those two words: strain and tension.

Learning how to deal with stress in your MLM Business and in life is vital for your long-term happiness and emotional well-being. There are many ways to handle stress, but keep in mind that different things work for different people.

In the paragraphs below, I will share 10 of my favorite tips about how to deal with stress in your MLM Business. I encourage you to try out each tip and figure out what works best for you.

How to Deal with Stress in Your MLM Business

Here are 12 of my best tips about how to deal with stress in your MLM Business. They are listed in no particular order.

# 1: Have Realistic Expectations

Without a doubt, I believe the greatest source of stress in our industry is unrealistic expectations. People join this industry, normally out of desperation. Often times, they are in a bad financial situation and they expect their new business to immediately solve their financial problems. Folks, that is not how ANY business works.

In most cases, you will not create a full-time income working your MLM Business part-time, for AT LEAST three to five years. That is a fact. Yes, you can do it sooner than that, but it is not the norm.

You get out what you put in. You will not earn more in your MLM Business working part-time than you do at your day job working full-time, especially during your first few years in business.  If you are desperate for money, you should get a day job or part-time job and continue to build your network marketing business on the side.

This is not the lottery or a miracle. It is a business. Treat it accordingly.

For most people, your first year should just be dedicated to becoming good at business. The fact that you can be making money and even be profitable within 6 months is a massive bonus. 90% of people start with the wrong expectations. Do not make this mistake. Business is a skill set which needs to learn and developed over a number of years and you can totally do it. Just treat it like anything else.

Source: Network Marketing HQ

# 2: Counsel with Your Coach

When you are down, upset or stressed out about the business, that’s when you want to counsel with your successful upline. Never let your team see you down or upset. When feeling down, go upline. And when feeling up, go downline and talk to your team.

Your upline mentor is one of your most important business resources. Develop a close relationship with SOMEONE SUCCESSFUL in your upline (it doesn’t have to be your sponsor) and communicate with them daily. Be smart enough to humble yourself and actually listen to the advice they will share with you.

After all, they’ve been there and done that, plus they have a VESTED interest in helping you become successful in the business.

A coach or mentor can assist you in making adjustments and navigating through difficult times in your network marketing business.

Finding coaches and mentors is an important mission, that you will no doubt have over the course of your home business career. It is critical that you choose them wisely. Your mentor is someone to whom you’ll be committing a great deal of time and attention, and who ideally will take a vested interest in you as well.

Source: streetdirectory.com

# 3: Plan Out Your Week

You should never wonder WHAT you should be doing to build your business. Each Sunday night, you should take 30-minutes and plan out your upcoming week. Determine what days you will work your business, at what times, and what activities you will do during that time. Having a plan will help eliminate unneeded stress. Also, make sure you schedule in a date night, time for your family and time to exercise. If you don’t plan out your week, life will more than likely get in the way, and your business will get put on the back burner.

We need a map to get to our desired destinations — a map that deals effectively with tasks, expanding to-do lists, last-minute invitations, future commitments, work, family, health, etc. The map should enable you to navigate your way through time.

Source: Hubstaff Blog

# 4: Have a Rest Day Each Week

No one can go full blast 24/7, day in and day out, and still be effective and happy. Trust me, I’ve tried. It makes sense to have at least one day a week where you do absolutely nothing with your business. Sunday is normally a great day to do this. Spend some time with your family, to worship, meditate or simply relax and enjoy life.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports in a CDC publication that stress levels at work at higher than ever and that “health care expenditures are nearly 50% greater for workers who report high levels of stress.” Stress creates havoc with our physical and emotional health. “A growing body of evidence shows that “…skipping breaks can lead to stress and exhaustion.”

Source: Inc.

# 5: Create a Daily Routine

We are all creatures of habit. I can’t speak for you, but I get stressed out when my daily routine changes unexpectedly. I know many other people feel the same way. You need to create a simple daily routine for your network marketing business. If possible, try to work your business at the same time each day and do similar activities. That’s not always possible, but when it is, you should do it.

When you have a regular routine, you know what to expect at work, and that gives you a sense of peace and control, making it easier to keep stress at bay. If you know in advance that you have a difficult item to cross off your to-do list, tackle it first thing in the morning to avoid that sense of dread. Plus, you’ll feel accomplished and ready to conquer whatever else comes your way.

Source: DreamHost

# 6: Exercise

Exercise is a great way to deal with stress is your MLM Business. Make it a point to exercise at least 30-minutes every day. Do something to get your heart rate up. Take a nice long walk outside and enjoy the beautiful scenery and fresh air. I love doing this each day. Consider learning more about meditation and yoga, as well.

Studies have proven that increasing your daily physical activity is a great way to reduce stress. This doesn’t mean that you need to be in the gym two hours a day. Just about any type of physical activity can help in reducing your stress levels.

Source: Humanity

# 7: Stop Trying to Motivate and Babysit Others

If you’re like me, you want other people on your team to be successful. That’s a good thing. You just need to realize that it’s not your responsibility to make other people successful. Each person on your team is their own CEO and is responsible for their own business.

Yes, you should help them when they ask you to, but never do things for others they should be doing for themselves. Don’t try to manage or motivate people. Lead by example and work with the willing. Don’t try to drag anyone across the finish line.

You can influence people and circumstances, but you can’t force things to go your way.

To have the most influence, focus on changing your behavior. Be a good role model and set healthy boundaries for yourself. When you have concerns about someone else’s choices, share your opinion, but only share it once. Don’t try to fix people who don’t want to be fixed.

Source: Psychology Today

# 8: Leverage Systems Whenever Possible

The system is the solution. I believe Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, is responsible for saying that. You need systems for your network marketing business. You need a system to generate leads, follow-up with your leads, present the opportunity and train your team. There is no right or wrong system. You just need to find or develop something that works for you. Start out with your upline’s system and go from there.

To be successful in network marketing, you MUST have systems to create new leads, educate your prospects, and help get them started. It’s absolutely critical to your business.

Source: SelfGrowth.com

# 9: Focus on Your Why

Whenever I am feeling stressed out or down, I think about WHY. I try to keep my WHY in front of me at all times. My WHY is my reason for doing the business in the first place. Spend some time to clearly determine your why. Create a vision board. Write out your goals and mission statement for your life. Look at these things daily. They will help keep you motivated when you are stressed out or feeling down.

Focus on the difference you or your company makes to keep the flames of motivation kindled. Annette Mason, founder of Trilogy Design Works, knows that she’s most motivated when she feels connected to a larger purpose. She explains that “Connecting with my ‘why’ is of paramount importance because it fuels my drive and determination — when I feel connected with a purpose, the ‘why’ becomes like a superpower and provides energy where I thought there was none.”

Source: Forbes

# 10: Track Your Progress

I am naturally a numbers guy. I love numbers. I’ve found that when I track my progress day in and day out, I make great improvements over a month or two. I might not see huge results in my business day in and day out, but those little improvements really do add up.

Keep track of how many people you talk to about the business, how many appointments you set, how many presentations you give, and how many new customers and distributors you sign up.  Keep a simple little worksheet with all of this information in it. Update it daily. At the end of each month, consolidate all of the information and compare it to the previous month. I’ve found this to be very effective to reduce my stress.

Track your achievements. It will help you see the progress and the returns on what you do. Monitoring your success will always make you happier and is a great stress management technique.

Source: ManagerUp

# 11: Eat Healthy & Take Supplements

We dig our graves with our teeth! Make sure you eat healthy and take supplements. Eat your fruits and vegetables. Keep your weight under control. Take your vitamins.

Your eating habits and stress levels go hand-in-hand. When you’re stressed, it’s natural to want to reach for comfort foods like desserts, fast food and alcohol, but these foods can be addictive and might trigger a downward spiral. By fueling your body for success, you’ll reduce your stress, improve your productivity and strengthen your relationship with your team, so use these four steps to create a high-performance diet plan.

Source: Entrepreneur

# 12: Focus on What You Can Control

This is probably my # 1 tip on this list. In this business, you cannot control what others do with their business. I wish we could, but we can’t. The only thing you can control is what you do. Make sure your goals are based upon what you can control. Don’t have expectations of others. Just focus on your activity level and if others decide to step up and model your behavior, consider it a bonus.

Much of the anxiety we experience is over the uncertainty caused by things outside our control. The best way to combat that is to only focus on the things we can control – like our effort, our attitude, and how we treat people – rather than the outcomes we can’t.

Source: SnackNation

Final Thoughts

There you have it folks. These are my top 12 tips on how to deal with stress in your MLM Business. Which tip do you believe is the most effective? What do you do to handle your own stress?  Leave a comment below to share your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,






Chuck Holmes
20+ Year Network Marketing Professional
Top Earner & Top Recruiter
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com

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