Kaizen is a Japanese term meaning “continuous improvement through positive change.” Nikken Independent Consultants who qualify for Team Kaizen are generously rewarded for one year or more, depending on their sales performance. Recipients of this award exemplify Kaizen and have the opportunity to experience VIP treatment and an annual all-paid luxury trip. In 2018, Team Kaizen is going to Japan in May, so anyone who wants to be rewarded with the 2019 trip to Italy should be working to qualify right now!

How does anyone get and stay motivated to enroll new Consultants consistently and accumulate more than 3,000 points in sales month after month in order to qualify? Or to do 50,000 points in annual PGPV (Personal Group Point Volume), all of which focus on sponsorship and retail sales?

As the saying goes, “There are different strokes for different folks.” In network marketing you can be inspired by the accomplishments of others, i.e,. “I want to do that, too.” It also is a business where you need to consciously motivate yourself to push on, i.e., “I can do it!” Both apply to Nikken entrepreneurs as well as the desire to live with Active Wellness.

Here’s a story from Royal Ambassador Valerie Johnson about motivation. She is a triathlete who reads a lot. In fact, virtually every successful Nikken Consultant is an avid reader of motivational books. Valerie’s recent find is by the renowned Olympic champion, ice skater Scott Hamilton, author of Finish First: Winning Changes Everything. She says that Scott Hamilton writes of having done 31,200 practices before turning pro. During each of those practice sessions, he fell an average of four times, which equates to 41,600 falls.

Valerie asks, “Why would someone keep falling and falling again, and keep on?” The answer is “because he loves to skate, and he has a burning desire to win!” Valerie understands this desire to win and explains how she started doing triathlons and compares it to how she started doing Nikken as a business.

Describing her first triathlon, Valerie says, “My objective was to just finish the race. I figured if I could just finish, I would be a winner. As I was coming in toward the end, I found myself behind a younger lady who appeared quite fit. She had on cute race shorts with a spanky skirt. Intimidated, I ran behind her for quite a while, and then it came to me, ‘Why are you following her? You can go faster than this!’ So I put the pedal to the metal, lengthened my stride and whooshed right past her. When I crossed the finish line, I was surprised and tremendously thrilled to find that I was in third place for my age division! I was hooked; not just on triathlons, but on winning! When I decided to be in it to win it, my whole attitude and focus changed. There’s a huge difference between being in it to participate and being in it to win.”

In Scott Hamilton’s book, he says, “What if winning was so much less about having the right qualities and qualifications, and more about simply having the hunger to win? What if it was less about hard work and sacrifice and more about commitment and repetition? Would the concept of winning become easier for you if you believed it was simply about getting on the right path and doing the same thing over and over again? So often when we look at success, we see the incredible virtuoso musicians or athletes. What we don’t see if the long road they walked to get there. We don’t see the time they put in while we weren’t watching.”

Valerie sees what Scott writes about in herself. She says, “I started Nikken with much the same attitude that I started doing triathlons. I was participating but not really putting my all into it. What would happen if I was actually in it to win it? I would set my goals firmly, I would find a coach, I would practice, I would get up each time I fall and try again, I would do those seemingly small things that really do make the difference such as read good-for-me-books, listen to character-building podcasts and recordings, watch educational videos about our business and products, meet new people, make friends, invite them to hear what Nikken has to offer. I would up my game! I would meet more people, make more friends, invite more people—and never give up!

“In it to win it,” says Valerie Johnson. No wonder she is part of one of the most successful distributorships in the history of Nikken! What about you?