Are you a SLAVE to the dream you’ve been selling (with David Sharpe, Tony Rush and Carol Douthitt)

Practicality dictates that everyone's results will vary as we are all unique and different. Basically, it takes hard work to make a substantial income in this business, and some people will make no money at all. The earnings of an Empower Network affiliate will be 100% dependent upon their skills, work effort, commitment, leadership capabilities, and market conditions. Common sense would suggest that in most opportunities, one would find exceptional individuals performing well above average, while others perform under the average. Empower Network does not guarantee any level of income or your success.

To see our full income disclosure, please visit our website at www.empowernetwork.com forward slash income dot php. Hey guys, this is Dave Shaw, co-founder of Empower Network. Welcome to the Empower Hour call that we do every single Monday night at 9 p.m. Eastern time, and we're almost about, I think, 10 months old now, and we've never missed a single Monday night call. So if you're...

at all involved with us, or maybe even thinking about it, I just want you to just block out your calendars for the next 6 to 12 months, every single Monday night at 9 p.m. Eastern time. There's a reason why every single week these calls get packed out in a way that I've never seen a company pack out conference calls over a consistent period of time. Guys, we do this for a reason, because these calls are impactful, they're inspirational, they're emotional, we laugh, we yell, we scream, we cry, and most importantly, guys, we tell the truth. Tonight, you're going to experience a little bit of that truth, because we're going to talk about some things inside of this industry, about making money from home, about network marketing, about direct sale, about internet marketing that very few people have the cojones to talk about.

We're going to talk about some of the lies that I've lived, even at a certain point in my business. And I just... I couldn't stand it anymore. I'm going to throw some things out there that you may be able to identify with, and I'm going to really paint a picture for you to let you guys see why we do the things that we do, why our leaders are richer, why our people are freer, why our culture is unique, and why people stick around here for a long time, because it's not the fact that our leaders are making more money than anybody else in the industry as far as per affiliate. We have about 40,000 paid...

40,000 customers over the course of the last 10 months, and our affiliates are doing numbers that I've actually personally, in a company that's this young, have never seen people do before. Our product... It's not just because our products are as impactful as they are. It's not because people come in who have never had any success marketing before, and for the first time ever generate their first leads, or get their first traffic to their site, or understand how to market in a way that our people understand how to market. That's not...

That's the reason why we're where we're at. It's because of our people. It's because of our integrity. It's because of our transparency. It's because of our honesty, and because of our culture that we have the type of growth that we've experienced.

So there's a reason why things are happening here, and there's a reason why these calls get packed out every single Monday night. And by the end of this call, I don't know where you're at in your life. I don't know where you're at in your business. Maybe you're somebody who's just getting started. Maybe you just found the home-based business industry.

Maybe you just realized that what you're doing is not what you want to be doing a year from now. I don't know if you're somebody who's been in the industry for a little while. Maybe you've been in the industry for three to six months, and you're kind of realizing that you think that there's just something else out there. I don't know if you've been in the industry for decades. You're somebody who's built down lines, who has teams.

I know there's a couple of those leaders who are kind of eavesdropping in on the call tonight. Well, here's what I promise you, no matter where you come from, where you're at right now, what skill sets you have. What experience you have. By the end of this call tonight, I know that you're going to be impacted in a way that's dramatic. I know that you're going to feel something different than you feel right now at the beginning of this call, and I know that you're going to be inspired to either join us or go out there and make a difference in a way that you feel maybe previously you couldn't do before.

So what I want you to do is I want you to just simply relax, but stay pumped. Put your seatbelt on and get ready for a call tonight. I'm positive it's going to move you in ways that maybe you underestimated before this call. Before we get into some of the content and what we're going to be really discussing and dissecting tonight, I want to give you guys a couple of announcements. For those of you who know that we're doing a huge event coming up in San Diego, it's called Lock Arms and Fight the Forces of Evil.

The event's called Fight the Forces of Evil. Those of you who have hung around this long enough know that's one of our favorite things to say. And that's going to be at the San Diego Convention Center. It's the convention center the weekend of September 20th. Here's what I need to tell you guys.

A, if you're not involved with Empower Network, click the link or get back to the person who invited you here. And my friend, I know a lot of times people have a hard time just telling you things. They think that they've got to sell you. They think that they've got to tell you all the features and benefits. I don't have a problem telling you to just click the link and get in.

Right? There's a lot of people from around the world who are really excited to be part of this. They're excited to be part of this. They're excited to be part of this. I'm really, really happy.

I'm going to bring a couple of them on tonight that they just decided to get in. Right? I don't need to go into all the details, but here's what I will tell you. Just get in. Get involved with us.

Go back and click the link that somebody sent you. Buy our blogging system. It's only $25 to get started. Okay? Our events are unlike any events inside of the industry.

They impact people in a way that most people have never experienced. There's a lot of... Friends of mine who have been in the industry for a long time, going to events for years, they come to one of our events and just leave with a different perspective on the industry, their life, their business, and the impact that they can have on the world, and the impact that they can have on their personal bank account, which is important, too. If you're involved with Empower Network, guys, if you are an affiliate, I don't know how else to tell you this except to make sure you get your ass to that event. I'm going to say that again.

Get your ass to that event, and I tell you that because, again, I don't know where you're at, but I know that once you get there, and you see everything with your own eyes, and you experience it with your own ears, and you're able to put your hands on it and realize how real it is, I'm going to tell you that you will not leave there the same person that you came. We had people that came to Atlanta, okay, our last event, which was called Don't Be a Wussy, who came there, and they were kind of on the phone. They were like, what's going on? What's going on? What's going on?

They were on the fence, who came there, and they were ready to break free, but they had a while, if they wouldn't have come to the event, if they would have kept going on the path that they were going, they had a while before they were really going to break free, break through. Break free, break through, same thing kind of if you think about it. They came to Atlanta, and guys, coming out of Atlanta, we've had more success stories, more regular people, more people who have never had success before, who came out of there. who are doing things that aren't even surprising me sometimes at times, okay? Whoever gets the most people to that event, if you've got a team, even if you've got one person on your team, whoever gets the most people to that event is going to have the most success coming out of there for the few months after that, okay?

We had leaders who had made X amount of dollars for the first six to seven months of being involved in Empower Network who made half of that the month after Atlanta just simply because they were there. Guys, going to an event and getting your team to the event is something that is priceless. The impact that it has on your business, the impact that it has on your income, the impact that it has in the way that you view yourself and your business, you cannot get any other way, okay? Hotel rooms are almost filled up. You've got to get back there and get.

You've got to book your ticket, and you've got to book your hotel room. We're going to be staying in between the Hilton and the Omni Hotel. Once you buy your ticket, you go to the My Business tab, My Programs tab. There's a link there that says click here for details about the event or about the hotels and the event and all that stuff. Click that.

You'll find the information on that page to be able to go and book your hotel room and reserve everything that you need to reserve to get there and be there with us. That weekend. Guys, if you're on the fence, if you're waiting, if you're doing what I often sometimes do because I have lots of people around me who sometimes have to keep me organized, this is a time to snap out of it and say, tonight I'm going to buy my tickets, book my hotel room, and guys, I'm telling you, being there with us in San Diego, being there with us live, being there with us in the same room is going to do things for you that, frankly, I don't have time to go into tonight, frankly, I can't, I have a hard time articulating and putting into words because it pushes you over the edge and does more for your business than anything you could humanly possibly do on your own. It's the power of the group. It's the power of the people.

It's the power of being in the same room with 2,500 people who have the same ideas and vision as you do. And I'm telling you, when more than one person comes together with the same idea, that's where the magic happens. Guys, breakthroughs are had. Relationships are formed. You're able to see things, see people who are doing extraordinary things and be able to look at them and say, gosh, you know, that person is no different than I am.

They're no better, no smarter. They don't look any better. They don't smell any better, okay? I want you to go to empowerpicks.com. We just put up a bunch of picks from our...

our Costa Rica event. The Atlanta pictures are still being uploaded. They've all obviously been edited because the event was a couple of months ago. So those are going to be coming here over the next couple of days. But we did just post pictures to...

Oh, excuse me. I had to get some water there. We did just post pictures to the Costa Rica event. And, guys, here's what I want to tell you, okay? We just put on an event for 100 serious entrepreneurs.

It was not a cheap event by any means, okay? And what... What they experienced down in Costa Rica was... It was just... It was...

Again, it's hard to put in words. When I saw a lot of people there on Wednesday and Thursday night, and this was about a four-day retreat, five-day, four-night, the way... The look in people's eyes on Wednesday and Thursday compared to the look in their eyes on Sunday was night and day, okay? We had people there who came... Came not really knowing their potential and what they were capable of.

And by the end of Sunday, after hanging out with us and after learning the things that we taught people at our events, they had what they needed to go back and do the things that they're truly capable of. That's what events do for you. They take men and turn them into boys, okay? They take... They take girls and turn them into women.

They take potential... Potential leaders, right? People who have it in them and turn them into real leaders. It brings out your potential. And, you know, I'm going to bring out a couple of people on the call tonight that can give you their perspective.

But I can tell you that every single significant relationship that I've built inside of this industry has came from going to a live event, right? Those of you... A lot of you know my story. And four and a half years ago, you know, I was at the bottom of my life struggling with drugs and alcohol. I ended up getting clean.

I've been now clean for four and a half years. Got involved in network marketing and was kind of doing the traditional thing when I first got started, running around, driving my... I had an old 1994 F-150 that I drove around. And, you know, that got old. I was putting signs in my yard.

People weren't calling, dragging grandmas to hotel meetings, by the way. We have lots of grandmas at Empower Network and it's really kind of cool to see them not running around but being able to kind of build a business and live a lifestyle instead of... of just selling a lifestyle and running around and cold calling and doing things that they don't like doing. So, rock on to all of the grandmas and grandpas that are in Empower Network. You guys are just badass and we appreciate having you here.

But I was dragging people around and cold calling and beating up friends and relatives and eventually through pure just... just willpower pushed her and started having success. And then one day, you know, I got a phone call. Dave called me out of the blue and we just started kind of talking and building a relationship but it was still kind of... it wasn't really that personal at that point.

One day, he called me and he said, you know, hey, I'm putting on this event down for some people. Do you want to come down and be a guest trainer? And, you know, I hung up the phone. Of course, I said yes and I hung up the phone and I kind of thought about it. I did what a lot of people do, right?

Have you ever been invited out to dinner or maybe even on a date or something and you just kind of weren't really sure and, you know, started to talk your way out of it and thought of all the things that you do. Thought of all the things that could go wrong and how uncomfortable you're going to be and how many people you're not going to know and then you go and you have the best time of your entire life. I know you've had one of those times that situations have happened. Well, you know, I almost talked myself out of going down to this event but at the very last minute, my girl, Erin, she said, Dave, you got to go. Just go.

You got to go down there. And I bought my plane ticket, got my passport, went down to Coastal, Costa Rica and from that event, the idea of Empower Network was built upon. And about four months later, after midnight to 3 a.m. phone calls and lots of ideas and lots of work and lots of conversations, the Empower Network was born. And I just, you know, I sometimes think back to what if I would have said no?

What if I would have come up with an excuse last minute to not go down to Costa Rica? What if I would have talked myself out of it and believed sometimes some of the lies that we tell ourselves of why we shouldn't do something, then we may not be here today. But I tell you that, that story is just to tell you the impact that an event can have on you, the impact of going and meeting people live in person, the things that can come from that in a relationship that can be built, the ideas that can be born and the things that you can learn. Sometimes we underestimate so much. Sometimes we just, we overthink it, we overanalyze and we talk ourselves right out of potentially the best thing that could ever happen to us in our entire life.

So I challenge you to shut the thinker off. Don't talk yourself out of it. Listen to your heart. You know that you've got to be there and you know what potentially could come out of it and make the decision to be there with us, guys. And then get back and book your hotel room because tomorrow is the last day to get the discount and the hotel rooms are filling up fast.

So you must, you must, must, must book your hotel room tonight at the Hilton or the Omni. What we're gonna talk about tonight, guys, is we're gonna talk about something that's very rarely discussed inside of the hotel room. We're gonna talk about something that's very rarely discussed inside of this industry. And that's the problem that I experienced when I first launched a business inside of this industry. So many times, probably every single person can relate to this, that the very first time that you're exposed to network marketing or affiliate marketing or direct sales, however you want to refer to it, and of course they are kind of different things, but they all kind of tend to sometimes meld into the same industry, you probably sat in front of some sort of a business presentation and were told that if you get five and they get five and they get five and they get five, then you'll be rich, move to a private island, eventually buy that island, and be able to afford a jet.

So if you want to fly somebody down for lunch or have any human contact or interaction, you can do that and people can arrive within 30 minutes and you can just live the life that you've always dreamed of living. So you get involved in the business opportunity and you find yourself doing what I did when I first got started, which again, was I was so broke, and poor, that I went to Vistaprint, it was the only website that I could go to buy marketing materials, and of course, this wasn't marketing like we teach at Empower Network, I bought magnets that said, you know, call me, it was actually a cell phone service company that eventually went out of business because the owners just didn't have the same values that I had and I believe the other distributors had, they went through some problems and didn't persevere through them, and I put these signs on my truck, and kind of drove around and, you know, cold called friends and family and trying to get them to a business presentation, but what I also noticed was not just what I was doing as somebody who is new getting started, okay, which is one of the reasons why we have some of the concepts and philosophies and teachings that we have in Empower Network is because there's some deeper marketing lessons and there's some deeper psychology that we realized and learned later on that allowed us to build some of the biggest teams faster than, you know, teams have ever been built in the industry, hardly ever picking up the phone, okay, and that's a whole, we talk about that in the Costa Rica Intensive Course, really in depth, we also taught a lot of it in the course that we, or in the retreat that we did this weekend, but here's what else I noticed. As I noticed, even the leaders, okay, even the leaders, the people who had the huge downline, the people who had the huge, what they were doing was they were on the phone all day. They were hosting home and hotel meetings. They were flying around the country.

They were living this life that was so different than what they were selling. There was a man up in front of a room at a hotel, I can remember, and every single Wednesday, I went to this meeting and sat up in front of the room and talked about lifestyle. It was all about lifestyle. There was pictures on the slides of the PowerPoint that had fancy cars and big houses and pictures of Coronas on the beach. You guys know what I'm talking about.

Yet, when I was hanging out with some of these leaders and I was hanging out with some of these people, what I saw in their face was stress and pain. I saw a attitude of dissatisfaction. I saw ungratefulness. I saw ungratefulness. Not gratefulness.

I saw people who were struggling with their relationships and struggling with their family. I saw people who were getting married two and three and four times after a lifetime inside of this industry. I saw people who would work all day and night and never had the opportunity to spend any time with their kids, right? And then I started to look at my life and I saw my life going in that same direction. I was working day and night.

My relationship was struggling. I look at my daughter and I wasn't able to spend as much time with her as I wanted to spend. And I said, something's wrong with this picture, right? When Dave and I got together, we were looking at what we had been able to do through, again, pure willpower, guys. And I'm teaching you and talking about things tonight on this call that normally, again, are not talked about, right?

Because why? Well, most companies and leaders, you know, they're like, oh, well, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. But that's the problem with the companies and leaders. And there's nothing wrong with it.

It's a model that's worked for years and years and years. The problem with the model is what's going on behind the scenes. And one of the things that we've grown and thrived on is transparency and honesty. I don't know if any of you on the call were with us at the very beginning when we were going through merchant account problems. And, you know, we were getting shut down by the banks because they didn't understand our model, which most network marketing companies, direct sales and large affiliate companies go through.

Right? What most companies do instead of getting out in the open and talking about it is they kind of hide. It's the big pink elephant in the middle of the living room nobody talks about. And they kind of hide behind PR people and communication directors and lawyers. And what we did was come right out and talk about it.

So we've thrived on that honesty. And even though a lot of people don't like the fact that we did that, don't like the fact that we are willing to talk about this stuff, the fact of the matter is, is that we understand that our growth is going to be in direct proportion to our culture, honesty, and transparency. Because I know for a fact that's what people are dying for. That's what they want. This is a good marketing lesson too, and I teach this a lot, and I'll teach it here tonight, just a snippet of it anyways.

Is that the direction businesses are going these days is towards humanizing their business. It's not about hiding behind the logo anymore. So many people are still stuck back, and hey, if you look sexy and want to wear a suit, this has nothing to do with you. But a lot of times people hide behind a suit and tie, and they're completely different on stage in front of people than they are with their friends and family. And what we've recognized is that there's been a need for honesty and transparency.

Which is one of the reasons why I'm willing to talk about some of these things that maybe other people are not willing to talk about. It's one of the reasons why I'm willing to share with people that I struggle with drug addiction and alcoholism. I'm willing to share with people that I was homeless off and on for 10 years, left home when I was 13 and had a daughter when I was 16, and had a lot of ups and downs and struggles to be able to get where I came, where I am today. Had a lot of times and situations I had to persevere through. There's a...

There's a reason why I have no compunction telling somebody to not be a damn wussy. Because I'm telling you something, that if you want to go places in life, then sometimes you've got to trudge through some pain. But I've also learned through my process in particular, personally, that honesty is the best principle. And what we've been able to build here, through practicing the principle of honesty, through being transparent with people, through saying, hey, why don't we try empowering people and telling them, that you can do it. You don't need to rely on somebody to help you and hold your hand as you walk through a field of flowers.

But you can do it. You do have insight what it takes to succeed. So don't be a damn wussy and get out there and do it. If we have built and developed a group of leaders that are richer, that are more free, that are happier, that are not on the phone all day, that are not cold calling, that are making more money than they were when they were cold calling, that are having more success than they were when they were running around doing home meetings five nights a week, and damn it, they feel better about what they're doing because they're actually living the lifestyle that they're selling. And I'm telling you, friends, that there's power, guys.

There is power in laying your head down at night and feeling good about what you're doing. Now, do many of us know that? Do many of our leaders come in and are they good marketers who understand how to build email lists or have been in the game for several years? Yes. But what they're doing, anybody can do.

The reason why we built Empower Network the way that we did and the fact that you just let us do all the selling and you keep all the money is because we understood that everybody doesn't want to get on stage and sell in front of 1,200 people and speak inspiration and teach like Dave and I do. We understand that. Everybody doesn't want to fly around the country. Or be on the damn phone all day cold calling. We understand that everybody doesn't want to learn how to be a copywriter and build sales funnels and understand the dynamics of conversions, all that jazz.

We understand that there's a good possibility if you're on this phone call tonight that you have maybe a family. Maybe you have a job. Maybe you have kids. Maybe you have soccer practice. Maybe the dogs barking and the dishes need to be cleaned.

And maybe you don't have time to sit in front of your computer for 10 hours. Maybe you don't have time to sit in front of your computer for 10 hours. Maybe you don't have time to sit in front of your computer for 10 hours. When you get home from work, maybe you don't have the damn desire to go to another hotel meeting dragging one more person trying to convince them to get into your business. And maybe, just maybe, you believe and understand that there's a better way to do business, which is to fast forward to 2012 back from 1980 where most companies are stuck at.

Sometimes it's just about improving your marketing, right? Because the cold, hard fact is that there's a lot of companies out there. There's a lot of companies out there who have crappy products but great marketing and do a lot of sales. And while the other company who has great products but crappy marketing does crappy sales, marketing can sometimes be the answer to all your problems. You also probably understand that if you're going to get involved with something and do your due diligence, that there's a good possibility that you'd rather get involved with something to where people are actually doing what they're saying they're doing and that they're being honest and transparent at the end of the day.

And, guys, I've worked with tens of thousands of people all across the world, not only in the network marketing field, but also I have a whole slew of employees that work for me. And I can tell you that at the end of the day – and I want you to think about this. I want you to write this down, and I want you to let this sink in. At the end of the day, you know what's more important to people than money and power and prestige? It's that they actually feel good about what they're doing.

That they can actually lay their head down on their pillow and say, damn it, I was of service to people today. I didn't go out there and do something schemey or scammy. I had a guy that called me up the other day who had been selling products and been in the whole marketing industry for years. And he said, Dave, I said for the first time – he said for the first time in a long time, I feel fucking good. I feel like I'm getting clean money instead of dirty money.

I feel like what I'm telling people for the first time in a long time is the truth. It's what I'm actually doing. And I'm telling you, friend, that's what it's about at the end of the day. It's about nothing more, nothing less. I'm going to bring out a guy here in a second who's making – and again, here's what I want to be – I want to disclose this.

I know you guys are not wussies, weenies. And you're totally cool and very intelligent. I just have to give income disclosures just because the government requires us to. We've got a full – and I want to talk about our income disclosure. We've got a full income disclosure, guys, that shows the average earnings of what our affiliates are earning at Empower Network.

And not only does it show the average earnings, but it shows what people are earning in the last month. So it's up to date. Most companies, their income disclosure is hidden somewhere. They don't want you to see it. And it's for two years ago what people were making back in 80 B.C., not 2012.

Our income disclosure talks, it shows you precisely what people made in the last 30 days. And that's found at EmpowerNetwork.com forward slash income.php. Again, just another level of transparency. Okay? You know, guys, again, not a guarantee that you're going to make that much money, but here's a guy who is doing big things.

Okay? And here's what I can tell you about Tony. Okay? I'm going to let Tony tell his story because let me tell you something. Tony has got a lot of experience.

And, again, I want you guys to hear the owner of Empower Network say that it's an honor and a privilege to have people always surrounding me. They're in some cases smarter than me. They're in other areas who, in some instances, have more experience than I do, who, in a lot of cases, can teach me things and give me their experience. And Tony has a lot of experience in the network marketing and direct sales industry. He's seen the good, bad, and the ugly.

He's made the money, and he's lost the money before and made it back again and lost it and made it again. He's experienced pretty much everything that somebody can experience inside of this industry. He's seen every single type of leader that you can. He's experienced pretty much everything that you can possibly see inside of this industry. And this is a great perspective for a lot of you who are brand new to the industry.

If I would have had people talking this honestly to me at the beginning when I first got started being interested in making money from home, I wouldn't have had to go through a lot of the bullshit that I had to go through to get where I'm at today. I had to figure a lot of this stuff out on my own. And what I see more than enough times is that people just want to believe in something. They just want to believe. They just want to believe in somebody.

They just want to hear somebody tell them the truth. People are relying on you. They trust you. Yes, human beings are good, beautiful people who just want to be involved in something that makes them feel good about themselves and at the end of the day is doing a good service to people. And I can tell you that from what I saw and from what I heard, Tony was kind of at that point to where he, you know, it wasn't about the money anymore to Tony.

Although, you know, I think after a couple of either weeks or months of being involved, his wife looked at the bank account and said, where are these big old deposits coming from? And he said, oh, Empower. I guess I better start getting cranky with that thing. But also at the end of the day, Tony, from what I understand him saying, was ready to have some fun, was ready to do something that was transparent and honest. I'm not saying that he wasn't involved with great companies before, but I think we all get to that point in life.

And I think a lot of us on this phone call tonight are at that point right now to where, hey, look, I've deposited some huge checks in my bank account. And I can tell you that euphoria only lasts for so long. Money makes things easier, but it's not the answer to being fulfilled. Being fulfilled, it takes something deeper, something bigger. It takes people.

It takes being a part of a movement and a purpose. And it takes doing the right thing for the right reason. And actually living. Living the lifestyle that you're talking about. And I can tell you that, Tony, we were just in Costa Rica last week, and dude is definitely living the lifestyle.

Brother, are you on the phone, man? Hey, hey, Sharp, can you hear me okay? Hey, always, always good to hear you, man. And, you know, I think you're probably on the entire call up to this point. I'm not sure.

But, you know, essentially the bottom line is, you know, I don't want to do another 15-minute intro because I'm famous for the longest intros in the world, A, because I love our leaders, and, B, because sometimes it's hard to get me to shut up. But, you know, the bottom line is, man, I just wanted to turn it over and get your experience because we're talking about something tonight that's a little taboo, that oftentimes a lot of people don't really want to talk about. That's why I wanted you to pop on and give us your experience. I'm going to turn it over to you, brother. Take it away.

And I appreciate you, man. Yeah, right on. Thanks for having me out. And, you know what, I was so excited when I got your email today because this is something that's sort of taboo. Yeah.

Yeah. And I love the fact that Empower Network is the kind of company where we're not afraid to talk about the things that go on in the industry, and all the leaders know it goes on in the industry, and yet nobody wants to actually acknowledge it. Nobody actually wants to talk about it. It's like the crazy uncle that lives upstairs in this industry of the home business, you know, the whole home business industry. There's this crazy uncle that nobody wants to acknowledge exists.

And I love that we're just going to rip the lid off the box tonight and just talk about it honestly. The basic concept is that home business is supposed to be about freedom. And yet everywhere we turn, we see people that are experiencing the same type of story, whether they... Here's the interesting thing. It doesn't matter if they're making money or not making money.

At some point, if you talk to a marketer long enough, and you catch them in the right setting, and if you have a relationship that will allow them to be at least honest with you about their day-to-day living, most of them have to do a bunch of stuff that they don't really like doing in order to make money, which is sort of the opposite of what we all came here for. You know, I've been in this... Sharp was very nice to say that I've got tons of experience in this industry, and I do, but I also had tons of baggage. I don't know if all my experience can be chalked up to necessarily an asset. I think a lot of times...

Just spinning your wheels for a few years, I don't know if that counts as experience or not. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, but the thing about it is I had that background. My story, for those of you who don't know me, just real quickly, my story, I got in this industry just like everybody else. I was working at a job I didn't like, and I wanted to spend more time doing the stuff I wanted to do. And so I jumped into a traditional MLM business, which I love MLM, by the way.

I think it's... I'll always be grateful to traditional MLM, because that was the... the first time that it actually occurred to me that I could actually make money without going to a job. And I didn't have to be someone who had a lot of money to start a traditional brick-and-mortar business. So I'll always be grateful, you know, for Doug Langley drawing those circles on that whiteboard that night in Ashburn, North Carolina, showing me, you know, this nutritional thing.

But the funny thing is, is that when I got involved in this industry and I started, you know, working it seriously, it took me a few years and a couple of false starts. But when I finally... I got to the point where, okay, I see where I want to go, and I'm willing to do what it takes to get there. I found out that I just traded one slave master for another. And some of you on the line can probably relate to what Sharp's been talking about.

But, I mean, I used to be the guy who was beating the phone six and eight hours a day, booking people to conference calls or, you know... The obvious thing, right, is when you join some type of a home business, at least in the network marketing or the multi-level marketing industry, you know, you're supposed to make a list for everybody you know. And now you're, you know, you're calling Uncle Jack for the fifth time. You know, hey, Uncle Jack, I've got this thing you've got to see. Oh, my God, it's just the greatest thing.

No, no, no, this is different than that other thing that we didn't make any money. And this is going to be the one, right? And, again, fine companies, good companies, whatever. But the bottom line is, I always found myself having a job that was, you know, having to do a bunch of crap that I just didn't enjoy. And if there's anything that I understand about human nature, it's that human beings are just badass.

We are the most badass thing on the planet. It's just absolutely staggering what human beings can do. We're so adaptable. You know, you put us in any situation, and we can persist without exception. It's remarkable the tenacity that a human being can have when they want something, you know, whether it's...

a young man wanting a date with that good-looking girl that sits behind him in math class, or if it's a guy who decides at the age of 45 that he's sick and tired of being poor and broke, and he's, by God, going to finally do something about it. It's amazing what human beings can do. But here's sort of my personal philosophy on this. Your success does not have to be triumphant. And if I have anything for your notes tonight, it would be your success probably should, but it should not be triumphant, you know?

I mean, we all have a bit of a learning curve when we come into this industry, and that's understandable. Anytime you do something that you've never done before, you're going to have to learn a few things. And the time that you spend in that learning process will always take a different amount of time depending on who you are and what your background is. But this nonsense about having to, quote, unquote, pay your dues, or that you're supposed to grind it out for ten years, or that... I mean, companies are still selling that same old 1980s message where if you come here and you work ten to twenty hours a week and then you get about, you know, three who get three and everybody's doing this and that, then somewhere in the next three to five years, supposedly you can go to the beach.

But how... You've been selling that three to five year dream for five to ten to fifteen to twenty years. And this was a realization for me because what I started to say a moment ago about human beings being tenacious, it's true. But what I also know to be true is that there is a tipping point at which if you don't see some financial or some emotional payoff pretty quickly, and it varies for each person, you will not consistently do something you absolutely despise. Not if you have control over it.

You will not do it in detail. Definitely. There will come a point that you will... Something happens. The belief runs out.

You'll start to question whether or not you're cut out for this thing or whatever. And we see the MLM graveyard and the home business graveyard full of good, honest, capable, amazing human beings who, unfortunately, they just never had all the pieces of the puzzle on the table at the same time. And this was me. And I'm going to keep this brief because I know we've got a couple of things out here. But let me just share this with you.

And, Sharp, I don't think I've shared this with you. I walk around this house most days just about that high off the ground. I'm just in a complete state of gratitude. Because last year, I didn't know what it was when it was happening. But looking back from a year later, I can see very clearly what happened to me last June.

And I was in a company, good company. I was making a decent income. I was doing some training calls for that company. And I was one of the top earners. And I hit this.

All of a sudden, one day, I just could not pick up the phone. I could not call another prospect. I could not book somebody to another conference call or to another webinar. And from the month of June until September, here's what the day looked like. I would get up, shower, breakfast.

We homeschool. So I'd hang out with the kids and Jessica and my wife and doing schoolwork here. And we'd all go out. We'd go out to lunch as a family. And I would come home.

And from about 1 o'clock in the afternoon to about 7 o'clock at night, I'd just stretch out across the bed and either take a nap or read a book. And I read a lot of great books. But this is a quick – I wondered if I was actually getting clinically depressed. And I don't know anybody that suffered from that. And I thought, well, you know, I'll be 42 this year.

And I thought, well, maybe there's some changes in my body chemistry. I was really – by September, my wife was – I was also concerned because it was simply not like me to do nothing. And here, somebody who's made, you know, fairly by any definition, I guess, a really successful income and network marketing and go for four months of solid paralysis, just absolutely could not be compelled to do anything for the dollar. And I nearly crashed my family over it, very nearly did. And I ran across Empower Network.

And I ran across David Wood and David Sharp, two guys. I knew both their names. And I knew them by reputation. And I thought, well, you know what? Maybe they will have some inspiration or some method that will allow me to kind of get my head back in the game.

And I won't go into the rest of the story. But suffice it to say, after about 90 days, and I look up, and I kind of – the dust clears a little bit for me to see what's going on. I'm not making phone calls or prospects. I'm not cold calling. I'm not booking people to conference calls and webinars.

I'm not chasing friends and family. I'm not hosting home parties or hotel meetings. I'm not doing any of the things that are normally associated with this business. I mean, I'm sorry, 45 minutes a day. That would be bad, wouldn't it, 45 hours a day?

Forty-five minutes a day. And in March, I thought, you know what? If I were to actually pay attention. If I were to pay attention to this business, I could probably really knock the cover off the ball. And that's what breathes new life back into my profession.

This month I'll do close to 60, I suppose, if my daily average stays about what it is. But long story short, Empower Network basically gave me my profession back because I was really starting to get concerned if I was going to be able to continue doing what I used to love doing. But I had become a grind. And the beautiful thing here is that I'm not alone. There are literally thousands and thousands of stories here of people who came here because they were fed up with the stuff that you normally have to do to make money in home business.

And I'll close with this. If you're in a business right now, that's fine. You don't have to change that. Empower Network actually is designed in a way where you can use Empower Network to promote your existing business, make yourself a tunnel, and you're going to get a lot of leads and a lot of money in the process. But here's something I want to leave with you.

People don't say no to you in any business. People do not say no to you because they don't want the money. That's not why prospects tell you no. No, they say no to you because they can't see themselves doing what you're going to do to – to really get that. Because if they see you doing a bunch of crap that you obviously would not enjoy if you were to admit it, if they see you doing a bunch of nonsense that they know, and they know and you know that you're not having fun and that you're only doing it to chase commissions, nobody will do that forever.

Nobody can sustain that. So people don't say no to you because they can't see themselves doing what you're having to do to get the money. So when Empower Network basically gives us a clean slate and eliminates all the hassles normally associated with the home business industry, this is why we have people who've never made a dime in this industry come on board here and they're enrolling 40, 50, 60 people a month. It's how you live while you're getting the money and whether or not it's sustainable and whether or not you can put your head on your pillow at night and be proud of who you are and be proud of what you do. Anyway, that's how I got here, and the money is phenomenal.

We all come here for the money, but I'll be honest with you. I'm more grateful to David Wood and David Sharp for what they've created, which allows me to still be home with my wife and family. I don't have to work at a job. But I also don't have to do any of the stuff in this industry that is such a pain in the ass that it almost crashed my career a year ago. So, Sharp, that's what's on my mind tonight, brother.

Thanks for letting me jump out and share this. Well, yeah, man. It's always good to get your perspective. Appreciate you, man. You're one of those guys who it's just an honor to have around, man.

So tell your family, tell Jessica and the boys. We all said hi, man, and I'll talk to you soon, brother. Thank you, brother. All right, man. So I love it.

Just love it, guys. I mean, just love the – the funny thing is I did an event out, and I do occasionally when I'm traveling, I'll just do a get-together at some location. Sometimes it's a hotel. Sometimes it's a restaurant. Sometimes we'll hang out somewhere and then go and hang out somewhere else after.

It's kind of a unique thing that we do. So the majority of the time it's all Empower Network people that show up. And usually 24 to 48 hours notice. Those of you who know me know that I'm not huge on planning. As a matter of fact, the majority of the things that we do here, and not a lot of people know this about me, but the majority of the things that I do, and I can speak for my partner as well, is never planned.

Always right from the heart. Drives a lot of people crazy. A lot of people don't really understand it. Some people just look at it, and they're just like, how do you do it? But the things that we do for a specific reason, we just never plan them.

They're always right from the heart. We've got a lot of people around us that are organized, that do structure things. But one thing that's important to us is just always make sure that we just are able to come from the heart. And I was out in Santa Clara, and somebody came up to me after, and they said, Dave, you just talked for three and a half hours. And for those of you who know me, and again, I can speak for my partner as well on this one, sometimes our events and our calls and our webinars, they go for a long time.

And that's just because we just, every time we do something, we give everything that we have. So do our leaders. So do our members. That's why, you know, Tony said thank you, Dave and Dave, for doing what you did. But thank you, all of you guys, for doing what you do, because it's all we're doing is just doing what we're asking you to do.

And then we just all do it. We do it together, you know. And for those of you who, that sounded kind of sexual, get your mind out of the gutter. But we, you know, everybody does this thing together, man. It's like, it's not one person who's doing it, or owners or leaders who are like, you know, go do this.

But then they walk in the back room, and they do something different. When I was out in Santa Clara, somebody came up to me at the end of the meeting and said, Dave, you just talked for three and a half hours. And he never even really talked about money. Because the truth of the matter is, is at the end of the day, like I said, you know, I actually have a belief that as long as I do what I'm doing, which is tell the truth, be transparent, and always put the people first, that money is not going to be an issue. Money is not my main priority when I get up every day in the morning.

It's just not. I know it's going to be there. I've crossed over that belief. It's an obstacle. And all it is a belief obstacle.

If you believe that something is going to be hard, it's going to be hard. If you believe that making money is difficult, it's going to be difficult. It's one for the notepad, guys, is that you determine your outcome, and every single thing that you do, your mind determines what the result will be. And the reason why I'm not always talking about money is because I don't need to talk about money. Our leaders are earning income.

We have more people than any other company that I've ever seen before who have earned their first commission with us. We have more people who are having more success than anywhere else. And the reason why is because we put people first. We put principles first. We put our vision first.

We're of service to people before money. And you know what happens when we're like that? You know what happens when we live the life? We're constantly talking about is the money flows like fine wine. The money flows like fine wine all day, every day because of the way that we align our values and our principles.

It's a huge, huge lesson that I learned, a huge realization that I had in every single person that I've ever met who's successful for a long period of time. And not the ones who are here today and gone tomorrow, all have the same mindset. I struggled with that for so long. I was always focused on the next dollar. I was always focused on what I had to make – what I needed to do to make my next hundred or my next thousand or my next 10,000.

Until one day I woke up and I said, Dave, what has been the defining factor, the common principle in all of your successes? You've come, in so many instances, from the absolute bottom. Four and a half years ago, I had nothing. My father hadn't seen me in over a year. And one day I just showed up on his doorstep and I said, Dad, I've had enough.

I know you haven't seen me in a long time. I know you don't know what I've been doing or where I'm going, but I just need you to give me a chance. And funny thing is… A couple of weeks ago, actually, when I got back from Atlanta, I was out to dinner with my father. And he looked at me right as we were getting done with dinner. It was about midnight.

We just went out for some breakfast and coffee. He said, Son, you've come a long way from sleeping on my couch. But I didn't come a long way because my motivation was money-oriented. I didn't come a long way because I wanted to get rich. I didn't come a long way because I wanted to be the most… I didn't come a long way because I wanted to be the most successful person in the world.

I came a long way because I had a desire to do something different in life. I wanted a better quality of life for me. I wanted a better quality of life for my daughter. I wanted a better quality of life for the people that I was going to take with me. And I wanted to make sure that whatever I was doing, my values and my principles were aligned.

And today, a lot of people wonder, Dave, why did you not quit? When… When everything was going south. When all of the odds were stacked against you. When nobody believed in you and everybody thought you were crazy. And the reason why I didn't quit had… It had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with money.

It had to do with my passion and desire to want to make an impact on people. It had to do with my drive to go out there and tell my story. And help people break through and break free. And help people break free from the bondage of the self-made prisons that so many of us live inside of. It had to do with the fact that I had a dream and a vision that was much bigger than any amount of money that I could ever make.

It had to do with a large group of people who I knew, I knew if we could just put ourselves and our people who were with us in front of those people, they would join us. And guess what? They did. Even the people who hated on us. Even the people who didn't believe.

Even the people who didn't believe in us. Even the naysayers and the critics. Guess what? They joined us. So at the end of the day, a lot of you are struggling, right?

You're looking at money. You're trying to convince a spouse or a partner to believe in you, right? To believe in your business. You're looking at some of the things that you think you have to do and people have been telling you to do for a long time. And I'm telling you that you have to embrace the process that you're in.

You have to stop focusing so much on this. The tangibles and start focusing on the intangibles. You have to develop your belief system. You have to really concrete your values and your principles. And you have to believe in something or you will fall for anything, my friend.

Guys, this business is like life. You get back what you put out. It's no different. So many people come into this industry. They act like they get dumb, right?

It's like some of the smartest people I've seen, they come into this industry and they act like they have no experience in life. And I'm telling you, my friend, if you would just do unto others as you want them to do unto you in this industry, if you would just go out there and be yourself, I realize something. I realize something. The best gift that I could give the world was to just simply be myself. For so long.

I tried to be something that I wasn't. I tried to put on a mask and a facade. I went around trying to act like I was making money. I thought that I had to fit in. I thought that I had to go and do all these things or else people weren't going to accept me.

I came into this industry. I can remember the very first time that I went to this huge leaders meeting. I was still driving my old 1994 F-150. You know, the one that had all the rust on the hood. The one that used to throw off rust chips as big as bricks off the highway when I went over 40 miles.

I drove it to a leaders meeting at this big corporate office and I was so embarrassed by it that I parked it three parking lots away so nobody saw me pull up in it. Guys, I'm telling you that exactly how you are and exactly who you are right here right now is good enough for us. And it doesn't matter where you've been or what you've done for the last quote unquote two to five years. It's okay if you believe something. You now realize it's just a bunch of bullshit because guess what?

You can be yourself, do the things that you want to do, live the lifestyle that you're selling and feel good about what you're doing. And you don't have to do anything that you don't want to do. You don't have to run around and do business like it's 1980. You don't have to be on the phone all day. You don't have to do home and hotel meetings and try to convince and arm pull friends and family to do something.

You can be an intelligent entrepreneur. You can learn marketing skills by going through the 15. K formula in the Costa Rica intensive and plug it into audio every day from the inner circle. You can be yourself, tell your story, right? And attract the people who are going to be attracted to you anyways, right?

Which is a small group of people, but in the big scheme of things, it's a lot of people. If you can just learn, learn to be yourself, tell your story and not worry about all the rest of the bullshit because it doesn't matter anyways. Guys, I wanted to get a female perspective. This is a woman who's been in the industry for a long time. And I just hung out with her in Costa Rica.

And I can tell you that this woman is a class act, very distinguished, a lot of experience, has seen the good, bad, and the ugly also, has done enormous things with us here at Empower Network. And I just respect her, like her a lot, and think she's badass. Carol, are you on the line? I'm here. Can you hear me, Dave?

You know what? I absolutely can't hear you. And it's so good because I haven't talked to you since Costa Rica. And I wanted to pull you out on the call tonight. Because I wanted to get.

I wanted to get a woman's perspective on some of this stuff. You know, you and I haven't talked directly about this. And we didn't talk before this call because those of you who know me and I just told you I don't plan stuff. It's all straight from the cuff. But, you know, I wanted to get your perspective on this because I think that you've seen enough inside of this industry to know when, you know, when something is for the common good of people and when it's for the common bad of people.

And when people experience more pain from something than pleasure. And I think you've also. I don't know. I wanted to get your experience. But maybe seeing something different here with Empower with the way that people.

And you saw it firsthand in Costa Rica and also in Atlanta. There's just something in the air here with our leaders, with our people. It's something a little bit different. And a lot of times we can't put our finger on exactly what it is. But I'll tell you what.

What I think it is and what I know it is, is it's, you know, just the honesty. It's the transparency. And it's the authenticity. And, girlfriend, you've got it. You've got it.

That's why I wanted you to get out here on this call tonight. So I'm going to turn it over to you. And let me know if you need me. I'll pop back on here when you're ready. Okay.

Well, you know, like you said, you don't plan these calls. And when you asked me to come on, I said, yeah, sure, I'll come on. And then in the beginning when you said this is going to be intimate and taboo, it's like, -oh, what did I get myself into here? Anyway, I'm delighted that you asked me to be on the call tonight. I'm just so really thrilled to be a part of this community.

And when I was first introduced to the, the Empower Network, I didn't know, you know, Dave Wood or Dave Sharp at all. I had, you know, never heard of them, even though I've been in the industry for a while. I've never heard of them. We've kind of worked different spectrums, I guess, of the industry. You know, and I watched the video and saw them jumping around in this hotel room.

And I'm thinking, what are these guys doing, you know? But then I sat and listened. And what I heard was from their heart, just like what you just heard Dave talk about. It came from their heart. It came straight from his heart.

And I thought, you know, these guys might be on to something. So I went ahead and signed up because I was actually working a top tier program at the time. And I was looking for a lower entry level program to kind of use like a funded proposal. And I thought, you know, this fits the bill of exactly what I'm looking for. So I actually signed up for it.

And then I went away to, for a Dan Kennedy event, went away for a couple days. And my computer wasn't working. And I had all kinds of challenges. I couldn't communicate with my phone. It was just one thing after another.

But when I did find time to actually borrow my roommate's computer to kind of log on and see what was going on here to check my emails and so forth, I'm seeing all these things that said you made a sale, you made a sale, you made a sale. And it's like, holy crap, what's going on here? And I didn't remember doing anything. And then I happened to think, oh, yeah, I sent an email out before I left about the Empower Network. And so I had all these people join in the Empower Network.

And I didn't even really know what it was all about. And apparently neither did they. But they liked what they saw. And so I had all these people coming on board. And then, of course, you know, I had gotten back.

And I thought, well, these guys are definitely on to something. And then, of course, you know, they had their challenges and what have you. But they stuck with the program. And they stayed with it. And I've been in lots of, you know, programs where I made a lot of money in the beginning.

And then all of a sudden you turn around and that income stream just dries up overnight. You go log on to the computer and there's no website. But these guys had the foresight and the tenacity to stay with it and to iron out their problems. So. I'm just thrilled to be here with you guys, to be a part of this community.

And something that Tony touched on a little bit earlier, he said that it's absolutely amazing what human beings can do. And, you know, sometimes, and he's absolutely right, but sometimes you have to get rid of some stinking thinking first before you can go on to be the person that you were meant to be. And I kind of experienced that myself several years ago. When I was first introduced to the direct sales industry, I was at a time in my life, this was about 12 years ago, where nothing was going right. Nothing.

You know, I was having trouble in my marriage, didn't know if I wanted to continue with that. My children were having troubles. The job, even though I liked the job, I was having, you know, some troubles at work. I was, part of the big problem was I was spending 60 hours a week away at work. Away from everything.

Right. And that's not where I wanted to be. And so I came to a place in my life where I didn't like myself very much, let alone anything else that was going on. And I have a good friend that I walk with several times a week. We go, we have this beautiful place where we walk through the woods.

It's a three-mile walk that we go on to. And this is my walking partner. And she noticed that I was, you know, kind of depressed, kind of was really understatement. But anyway, she gave me this book. She said, I thought, I think you might like reading this.

And it was called Simple Abundance by Sarah Van Brekness. I thought, okay, you know, I'm ready for anything right now. So I started reading this book. And it was 365 days of joy and abundance. And so, you know, each day was like a page that you were supposed to read.

And throughout what I was reading, there was a reoccurrence. There was a recurring theme of being grateful and having gratitude. And while, you know, we had experienced gratitude, you know, certain times of the years and so forth, Thanksgiving, what have you, I never really put the practice of having an attitude of gratitude into my life on a daily basis. And so she suggested that you get a gratitude journal, which, you know, after I was reading her book for about a month or so, I thought, you know, maybe I should do that. But still, things weren't going good for me.

And so I picked up this beautiful journal, and, you know, she said to write five things every day that you're grateful for. So I started doing it. And sometimes, you know, it was really kind of rough, couldn't think of anything to be grateful for. You know, I'd come home from work, and I'd see this mountain of dishes, and then, you know, I had four children, so there's six of us, and all this laundry, and how do you be grateful for him? How can you be grateful for him?

How can you be grateful for stuff like that? And I thought, you know what, I've got to make a change, because I don't, I'm not happy where I am, so I need to make a change. And so I thought, well, I'll attack these dishes, and it's like, there's no way I can be grateful for dishes. That's just not going to work. So I thought, okay, I'm going to start somewhere else.

So I went downstairs to the laundry. I thought, okay, I'm going to start folding the towels. So I'm folding the towels, and I'm supposed to be grateful for these towels. And then, you know, I just really thought about it. These are the towels that, you know, when your kids are little, my kids were grown teenagers by then, but you remember when kids are little, and they get out of the tub, they're freshly washed, they smell so good, and their hair's sticking up and wet, and they're just so precious and angelic.

Those of you that have children, you know, know that feeling. And then these big bath towels would wrap around them. They'd sit there and chatter, of course, when it was cold, their teeth would chatter, they'd be freezing. And you'd wrap their big, these big bath towels around them, and they'd be freezing. And you'd wrap their big, these big bath towels around them, and they'd be freezing.

Those little precious children. Well, I started thinking about that and started to be grateful for these towels that would wrap my babies up. And then I finished the towels and went into the jeans. And, of course, it's, you know, the holy jeans, but it's the holy jeans because it was their choice for them to be holy because that was the style . And I'm thinking that was so funny that, you know, years ago, you were almost your own you would not be caught dead with a pair of jeans with a hole in it.

And here, it's the kids' style now to have holes in their jeans, and that was funny. So we went through the jeans, and before I knew it, the laundry was done. And I was able to come up and finally do the dishes, and I'm standing there doing the dishes, and we have this beautiful property where we have lined the property with 500 pine trees, and it's just teeming with wildlife out here. We've got deer, we've got squirrels, we've got bunnies. So I'm standing here doing the dishes, just looking at the beautiful scenery out of my kitchen window, and it's like I was so grateful to be in this place in time.

And then the dishes that I'm washing, we just got done eating a wonderful meal, and I was grateful that we had the money to buy the food for those places, for those plates, for the dinner. And just one thing left after another, and I kept continuing to write in my journal, and things started getting better. And I thought, oh, this is going to be so much better for me. Day by day, I'd think of, you know, another five things, and sometimes still I'd have some bad days, but, you know, then at least the sun was shining or the birds were singing or something. And I made it a point to write down five things every day that I was grateful for.

Well, something magically happened, and like Tony said, you know, all of a sudden you feel like you're walking on air, a lighter step. And I thought, oh, this is going to be so much better for me. And I felt like all of a sudden things were just turning around and nothing could go wrong for me. And before then in July, you know, I was just praying to get something like $5,000. It would just make a world of difference.

But when I took my mind off of the money and actually started thinking of things that I was grateful for and how I could help other people, it just changes things. So sometimes you just need to get rid of the stinking thinking and develop that attitude of gratitude that can change things for you. And it all comes down to really believing in yourself. Belief that will come first and be grateful and just trust in the process, and it will happen for you. And I know some of you on the line are, you know, may not be experiencing the abundance right now that you came into Empower Network for, but I have to tell you that it is right there for you.

And if you will just trust, believe in yourself and trust the process, it will work. I have to say this is the easiest thing. I've ever done. With the Empower Network so far, I think I'm getting close to $90,000 in eight or nine months or whatever. And I'm only spending an hour or two a day on this business.

And I really, after coming back from Costa Rica, spending some time there with some of the leaders, I understand now that we have a really budding, wonderful community of entrepreneurs. I spent some time talking. I talked to Tony Rush and his beautiful wife, and they're out with some of their extra money helping to build wells with clean water for children in Africa. And Chris Daugherty and his wife are planning, you know, designed a schedule to pay off the debt for their church. So these are the kind of people that are in this community.

And no matter where you go across the globe, people have the same core wants and needs. First of all, they want to make sure that they're. That their family is taken care of and they have their finances all set. And then once that's done, many, many people want to reach out and help others. And that's the way that Empower Network, I see it now, is designed so that you can get your finances straight in a pretty quick order.

It doesn't take a long time to be able to do that. Even if you're brand new, it just takes a learning curve to learn the strategies of marketing. And there's so much information here in the Empower Network that really empowers you to be able to do that in a short period of time. But once you learn how to do that, the world is your oyster. You can then market any product or service and go out and help any cause that you want because now you have the ability and the tools to do that.

So anyway, I'm so grateful to be a part of this community and grateful for you, Dave and Dave, for putting this together. And I'm really looking forward to this long relationship with this budding community as this community grows and reaches to the far ends of the earth and continues to help families, one family at a time. So back over to you, Bud. Well, guys, I mean, that's it. You know, and Carol, just, you know, I tell you what, it's just great to have you on board.

And, you know, I think she told you guys, you know, what she's been able to experience here financially. You know, close to 110, again, that, you know, that's not a guarantee that anybody's going to make anything here or that you're going to, you know, get rich overnight or anything like that. So I don't want anybody to take that the wrong way. We always want to make sure that we're, you know, compliant with everything. And, again, I gave you guys the link to the income disclosure before.

But I'll tell you what, you know, when she said that, I think a lot of you guys' heads probably turned nears perked up. Here's what I heard, though, is I heard somebody who as much has, and, again, not to reiterate we have carrot syndrome, but I'll tell you what, somebody who as much as the finances are rewarding and as much as the numbers are big and surprising and overwhelming in some cases, this is somebody who has experience making money and then also experiencing fulfillment. And I love the gratitude thing. We've actually got a lot of people in the company who, you know, have their teams making gratitude lists and everything, powerful, something that I love. I did a lot through a lot of my personal transformations as well, just like you shared.

So, Carol, thanks so much for coming out. Appreciate you. And I'm looking forward to a long, just awesome relationship with you as well. So thanks for coming out, hon. Thanks, Dave.

So, guys, here's what I want to share with you. Okay, here's final thoughts. For those of you who, and I'm just kind of feeling just kind of relaxed and stuff after Carol came out. You know, we were hanging out. I'm in Costa Rica.

She's just like, you know, just relaxing to be around. It makes you feel just kind of at home, you know, make me want to go make a gratitude list and stuff, you know. Love that. Just love that. Love that we've got.

I was talking to somebody today, and they were like, Dave, what's your primary target market and demographic? And I showed them some pictures of the people at our event in Atlanta, and I said it's so widespread. It's anybody who wants a better quality of life to make more money. I said, Dave, what's your primary target market and demographic? and experienced more success personally in a business.

And we're looking through the photos. They go across the huge screen that we have at the headquarters. And there was people from 18 to 80, people in wheelchairs and people who were young and healthy, people from all walks of life, from Australia to Mexico, people from just every single, just, It's just all over the world, all kinds of backgrounds, and the common thread that binds us together is our purpose and our mission, and it's so much more than money. It's so much more than the product even, even though our products are just – so many people are just getting great results with it. It's the belief system, guys, and you hear this talk about so much.

You hear the mentality stuff talked about so much, and unfortunately, so many people are talking about mental strategies and mentality concepts and theories that are just that. They're theories, guys. It's a fascinating journey when you start to look inside and dig a little bit deeper. It's an interesting experience when you start to get a different perspective on life. It's something that's life-changing when you get up in the morning and change the way that you're thinking.

It's a challenge the way that you viewed the world up until that point. So many of us grew around certain situations and were raised by people who, granted, did the best they could with what they had, but just that, did the best they could with what they had. And you get around new people with new perspectives, new thoughts and ideas, and you – if you will allow yourself to be challenged, to expand your mind, to expand your belief system, to think a little bit different, to get comfortable being uncomfortable, then you start to realize. You start to realize there's a lot more inside of you, not just outside, but inside of you that you never even knew was there. You start to realize that you have more potential than you ever even imagined, more potential than maybe a lot of people as you were growing up said that you had.

And this is nothing against them because resentment is not the road to freedom, but it's self-discovery. It's realizing that really, truly, if the mind can conceive it, it can be done, and you can achieve it. Guys, I'm telling you. I'm telling you that if you had asked me four and a half years ago, now almost five years, in February 3rd of 2008, almost five years ago, guys, is all I wanted to do, and I'm going to be dead-ass honest with you tonight on the call, is all I wanted to do was get one day clean. I just wanted to get one day clean.

I just wanted to feel or not feel the pain that I'd been feeling for just one day. I had no idea that almost five years later I'd be on a call with well over 1,000 people talking about, saying the words, if the mind can conceive it, you can achieve it, because I'm going to tell you that at that point in my life, I didn't believe anything was possible. I didn't even think that I could get one day clean. I had no idea where my life was going. I had no idea what was going to happen the next day.

But I'll tell you what I did. And I went to somebody and I said, will you help me save my life? And that person said yes. And they believed in me, my friend, until I could believe in myself. I got around people who challenged my thinking, who challenged my pessimistic attitude, who challenged my negativity, who made me get comfortable being uncomfortable.

And I started to think differently, and when I started to think differently, I started to act differently. And sometimes I relapsed and fell back into old. Thinking, stinking, thinking patterns. But then I got around people who were like, you're doing tonight, jumped on a conference call. Or went to an event like we're having in San Diego, and people pushed me.

They pushed me. They pushed me. They said, David, you can do it. I said, no, I can't. I feel like giving up.

They said, David, don't you dare quit. Friends, I wasn't even involved in business yet. I was still running around doing construction jobs. I was still driving my old Ford F-150. Probably one of my favorite vehicles I've ever had.

I had no money in my bank account, friend. I had no idea where I was going to be. Let alone a couple of years later, I had no idea where my next paycheck was coming from. And people conditioned me. They said, Dave, I'm going to believe in you until you can believe in yourself.

Dave, I'm going to push you and not give up on you, even though you feel like giving up on yourself. Dave, you have nothing to prove to anyone except yourself. And I believed them, even though I didn't want to. I listened to them. Even though at times I didn't hear them.

And I pushed forward and put one foot in front of the other. And I started to look really at what my real purpose was here and what I really wanted to do with my life. And, friend, that's my message tonight to share with you. Is not only can you live a lifestyle and also sell it and have your values align with each other and you don't have to run around doing things that you don't feel good about. But you can also push yourself beyond what you think you can do.

You can push yourself beyond. You can change what you think others think you can do. You can do something that aligns with your values. You can be a part of a group of people who have the same belief system that you can do. And you can.

You can change the world one person at a time. We are proving it. So, friend, as you're listening to this call tonight. As you're listening to the sound of my voice tonight. As you're starting to just get a little bit more belief in yourself week after week of being involved in us.

I can tell you that where you will be one year from now. Don't even try. Don't even try to go there because you will so sell yourself short. If you stay in the game. If you don't quit on yourself.

If you don't quit on the people around you. Big things are possible. Anything can happen. If your mind can conceive it, you can achieve it. I am living proof.

Guys, four and a half years ago. Hell, three years ago I could hardly put two sentences together. People, I used to write emails when I started to get into marketing. And people used to send them back to me. And say, Dave, don't ever send me back.

It's the worst thing I've ever read in my entire life. And the grammar is horrible. Today my grammar still sucks. But 40,000 people on any given day. Swipe my emails, send them out.

And my copy has helped do well over 11, almost 12 million dollars in sales. Guys, if you stay in the game. If you don't quit. If you stay persistent. If you believe sometimes when you don't even believe in yourself.

But you just find somebody who will believe in you. You can find those people. Here, friend, don't you dare try to guess where you're going to be a year from now. Because you have no idea. Put one foot in front of the other.

Stay in the moment. Focus on today. If it's your business, what do I need today to do for my business for tomorrow? What do I need to do today to inspire me to get me to tomorrow? Stop thinking long term.

Start thinking short term. Start focusing on the next hour. Start focusing on the next day. Why do we tell you guys to get two a day? Because we understand that is a simple thing that anybody can do whether they're new or old.

And guess what our leaders, and I mean new or old as far as old or new in the industry. And guess what our leaders, you know what they focus on? Getting two a day. Because it's about simple principles that make a big difference. It's about if you never, if you don't stop leaving doing the basics, you don't have to go back to the basics.

Does that make sense? If you don't leave the basics, friends, you don't have to go back to the basics. Guys, we struggle with so many things on a daily basis. We have shiny ball syndrome. A new shiny object comes around and we go jump it over to that.

We're going to go build that and it's a new launch, a new product. Oh, my God. I'm chasing my tail. I don't know what's going on. Six months down the road, I still haven't made a dollar.

Guys, if you stick with the basics, focus on getting two a day, get to San Diego and get your team to San Diego, I dare you. I dare you. I dare you to try to tell yourself where you're going to be in six months because you will sell yourself so short it's not even funny. Guys, I'm going to unmute the lines. I just want you to make some noise.

I, I, I, David Sharp, every single day have to get up and focus on finding something that is going to inspire me to get to the next day. We're all human. We all put our pants on the same way. And we're all in this together. And I want you to realize and know that you're a part of something with real people doing real things who are all going through normal life issues in life.

And we all have to do the same thing every single day to get to the next. Now, sometimes we choose to indulge in the misery, indulge in the pain. But I'm telling you what, friends, it's a choice. And it's our responsibility to guide our life in the direction that we want it to go. I got sick and tired of being involved in things that I didn't feel good about.

I got sick and tired, like Tony was talking about, and I'm just saying it frank, of going out there preaching and teaching the two- to five-year lifestyle when, damn it, I knew that there was a 99% chance that somebody was going to be doing it for two to five decades. I got sick and tired and knew that it wasn't going to work out. And I knew it immediately because of where I came from. That if I wasn't doing something that aligned with my values and principles, and if I wasn't pushing myself to be around a group of entrepreneurs like Carol Doubt was just talking about, that I knew that I'd be on to the next one. I'd be on to the next thing.

I'd continue on the search. And I'm telling you, friends, everything that you need is already inside of yourself. And sometimes, just sometimes, you got to stop, look in the mirror, and say, damn it, you can do it. And if you can't bring yourself to do that, bring your ass to San Diego. Bring your ass to San Diego.

Bring your ass to San Diego. Although you're listening to a private recording in a non-disclosure Empower Network customer training, the principles and strategies in this audio can be applied in any business. Although these techniques, philosophies, and strategies may have worked for others, no one can guarantee that they will work for you. We report real average earnings, updated daily, at EmpowerNetwork.com forward slash income dot php. The purchase of this or any other audio is not required to earn money in our affiliate compensation plan, and you can decide to not continue to buy these forever.

At any time. We hope, however, these ideas and strategies will assist you in building a profitable, long-term business. Success takes hard work, determination, skill, and consistent effort. Please refer to our average earnings at EmpowerNetwork.com forward slash income dot php.