Stay calm and carry on

I had a fabulous idea to create one of the first online marketplaces for repair services. Companies, which came to this market after us, are now worth hundreds of millions of dollars. And our company could have become the same. But it turned out differently: as soon as the project began to bear some fruit, my partners decided to do business without me for some unknown reasons. The business had to develop, there were advertising campaigns, I had to pay salaries, and I accumulated debt in addition to all the investments. I went home to Germany for a while, unaware of my partners’ plans. One day I took my two children to a music school and sat on a bench waiting to pick them up after class. And so, while I was sitting there and getting excited about what a fantastic day it was and what a glorious sun was shining, I got a text message informing me that I didn’t have a business anymore.

The day after that, I got a call from the bank telling me that my accounts were closing and that I had to urgently return hundreds of thousands of euros to pay back the hundreds of thousands of euros I had borrowed to develop my business. And I hadn’t even paid the rent for the last two months. First I was too busy, and then I had no money. Then, a few weeks later, social workers showed up to find out how my kids were doing. That meant that my kids were going to be taken away from me. They made it clear to me that I had four months to pay off the loan. If I didn’t, I would go bankrupt, and my children would be taken away. So I had no choice but to go all-in and clear this vast, unbearable, crazy debt in a few months.

I just went to the bank branch, sat in front of the bank clerk, and said I would sit like this until the branch manager received me. They threatened to call the police. I promised that I would then resist and explain very loudly to those around me why I was being apprehended. “Your customers will hear that the bank canceled my accounts, and now you are pushing me into bankruptcy. That thanks to you, my children are about to be taken away from me. I don’t think your customers are going to like that.” And they let me into the manager’s office. I went in and started explaining to him. But he is just a person; what can he say? He needs the money. So I made a deal with him, “Give me four months, and I’ll pay you back everything! After four months, you can crush me just like that. And if I succeed, you’ll get your money back in four months.” And he told me this: “I’ll give you that time. But not because I feel sorry for you. I just want to see how you do it.”

I walked out of the bank, happy and satisfied. I was thinking, “that’s it, I got exonerated for 4 months. This excitement lasted for five minutes because then I thought, “where will I get this money? How will I pay it back? They closed my account. Saving my family, keeping a roof over our heads, and paying off debts in four months may seem unrealistic in such a situation, but it was my life, my family, and I had no choice. So I said to myself, “Alex, work is your best friend. It’s the only thing that can save you.” And I just started taking any job I could find: moving, shipping, sales, making websites. I almost didn’t sleep the whole time, worked like a dog. But I managed to earn that sum, and four months later, I brought it to the bank in a suitcase full of crumpled bills because I didn’t even have a bank account.

I was able to raise the right amount of money because I had an important goal — to keep my family together, and that kept me from doubting, fretting, and going over whether or not I wanted to do something. Among the other activities, I had to try was network marketing. Some people cringe at mentioning word of mouth and multi-level marketing, but I couldn’t be picky; I had no choice. So I had to take my chances.

It is possible to start small in this field, earning a little bit, but this option would not have saved me. So I went into battle with my circumstances and fought to the death. I worked extremely hard and gave my 300% effort. Luckily, no one puts a ceiling on your earnings in this industry. You want more, and you got to do more. I became the best salesman, assembled a great team, and earned my hidden million euros. Do you know how long it took me? Only four months! It was a fantastic result. Someday, I will tell you in detail about the exact steps that led me to it. Perhaps it will be another training book or a guidebook on how to make a million euros in the MLM business quickly. For now, I only want to reveal the main secret of such success – never giving up and never stopping.

Everyone has to struggle in this life — some fight for a piece of bread, and some for the right to live idle and calmly. Sure, no one will manage without straining at some point  — some law will change, noisy neighbors will move in next door, or health issues will require hefty expenses. But, in this world, you cannot stay still and not be bothered, so you won’t have to do anything. But leaders don’t wait for circumstances to work out in their favor so that they can take action. Instead, they respond to challenges immediately, without complaining or breaking the furniture in a fit of frustration. Learning how to do this is our task.

Many partners and team members are surprised at my constant calmness. I am indeed calm in absolutely all situations. Of course, there are crises in my life, too, when it seems that there will be a nuclear explosion in ten seconds, and workers come running to me screaming, “Boss, it’s over!” But even in these situations, I stay lucid and calm.

It’s impossible to provoke me or throw me off balance. You just can’t! And that is my strength. Cold reasoning allows me not to lose control and be as collected, attentive, and efficient as possible. But this skill isn’t just given to me; I’ve been practicing it for a long time.