Week 3

6-1

June already? How did it come so soon? Ok so to be quite honest the end of May went quickly. I mean if you think about it I’ve been doing this job, training included, for 3 weeks now. To me, that’s kind of crazy. It seems like a lot less. I’m super tired tonight, and I have a ton to do tomorrow. This week I’m reaching for higher goals. I want to feel like I’ve put my best foot forward. By the way, really random, but we don’t have water right now because our well is being primed…so no shower or bathroom use…interesting. Today we had our Sunday meeting and played Frisbee, that’s pretty much it. Oh!! I got my car washed finally! It looks a million times better. Ok I’m falling asleep.

6-2

My attitude today was awesome, however, my stats did not reflect them. I only had 28 contacts, 10 presentations, 31 units. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get back up to my good numbers. I want so bad to hit 300 units this week and get 78 presentations. I need prayer for my family. Things are becoming different because we’re all over the place and some of us are lonely. Sometimes we give so much to others that we forget about our needs. Pray for those that do this, and help them by showing them we love them. Tomorrow is a new day, and I reallllly need to go to sleep. Goodnight.

6-3

The tiredness is beginning to catch up to me. The lack of sleep and the 12 hour days are wearing me down. That’s why I’m going to catch some good sleep tonight. My day was productive statistically, but it was like I wasn’t really there today. I had 36 contacts, 10 presentations, but no sales. Tomorrow will be different. It’s going to be hump day, which means I’m just skiing down a mountain now. It’s really cool to see my forearms getting darker…I just wish the rest of my skin matched it. I want to do well this week, I want to have at least 300 units. There’s no reason why I can’t do that. We’ll see how the rest of the week plays out. My biggest problem is leaving parts of the sales talk out. I forget important parts like the intro, and I’ve also had trouble finding a need. Most people just say that they have everything they need. Anyway, my eyes are closing.

6-4

Well I had the exact same stats as yesterday, with the exception of one sale. Which shouldn’t really count because it was only software. I think I’m so concerned about getting my contacts and presentations that I’m not really going through my sales talk. I’m just doing demos to get a stat. Hopefully I’ll be able to turn this around tomorrow. WE picked up internet tonight, which could be bad…I also got 48 bottles of VitaminWater in the mail today :D. Today we had some Europeans come stay with us. They were really cool. I wasn’t aware that SW recruited people from other countries to sell, but it makes sense. It’s an awesome opportunity. I still have to make my lunch and fill out some paper work so I think I’ll go for now. Hopefully this will keep you entertained for the night.

6-5

Today was a pretty good day. I had 40 contacts, 12 presentations (the most ever), and3 small sales. I also got to experience the fun times of the job. I met a mom who said the classic, “I’m not interested” and so I told her it would only take 5 minutes and then immediately sat down. She slowly followed and we got around to talking about all kinds of stuff. It was really cool to just connect with someone and completely change their attitude towards me. My bank account got really fat this week which is cool. I also get to deposit two more checks tomorrow. They were right, it gets better. This week started slow, but it’s going on the upward curve now. One sad note, Beth left today. I knocked on a door today and the dad said they just had a death in the family. I graciously apologized and then went to the next house. I found out that the previous family with the death had his wife just pass. They had about a 10 year old daughter and the mom died at about 6:00 that morning. I felt terribly sorry for them. I also met a guy that was building something out of some wood so I asked him what it was for. He told me that it was a casket for his dog. He was going to have to put him down tomorrow. I told him that I had done that his year, and I was sorry. Both sad stories I know, but that’s what makes this job so cool. You can see tiny glimpses into what people go through and see how they keep going. Love God and Love people, that’s what will get me through today and tomorrow. OHH a funny story. I pulled up to this gas station to look for a map. The car next to me had stickers all over it. No seriously like covered in quotes and stickers. The guy inside had a huge beard and kind of looked like he could have been a hippie. When I pulled up beside him he was sleeping, and he seriously had like 3 inches of snot hanging from his nose. He woke up when I pulled up next to him and got out of his car, but he hadn’t noticed the 5 pounds of snot hanging from his nose! Crazy I know. Anyway hope that cheered you up.

6-6

No sales today, but I met some awesome families. I found this new neighborhood that wasn’t on the map, but was absolutely loaded with kids. I know that sounds creepy, but it was one of the most positive things ever. Only about 3 houses in the neighborhood of 20 houses didn’t have kids. Like I said no sales, but my contact to presentation ratio was a little less than 50%. We also picked up a new member to our team today. His name is Josh. Chris and I talked with him a lot tonight about how the first weeks suck, but how it gets better. He said it was encouraging, and it was strange for Chris and I to be giving advice, because we have only been here 3 weeks. However, we’ve learned so much. Sunday is never going to be so good.

6-7

I almost quit early today, but I didn’t. Gravy days for me so far have not been that great. It was 7:00 and I thought I was pretty much out of houses, but I went back over my territory and then went up a new street. I just talked with Travis and I know why my Gravy sucks. I had been setting up appointments during the middle of the day and the appointments are only for gravy. (Now the light bulb is coming on in my head). He also gave me some really good approaches for teachers. Today was freaking hot. The bank thermometer said 91 and I believe it. I sweated more today than I have all week combined. It was unbelievably hot today. My stats for today were 31 cont. and 13 presentations. It was my best day for presentations so far, but 0 units. So that kind of sucked. The best part about all that is that next week I start to really DO this job. Instead of just getting numbers I’m going to start actually talking to people. It’s going to get even better this next week.

Week 2 minus a couple days, sorry

5-28

Alright well I know I missed two days, but I did write them. My freaking computer didn’t save them though. Oh well. They were good days. Yesterday I learned the importance of trusting everything to God.

Today I just had to motivate myself to keep going. I got in this crazy mode where I was just talking with everyone and really connecting with different people. It was a good feeling, and I’m going to try to continue that same attitude tomorrow. I will admit, it’s getting a little bit tougher. I’m doing ok at the talk and everything, but I just am having trouble just being here. Being at home, sleeping in, seeing my family, all that would be absolutely amazing right now. But like I said, oh well. I am exhausted today so good night!

5-29

The lesson of today involved recognizing the numerous positive little things and giving back to others. There are so many positive instances that happen throughout the day that I take for granted. I found that if I pause and try to think of everything positive in the day, there really isn’t much room for the negative stuff at all. I encourage you to all try it. Every time you think of something negative, just name 2 positives that counter it and you’ll find it very easy to forget the negatives. Ok so remember that story of the guy at Dunkin’ Donuts who gave me the two free donuts? Check this out, I figured that if he just gave me those donuts that late at night that they probably just threw them away each night. I rolled up to the drive thru and asked them about what they did with the donuts. Sure enough they said they just threw them out. I asked him, his name is Mike, if I could just come by and get all the donuts and he said sure. This is probably one of the top 5 most positive events of my summer so far. We honestly had at 4 dozen donuts to split between 6 people. It was awesome!! As for the giving back, I met a family today that loved the books. They weren’t the richest family, but the mother cared deeply for her children’s best interest. You could tell that she wanted the books, but saving the money might be tough. She agreed to get the books, but later called me and told me her husband wouldn’t let her get the books. So I decided that since she and her kids liked the books so much, that she deserved to have them anyway. One week we get to choose a family to give a set of handbooks to as part of the company’s plan. That family will probably get the set, unless I meet someone who is equally excited, and wants the books like they did.

5-30

Today was kind of a crappy day. I had some sales fall through that I thought for sure were going to work. Something is happening, I’m not getting into doors very well, and when I do get in, I’m not really getting the sales to go through. I did get more demos by just sitting down and getting them to follow me. It really does work if you just sit down, they feel obligated to follow you. I’m trying to keep my head in the right place. It’s just so tough to stay positive when door after door keeps saying no, or you run into older family after older family. I also talked with Tiny a little bit tonight. He’s an amazing guy. At first I kind of judged him because he is a gamer, and exactly how you would picture an ex military gamer would look like. But he vacuumed our room today because he wanted to save us from Beth’s wrath. He didn’t have to, but it was just to keep the peace. He’s the type of guy that just does little things so that everyone is happy. And yet he is sacrificing so much to keep it. God is awesome, goodnight.

5-31

Saturday, aka all day gravy. Which means that we are supposed to be catching up with families we missed during the week. I didn’t do a very good job organizing my families so I didn’t have much gravy. I actually had to go to a new area today, which normally people don’t do. I wanted so badly to have my best presentation day today, but just couldn’t get it to work for me today. I also quit a little early, which I look back on as a disappointment. Today was very eventful however. After I ate my lunch I had a really bad stomachache and ended up puking. So that kind of sucked. The majority of the weather was nice, but there was this one time…I was looking down the street and saw someone’s garden getting what I thought was watered by a sprinkler. Wrong. I was witenessing a huuuuuge downpour coming right at me. Before I could pull out my rainjacket, which was neatly packed away, I got doused. I just stood there and soaked it up. This had already happened once today. Then on my way home it was rain and hail. But on a more positive note, I filled out my BAR and noticed that I had improved dramatically. I went from about 49:35 hours to 75:13 this week. I had 109 contacts my first week and 228 this week. 18 presentations the first and 43 this week. I also had 4 customers the first week and 11 this week. I collected $372.36 last week and $1,196.17 this week. My first week units were 74 and this week it was 168. So total I’ve made about $1,000 of profit this summer. Pretty sweet for two weeks worth of work huh? Wow it’s almost 1 o’clock and I shouldn’t be getting less sleep on a Saturday night than I do during the week, so I will talk to you tomorrow.

Week 1 aka hell and back

Alright guys sorry this is sporadic and random, but you have to keep in mind that all I'm thinking about is going to bed when I write these. They are basically just quick highlights from the day. Enjoy.

Well on my way down, or I guess I should say up to New York, I hated life. I mean honestly, the drive did suck. However my stops along the way turned out really cool. I got to stop in Cincinnati to eat a meal Tyler owed me at P.F. Chang’s. It was really good. It was also funny to hear how they were living with each other and sounded like they were in a relationship. Anyway, then one of my sister’s friends let us stay at her place so we wouldn’t have to buy a hotel room. So that was awesome. I did happen to have a slight run with some car problems. Actually they were more human error than anything. The first happened near Cleveland. The traffic was stop and go and realllly slow. I reached down to get my sales talk and then felt a little bump…Yeah I was all up on the car in front of me. Thankfully we weren’t moving fast and the guy was really cool about it. There didn’t appear to be any mechanical damage, just really light scratches on my bumper. I’m not sure you could see any on his. Mine is barely noticeable though. Then at a rest stop I was parked near a sidewalk. As I was backing out and pulling away my front left tire popped up, then shortly after the rear did also. I then realized that I had just run up on the curb. Again, thankfully no damage. When I finally arrived at the house in Troy, NY, I got to meet Beth. She is the kind lady that is opening up her house to us so we don’t have to have an apartment. I drove around for a while trying to get a feel for the town of Troy and the surrounding area. I’ll be working in a town called Mechanicville, and it is going to be a blast. That’s all for now.

5-20

Today was my first day out in the field. Luckily I got to follow Travis and continue to expand my knowledge in how to sell these books. We start everyday eating breakfast together at a place called Mannery’s. It was established in 1913 and has great breakfast foods. Then we do some crazy inspirational dances in a nearby bank parking lot. They are called execs and just get our adrenaline pumping. Then I headed out with Travis to his area called Colonie.

The first day is obviously kind of slow because you are in a brand new area. We began by meeting a great man named Frank. He was older, but very helpful in getting us off to a good start. He was kind, like many people we met today and was willing to help us out. We also met some unfriendly people, but I mean you can’t blame them. Half of the people thought we were just pestering the neighborhood not helping their kids out with their schoolwork.

It became very apparent to me that if you wanted to just make a lot of money this summer, then it would prove to be a very difficult summer. People may begin by doing that, but to truly grow and learn from this job, you need to make it about the people. Travis showed that by just continually praying and talking with God throughout our day. He would pray for people we talked to, others in our group, and a lot for himself. Not that he would be successful, but that God would shine through him and for people to be blessed through Travis. This showed me what kind of a mindset you have to have. You can’t control who’s going to be nice or not, but you can be nice to them as much as possible. Generally if you were polite to people they would be polite to you. Even if they weren’t interested, they still treated us with respect. It was great. That’s all I feel like writing about tonight. I want some sleep because tomorrow is my first real day. Pray for me. No really I’m gonna need it.

5-21

Well today was my official first day. Wow. If you don’t feel completely useless, lonely, pissed off, and sad all the same time, then I salute you. I did feel all of those things today. I wasted gas, time, and money. The thing that helps the most is knowing the amount of support I have. My parents first are foremost are there. They always have been and they will continue to be, because that’s how awesome they are. My fellow workers here and my group leader, Travis also keep my spirits lifted. Things only get better with practice, and I believe that. So much so that I’m going to go practice sleeping. My first sale was with a great guy named Kyle Lloyd. Everything that could go wrong did, but somehow he still bought the books from me. Amazing. .

5-22

So today was basically a pity party for myself. Even though I had 30 contacts, contacts are talking to people that actually have children, and 2 presentations, my attitude today sucked. I was just brushing my teeth in the bathroom and re-realized that this job is not about me. It’s not about the money I make, God blesses me with money at the end if I really connect with other people and show them kindness and patience. This week my goals are to see 30 people, get through my sales talk (without leaving out parts), and to work until 9. If I do those things for 3 weeks, then it will become easier for me. Until that time, I just have to tough things out. I found today that driving to a spot and then parking does me better than just driving house to house. It’s like I told Matt tonight: When you run a race and you slow down and walk, it is a lot tougher to motivate yourself to run again. So why put myself in a spot where I’m comfortable. This summer is about growing and doing uncomfortable things. That’s how I’ll form truly good character and discipline. In the words of Bone Thugs and Harmony “Ain’t nothing come easy. You gotta try real, real hard.”

5-23

Wow, what a day today. It was tough, but I’m slowly but surely seeing the changes that are happening in my life. For example, I’ll be honest, after I got off the phone with my parents and just balled my eyes out. My mom told me to let my prayer be that if God wanted me to stay there then I needed help. After that little emotional episode I decided to go to Dunkin’ Donuts and get a boston crème filled donut. Turns out that they were out of those so I settled for a jelly donut. The funny thing was that the guy just held out the bag out the window and told me to have a good night. Yep that’s right, he hooked me up with not one, but two free donuts. What a way to end the night. It was like God was saying, there you go. How’s that for a clear sign. God really is amazing. I slept well that night knowing for sure that God exists. Without him, my family, and the people I work with, this job would prove to be an extremely difficult job.

5-24

Saturday is supposed to be all day Gravy. Gravy is usually like the time from 5-9 when parents get home from work, and basically it’s just better because people are home so you can talk to them. Well this Saturday was tough because I think it’s odd to talk with people about sales on the day they have off. I found that almost every time I talked with someone outside while they were working in their yard that I got denied pretty much every time. So I’m going to try to only catch those families that are in their house. Dinner time is kind of tough to go knocking on doors also. It is very much outside my comfort zone to interrupt. It just feels rude. But anyway, we also had to fill out our BAR’s which are business activities reports. These help us keep track of what we need to order, our expenses, mileage, and that kind of stuff. Our goal as far as hours goes is to work at least 75 hours a week, have 30 contacts a day. That’s it. If we get in the habit of doing those things then we will make money by the end of the summer. This job works 100% of the time, but only if we put in the hours.

The Brave, New World

So i've never read that book, but i figure hey it sounds pretty much like what i'm doing this summer. I just finished sales school in Nashville and Sunday I'll be traveling either up the Western, KY pkwy or the Bluegrass Pkwy. It will be a looong freaking drive. Then Monday I have to try my first sale. I'll be staying near albany. I believe the town is called Mechanicville...no joke. Sounds like the town for me huh? Like I said this is brand new experience, but here's what I think is funny.

My sisters both attended Camp Greystone. During those summers they got talks about how important their attitudes were and that the you choose your own attitude. It all depends on the choices you make. Even though I attended that camp for several years, I never really got that. Now I understand how much control I have in my choices. This summer is going to be awesome because I want it to be. Sure it's going to be tough, I mean there is a 95% rejection rate. However, that 5% of success gets you some pretty good money. You have to learn not to take things personally. There's so much more I could say, but I don't have time. Brotherly duties of helping my sister get married are keeping me busy :). Keep me in your prayers this summer please.

Here's a cool quote: "I am as good as any other person, but no better."

Better than iTunes

alright so I was just randomly looking on amazon for onerepublic's CD because it is amazing. Well I stumbled upon amazon selling Mp3's. They are $.10 cheaper than iTunes, the albums are $1.00 cheaper, and best of all there is no right-protection garbage. I also saw something about pepsi points. So you can get free music if you get your friend's pepsi caps and what not. Usually I would throw those away, but now that I know you can actually get free music, why not you know?

Also I met my sister's fiance this weekend. He's a cool guy, smaller than I thought he would be but definitely a neat guy. He knows a lot more about cars than me, which is great because I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions for him soon. haha. I also cannot believe how fast time is moving. It's like every time I realize that something has gone by quickly, like a day, week, or month, I am farther and farther along in life. It's ridiculous how fast everything moves now. I'm halfway done with my college career. That's scary because that means I'm actually going to have to get a real job soon.

I guess that's all I had on my mind for now.

Has it really been that long?

Wow so I guess I went through quite a drought huh? Sorry. Not really, but maybe a little.

I don't really know what to talk about. I was going to talk about my relationship problems, but decided not to. Instead I'll explore what I have learned about myself. I discovered today that I am not a good coach...at least in frisbee. I know what you're thinking, and yes I do loooove frisbee, but I have no idea what to tell my team. I put together an intramural frisbee team that has a lot of potential, but many of them have never played before, so they do not really know where to run, or how the motion of the game really works. We did do surprisingly well even if the 6-2 score did not show it. Our scoring opportunities were fairly high and our movement of the frisbee was a little rushed, but overall not too bad at all.
I hope i never have to face this situation ^

I did feel really bad that I had nothing very encouraging or inspirational to say to my team. I feel like many of them may not have shared in the enjoyment of the game like I do when I play. I don't know how to send the messages and feelings that I have when I play. I just love it. I also did not play well today. I dropped a pass in the endzone, and made some very stupid careless mistakes.

Oh well there's always tomorrow, no seriously we have a game tomorrow and the next day. Hope that satisfied your blog appetite.

Video by special request!

Alright well someone requested another video blog. It's kind of random, but it's a little look inside what's going on in my life right now. So many things are moving so fast and it's just crazy. A good kind of crazy though.