Living The Good Life?

 I recall as a rank and file IBO (as a newbie), I thought how awesome it would be to have financial freedom, do what you want, when you want, and cost is no object.   That's certainly what was implied about the diamond lifestyle.  No worries, retired at age 29 and nothing to do but to figure out where you want to play each day right?   At least that's the illusion the diamonds want you to see.   It gives you something to hope for and hope is what the diamonds sell via audios/cds, functions and meetings.

I remember when I was out with my upline a number of times, we drove past our diamond while we were out showing the plan.   The diamond was dressed in a suit and I recall asking my sponsor why the diamond didn't simply walk away from Amway to enjoy a quiet life of wealth.  The answer was that the diamond cared about his downline thus he spent many evenings helping his downline show the plan and build the business.  While that might have been true, I later realized that the diamond was out conducting his Amway business, just like I was.   Because he probably had to.  

If you belong to a group in Amway or if you were around a group for a few months, you probably noticed that people doing little or nothing and quitting or people dropping out after a few months of trying was quite common.  And with that being a simple fact in Amway, you can easily see that there is no life long residual income and walking away from Amway to enjoy a quiet life of luxury.  when the majority of IBOs do little or nothing and quitting, it takes tremendous effort to maintain a viable group that produces enough PV to keep the diamond in qualification.  Also, if people drop out, them they are not paying for voicemail, meetings, audios/cds and functions.  The drop outs must be quickly replaced in order for a diamond to maintain their income plus the income augmentation from the tools and functions. 

Another little thing that might go unnoticed in the Amway common 6-4-2 or 9-4-2 plan is that a large portion of a diamond's income is received in the form of an annual bonus and not a large monthly bonus check.   During my blogging career, now spanning close to 20 years, I had befriended a former emerald who said her annual bonus had to be budgeted for the year because the monthly income was quite small.  I believe that to be true of most diamonds, save for the old and long tenured diamonds with large groups.  

So at least to me, it appears that a diamond is very much like a working stiff who works 9-5.  But the diamond works odd hours and often the night shift because most people have day jobs and can't do business during the day.  You can argue that the "work" that a diamond does isn't as difficult as a 40 hour per week job, but you could also argue that having a regular consistent paycheck along with medical insurance and benefits can bring you some peace of mind.  I'm sure there are many diamonds living on the edge, especially if they try to keep up with the Joneses and portray the diamond lifestyle.