One of the silly things many Amway IBOs are taught is to avoid negative. I believe this is taught today by uplines and it was certainly a point of emphasis even in my days as an IBO. The upline diamond would say that the world of full of negatives and that we as people take in too much of these negatives. Therefore, the IBOs were told to avoid television, newspapers and other forms of communication with the outside world. The group was also told to avoid people who speak negatively about Amway. For this reason, many people have considered Amway groups such as WWDB or N21 as cultish or cult-like. (information deprivation or information control). It's ridiculous to be apathetic about current events and important local news because you deem it as "negative". If you live in the Midwest, you certainly need to know if a tornado is heading your way. Or if you live in Hawaii like me, you need to know if a hurricane is heading your way. To avoid news because you see it as "negative" is stupid and ignorant.
I can agree that you surely don't want to only take in negatives as it can wear you down, but not seeing the news or reading about current events in the paper simply makes you apathetic and uninformed. For example, wouldn't you want and need to know if there was an escaped criminal roaming your neighborhood? Avoiding news could be very detrimental to your family and home. Do you avoid the doctor because his assessment of your health might not be "positive"? For these reasons, I believe that many Amwayers walk around wearing a mask with a false smile, trying to overly positive. But this behavior is detrimental to IBOs, not helpful.Another important thing that many IBOs cannot distinguish is the difference between negative and the truth. If your wife asks you if her new dress makes her look fat, the truth might be that the new dress indeed makes her appear fat. That answer may be uncomfortable for you to deliver, but the truth is the truth. The truth at times can be positive or negative but it is still the truth. IBOs seem to be unable to make this distinction.
Most IBOs earn less than $100 a month. That is the truth. Most IBOs lose money if they participate in functions and standing orders and such. That is the truth. Most IBOs will never even sponsor a downline. That is the truth. Most IBOs, filled with motivation and dreams, will never see those dreams fulfilled. That is the truth. Many upline diamonds, who advise IBOs to purchase tools and attend functions, and fill the IBO's heads full of dreams, make significant incomes from the sale of tools and functions. That is also the truth. In a 1 year timespan, approximately 50% of all IBOs will quit. That is the truth. You can't build a business with residual income where 50% of people constantly quit. That is also the truth.
Is it negative to tell the truth? Or can IBOs not handle the truth?
1 comment:
It's not so much that your up-line wants you to avoid the news or current events. After all, at most Amway meetings your up-line or your Platinum will spend an hour ranting and raving about what's wrong with the world. He'll shoot off his mouth about politics, taxes, the way the country is going to the dogs, etc. etc.
No, when these Amway types insist that you "avoid negative," they usually mean anyone or anything that raises a serious question about the entire Amway concept, and whether it is actually a plausible business. If you wonder out loud about the high prices of Amway products, and whether they are really competitive with cheaper big brands; or whether you need to buy water at $50 a case; or whether Nutrilite vitamins are any better than other multivitamins; or whether there really is any "residual income" when you retire from Amway -- well, that's what Amway freaks will call "being negative."
If you ask these kinds of questions, they show that you are a serious thinker who is willing to question claims and mere publicity. And that makes you NEGATIVE in the Amway cult. It's a serious crime in any cult, where you are expected to believe certain doctrines without question, and with full enthusiasm.
Do you remember that asshole Dexter Yeager? Recall how he used to run around at functions, going up to each IBO and screaming "Do you BELIEVE? Do you BELIEVE?" It was exactly like some fundamentalist preacher at a revival.
In Amway (as in any cult) if you don't show enthusiasm you are immediately suspect.
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