One of the humorous things that IBOs often bring up is that someone who sees Amway in a critical eye should bring up viable alternatives. I mean if someone prevents you from fall over a cliff, they should have warned you and given you alternatives, right? If I recognized you getting conned by a conman, I should find viable financial investments for you before warning you of the potential scam you are about to walk into. It sounds completely ridiculous, but Amway IBOs have actually made those comments on this blog and some other Amway related websites.
Well, let's explore a few anyway just for fun. How about you stay home and do nothing? For most IBOs, you would be better off financially than committing your time and resources into Amway's products and their ineffective training materials and functions. If you are really dedicated to tools, sending your upline a check for $50 monthly and not buying Amway goods or related training materials would make you better off. Playing video games or taking a nap is better because at least you don't lose money.A second job where you actually receive a paycheck is a better alternative. While there's no hype and hopes of getting rich in 2-5 years, you can do much for your future by saving a portion of that paycheck each month. If you are young, this especially applies to you. But anyone can help their future by saving and investing. Even someone who panhandles is more likely to have more net cash than most Amway IBOs.
Sure, some people do make money in Amway, and some make a lot of money. The problem is they make money by exploiting their downlines and those hopeful downlines basically have no hope. In other words, you profit by selling false hope and false dreams. Basically, you can gain wealth in Amway by being a conman. Can you live with yourself in order to profit at any cost?
I haven't even gone into the amount of time lost chasing prospects and attending functions. Your time might be the most valuable commodity that is lost chasing the 2-5 year dream. Ask yourself this question. Where are these diamonds who did the 2-5 year plan living in luxury and doing nothing? I don't know of any/ Do you?
Joe, when Amway partisans ask you "What about an alternative?" they are really saying (in a disguised manner) that "For a person like you with no skills and low intelligence, Amway is the only way to aspire to success." It is insulting and condescending.
ReplyDeleteAt functions, the Diamonds and their wives on stage often shout out to the crowd "What else is there? What else is there?" This is a way of telling people that their financial situation is hopeless, and that in Amway they might have a chance to improve it. It shows that, deep down, Amway is really about despair.
There are indeed many things one can do instead of Amway, if we add up the hours and expenses. One can get quite fit if exercising all that time, or learn a new language. The first is good for your health, the latter will make you a much more interesting person.
ReplyDeleteBut while realistically we won't all do things like that, I do think almost all people will be better off already, not by doing anything specifically instead, but simply by not wasting time, and not neglecting family or work commitments. Investing in these (family, social network, church, work whatever commitments) come with their own pay offs. If your energy is with your work, you are more likely to get promotions, or even build the skills and industry clout to start a business in the industry you work in, if that is your thing.
One of the people I knew from work who tried to recruit me, put so much energy into Amway that his promising career suffered, taking a huge knock from Amway. Everybody where he worked knew him as the Amway guy, that is all that he talked about. Wouldn't it have been better if he was known as a committed and hard working guy, an association he could have achieved in a fraction of the time he must have spent on Amway? I have no doubt that he neglected some of his duties because his mind was elsewhere. At our catch up morning coffee ("catch up" is how he got me to meet up, what it turned out to be in reality was an attempt to rope me into his group) his boss called, and he had to go in a hurry. I can only assume he was not where he was supposed to be, in time. It is hard to imagine what damage this type of wrong focus could have inflicted over time.
That type of damage is in the long run, probably an even a bigger price than the training materials and unneeded self consumption purchases he would no doubt have made.
As for myself, the irony is that if I had wasted my time with Amway for years, I would not have been in a position to start the business that I have. Yet it's not me who look down on people who work in regular jobs, or who bad mouth my ex boss. That is in spite of not having had the Amway experience to supposedly make me a nicer person.