Fake studies in the pharmaceutical industry

It is a well-known fact that fake studies have occurred in the pharmaceutical industry, since "profit at any cost" seems to be a philosophy among the medical mafia as I like to call them.

Here is the latest, Sven sent me this link:

Probe into faked studies rocks medical community

Ban the mass hypnosis of fear

People around you are going into paralysis mode. Don't just stay out of that culturally acceptable trance, but help to lift people out of it.

The media bombardment of how bad things are and how scared we should be is working. Sadly, we all can see this. But who is going to be the "local hero" who refuses the doom and gloom, who stands for something different and keeps believing in and offering an opportunity?

Is it you?

How will you make every moment count? And I am not talking about mass recruitment here. Not everybody is your prospect. Some people have to get out of misery and into a "neutral" mode first before you even want them in your business. And for some people the business you offer will never be the right thing for them. But you can still become the person who always provides value. Always inspires a situation. Like Michael Breen, a world-class NLP trainer puts it: "lift every situation to its highest potential". Do that as a habit. Benefits will follow.

And by the way. You urgently need to get out of the mass hypnosis if you are in one... and get into a better kind of mind set. Next week we launch our Nutri5 web site, releaset the bulk packs. Time to be too busy to worry about the econonomy! Go create a new one instead!

See you at the Nikken Conventions.

Talk and earn trust

Lately I have been studying "networking" outside of the network marketing business. The truth is that a lot of businesses are entirely built around networks in a very similar fashion to network marketing. Especially when you look at one-person businesses such as consulting, coaching, training, public speaking and a lot of free-lance businesses of various forms. Many successful people in these types of businesses started with very low or almost no financial resources and investments. Very much like many network marketing businesses start with very little cash injected as the start. But what they did start with was an intention, an offering and people.

The successful ones managed to leverage their network. They spoke with people they already knew. Started serving them, communicating regularly with them, and asking for what they wanted. Business and referrals. Not pushing their services down people's throats. But letting everyone know what solutions they could offer and what type of clients they were looking for.

Some of these consultants, coaches etc are brilliant network marketers. They follow up. They listen. They regularly stay in touch. And they don't chase. They do inform. They ask "who do you know who might need this?" And over time they build an incredible foundation of trust and a steady stream of clients.

Network marketers should adapt some of the things these people do. One of the is using your "data base" or your name list properly. Another one is keeping your communications simple. Don't make prospecting into a "thing". Talk to people! Serve them. Help them...

There is great opportunity in the marketplace. Those who serve will continue to win. No matter what the "general statistics" about our economy say.

Be one of those winners.

Mämmiä!

It must be 10 years since I last had some "mämmi", a Finnish Easter Tradition probably going back thousands of years... to the ancient times when all the Finns had to eat was pine trees, fish, rocks and rye. So it's kind of like a desert. But like a rye bread pudding. Served with cream and sugar to sweeten it up a bit. Quite an experience. Riitta in our Finance department brought some to the office today and us Finns are celebrating this fine tradition...


Anyway, Finland keeps going strong as a Nikken market. Year on year they build a stronger and stronger business. At end of March, our newest President's Club members Ilkka and Pirkko Noso (in the photo) joined me and the first Finnish PC members Jouko and Mallu Saarinen for the Finnish 3rd annual DSA Gala. It was held at the Grand Casino in Helsinki and we had some great opera themed entertainment with our nice dinner.

The Noso's have an interesting and inspiring story to share. Be on the lookout on the portal and the Summer edition of our Family Wellness Magazine to read more about how and why they did it.


Belgium is another market doing really well. In recent months they have reached a fantastic momentum and are basically doubling sales compared to the same month last year. Way to go!

Many Belgian Consultants will be recognised at the first of this year's Regional Conventions that is coming up 16 May in Paris. The Paris one is quickly selling out, so secure your tickets! Also, it is about time to secure your ticket for the Copenhagen one on 29 August as well and why not join us in Budapest on 21 November?

Order your Convention ticktes at: http://www.rhythmoflife.eu/

Reality lies in the perception

Royal Diamond Oddmund Berger often reminds that "perception is reality". What we perceive to be true is true for us. The problem being that what we perceive may not, in fact, be true. So how can we know what is?

If reality lies (ambiguity intended) within perception - then how is that perception formed?

What we perceive as being a problem, or the truth, or the current situation, is formed by what we can perceive first of all with our senses, but also by things that have happened in the past and how we filter that information, as well as our general perception of life, people, our values etc... Our abstract ideas about how things work, should be, etc... all those generalisation (genera-lie-sations) are part of formiong the perception we have.

So what?

Well. First of all, we may need to clear our minds at times. And see beyond certain illusions. More and more, media is becoming a medium of mass programming. It has always been that way but the global impact of unified messages is bigger than ever. And the type of stuff that we are fed by media does affect world views. Is there anything else happening in the world except scandals, wars, "lack" of money (where did it go?) etc etc.... If you look at mainstream media... it looks like not.

Nothing new here. Good news aren't the stuff for media. And talking about lying... media companies like to expose liars when it suits them... but they don't hesitate to lie themselves to create that type of stories... so where is the truth?

Anyway... I think you need to create your own truth. Don't believe most of the "bs" that you are being presented as truths through the news. Question the intention of what is being said. What are we made to believe?

It's easier than you think.

One of the most valuable lessons lately I got from listening to a podcast interview featuring an aikido master. This time it hit me. And the installation was done. He was giving advice on how to get it done right. His two comments were: "Releax completely. Be focused on your center." That was it. Makes total sense, sensei.

It doesn't just apply to aikido. It applies to everything. Even if you don't know exactly what you are doing. If you are trying out a new technique or charting out a new path, relax! You will notice more, have better access to your resources and... enjoy the process more. The results will follow. It will be easier to achieve more in a shorter time.

This reminds me of something Mike Lewis mentioned in Tenerife last year. That everything you need is within your grasp. Literally. Just ask. People keep their issues for themselves far too much. Instead, you could have 20 ideas on how to solve a problem if you just let people know what you are looking for. Or find the right person just by talking to people you already know.

That applies to network marketing. The Royal Diamonds you want to find are already connected to people around you. They won't know you are looking for them if you don't ask.

The heat is on...

It's gonna get hot this year. Or actually some people with hot flushes are gonna cool down. But the heat is on since our new product is HOT and the coolest thing in direct selling since... direct selling. The right price, proven, simple, effective, life-changing, simple, easy to talk about, with legal claims... you name it, it's got it.

And by the way. Anyone can take it. It's all good. But you gotta wait a while. For the product that means. But don't wait before you find yoursel recruiting a whole new growing and dynamic group of people to mobilise for the launch.

This is going to be big.

Paris and back again

Lots of interesting meetings lately. First of all, this weekend in Paris with a fully booked event for 400 people, featuring Dave Balzer and Dr Naidu as well as Dave Rolfe among the speakers.

Dave Balzer gave a great presentation on magnetics and Far Infrared Technology. Dr Naidu presented OsteoDenx. Then we went for a little tour of Paris, including a visit to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica where a Sunday mass was in full swing.

Yesterday I was back in Paris again. The third of our three Executive Sales Board meetings this week. First Copenhagen, then Munich and yesterday in Paris.

Productive, insightful, exciting. Next year will be fantastic. Can't tell you why yet... but we are going to shift gears and reach thousands of new people.

The importance of practicing the basics

A common challenge in Nikken and any network marketing business is that many Consultants don't allow themselves enough time in which to build the necessary competence to be able to really build successfully. They get disheartened by their results far too early, even before they are even "half trained".

Compare with some other professions. Yes, direct selling is a profession. How long does it take to become a fully fledged doctor, teacher, football player, singer... you get the point.

Here is some interesting information from an article that I just read. The link is further below but let's look at this first.

"The 10,000-hours rule says that if you look at any kind of cognitively complex field, from playing chess to being a neurosurgeon, we see this incredibly consistent pattern that you cannot be good at that unless you practice for 10,000 hours, which is roughly ten years, if you think about four hours a day."

Wow! I don't think it takes nowhere near 10 000 hours to get good enough to be Royal Diamond material. But what this quote does show is how crucial this element is. It is not only about talent. For some people, their road to Royal Diamond could be those 10 000 hours of consistent effort. For some the journey is faster. But comparing to other fields does put the expectations in our industry in perspective.

Read the entire article here:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/11/news/companies/secretsofsuccess_gladwell.fortune/index.htm

There is also an interesting comparison of American and Japanese school children and a theory that work and study ethics could culturally be based on habits going back to the agricultural days and the different requirements in the West and in Asia. Rice growing is really hard.

There is also a great video on the subject:

http://money.cnn.com/video/ft/#/video/fortune/2008/10/20/fortune.colvin.talent.fortune

Or as our dear Dr Naidu puts it, "there are no geniuses, only hard-working people or lazy people".

Change has come.

Actually change is happening all the time. Things change. That's the thing. The question is whether we are part of creating the change we want or just observing as things change.

Anyway, what has caught my attention is mr Obama's public speaking skills. Here is obviously a very clever man, sharp, thoughtful and great at captivating an audience.

One thing that he does more consistently than a lot of other speakers is to open up the "command module" in the brains of the listeners by his very repetitive downward inflections. Try it out yourself. Make a command statement and notice how the natural language process will be to end it with a downward inflection, like in "Now I want you to go asleep." But when you ask a question, it is upwards like in "Did you go to sleep?"

Leaders need to create followers and getting acceptance for your statements or commands is a key part of getting there. But a lot of speakers don't use everything they have at their disposal to get their message across. Sometimes their language is incongruent. George Bush is incongruent a lot when he talks. To the point where most people can tell when he is being quite liberal with the truth so to speak.

Other speakers do a fairly good job but not consistently. McCain is not a bad public speaker, but he is not excellent. Obama is excellent and what he does much more is use the tone of his voice to his advantage and especially in hammering home statements and sometimes embedded commands by these downward inflections.

I'm not saying that you should think about this when you are doing your presentations. Or... think about it.