Daydreaming about Success, In Mary Kay and Out.

Get ready for a shocker... no link today!

That's right, I am taking a break from linking to Pink Truth (for today) to bring you a short musing of my own about this whole Mary Kay thing.

I will set this up by telling you about an opinion piece I was reading in an automotive magazine. The article was discussing the way that speeding tickets (and other moving violations) seem to increase (in certain towns and cities) when the economy begins to struggle.

The theory that was posited is that the local government, strapped for cash because of declining property taxes (and other declining revenue streams) "lean on" their police departments to bring in some cash.

Now, I am just as infuriated as the next guy by the thought of my law enforcement (I say my because we all pay taxes for this) department "fund-raising" for the city by ticketing otherwise minor driving offenses while turning a relatively blind eye to other, more serious crimes.

It also stands to reason that there is a direct connection between declining city/town/state revenue and increased citations. Whether it is true that this is intentional or not is likely as difficult to determine as many of the accusations Pink Truth hurls about Mary Kay. In some cases it is probably painfully obvious, in others, anecdotal, at best.

One line that was quoted in the piece was this;

"A lot of police chiefs will tell you the goal is to have nobody speeding through their community, but heaven forbid if it should actually happen - they'd be out of money."

Now, this is a fantastically large can of worms that I am not particularly interested in opening on this site. Although, if you would like to, feel free... just no guarantees on how much time I can devote to 'caring' about your opinions about it!

That said, my thoughts turned to the "evidence" that is so often used in arguments against Mary Kay. They go something like this: "Mary Kay directors say that they only recruit people they believe would be great at Mary Kay, but if you could get them to be honest, they would admit that they secretly wish every client became a team member."

Now, hopefully I have set the stage well enough for my bitter distaste for this line of argument to make sense.

Naturally, there is a very high likelihood that anyone in any industry will have "secret" desires that not only don't line up with their company's declared objectives and values, but are in fact self-destructive to the very person thinking them.

From the Burger King "fry-master"... "... I wish that noone comes in to the store today..." (If he got his wish, day after day, he would be out of a job... of course that may be a good thing too...)

to the Mary Kay Rep.... "... I wish every client I have right now would decide to sell Mary Kay.... I could be a director tomorrow!"

and many, many more in between... probably even YOU.

There is a tendency to "fantasize" about a world where the tedious, slow process of doing whatever it is we do, gets done for us, while we sit idly by and reap the benefits. This, in and of itself is not wrong. Some people daydream about it. No doubt, some people (I believe erroneously) pray for it. Others, and I think this group are a small minority, attempt to make it happen. (picture aforementioned "fry-master" setting the place on fire in hopes that it would keep customers away...)

The thing, I believe that keeps Mary Kay reps in Mary Kay (and away from Pink Truth), the thing that keeps each of us in our career of choice (and not trying to burn down our office building), is the realization that whatever we do, it is going to take persistence, hard work, and frankly, must be earned. It is when people begin believing that the crazy daydream of having things handed to them, unearned, can actually be realized that they end up doing regrettable things... and, inevitably, end up regretting those things.

However, just like we can picture the fry-master offering, "every fry-master daydreams about burning down the Burger King" as his defense... and maybe we can believe that this may or may not be true... the fact of the matter rests squarely on the little problem that only one person (in this story) actually committed arson.

Similarly, when someone on Pink Truth brazenly declares that she lied to her clients/recruits/family members and even herself, then applies the defense, "EVERYone in Mary Kay thinks the way I did... they are all 'in the fog' ", I have to ask, "Really? Everyone?" Because, frankly, it seems unlikely.

Perhaps there are those that daydream of going from "red jacket" to "NSD" in 13 days. Perhaps there are those that pray for this to happen. And clearly, there are some that are willing to lie, cheat and (essentially) steal to make it happen. These are destined for Pink Truth glory. However, leaping from these very probably assumptions to the "everyone is..." or "everyone does..." will give you a hernia.

I will wrap this up with a confession of my own. Every time I see a nice car (Everything from 'standard luxury' like Mercedes, BMW, Infiniti to 'luxury luxury' like Bentley, Rolls Royce to 'insane money luxury/sports' like Lambo, Ferrari) I fantasize about how I could wind up with that car. From insane scenarios like, "imagine if I notice this guy pulling over and I pull over behind him (picture the Ferrari for this one) and ask if everything is okay. turns out everything is fine, but he is SOOO impressed with my kindness that he just gives me the car... right there on the spot... title, registration, everything... and pays for the insurance... and gas... and repairs.

I exaggerated slightly when I said "EVERY" time, but only slightly. I love cars. I wish I had a whole warehouse full of them. I wish I could drive a different car every day for ten years. I wish that Jay Leno and I could compete on a "who has the better collection" level. I daydream, I wish for, I imagine ways that I could make this a reality, but I will always stop short of DOING something that compromises my values to achieve it.

In other words, when my imagination runs wild and I think, "I could steal that car, run away to Mexico, repaint it, and live the rest of my life in lonely seclusion with that beauty..." it stays right there. In my imagination.

Now, the battle will continue to rage about Mary Kay. How many people step across the line of fantasy and imagination (I could be an NSD if...) into the reality of doing regrettable things to achieve those fantasies and imaginations is simply not data that is available to us. What I personally hope this site achieves is becoming a road block (of sorts) preventing people from making that mistake.

Pink Truth (by and large) believes that joining Mary Kay is making that mistake.

I do not. I believe that you can operate a Mary Kay business without making that mistake. But you must guard yourself against the temptation to try to take the easy way out. In Mary Kay and out.