MAGINE the following scenario: Basketball superstar Michael Jordan just happens to be sitting in a coffee shop in Chicago where you and a friend have chosen to eat breakfast. You recognize him immediately, of course, but the last thing you want to do is pester him on a Sunday morning. The table next to his is vacant, so you sit at that one to be near him. As you are sitting down, you notice that Michael's two companions are both in wheelchairs.

One of them is a paraplegic and the other has a metal brace on his leg—probably indicative of multiple sclerosis or some other muscle disease. They are both in their late teens. You sit down with your back to Michael, but you're so close you can hear his dialogue. You don't mean to eavesdrop, but you can't help but overhear the conversation. "Jim, Danny, I know you both may not believe me, but many of us in the NBA earn over $30 million a year because we were willing to pay the price of hard work and countless hours of effort. I started practicing when I was your age, and I never stopped believing that one day I'd make the team. You owe it to yourselves to look at this." Michael, you notice out of the corner of your eye, hands one of the boys a piece of paper.

The adolescent looks at it closely and exclaims, "My God, Mr. Jordan, that's more than my dad made over the past ten years and he's a doctor!" "I know," responds Michael, "and that's just one month's income!" "Jimmy, look at this!" Danny says as he stretches just as far as he can across the table to hand him the check. Jimmy takes one look at the $2.8 million dollar check and shakes his head in utter disbelief. He's never seen this kind of money and can hardly imagine it's possible to earn so much in one month.

 As they both continue to stare at the check, Michael then interjects, "And you know what, guys? You can do it too. Why get involved with some menial job when you can get into something with unlimited potential like playing for a pro basketball team?" You shake your head and glance back quickly to make sure your eyes have not played tricks on you. Nope, they are both in wheelchairs. He continues: "I'm not saying you won't have it tough—we all did. I was actually cut from my high school team so I understand the pain of failure. But I didn't give up.

I practiced and practiced until I could shoot from anywhere on the court and even rip the nets half the time!" "I've seen you do some remarkable things, Mr. Jordan.” "Yes. Danny and you can too. I'm not discounting for a minute the difficulties and challenges you'll both face. But I want you to know that you can do anything that you set your mind to do. You really do have unlimited potential, and don't let the fact that you're both confined to wheelchairs keep you from trying. Make me proud. Work hard, give it everything, and one day you too can live the life you want to live, and I know you'll deserve whatever you earn."

Of course, such a scenario could never occur because Michael Jordan knows good and well that those wheelchair-bound adolescents cannot reach the NBA. Impairments of some kind keep millions of people from having the opportunity to rise to the top of virtually every field of endeavor. Physical, educational, intellectual, and experiential handicaps keep most people at the bottom of the traditional corporate pyramids—such as IBM or Coca-Cola.

These are the real pyramids in our society, where workers at the bottom are the lowest paid and the first to be let go in times of crisis. While some few move up through the system, no one has a prayer of earning what the man at the top earns, much less of replacing or surpassing him. Yet, it is conceivable for virtually anyone to reach the top in MLM because there is no challenge that can't be overcome. And every word spoken by Michael Jordan in this hypothetical scene could genuinely be addressed to these two physically handicapped young men regarding the network distribution industry.

In MLM, even those who are timid, uneducated, or have no track record of success are often encouraged to believe that they can earn a million dollars a year just like so many leaders in this industry. In network marketing, everyone is given the benefit of the doubt, and has the possibility of transcending the highest earner in the company. There is nothing to hold you back but the limits imposed by your own mind-set. Having said that, we now want to distinguish between the potential of this business and the reality of what it takes to achieve success.

While it's true that everybody, regardless of their handicaps, can achieve upside earnings potential in network marketing, we are concerned about leaders who imply that great success in this business is easy. Sometimes after years of hard effort, all resulting in failure, some people who truly are not cut out for this business continue to be misled that they can still reach the top.

There is a place in our industry for everyone, but each will experience success in his or her own way and time, and the level of success can vary immensely. And success need not only be measured in dollars—some will develop solid, lifelong friendships, and that alone makes it worthwhile. Some introverts will come out of their shells and feel they have gained immeasurably by what this industry has done for them. Others will earn a few hundred dollars a month and be thankful that they have something of value to do, and a little spending money besides. Some impoverished ministers will earn $15,000 as early as their 56 fourth month.

Most everyone will experience personal growth through this industry and, unquestionably, that is priceless. What better way to achieve such positive outcomes—all from home at such a low cost! The two of us met each other through this business, and later fell in love and married. If you take everything else away from us, that alone would have made our time in network marketing invaluable. There is nothing of greater significance than finding your soul mate. So, by all means, show prospects the inherent potential of this business, but allow all distributors the right to discover their own levels of success. And by success, we mean having worthwhile goals and taking the necessary steps to achieve them. As long as you are taking a step forward, you are successful.