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Happy Birthday, America! Happy July 4th! Every year, my family observes July 4th with a weekend “getting-to-know-more-of-America on the History Channel. Yesterday’s feature was Benjamin Franklin. I was so surprised that there was so much I didn’t know about him and the more I knew about him, I realized that he is the epitome of the most Creative, Brilliant and Influential Marketer ever! He was a Genius Inventor yet a Master Persuader who helped change the course of this country’s history! In the process though, he gave up so much all the way up to giving up his citizenship from his beloved England.
I myself was an immigrant from Manila, Philippines. Twenty one years ago, I my port of entry was San Francisco – I was a bright eyed, bushy tailed 20 something and with one suitcase in hand, I told myself: “Well Emma, you’re here now… what are you going to make of your life?” Sink or swim, was the answer! I remember this kind Immigration Officer asking me, “Young lady, are you here to go to school?” I just replied: “If I had the opportunity I will…”
The past 20 years weren’t all rosy – there were a lot of struggles, challenges, uncertainties, failures and tears. However through it all, my faith has always been strong. I have always believed that God created me for a greater purpose and gave me gifts that will enable me to help others and do well in the process… I believe in my heart that ALL OF US were called for a greater purpose and we need to figure out how to do good with it.
Benjamin Franklin called it: “Doing well by doing good…”
I meet many people online who share the common passion of helping others, and as attraction marketers, I see a lot of people who are natural at helping fellow entrepreneurs”. From speaking with a lot of entrepreneurs online, I also see that the most common challenge is monetizing their passion and the common thread is that they get into the mode of helping all the time that they forget that they do need to somewhat get paid for what they do! Sometimes, it’s just a matter of tweaking ones mindset and the money does follow!
As successful entrepreneurs, we always tell people – Do this, do that and you will experience financial, time, spiritual or whatever freedom a person is looking for. What we’re forgetting to tell them is that FREEDOM COMES WITH A PRICE. Just like Spiderman’s Uncle said “With great power comes great responsibility”.
The price of freedom equates to the sacrifices you make to get to the destination that will afford you your freedom. I would like to share with you the sacrifices I made to get to where I am now and let me tell you… these sacrifices have helped shaped who I am today and I look back with gratitude because I now understand what freedom means!
1) Leaving my family and friends in Manila, Philippines.
2) Working at Big Lots (used to be Pic N Save) to make $3.00/hr.
3) Learning to identify trustworthy friendships from complete strangers.
4) Having to declare bankruptcy in my early years in the US.
5) Spending hundreds of hours and dollars in Personal Development books.
6) Spending thousands of dollars trying different network marketing opportunities.
7) Spending thousands more in courses and traveling to attend seminars and meet industry leaders.
Making decisions whether to buy the latest purses, shoes and outfits in fashion or invest more in seminars and courses.
9) Investing over $100,000 in my jewelry business only to see it fail.
10) Many sleepless nights studying, learning, implementing and re-inventing myself.
11) Not having enough time for friends and eventually losing touch with them.
12) Sacrificing family time while away on seminars, conferences, private masterminds.
13) Being misunderstood by family members who don’t understand what I do.
14) Shedding lots of tears and having felt fearful that I was never meant to succeed.
15) Painfully overcoming the fear of rejection, judgment when I started my first video and I spoke in a group for the very first time.
While these are my personal sacrifices and the price I paid for the freedom I have now, these are nothing compared to the sacrifices our Men and Women in Uniform have endured so that we can all enjoy the ultimate FREEDOM of being in a nation where we are all given the opportunity to succeed.
My question to you is… WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FREEDOM YOU HAVE, TO MAKE IT WORTH OTHER PEOPLE’S SACRIFICE? Will you do something with your life? Will you get out of your desperation and realize that others already made sacrifices for you because you’re worth something?
To pursue the freedom true entrepreneurship brings requires a lot of sacrifices. Some of us have already paid our dues and maybe you have yet to pay yours. Just make a decision to start somewhere and start NOW… pay those dues, get it over with… invest in yourself… invest in knowledge and skills… become the leader you want to follow.
If it takes a year or two years to get to a level of freedom that you feel is comfortable, so what? Two years will be here whether you make a decision to choose freedom or not… Why not put it on a “lay-away” plan? Start paying your dues for freedom NOW! You’ll be sooo happy you did and yes, you can just thank me later… 
Cheering You On To Your Success!
Emma Tiebens
