Direct sales is a hard game. Anyone who tells you this business is easy is selling a box of fairy dust. It's hard. It's fraught with self-doubt, comparison, anxiety, self-imposed pressure and expectations.

Often we see our friends, peers, team mates doing things that are emotionally destructive to their business or mindset. I see it constantly. And here is my best analogy. If I knew you were physically hurting yourself, I would immediately seek to get you help. IMMEDIATELY. I drop what I'm doing and rush to your side. Any one of us would.

But emotional self-hurt is harder to see. What does it look like in a business context? Constantly checking the competition like we're stalking an ex (been there, done that). Obsessive self-comparison to others. Stress or anxiety over something that has already happened, and you cannot change one single bit (this one is a biggie). Emotional self-harm.

Why do we allow our friends to keep emotionally hurting themselves? Because we often don't know how to help.

Here's how.

Unlike. Unfollow. Unsubscribe. Block. Don't click on the link. Stop the comparison game. Stop the emotional blackmail with yourself. Stop the emotional cutting. We've all done it. The first step is recognizing it when it happens.

This week I had someone ask me if I was interested in seeing what an indirect competitor was doing. Nope, not interested. I'm going to stay in my lane, because if I go peek? Emotional self-harm. Comparison. Obsessive stress over “I need to do that, I'm not good enough. My clients will leave me.” I would not be able to sleep, and I guarantee I'd be a ball of nerves. And in reality, it won't change my strategy one bit. Stay in my lane, focus forward, one step in front or the other. Don't click on that link, Brenda. Don't do it.

I asked someone just a bit ago, when she was stressing over bad leadership behaviors she observes from her upline. “Mindset question. Whatcha gonna do about it?” Her response: “Do what I know works for me.”

Exactly.