Despite everything that’s happening in this fast-paced digital world, the power of presence still reigns supreme if you want to provide real service and realize your priorities. One must always be available and appreciate his or her now. Hear tips from a POWERHOUSE MOM BOSS on leading a team of over 10k women while also being an awesome mom to five kids! Join Dan McCormick as he interviews Amanda Earnest! With sixteen years of both traditional and non-traditional business experience under her belt, Amanda is now a top-ranking “artist” in the company that she represents, and she’s ready to share her secrets with us!

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Listen to the podcast here:

Amanda Earnest: Achieving Success Through The Power Of Presence

I have Amanda Earnest from the fabulous San Clemente, California. This is going to be terrific if you’re joining us for the first time. You’re used to the format of the show. This is our twelfth episode. The one person that gets to sit in that chair is my friend. One of my favorites, Amanda Earnest. Welcome to the show, Amanda. How are you?

I am fantastic. It’s the greatest day of my life.

Ever since I met you several years ago, it’s been a joy to watch your journey. What I love to do for our readers because we know that people have many things on their plate, I love to sit and say, “I’m looking at the greatest salesperson in the world.” What could you tell me as a way of value for our readers are three things that shape your life and day that puts you in this chair?

Thanks for having me on. It’s such a privilege to be here. The three things that I was giving some thought to this is a loaded question like, “What are the three things that guide your life?” I was like, “That’s a lot of things.” I narrowed it down to a few things that seem to be guiding me. The first one is presence, the second one is priorities, and the third one is service.

Being a mom, being a successful multimillion-dollar producer, being someone that has five children, I imagine presence weighs on your mind every day with every one of those children. Every call, every Zoom, every life, every story, you’ve got to be present, don’t you?

Thanks to Dan, Habit Finder, their CEO, Paul Blanchard, and one of their elite coaches, Alex McMillan, who I’ve been coaching with for quite some time now. I learned a lesson in terms of presence that truly changed my life. That’s when I put it on the number one thing because I found after a couple of years getting started in the business that I’m in, it was an exciting time to be a part of something huge. It’s life-changing not only for our family but for so many other people. When you get into a flow, passion or a space that you are very excited and grateful to be there, sometimes it becomes hard to balance.

I talked at our company’s virtual conference about this word balance and how Alex taught me that instead of seeking out that balance, it’s balancing. It’s a noun versus a verb. I found that with presence, it becomes balancing. As a mom of five, I find myself moving between the moments, the obligations, and the things throughout my day that I want to experience. For example, I got to a point where I was overwhelmed, drained and stuck in a place. I found that I was in such a place of paralyzing obligation that when I was in one place, I felt guilty for not being in another.

Power Of Presence: The more you update yourself, the more successful you become and be able to help others.

When I was in another place, I felt like a bad leader for not being over here, trying to multitask and do more than one thing at the same time, it was exhausting for me, energetically. I wasn’t being present. An example, I’ll share with you, I quit having my AirPod thing in. I like to listen to books, podcasts, talk on voice messaging apps with my team every day but when my kids get in the car, if I have a kid next to me or in the seat behind me, I said, “How am I going to be present?”

Even for 5 to 10 minutes on this car ride, I chose to take the AirPod out, put it in its little case, and hold some silence. Sometimes my teenagers, especially, won’t have anything to say to me, but sometimes they do. Being available has been like oxygen. Not only for me but for my kids. My eight-year-old told me, driving home, just he and I in the car, “Mom, did you know that when you’re being still, you’re moving because the earth is moving?”

I wouldn’t have had that opportunity to experience this moment with my beautiful son if I was not present, I was on a call, I’m listening to my thing in one second, even in small moments like that. Sometimes, I like to video my dinners. People like my recipes. If I’m not videoing it, I like to make dinner. When I’m recharging at the end of the day, I want to be recharge. When I’m full with my team or with a new lady who got started or on this podcast with you, I am in it to win it. I’m thrilled to be, or not feeling bad that I’m not somewhere else because I’ve shifted. I’ve come into this moment or presence with you. That for me is something that’s been liberating and a great gift to my life.

If there’s the greatest salesman in the world tip to start a showoff, that is epic. I was watching the movie, The Social Dilemma about how destructed we are in the world and that’s the design of everything. The look and the feel to distract us, to get us off-center or off-focus. That’s why Og was brilliant to give you and I the challenge to read that scroll not once, but three times a day to be able to figure out how to dial in that presence. In a sense, the priority becomes the presence. You’ve got your service to your children because you’re present and it’s a priority or to your team or to the new prospect that you’re meeting.

It’s the movement. We had to balance a second. We witnessed it in real life.

Your team, your friends, and people all over the place love it. The comment you made about balance versus balancing and noun versus verb, it’s brilliant. Here’s what I remember. The first time we met, you love the personal development journey. You resonate with it. To be the leader of thousands of females and entrepreneurs, moms and couples, what an awesome thing that you fell in love with. Where do you think that came from?

Sometimes, I refer to myself as Amanda 1.0 many years ago. Before I got started in home-based businesses, I had a traditional business for three kids worth, however, many years that took me. I moved into a non-traditional business several years after 2008. I feel the presence that I have, the priorities meaning to shift, and going into something bigger than myself is something that was going to involve potentially thousands, even hundreds of thousands like in your case, Dan, impacting all these lives.

I had better get a software update. I found that without that, I was struggling. I wasn’t able to succeed at the levels that I saw other people winning. I had some great mentors in my life who I didn’t listen to that great for quite some time. It was after I struggled for long enough and it started to sting enough. I started to humble myself more to their coaching and to their invitation to grow myself and become the leader that I wished I could be or that I wanted to be and to choose to lean into that.

That was going to take some getting uncomfortable like going to the gym and ripping your muscle as you’re lifting weights so that it grows back stronger. It still is painful and hard. When I have coaches and mentors who I look up to, I trust, I know love me and care about me, give me a reality check from time-to-time. When the little thing on my screen pops up and says, “You need a software update.” Sometimes I click, “Remind me tomorrow,” and “Update Now.” The more I click that Update Now button, the more successful I’ve found myself to become and the better job I’ve been able to do at helping other people do the same thing.

When you and I met a few years ago, my daughter May and one of your daughters who were with you got into the personal development discussion and me being able to grow up and travel with Jim Rohn and being able to study The Greatest Salesman in the World. I gave you the challenge. I said, “You have to put this to the test.” Many people have many accolades for your leadership and passion for The Greatest Salesman and The Greatest Secret in the World. I gave you that link back then. If you haven’t done this and you want to know why Amanda is present, prioritize, service-oriented, and she mentioned her coach and she gives accolades to those that have shared the journey.

If you have not taken this simple little sponsored assessment that we have for you as a gift that has a remarkable value of hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars to align your life with the teachings, truths, and principles that Og shares in these fantastic scrolls. Simply go to HabitFinder.com/amanda and you can take that in a matter of minutes. I always referenced scroll nine. Do it now. It’s, “I will act now.” Make that a family priority and something you’re going to be present to do and you know that you will get a free assessment on behalf of the Og Mandino Company.

We hope you’ll share this on your page and let everybody feel the wisdom that she is sharing here on the show. She is Amanda Earnest, the top distributor in the globe with a company called Maskcara. I’m happy because that first meeting we had several years ago, the company was brand new. You’re just starting, you’re all fired up, and you introduce personal development to your journey. That was the first time you read the book when I gave you that challenge that day.

I’m a huge fan of listening to books because I’m a busy mom and I spend a lot of time in the car. This is why you want to get on paper. I highly recommend it. I’ve read it several times and the scrolls even more. I had read personal development books in the past. This was the first time I had ever heard of The Greatest Salesman in the World. Thank goodness, Dan, you shared it with me.

You are the greatest salesperson in the world now. Do you remember the first time you read it? There’s a parable form. There’s a philosophy for writing and living that makes Og so unique in The Greatest Salesman message. Was there something that struck you about?

Power Of Presence: To serve is to see where a person is at and come into that moment with them.

I remember the first time I read it, a lot of the personal development books that we’re used to reading are like self-help books. You’re like coaching if you were to hear someone talking to you. What is beautiful about The Greatest Salesman in the World is it’s a fictional story. It’s eloquent, captivating, it’s like a parable, and many great lessons can be learned from great stories. In terms of the philosophy and everything, that is a whole different ball game but I was expecting that this is going to be a book about how to sell stuff, about how to be a great seller and it’s going to give me strategies and tactics on marketing or who knows what. “You can change your life with the priceless wisdom of the scrolls.”

I’m like, “What is this?” I’m reading it and I’m like, “This is a great story.” The presentation I did is eight pages. It’s all typed out. I got them all marked up and stuff. It’s still here on my pink couch. The scroll alone, I ended my own presentation with portions of the scroll marked five, “I will live the day as if it is my last.” I wrote in the margins of that, that it’s poetic. I think that writing can be poetic. It can be art and there can be much beauty in words, writing, meaning, and then how that can change a person’s life. That stirred me to the core so that I was able to take in the lessons from the parable because it stirred up my heart and opened my understanding in a new way and in an artistic way.

We’ve had a few spouses chime in as the show has moved along over the twelve episodes we’ve done. We’ve got your spouse here. Mark may not remember me, but I know him and his brothers used to hang out, shooting basketballs at the church, and I sometimes show up and see them. I would know them as teenagers. I got truth bumps standing up on my arms knowing that your husband is in the house. I cannot think of a family that I would have more admiration for because I knew your mother-in-law, I worked with your father-in-law, and I got choked up thinking about your family.

I’ve been to your parents’ house, meeting your people, and seeing what your dad and mom does in the community. It’s amazing. What your husband’s comment here is, “What I always hope that The Greatest Salesman Podcast would do is bring out the most genuine, authentic people in the world and how the scrolls, the parable, and the principles resonate with you.” Take us through some of those thoughts that you had for your company.

I’ll go back to the piece about balance and presence. It does flow into my second thing of the three that you asked me, which is to prioritize in every moment. When I’m driving somebody home from school, my priority is going to shift. It’s going to always move and I’m going to be in that moment. The third piece was the service. I happen to be in a home-based business where we help other people achieve what their goals are. They’re not employees. We like to say it’s a volunteer army. I like to draw a picture that looks like our company, our business, and all the home-based business owners.

We’ve got base camp and we’re at Mount Everest, sometimes it feels like. I have many ladies who are happy to enjoy the beautiful view, campfire, some s’mores, and the community. I have others who were halfway up the mountain. They’ve got all their equipment and they’re ready to go. As a leader in this business, I feel like all are welcome. We’ll take everybody who wants to be a part of something more, so it’s going to uplift and inspire them. To serve is to see where a person is at and to come into that moment with them and find out, “How can I help you get where you want to go?”

It may not always be the top of the mountain or she wants to get to that next ledge so she can get a little better view because she keeps hearing people talk about the view up there and getting curious about what it might look like, but she might not ready or available fully to go all the way to the top. Serving my team and leaving my agenda at the door, my personal goals, or I need somebody to do something so that I get somewhere. It’s not about that for me. By always making it about my ladies as much as humanly possible, it’s been oxygen for my business. It takes away the stress, obligation, scarcity, and all of that. It makes the whole experience a beautiful one. I ended up the thing with scroll five. I know that you were studying scroll ten before the show, Dan.

I don’t think that’s ever happened. I know there are only ten scrolls. To know that I pick up my book after 1:00 Pacific Time and I turned to that scroll, I’m wowed by it because of the number of questions that all I’ve got to ask you. Individually, he’s going to ask you a lot of questions. I challenge everyone to study this scroll and see how many questions he’s asking of you. It is so epic. At the pre-conference, you tell me that that’s the talk you gave and I had no idea.

It is the scroll marked five. “I will live this day as if it is my last.” The first question it asks, “What shall I do with this last precious day which remains in my keeping?” That’s powerful. It’s poetic. It could be answered in so many ways depending on how you choose to experience what could well be your last precious day.

If we all ask ourselves that question, your point number three is what it’s all about. If we study the story before the scrolls, we can see the depth of the spiritual story that Og is telling us at such a heightened level. What’s amazing about that is that’s what a parable does. It’s always peeling away the onion layer where we’re ready. It meets us where we are. When I turned to this scroll, it met me where I was, not knowing it was going to meet me and you with Og where it was now. It’s fantastic. What Charity is saying there, “I’d love to know how you choose to experience now.” Charity is asking you, how do you choose to experience now?

We did a training call for some of our leaders. We had 150 ladies on there. We had Coach Alex McMillan come in as a guest trainer, which we do from time-to-time. Usually, it’s me talking to everybody as a year off or we chat dynamically, strategize, and make plans. This particular time, it was a special privilege to have Alex with us. He reminded us that everything in life and our day is something that’s happening, and we are the ones who choose to experience those things whether for good or bad.

For example, I failed miserably at this. This is something that I’m going to be practicing every day. We are redoing the garage downstairs. Prior to the contractor coming in to hang a bunch of cabinetry. I had an electrician come in, move some electrical. I had a plumber come in and run some water down so we can put a fridge out there. We plug in the fridge after contractor is out, cabinets are hung, floors are done, etc. I’m like, “Here we go. We’re going to have water in the garage. This is going to be amazing,” nothing comes out.

I’m like, “There might be water in the line or there’s air stuck in the line.” That’s like going over and over. I’m like, “Mark, is the valve open?” He’s around the corner. He’s like, “Yes.” I’m like, “Are you sure? It’s supposed to be parallel with the line?” He’s like, “Yes, it’s open. I promise.” We ended up pulling the fridge out, unscrewing the line, holding it into a bowl, open the line back up, and no water is coming out. I’m like, “There’s no water running through this line.” That’s now behind cabinets in a wall. It’s not like this is going to be easy to move at this point. I went to a lot of trouble. We get the plumber, the electrician, and get everything out of the garage.

I’m like, “There’s no water in this line. What am I going to do?” I failed. I got mad about it. I let it upset me. Me getting mad, Amanda version 2.0 or 3.0 was an eye roll and a semi grumpy phone call. I’m not punching holes through the wall or anything. I’m calling the plumber and like, “There’s no water running in the line that you ran. Can you please come over?” After I got off the phone, I realized that I forgot a lesson I had been taught that I didn’t have to experience a lack of water in my cup.

Power Of Presence: To love failures is to accept them as stepping stones on the things you are trying to create.

My cup was not full that day. I chose to experience that in a way of denial, in a way of I can’t believe this. What do you mean you can’t believe this? You’re staring at it and there’s no water coming out. It is proof right in front of your eyes that this is what’s happening. You choose to experience that and say, one of your favorite questions, “Isn’t that interesting?” When you see something that’s like a disruption and you thought my leaders that, you’re like, “Isn’t that interesting?”

I should have been like, “There’s no water coming out of there. I look up at the valve. Isn’t that interesting?” Make a friendly phone call, “Can you come to take a look? Thank you.” Go on with experiencing the rest of my day with joy and gratitude. I was derailed. I moved out of that but we practice. Rip the muscle, tear it down, build it back up. At least I have some awareness that next time I experienced a disruption like that, take a breath, isn’t that interesting, choose to experience it, and move into the next thing that I need to do. Make the phone call.

One of the more interesting text messages I’ve ever received in my life came from you in April 2020. I had texted you and asked you how you were doing through the new world that we were living in. You said something to the effect that, “A lot of moms are great at this new homeschooling thing, but that’s not me. Thanks to the Og Mandino Company, the coaching.” You gave me credit. You said, “You reached a pinnacle of financial success that you couldn’t believe.” I always thought that there was magic in making $83,333 a month. I always thought that was a magical number.

When you texted me that you surpassed this magical number and you’ve grown leaps and bounds since then, I can’t even believe how much my heart was full for you because of not what you were getting but because of what you were giving. Congratulations to you as the greatest salesperson in the world. This is an epic lesson that you’ve given us on how to treat failure and tear the muscle sometimes off the bone and go out there, rebuild, and redo. It happens. We go through these frustrations and disappointments. The greatest salesperson in the world is sitting here for everyone to learn from.

It’s a beautiful experience to have if you’re watching that number that Dan threw out. If you do that twelve times, it’s $1 million. That’s why he had that down to the penny. The homeschooling thing, that was a situation. When everybody was at home sometime around March 2020, I’ve got my five kids at home at that time. I had preschool, an elementary school in a language immersion program, an extra plot twist, a junior high, and a high school. All these people are at home. The little kids are disruptive to the big kids. Big kids are missing their friends, the little kids are bored. They don’t like looking at the screen.

We ended the year early, went up to the mountains, hiked around and enjoyed our lives for a couple of months like, “That was a good school year. We give up. On to the fall.” Fall came and I’m here in California. I don’t know how many of you guys are back in school. Here in California, we are not yet back in school. We were trying, going, and I’m like, “This is fine. We’re going to be back soon. We got this.” We set up a little schedule. My husband, Mark, made this cool daily plan, the kids can earn stuff if they do their school, and we pick up some extra Chromebooks. We get all his equipment and two weeks in, I’m hiding in the laundry room.

I had a kindergarten needing to be logged into four Zooms a day. She’s listening to this teacher hablando Español. Hazel goes, “Mom, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” I can understand Spanish especially kindergarten level Spanish, but I’m not available to go to kindergarten every day. I have a job because I have a business that I’m running. I have other kids who I need to help. What if I have to go somewhere? I’m not there to log her in. It wasn’t working. It was a humbling moment. I felt so much gratitude with Mark, my husband, we looked at each other like, “We’ve got to find a solution.” We were able to enroll the kids in a private school nearby that had received a waiver because they can social distance and the children are not allowed to attend in person.

We moved all the kids over there. Uniforms are going and they’ve got to get their lunches. Now, we’re starting a school year late and catching up but at least the kids can go. We found a solution for our family to be able to have choices. Thanks to this business. The success that I’ve had in this business is deeply rooted in the principles I’ve learned in The Greatest Salesman and from Og Mandino, Hafid, the scrolls, and going through. The muscles got ripped off the bone. I said, “I hated when that happened,” as a joke. The truth is we’ve got to love it because those are the stepping stones to what you’re trying to create.

Without it, you’re never going to be strong enough to lift the 100-pound dumbbell, whatever it is you’re trying to lift, or whatever dreams it is that you’re trying to create. Learning how to welcome those moments with joy and gratitude, move through my life as I experience it with joy and gratitude, checking myself when I forget to do that, and consciously choosing to move back into my creation, my greatness, and what I’m called to. It’s to serve my ladies, family, and to love my life, that for me is priceless, but it was a gift to be able to have that experience, that choice, those freedoms, and to realize that it all came from this business and the things that I’ve been able to learn from it.

You’ve got a lot to share and a lot to offer to so many people. If you’re joining us, get your copies. I hope you’ll go to HabitFinder.com/amanda to see if you can amp up your thoughts and align them with the principles and the parables that Og has teaching. I’m going to go to Charity’s comment when she asked about how we approach this day. For me, it’s scroll number two because that’s what rings in my ears when my eyes open, when my brain alerts me to be awake, I will greet this day with love in my heart. I look to the comment that you made about Hafid. I love what Hafid says because I value friendships, your friendship, and what you’re bringing to many.

When he says at the beginning of the book, “I’ve always counted your friendship as my greatest asset.” If we treat people like that, you’re going to be on the path to being a terrific leader by being a friend that is taking action and greeting each day with love in your heart. One of the things that I get the privilege of doing is reread every week to every single guest that I’ve had, twelve episodes now. I wonder if you would and in closing, when you look at your closing remarks from your message to your convention with thousands of ladies or your closing thoughts now on that very scroll.

I pulled out the cardstock version so I could study it along with you. You used the word priceless but there is some remarkable depth and the parable here is deep. If we’ll look at these questions and these challenges to the parable, “I will live this day as if it were my last.” What would Amanda say to the ladies aspiring to your success, to the people and the entrepreneurs aspiring to be you on stage in closing to them?

I have written my favorite because the scroll mark two is, “I will greet this day with love in my heart.” It is my favorite but in terms of what we’re talking about and why I love scroll five and why it’s so relevant, not only to this discussion but to how I’m experiencing my life, I’ll read you what I shared with my ladies. My favorite piece from the scroll mark five is, “What shall I do with this last precious day which remains in my keeping?” Watch for the questions.

It says, “First, it will seal this container of life so that not one drop spills itself upon the sand. I will waste not a moment mourning yesterday’s misfortunes, defeats, or aches of heart.” Skips ahead a bit, “Yesterday is buried forever and I will think of it no more. I will live this day as if it is my last.” He titles the scroll. In this case, “I will live this day as if it is my last.” It repeats several times throughout the thing. It says, “Can tomorrow’s sand float through the glass before today’s? Will the sun rise twice this morning? Can I perform tomorrow’s deeds while standing in today’s path? Can I place tomorrow’s gold in today’s purse? No. Tomorrow lies buried with yesterday and I will think of it no more. I will live this day as if it is my last. This day is all I have and these hours are now my eternity.”

Power Of Presence: Everything in life is just something that’s happening. We are still the ones who choose to experience those things.

How beautiful is that? That was the poetry I was talking about. “I greet this sunrise with cries of joy as a prisoner who is reprieved from death. I lift my arms with thanks for this priceless gift of a new day.” That ties back to the other scroll, “I will greet this day with love in my heart.” It finishes and I’m almost done. Is this my day to excel? Another great question. “I will live this day as if it is my last. I have but one life and life is not but a measurement of time. When I waste one, I destroy the other. If I waste today, I destroy the last page of my life. The duties of today, I shall fulfill today. This day, I will make the best day of my life.” I love that every time I talked to Dan McCormick on the phone, “Amanda, how is it going?” I’m like, “Good. How are you?” He’s like, “It’s the best day of my life.” I’m like, “Bye. Have a great day, Dan.” He’s like, “Have a great day in your life.” Hang up the phone. He is dead serious about this. He means it. Have the greatest day of your life. For now, this moment is your eternity.

When it comes to the annals of the history of personal development, personal growth, you delivered 41 minutes of beauty. I know that you and I don’t go by notes a lot. When we go, we just go. There’s something on our mind, a person, training, or something we did. There’s something that’s resonating with us. You gave us something beautiful and I appreciate it. I know your time is valuable. I know that no matter where or when they are reading, please comment, share, like, and review. We hope that you’ve enjoyed this as much as I have. I know that you’ve been a tremendous friend and I’m your biggest cheerleader. I can’t believe the good in the world that you’re doing. The magnitude you’re doing. Congratulations to you and your family. I hope everybody goes out and makes it the greatest day of their life because Og said to do it. He says it one other place in the scrolls and that’s your challenge to find it.

Challenge accepted.

Thank you, everybody. She’s Amanda Earnest. She’s the greatest salesperson in the world. Go out and make it the greatest day of your life. We’ll see you next time.

Thanks, everyone.

Important Links:

• Amanda Earnest
• Habit Finder
• Alex McMillan
• The Greatest Salesman in the World
• The Greatest Secret in the World
• HabitFinder.com/amanda
• Maskcara

About Amanda Earnest

With 16 years of both traditional and non-traditional business experience under her belt, Amanda is now a top-ranking “artist” in the company that she represents and she’s ready to share her secrets with us!