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In one of my last posts called Business Ideas – What I’ve Done the Past 30 Years. I talked about the many types of businesses that I ran or still running. In that story, I mention the fact that I started flipping notes and I have to say that seminar that I went to was an hour that changed my life. I still cannot remember the name of the seminar but I can remember the energy I felt when I first walked in. There had to have been at least 600 plus people. The room was monstrous, and they had three humongous TV screens where you could see the speaker. Now before all that, I had to sign in at the registration table and to be honest I was extremely nervous. You may be asking why, well because the cars that showed up to that seminar were Rolls Royce, high-end Mercedes, some high-end sports cars, like Ferrari, and well I was driving around in a 1977 Datsun B210. Plus, you know the clothing, yes you could tell these folks were of money. Now, some didn’t dress up, but just by looking at their sneakers or watches, you could tell. Now, as for me, I think I went dressed inappropriately for the event, I was overly excited. You see I wore a three-piece suit, and nope it wasn’t that same suit I talked about in my post An Outfit that I Associate with an Important Memory, but all these things, the car, the clothing, really made me nervous and I felt as though I did not fit in, but that all changed as soon as I sat down.
At the registration table, they provided the participants a nice portfolio notebook with a few pens, and a bottle of water. As I headed towards a seat, I wasn’t sure where to go, should I sit at the front or the back or somewhere in between. I mean I think I looked like a lost puppy, and by looking at the attendees, I could tell you that I was probably the youngest person there. Anyhow, after what felt like an eternity, I finally decided to sit in the front row, why, well I thought what a better place for me to be to absorb all the information that one hour was going to bring, and well to be honest if people stared at me, I would not be able to tell because everyone was behind.
I was pretty much the first person to sit in that front row, but as they were testing the microphone, one of the staff spoke into the microphone and said, “Oh come on folks, come closer we don’t bite, and look there this young man sitting all alone up here, come join him.” I had this sensation of extreme embarrassment come over me, it was so much that I was about to get up and leave but at the moment my legs were pushing me up, and older gentlemen came up and sat right next to me and introduced himself. He wore this huge cowboy hat, had a pair of dirty jeans, and a crumpled up paper and maybe a half of a pencil, with no eraser. I introduced myself, but I think my voice squeaked, and hardly could say my name, but he smiled and asked my age. I looked at him, with embarrassment and said, “I am 21”. He gasped and told me, “Son that is amazing; I wish I could get my kids to join me in these events. Let me tell, you are in the right place.” I did not know what to do or say and just had this silly smile on my face.
The event started and they introduced this guru of flipping notes, he came out blazing guns, making jokes, and telling everyone that this was the place for you to be if you are serious about making money. As the event continued, I was like a high school nerd taking notes, I think I took like 10 pages of notes in the first 15 minutes. It was then the man next to me, told me, “I remember my first event, I was just like you taking notes on everything the speaker was saying.” He had this smirk on his face, that felt more like admiration and not making fun of me kind of sense. I continued taking notes and was immersed in what the speaker was saying. He was throwing around numbers like 50 thousand, 100 thousand, and that just took over my mind, my body, my soul. Now what came next I think really pushed me over the edge and changed my life. During the brief break, the gentlemen next to me told me that I should definitely read about flipping notes and create a plan. He told me that in his previous business endeavor he had lost 150 thousand dollars, but he said it like it was no big deal, but that he has been flipping notes for some time and it is great money. He was at this even to see what was new in the industry.
After the speaker finished his amazing presentation, they directed the people to the back of the room where they had tables set up. There you could pick up your free gift, which was a sample of the course and a book that contained sheets of paper with a preformatted layout that you filled out as you progressed in flipping notes. Now, at these tables, they also offered three courses, which were three different levels at three different prices. They had 200 dollars, a 500 dollars, and the most expensive was 2000 dollars, but if you purchased it then and there, it was half off, and only 1000 dollars. Me being a first-timer, I was not sure what to do. I noticed that the majority of the people were going for the 1000 dollar package, so as not to feel like I drove a 1977 Datsun B210, I purchased the 1000 dollar course. As I walked out of the event I felt like I was on top of the world, and whatever was in these pages was going to change my life, that my friends, was one hour that I believe changed my life.
You know my story, something always gets in the way, and I am left on the sidelines once again – go figure. Hey, as always I appreciate you hanging out this long, with that, I leave you with this thought, “We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glowworm – Winston Churchill”.