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This story actually starts two weeks from the actual event in my OLS 386 class. This class is all about change management and we must either bring in a speaker to talk about a change they went through or interview someone and present the interview to the class. One of the speakers we had in the class that day talked about what it was like to go from having a steady income to forming their own company. He said that the way he got through this time and many others was by reading for 15 minutes everyday. He read on the same topic and in 10 years he was a master at that topic. That was how he said he learned to invest, work with real estate, etc. The class asked him what one book changed his life the most. He actually could name one without even thinking about it.
"Apart from spiritually, there is truly one book that changed my life the most. It is caled The Richest Man In Babylon."
After class that day I went back to my dorm room and looked up the book on Amazon.com. It cost $3.75!! Well shoot, how could I not buy it?! This could be the greatest $3.75 of my life. The book made him a millionaire. Why would it not for me? I've got the drive.
So anyway, fast-forward up to Wednesday Sept. 29. I go to 386 as usual and am glancing over my notes in class since we were about to take an exam when all of the sudden the guy from two weeks prior shows back up. The professor is a bit taken aback and asks what he can do for the man. He simply replies that he had gone out and bought a copy of the book for everyone in the class. The professor is amazed and thanks the man. The guy isn't done yet though, he asks if he can speak to the class. The professor allows it and the man walks to the center of the room.
"How many of you have already gone out and bought a copy of the book I talked about two weeks ago?"
I sheepishly raise my hand and reply that I had ordered it, but it hadn't arrived yet.
"Has anyone else bought the book or ordered it?"
No one else in the room raises their hand.
"I want everyone here to take note of this. Only one person in the entire room actually went out and bought the book. This is how life works. In life you will have great ideas or be presented with great ideas and many of you will think about them. I guarantee that all of you 'thought' about buying the book, but only one had the initiative and drive to go buy it. For this young man I am going to give him another copy of the book and a bookmark to go along with it."
Oh sweet I get a bookmark! That is sort of a random reward, but hey, I like it none the less. He hands me my book and I open it up to the page with the bookmark. Oh my goodness...$100!
"I just gave this young man $100. I want you all to know that this is nothing for both me and him. For you see he is going to be extremely successful and be the one that breaks the mold and actually goes out and does something with the life god has granted him. In just a few years he will have more $100 bills than he could ever have dreamed of and in just a short few after that he will be able to easily give away $100 bills much like I now can. Don't get me wrong, all of you in this room will be successful. You are all in college and on the right path, but you will only achieve what the normal college grad achieves, a nice middle class life with nothing extra. Unless you change the way you think and approach life then you will never acheive the riches and grandour that this young man will acheive."
My mouth is on the floor and I am speechless. I mean c'mon, how often does someone who has made multi-millions by age 35 just walk in and tell you that you will be as succsessful as you had planned on being. All I can say is that the not-for-profits better get ready...I am gonna be making some pretty phat trust funds for them!!
A little side note...as soon as the guy had finished talking he just walked out. He didn't pass out the books, leave his name, nothing. He just stops talking and walks out the door never to be seen again.
It has been said that I will truly make millions. Money for the sake of buying things is not what I want in life. Therefore I don't dream of the same money that everyone else is dreaming of. I am dreaming of a way to leave the world in a much better place then I found it. I better not sidetrack from the path because so far so good! Only 76 years left!
-Jason<><
P.S. Have you invested $1,000 yet this year? You only have a couple more months to do it!!! (This applies to every single person that reads this entry)
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