When I first got started in business, fresh out of college, way back in 1987, I was “wet behind the ears,” in more ways than one.
Fortunately, one of my clients, Don, who was a mentor to me in many ways, taught me how to think about money.
Don was a puzzling figure. He didn’t flaunt his wealth in any way. He wore old, baggy clothes, had mussed up hair, walked around in tai chi slippers and drove around in an old-beater pickup. But one thing was certain, when it came time to get something he wanted, it was a done deal.
“Money is just zeros,” he said. “The only difference between $100 and $100,000 is a few more zeros.”
Then one day it appeared that Don was stretched to his limits when he told me that he wanted to buy a boat. Not just any boat, either. It was a 70-foot motor yacht.
Naturally, I wondered how much it would cost. I didn’t have to wonder long because without asking, Don told me. “This thing is going to cost me well over a million bucks. I don’t have the money yet, but I’m going to find it because I WANT THAT YACHT.”
Then stupid, college-edumecated me opened his trap to say, “Well, it sounds like you can’t afford it?”
“Shut up, kid,” Don replied. “There’s no such thing as can or cannot afford something. There is only the reality of whether or not you want the thing. If you want something, you’ll find a way to get it.”
This lesson was a tough one for me because I was raised in a household where the words, “We can’t afford it,” were spoken on an almost daily basis.
Don told me to never use the words “I can’t afford it” again, and to replace them with “I’m going to find a way to get it.”
In between sets of pushups one morning, Don said, “Realistically, you probably have things in your life right now that you supposedly could not afford before you got them, true?”
“Uh,” I thought for a few seconds. “That is true.”
“So how is it that you have them now?” he asked.
Don’s question reminded me of what my father told me in regard to having children: “I have seven children, and if I waited until I could afford them, I would still be waiting to have them.”
Anyway, after Don told me about his desire to get a motor yacht, he never mentioned it to me again. I figured he had given up on the idea.
A few weeks later, Don brought me a book about prosperous thinking to read at the beginning of our session. Inside the book was an envelope where he placed cash to pay me for my services.
And inside the envelope that day was something extra. Can you guess what it was?
It was pictures of Don’s new yacht. He was standing on board it with his baggy clothes, mussed up hair and tai chi slippers.
I was speechless.
He shut me up again without saying a word.
Here endeth the lesson.
Matt Furey
P.S. I’m having a Goal-Getting™ Intensive on Wednesday, January 15, at 7 PM EST. It will be a two-hour presentation, followed by a QnA, that will forever change your life for the better. There is a fee involved. It’s $197.00 currently, and there are not many seats remaining, so if you’re the type who expects “something for nothing” ignore this message. But if you are interested in attending (only 11 seats remain), then email me: goals@psycho-cybernetics.com and I will send you the link to register.
