It was March 12, 1982 (just over 40 years ago) when I had a decision to make, and it didn’t seem like a very big one.
You see, there was a seminar coming to town called “How to Buy Real Estate with no Money Down,” and it caught my attention because I certainly had none, and I didn’t want to continue doing what I’d been doing for most of my life.
I believe I saw the commercial on television, and after about the third time it aired, I got to thinking about it and said, “Well gosh, what have I got to lose. Know it’s a scam, I know they’re full of crap, but I might as well go down and check it out. Maybe there is something there, maybe I can find a way to get out of this mechanic’s job, and make a little money for a change that lasts more than 15 minutes.”
Now you see, this was not an easy decision, because I was going to miss my favorite television show Dallas with JR Ewing. For me to miss JR in order to go to the seminar was a big, big deal.
We laugh about it now, but it wasn’t so funny back then, because JR was the guy that gave me hope. He’s the first exposure I had to see what it was like to be very rich.
I couldn’t really see myself as JR at the time, but I certainly wanted to be like him. I’m not sure I wanted to be as mean as he was. Of course, some people will say I am.
I certainly wanted to have his money, and his power. So here I was, faced with going to a seminar, or watching JR, and I might remind you there was no way to record it back then. “TiVo” didn’t exist. So, if I missed it, it was gone for good.
I’d like to tell you it was an easy decision back then, but I’d be lying. It was really a very tough decision, and I went back and forth several times before I finally decided to go to the seminar.
Of course, you know the rest of the story. That seminar for two hours one Thursday evening put me into a Saturday, all-day event for $450 back then, which I had to borrow.
That one-day event was the turning point for me and my family.
As I look back, I often wonder how many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives that have been touched because of that one very small decision that I made on March 12 1982, which could have easily gone either way.
What if I hadn’t gone to that seminar? What if I hadn’t decided to take an action after I went to the seminar? What if I decided JR was more important? What if, what if, what if?
The sad part is I never would’ve known what it would’ve cost me. Isn’t that the way it is with all the decisions we make? We never know what it cost us to make the decision one way or another.
I wonder how many people in prison wish they had the opportunity to make that split-second decision again. I’m guessing all of them.
Since that time, I’ve made thousands of decisions. Some turned out well, some didn’t. I’m accustomed to making decisions because I make them every single day. Sometimes I make more decisions in a day than most people make in a month. I’m fully aware my decision might be wrong. However, I make them anyway because I’ve learned if the decision isn’t made, a bottleneck appears, and nothing happens. The whole organization becomes stagnant. Somebody has to make the decision, because I promise you, once that decision is made, there’s another one coming up right behind it that also has to be made. The more you let them pile up, the harder it is to make any of them. I will confess sometimes I make them too fast, but, nevertheless, I make them.
You have a big decision to make, assuming you haven’t already made it. That is whether to attend the Great American Real Estate Summer Summit in June, with hundreds of other real estate investors.
Right now, that decision may seem rather insignificant to you. Go, or don’t go, the world is not going to change regardless of your decision. That’s what I thought back in 1982. But, I was wrong.
My world changed drastically, and so did so many others, because I made that one, tiny, little decision. I’m suggesting to you, that making the wrong decision to not go to this event, could have just as devastating effect on your future, as it would’ve had on mine, if I’d have just watched JR.
Never mind the fact this event is absolutely jam-packed with value for you, like the deal structuring sessions, where we will literally create several hundred live deals, while you watch on.
Or the banquet dinner, or the show, or the many special classes I’m preparing for this special event. Or, the big prize giveaways, or the charity auction and the “Dunk Ron LeGrand Tank” we’re doing to support K9s for Warriors, or the multiple sessions we’re going to have there, taught by your own peers who are working their way to become speakers. Forget all of that and the other 50 reasons why you should come.
Now let me give you the best reason why I think you should be there. It’s simple…it’s the people.
The people are why you should be there. You’ll learn as much from the other students as you will from the teachers. You’ll create a nationwide network of movers and shakers that you can work with on projects anywhere you want to be, anywhere in the country, at any time. It’s the inspiration you will get from the success stories. It’s the answers you will get from the people who have been where you are, and have conquered all of the fears and road blocks that face you. It’s the ability to give back, to help others who need your assistance. To pull them up, so they can take the ride with you.
It’s the feeling of accomplishment you’ll get when you’re in a group of other people who are on the same upwardly mobile track, and see you are doing the right thing, despite all the dream stealers that will try and pull you down.
It’s the confidence you’ll create by having conversations during the breaks, and at dinner, with people that actually have experienced the same setbacks you have had. Add this to all the new tools and techniques you’ll acquire from the best of the best with state-of-the-art information.
In my opinion, it’ll be an extremely foolish business decision not to join us this coming August 7th-9th for the Great American Real Estate Summit 2024. There’s no event like this, and no two of them are the same. You may consider this our family reunion because…we are one, great, big family.
