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Introduction Living the Nightmare Dream…
The car was a ’71 Plymouth Satellite, a pretty sweet ride when it first rolled off the assembly line in Detroit. I managed to buy it in 1979 for $1,500, because my mom co-signed the note and I arranged to finance it over three years. But by the time I was driving it to opportunity meetings in 1980, it already qualified as a broke-mobile.
I always parked in the back reaches of the hotel parking lot or by the loading dock. I would be meeting prospects at the meetings to show them how they could “live the dream,” and I didn’t want them to realize they probably had more money than I did.
But here’s the craziest part of all that. If you had asked me then whether I would be releasing a book in 2020, distilling the secrets of my success and leadership in Direct Selling, I would have said, “Of course.”
Probably not what you thought I was going to say. And if you did hear my answer back then, you probably would have thought I was irrational, foolish, and naive. And you’d have been right.
And That’s Why I Can Actually Write This Book
And that’s why you can read it with confidence, knowing it can help you be irrational, foolish, and naive too. Irrational, foolish, and naive enough to live your dreams. Because the number of rational, wise, and skeptical people in the world who are living their dreams would probably fit in a subway car.
My story really is one of those romantic, “rags to riches” tales that we all love to hear. A kid who was expelled from high school and served time for armed robbery—who was able to transform his life to become happy, successful, and wealthy. However, too often these stories of transformation leave out the messy middle stages, the drama and trauma that have to be endured and persevered through to reach the “lived happily ever after” ending.
Not this field manual.
This is the book that some wish you would never see or know about. The people who don’t want you to read it fear that what you’re about to discover might scare you away. Might blow up the idealistic narrative they’re trying to sell you.
But I Want You to Know the Truth
The truth that, yes, you can be successful, build a large team, and live your dreams. But also the truth that it is going to take real work, dedication, and endless endurance—and that you’ll need more than just goals and a positive attitude. You’ll need an actual game plan. And most importantly, the truth that growing your business won’t always go according to your game plan. That sometimes your game plan is going to get blown out of the water, and you’re going to have to suck it up and create a new one.
I See Dead People
And by dead people, I mean clueless people in a coma of delusion. The people in charge of “the system.” The system that says go $80,000 or $100,000 in debt for a college degree that is out of date before you even graduate, then sell your soul to a series of jobs you don’t like or actually hate, trading hours for money in the hopes of financially existing with your head barely above water. And doing this for 40 or 50 years to “retire” in a position of still needing financial supplementation to get by.
I think we’ve lost the plot.…
Do we really have to work six
