The Journey from Here to There — And Everywhere in Between

“You aren’t rich,” how can you write a book about being rich, my friend asked.

“Darn good question,” I thought as I sat there.

She continued, “We know you, your friends know you. You aren’t rich.” What is this book all about?

“If someone was a billionaire and they wrote a book, then people would buy that book to read it.”

“If this book is about being rich in friends and relationships”, “and life” I interjected, “yes,” she said, “then this book would make sense.” She waved her hand around the circle of friends gathered about a cast iron firepit as we sang karaoke.

It was evening, chilly, but the crackling fire was warm and inviting. And the wood smell was enticing.

Her question immediately raised the issue of credibility versus integrity. There should not be an issue between credibility and integrity I thought.

She was right.

How can I, who my friends know factually am not rich, write a book about getting and being rich?

I wanted to tell her that the book was, at least in part, based on my experience. Of something I had done for other people. Of the few times that I had the Midas touch. Those snapshots of my life when I had turned paper into gold.

But I couldn’t get a word in.

Probably for the better as I now think about it.

So my answer to her is this.

How can I, who my friends know am not rich, write a book about getting and being rich?

I will quote Liam Neeson’s character Bryan Mills from the movie “Taken.”

“I have a very particular set of skills.”

I have been remiss in my service to God.

All my life, I haven’t lived up to Him. I have sometimes, sorta followed His ways, I have sometimes sorta done what He has asked, I have somehow sort of lived according to His rules and Laws and guidelines.

Rarely closely. Never well.

So.

I asked God to use me — using that very particular skill set He had given me — to do something for Him.

I told Him that all these years of my life, I have never used my skill set properly, I have never stuck to it, nor have I ever used it for Him or even myself.

God answered my prayer.

This book was born.

This book; “3 Secrets to Getting Rich, Being Rich and Staying Rich,” is an example in print of my primary skill set.

That skill set is this:

I suck up information like a vacuum cleaner.

I absorb data like a sponge.

I suck up other people’s skills, experiences, knowledge and wisdom, whether that is from conversations I am in or overhear, those things I observe, those things I think about, what I read in books or see on TV or YouTube, what I hear on the radio, discover on the internet, find in the library; I take all this data; vast amounts of information, and boil it down. I compare and contrast it one to another to elicit the truth.

I separate the meat from the fat and gristle.

I compile it, taking the essential necessary bits of wisdom and learning and experiences and turn it into a step-by-step plan that goes from “A” to “Z.”

If you want to do what someone has done, then read what I have given you.

If you want to accomplish something, then read what I have written.

I have done the hard work of finding out “how” for you. Now you must do the actual hard work of doing it.

Just follow the plan. It has worked for other people, it has worked for other things.

Most of the “plans” and success models and methods of doing something; of getting to a goal, of accomplishing something worthwhile, that you will find are full of fat and baloney.

Working through all that fat and baloney will just frustrate you and slow the process down.

Most people don’t even know how they did what they did or how they have accomplished what they have done.

You can ask them about the Oscar they have won or the Heisman trophy they are clutching, that Stanley Cup they are holding high; the riches they have obtained or how they got their name on all these buildings. You can ask.

You can ask them what they did. You can ask them how they did it. What secrets do they have that would help you do it too? But most people really don’t know.

They would try to answer. They would vacillate and grasp for an answer.

They would search for clues in their own mind and they will fuss and try to tell you what they did and how they did it and what secrets they used to obtain all the success and riches and wealth and honor they have received.

But most people won’t tell you the truth. Not because they are lying.

But because most people don’t know.

Their answers will only frustrate you — and frustrate them, because they know the answers they are giving you and the secrets they are sharing aren’t the “truth” — those aren’t the things they really did.

What they did, was, in many cases, simply follow a hunch, or they did whatever they felt necessary to do, to attain that goal or image they had in mind.

Many pro-athletes do have a plan. So do many artists. They know hard work combined with discipline, perseverance and practice will ultimately provide them with the rewards they seek.

Now you have a plan. I have a plan.

“3 Secrets to Getting Rich, Being Rich and Staying Rich” is the plan.

It is the playbook for the success you seek, the answer to the questions you ask.

It is the key that will help you find your perfect work, your true calling; that will unleash the dream you’ve been secretly hoping for, and make all these things possible for you.

You have been given the plan, now you just have to work the plan.

I am setting down my old book of life.

It has come to an end.

That which I have attained I have attained. That which I have not attained, I have not attained.

God has blessed me with a great life. I have had big, bold adventures, incredible relationships, traveled to great places and experienced amazing scenes I will never forget.

There are memories of things that have chilled me and thrilled me. Experiences that have amazed and some that have brought a tear to my eye. There are others that have softened my heart or seemed to have released my soul into eternity.

It hasn’t all been perfect of course.

There has been tragedy, heavy disappointments, extreme heartache so severe I thought I would die. Failures so catastrophic I didn’t know how I would ever recover.

But that life is over. It is done. I am setting that old book of my life down.

This new book I am lifting to read, and am cracking open now, is full of adventures greater than those I have done. It’s scope is bigger, bolder and brighter than where I have been.

There is hope, vision, and yes, even God, hidden within its pages.

This book is a soaring testament to the hope of life. To the dreams of what could be.

This book is bold and beautiful.

It is neither a hope nor a dream although it is filled with hopes and dreams.

These hopes and dreams are not written in black and white on the pages of this book.

They are, as God says, written on your heart.

This book is the key that will open the door to all your hopes and dreams.

This book is what will make all those hopes and dreams possible for you.

This book has 3 Secrets.

These secrets are of love and relationships, bounty and beauty, boldness and laughter, friendships and hope, wealth and riches, opportunity, engagement and empowerment.

This book has steps and plans to take you from where you are to where you’ve always dreamed you want to be.

This book is practical. No fat, no baloney.

It is so very, very easy, yet so very, very hard.

It is simple, yet it can change your world.

Yes, it’s just a book, but yes, it’s also a dream.

“3 Secrets to Getting Rich, Being Rich and Staying Rich.”

We, as a nation, as a people, as a civilization, as a world, as a person, as an individual, as you, stand at a critical point in history.

We stand at the threshold of what could be and of what has been.

We are indoctrinated by fake news and false doctrine.

We are misled by Wall Street and the mass and social media, by politicians and Big Business.

And I am not saying this book can guide you through all that.

What I am saying is that this book holds the possibility of guiding you back to you.

“3 Secrets to Getting Rich, Being Rich and Staying Rich.”

It can’t solve all your problems, but maybe it can help solve some of those problems you are having the most problems with.

No, I’m not there yet. I am beginning the journey. And I hope you take it with me.

To find your own hopes, to find your own dreams — and obtain them.

The downside of my particular skill set is that I can’t do anything without a well-written plan to guide me. I need a set of rules, a set of instructions. I need a step-by-step plan.

Well, this book is far from well-written, but it is chuck-full of plans, strategies, steps and guidelines. This is the book I am using to take me from my yesterdays into the hope and dreams of my tomorrow.

I know what yesterday has been. I have no idea what tomorrow will be.

We all stand at the juncture of yesterday — and tomorrow.

Tomorrow is what we make it. Your tomorrow is what you make it.

Use this book to get there — wherever “there” may be. I am. Join me.

I have faith.

I have faith in this book. I have faith in me. I have faith in God.

I have faith in you.

This book works.

“3 Secrets to Getting Rich, Being Rich and Staying Rich.”

The journey from here to there — and everywhere in between.