I’ve been listening to a phenomenal book called “Mastering the Attitude of Achievement,” by Lou Tice. I’ve got to tell you, I wish I’d found this years ago.
Lou is a motivational speaker, high school teacher and football coach. One of the main points in this book is that the pictures that we formulate in our heads affect what we do in life.
Lou gives a great example using “The Wizard of Oz.” It goes something like this.
Dorothy and the gang believed the Wizard of Oz could fix their problems. Their belief was evidenced by the song they sang when they set off to meet him: “We’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz. We hear he is a whiz of a wiz, if ever a wiz there was.”
They’d never met the wizard, yet they were putting all this faith in him based off the picture the townspeople of Munchkin Land had painted for them: “We hear he is a wiz of a wizard. Because of the wonderful things he does.” This picture of the wizard was so profound, they were willing to face dangers in hopes that he could fix their shortcomings.
What made the wizard so powerful was his ability to change people’s pictures of themselves for the better. Think about what he did for each of the characters. The scare crow believed himself unintelligent, the tin man felt incapable of love, and the lion felt cowardly. All three lived by those pictures and felt inadequate because of them.
The wonderful wizard presented them with ordinary things – a diploma, a heart clock and a medal – and instantly changed their internal pictures so much that they did marvelous things. Lou suggests we need to be the wonderful wizard in our own lives, changing the picture in the minds of our kids, but also ourselves.
Lou also tells a story about a picture that was changed for him. He had a friend that offered to help him invest and grow his money. Lou replied to his friends proposal by explaining that wealth wasn’t for him and that he just wanted to help people.
The friend replied that having wealth would allow him to help others a lot more. At that moment, Lou realized he’d always erroneously pictured wealthy people as greedy. That instance changed his picture forever, and he went on to do great things.
I’d like to tell about a teacher of mine who is a modern day wizard. His name is Gary Johnston and he’s the Wonderful Wizard of Ahas.
When you attend a seminar you should have at least one aha moment. When I go to Gary’s classes, however, I get so many ahas that I have continuously jot them down in a journal, which Gary reminds attendees to do throughout the entire seminar.
At Gary’s class, you’ll learn why it’s imperative to start investing now through stories like Slow Sam, who waited 10 years to invest, and Fast Francis, who only invested for those first 10 years and stopped. Spoiler alert: Fast Francis comes out way ahead.
He will introduce you to the financial calculator and how to evaluate things on it. One example reveals that rental houses are better investments than gold. That blew my mind.
With statements like, “The wealth process begins in your thoughts” Gary will challenge your investment pictures. And when you play the Cashflow 101 game, you may reveal some pictures you have of yourself that are manifesting in your financial life. Warning: this can be very emotional.
If you’d like to see the Wonderful Wizard of Ahas, Gary Johnston will be teaching his three day Financial Freedom Principles seminar this Memorial Day weekend in Atlanta, Ga. To sign up, go to GaryJohnston.com. I hope to see you there.
Joe and Ashley English buy houses and mobile homes in Northwest Georgia. For more information or to ask a question, go to www.cashflowwithjoe.com or call Joe at 678-986-6813.