A Bit of Introduction
This is the Expert Page. At first I wasn't going to post here. After all, what expertise can I offer? I am here at the Social Media University Summer School, like many, in order to begin to develop expertise in the use of Social Media for the promotion and expansion of business. But I do have some familiarity with the concept of the Mastermind, so I volunteered to be a Mastermind Group leader. This is also an area in which I hope to develop expertise.
I suppose that what I can offer as my expertise is Positive Mental Attitude and my familiarity with the principles of success "discovered" by Napoleon Hill. Discovered is in quotes because Hill didn't discover all of the principles, although he identified and labeled them after 25 years spent studying the great American leaders of Industry and society of his time who had been using them. If anyone should get credit for having discovered them, it would have to be Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant who, through use of the principles, became the leader of the Steel industry in the United States before the founding of the US Steel Corporation in 1901.
Andrew Carnegie believed that it must be possible for someone to "discover" the principles that had made it possible for a poor Scottish immigrant to become the leader of the largest industry in the richest country in the world. He was also convinced that, having discovered them, they ought to be describable in a plain, straight-forward manner that would make it possible for anyone of average intelligence to put them to use for the achievement of personal success. Mr. Carnegie chose Napoleon Hill for this task, from among a group of candidates, offered him the opportunity and set him on the trail by arranging for Mr. Hill to meet and get to know the great American leaders of the time. The task was expected to take up to 25 years, and that is just about how long Mr. Hill spent researching these leaders and the principles that they used in common, before he published The Master-Key to Riches. Andrew Carnegie viewed the publishing of these principles as a more valuable and more important legacy than all of the money he gave away at the end of his life, which was a considerable amount, indeed.
The Master-Key to Riches has a thorough description of the Mastermind principle. I recommend that everyone taking this course, who does not own a copy of them, immediately purchase this book and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. If you have them, then I suggest that this is a good time to read them again.
I want to tell you a little about me. I am going to do so by telling you about the two most profound things that I have ever heard said in my presence. One was said to a small audience that I was part of and the other was said to me personally. But first, why Napoleon Hill?
I am an Amway Global Independent Business Owner. I used to be an Amway Distributor and then I was a Quixtar IBO and now I am an Amway Global IBO. This is a reflection of Amway's Identity Evolution since 1998. Personally, it is difficult for me to imagine a business plan with more individual wealth-creating potential than that used by the Amway corporation. I must not be alone because it has been copied over and over again since Amway was founded 50 years ago. Am I a wealthy Amway distributor? No, I am not. I have had three business plans in my hands in the last 15 years, two of them, I understood within the first month EXACTLY what would be necessary for me to do in order to become successful with them. The third was a failure before I became a part of it, and there was nothing I could do to turn that around. One of the two plans that could have been huge successes was in the sales of Plasma Flat panel monitors in 1999. That was a time sensitive opportunity, but my timing was perfect. The other was the Amway sales and marketing plan. That is a timing independent opportunity. It is always a good time. In fact, in an economy like the one we are in now, it is even better than normal. However, it is a support sensitive opportunity, but I had the best support available on the west coast. The third opportunity was in the distribution of information. This is also a time sensitive opportunity, and the information that the team that I was joining had purchased was totally obsolete. I want to say at this moment that what I appreciate about the Social Media University opportunity is that the timing could not be better for us to be learning this material from these teachers. So what happened with the two sure fire successes? The first thing you will ask yourself, and your friends will ask you when you begin to consider investing your time and money in a business idea is, "Does it work?" You can just as easily ask the same question of any kind of educational opportunity. The answer is always the same: Of course it doesn't work! You work. And if you are a speaker on stage at major business conference, you might add, "If it worked, I would give it to my brother-in-law on welfare." That would get a huge laugh, and hopefully a few members of the audience would actually understand that you had let them in on a profound truth. Nothing works until you do. So why am I not a Double Diamond Amway Global IBO with business all over the world? or the Plasma Flat Panel Monitor Mogul of Nevada? Easy: I knew EXACTLY what I needed to do, simple repeatable steps, and I just didn't do the work. Who do I blame? No one. I just accept the fact that one of those opportunities is gone and the other is waiting for me to do the work. In the mean time, I had and still have the greatest support system on the west coast, which means that a team of highly successful millionaires recommended a set of core reading material when I got started 15 years ago, and they have continued to recommend reading material every month since then. Have I lost out? Sure. Have I gained? Absolutely. What is the result? Here I am with all of you, doing something I am very enthusiastic about. I told a good friend of mine a few weeks ago, "You know, my life could be improved in a variety of ways, which is really funny because I am very happy." This is what I have to offer by way of expertise - A Positive Mental Attitude and the result of my exposure to the best business and life improving reading material that a team of millionaires could recommend.
Now getting back to those two most profound things that I have personally heard.
At one of the business meetings that was held in Reno, where I live, a couple - one of the up and coming leaders in the business organization to which I belong, was speaking about a meeting he had with the leader of our business organization. Now this man is known of and respected by hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world of Amway. Lets say that at the time of that meeting, after his 30 years in the business, he was known to 250,000 people, at least by reputation. Based on the 80/20 rule, it is safe to say that 50,000 people had had the chance, at some point, to shake this man's hand. Out of that number, 10,000 people probably had the opportunity to see him more than once a year and at any one of those times could have asked him a simple, important question. At least 2,000 people saw him and spoke with him regularly. I give you these numbers so that you will truly appreciate what I am about to tell you. This speaker in Reno was describing a brief meeting he had with the leader of our business organization during which he asked a simple but important question, "How can I learn to think like you do?" The business leader cocked his head and looked at the speaker and asked him, "Do you know how many people have asked me that question?" The speaker said, "I can't imagine. How many?" The leader said "Four." The man speaking in Reno was only the fifth person to ever ask this leader how he could learn to think like him. I bet you don't think I am going to tell you the answer, do you? Okay, but you owe me one. He said, "Read the Master-Key to Riches then read it over and over again, and when you begin to think like Napoleon Hill did, you will think like I do." Have I achieved that? You know the answer. If I had, I wouldn't be here with you. But I will achieve it, because it is something that I can do to make the realization of my most private personal goals possible.
I have always felt blessed. On one occasion, I attended an out of town business conference on such a tight budget, that I wasn't sure if I was going to make it at all, or if I made it, if I would be able to get a ticket to attend, once I got to the conference hall. Everything fell into place and I ran into my senior business mentor's wife outside the meeting, just before it was about to get under way. I told her about my circumstances and how blessed I felt and she said to me, "If you feel blessed now, just imagine how much more blessed you will be when you really begin to do what God wants you to do with your life." I thought, "Whooooa!"
I look forward to meeting all of you, and to networking with you until then.
Troy C. Giersdorf
Reno, NV USA
PS. The Hill principles or Laws, as listed on http://www.naphill.org/
1. Definiteness of Purpose
2. Mastermind3. Applied Faith
4. Going the Extra Mile (also known as Give Value Before You Get)
These four Laws are the cornerstones of the philosophy of success.
5. Pleasing Personality
6. Personal Initiative
7. Positive Mental Attitude
8. Enthusiasm
9. Self-Discipline
10. Accurate Thinking
11. Controlled Attention
12. Teamwork
13. Learning From Adversity and Defeat
14. Creative Vision
15. Maintenance of Sound Health
16. Budgeting Time and Money
17. Cosmic Habitforce
Don't be fooled by its place at the end of the list. Cosmic Habitforce may very well be the most important Law of them all.