Greetings:
Since we are coming down to the very end of the era of this format, I've been saving one of my best stories for last. Several years ago I attended one of these three-day motivational boot camps. I'm not going to mention the name of the sponsor because I don't think they are doing it anymore.
Just picture a giant hotel ballroom with hundreds of people in the room. We were told to bring a one hundred dollar bill to this boot camp. They didn't tell us why, but Fibonacciwoman and I made sure we had one that wasn't earmarked for spending. As this particular exercise started, there were boot camp employees dressed in security garb who suddenly locked all the doors and blocked all the exits. Nobody could get in or out. To be honest, it was kind of freaky. I would say that more than a few people became unnerved.
They actually brought several large garbage cans to the front of the room as well as containers of lighter fluid.
Then they told us how we were to go row by row to the front of the room and every person was to deposit their hundred dollar bill in a garbage can with the express purpose that it be lit on fired and burned to a crisp.
The reason for the exercise was to exhibit a prosperity mind set. The logic being that if you have a prosperity mind set, you knew there was plenty more where that came from and you wouldn't miss the hundred dollar bill.
I'm here to tell you that more than 90% in this room—there was close to 2,000 people— were ready to go up there and burn their hundred dollar bills.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?????????????????????????
Before we go on, think about what you would be doing in this situation. The answer is below but since this isn't the bar exam, nobody is going to know what your real answer is except you. So take a minute and think about this before you read on.
Okay? Got your answer?
Here's the rest of the story.
I thought all of this over for about a New York minute. I have to be honest with you, this was a scary exercise. They didn't let anybody out of the room and for a minute I felt like I was at a Reverend Jim Jones revival. Then my instinct took over. I knew exactly what we were going to do. I told Fibonacciwoman there was no way on this planet I was going to burn my hundred dollar bill. I said I'd go up there and if they forced me, I'd kick, fuss, scream obscenities, whatever it took. I wasn't burning the money.
Their discussion about a prosperity mind set, the logistics of how everyone would take their turn and the preparation of the garbage cans took about 20 minutes. I made my decision but I'm thinking about all of this. Mind you, this boot camp was about six-weeks after Katrina. At that time, the country and the world was busy raising money for people who needed help. Was it possible in that type of environment they would actually burn nearly $200,000? I could see it now, Monday's USA Today paper would be "Weird Cult Burns $200K." Was it possible?
The very thought of it was insane.
When they were actually ready to send the first row up...............and believe me, the vast majority of people in that room were ready to go..............................
Someone blew a whistle.
It was all an act.
They told everyone to sit down. The security people disappeared and the doors were opened.
First of all, they said it could never be done because it would have violated the fire code and the Westin wouldn't have appreciated that.
Second, they started talking about what a REAL PROSPERITY MINDSET IS. They said that everyone who was ready to burn the money didn't have enough respect for money. Think of the effort you put into earning that $100. They said anyone who was willing to do the act was really disrespecting themselves.
I got all of that, instantly. Fibonacciwoman was actually very proud of me. For those of you who have wives, you know that's not an automatic in this world. Her role in this was she was ready to do whatever I decided.
But there was a bigger lesson for me. As we all know, when trading and forecasting financial markets one has to be an intelligent contrarian. It takes a lot of nerve to go against the crowd. I'm here to tell you I've never been witness to a better exercise that tested what a crowd would do in an uncertain situation. When it comes to financial markets, the crowd is usually wrong.
That day was a watershed experience in my life. That was the day I knew I had the confidence to stand up to and go against the crowd if necessary. I always kinda sorta knew it and had conviction to do it some of the time. But this was a iron test of the will. You never know how you will react until you are put in these situations.
The correct answer was have respect for money because it’s the equivalent of respecting yourself and don't be afraid to go against the crowd because they are usually wrong.
By the way, they did put some small sticks in the garbage cans but at no time did they ever actually spray the lighter fluid..............And they did mention the Katrina victims as there was no way one can morally defend burning money when half of New Orleans was still under water.
I saved this story for a long time in case any of you went to this boot camp, I didn't want to ruin it for you but I'm told on good authority it is being phased out.
