An unusual childhood experience (that might have made me millions)

I want to share an unusual belief that was, I'm going to put this in air quotes forced on me growing up that forever changed my life for the better. I say forced on me again and air quotes because I was never given an option to consider it. It never occurred to me that it might not be true. It was literally repeated to me over and over and over again.
And I believed it and I gotta tell ya, I thank God for the belief. And I thank God  that I believed it, that I quote unquote, fell for it. So here's the belief, beliefs are powerful by the way. As you know, , my earliest mentor was my grandfather. His name was Emmett Raymond Smith. He was a heck of a guy, man.
I'll tell you what I think his first job or one of his first jobs was somewhere like around 14 or 15 years old. He was born in 1922. it was driving a logging truck at like 14. Could you imagine a 14 year old kid, these days driving a freaking the logging truck anyway. Don't know why that comes to mind.
But, , I called him pop and he was a self-made multimillionaire joined the Marine Corps at the onset of world war II. Fought in the Solomon Islands, got wounded, , did not enjoy that and never spoke about it. , but something happened to his eyes, , when he was wounded, which meant he got to wear sunglasses inside all the time, which meant he got to look cool all the time.
He could see all right, but he just wore sunglasses cause something was wrong with his eyes, like sensitive to light or something. Pretty good deal though. Being able to wear sunglasses inside all the time. I mean, my man was on it, dressed to the nines all the time, you know, classic. He was personal friends with James Brown.
Like when James Brown, the singer, you know, the godfather, his soul was starting out. My grandfather would just loan him cars to use, to drive back and forth from making to Augusta to play shows like, Oh, y'all need some cars. Okay. Here, man. Take these so crazy. When pop was old, James Brown, one time, with a full entourage, two limousines of people just stop by his house unannounced.
You never did that by the way, that was frowned upon, but it was James Brown. What are you going to do? Pop came to the door in the bathroom or on the bathroom, in the bathrobe. He had a cold that day. I remember the story is crazy. I got a picture of it somewhere with pop in his bathrobe, James Brown, standing beside it, but he was, it's a huge influence on me in the best possible way.
And the belief that he quote unquote forced on me was this. You are supposed. To be wealthy. It's not an option. It's not unusual. It's not a thing that will happen to you. It is as natural as you getting taller as you reach adulthood from childhood. So just as it's natural or a three-year-old to be taller at age five than he, he or she was  at age three, it is natural.
For you to become wealthy. And so I was like, Oh, okay. It was so crazy. Now that I look back on it, it wasn't even like, Hey, listen, other people are going to tell you otherwise, but here's the real truth. Now. It wasn't like that. It was a given with him as if there were no other possible option. Like. As if there is no other possible option, but for the sun to come up in the morning, that is the level of certainty that he held.
That belief, not just for me, but for anyone that it is like, of course you couldn't like, what do you think? Obviously, you're going to be wealthy is a simple formula. You follow the rules, you do the, you follow the directions. You can't help, but become wealthy, you know, and the directions incidentally or sell stuff for more than what you paid for it.
And don't blow all your money. Pretty simple, you know, pretty simple directions, but it carried even farther. And this is what's crazy. I don't know what made me think about this, but all during my early quote, unquote adulthood, , when I started getting interested in business, Interested in like actually making money.
I was probably 18 or 19 years old and I went to him, you know, and I had been enrolled in college and had failed out of college. And I said, would you please teach me how to actually, you know, make money and stuff? And he said, sure. And he sent me to go work with two of my cousins who owned a little used car lot in Macon, Georgia on spring street.
And, , everyone that knew him. That would meet me would say, Oh, you're Raymond's grandson. Oh man, you're going to be just like him. You've got the gene for it. You've got your, you're going to be successful because your Raymond Smith's grandson is in your blood. I remember hearing that all the time, it's in your blood, you're going to be successful.
And I believed them not because I thought I was special. It's because the people who are older and more experienced than me and appeared to know what they were talking about, said it with a great sense of conviction. So I was like, Oh, cool. Okay. And that gave me confidence to go out and try to do stuff and gave me the confidence to keep trying when it didn't work out.
That was another thing. He was real big on getting back up, you know, , we share that. He was like, dude, of course. Well, he didn't say dude, , often ever actually he was like, you know, yeah, it didn't work, whatever, get up, go how much they paying you to sit around and worry about it. That was a great question.
He would ask me all the time. Well, how much are you getting paid to do that? Whenever I was doing something counterproductive, which was frequently. But if I hadn't heard all that stuff and if I hadn't believed it I probably wouldn't be here right now. I mean, I'd be alive. I certainly hope I would be, but I don't think that I would have had the career that I've had because I bought into it, not from a cocky I'm better than anyone else standpoint, just from a Oh, okay.
I believe you. And therefore, I'm going to go forward and take action. Now, if you think about it from a logical perspective, I don't know if there's any scientific, is this for the accuracy of any of those claims?  Good Lord. There's plenty people that are related to successful people that have gone on to become total morons.
I've certainly done my share of total moron stuff, but if I hadn't been to, not that, I don't know. I don't think I'd have made it. I don't think I'd try it. I don't think I'd gotten back up on the gazillion times. That I failed. I think that belief was the most important thing. He taught me looking at a picture of him right now.
What a man. Thanks, Bob. I hope you guys can adopt a similar belief because you know what? I think that ultimately what he said is true here are the directions sell stuff for more than it costs you to sell it. And don't blow all your money. That's kind of it. We have a great tendency to overcomplicate things, but that worked out pretty good.
And of course, work hard, work smart, stay focused is all part of that, but it's worth examining what you believe really is think of some good ones. And if you've got any bad ones, if they're not true, get rid of them easier said than done, but worth trying. I sure do appreciate you listening to this man.
Hope you have a great day. Take it easy.