This is a short interview-style segment in which John Assaraf recounts a troubled adolescence (shoplifting, dropping out, poor school performance) and a pivotal meeting with a mentor, Mr. Brown, who challenges him with a goal-setting worksheet (questions about retirement age, net worth, lifestyle) that prompted him to define bigger goals and change his life.
Chapters
By the time I was 10, 11, 12, I was involved in shoplifting, I got involved in selling drugs, got involved in breaking and entries. From the age of, you know, 11, 12 to 18, I left high school, grade 11. I didn't do well in school. Failed English, failed math, and I was miserable. I was unhappy, miserable, not enjoying my life, thinking there's, you know, maybe I'll end up as a cab driver like my father, just barely making ends meet. My brother arranged for a lunch with.
A man that he was teaching tennis to.350 miles away from where I am. And this man started asking me questions about why I was getting in trouble, why was I doing the things I was doing, what were my goals and dreams. And at the time my goals and dreams was to move out of my.
Parents house to get a better job.
And to get a car. This man says, well that's all great, but what are some of your bigger goals and dreams?
And I didn't have any.
So I said listen, I want you to think about it for just a few moments. He gave me these sheets of paper and the first sheet said, at what age do you want to retire? I'm 19 years old. Like what? My father's still working, I don't know. Retire? Who retires? How much net worth do you want to have? And I looked at him and I said, what does net worth mean? And then says like, what kind of lifestyle do you want? What kind of car do you want?
What kind of charitable contributions you have? I wrote out all these answers and.
He looked at my answers and he said, hey listen, these are some good goals that you had. You want to retire at age 45, you want to be a millionaire, you want to give to charity, you want to retire your parents, so forth. He said I'm going to ask you one question and the answer to this question will determine whether you achieve every one of these things. And he looks at me and he says, are you interested or are you committed to achieving these things? And I said, Mr. Brown was his name. I said what's the difference? And he goes, if you're interested, you'll do what's easy and convenient. If you're interested, you'll keep using your stories, your reasons, your excuses, your past and, and what you're doing currently to control your thinking and your behavior. And you will be a victim of all of that, which means you're gonna repeat the patterns over and over again. Said if you're committed, you'll upgrade your knowledge, you'll upgrade your beliefs, you'll upgrade your self image, you'll upgrade your skills, and you will become the person capable of achieving every one of those goals. So he says, are you interested or are you committed? And so I don't know why, but I blurted out, I'm committed. That day, one question, one answer changed my life.
