Stay in Your Lane, Don’t Get Distracted with Business Leader Neal Gurfein

Welcome to this episode of the Million Dollar Mastermind. I'm Larry Weddell. And before we get started, if you want to know exactly how to win again and again, go to Wydell on winning.com forward/webinar now to watch something I've put together for you. Now let's get going into this episode of Million Dollar Mastermind.

I am with new 2 million dollar a year earner from California, Neil Gerfein, long time friend who has from the beginning, I think it was a gift of God. He had a vision of doing big. And so welcome Neil.

Hey, Larry, how you doing?

Glad to have you, man. And you know, it's a thing that really when you approach anything, you can either try to learn how to do it, try to do it, or in the same 24 hours of behind every question and every movement you make is the idea. I don't want to just kind of do it. I want to do it as big as possible. I don't want to be the one who limits my growth because I wasn't thinking big enough. Believe it, big enough promoting it, big enough. Talking it to other people, big enough. But you have always, I mean, if there's anything you've excelled in, that is one of them. I mean, you've always seen the biggest, always been driven for greatness and people need to be unapologetic if they have that motivation inside themselves and turn themselves loose to do it. So congratulations on being that kind of guy deal. And congratulations on how that's paid off for you in your career. And so what would you, you know, give people an idea to kind of get going, how, where you are in your career, the size of your organization, your team, how spread out, how many offices you have volumes of. Yeah, I don't know, I can't keep up with volumes. You know, if it's, I've always felt like, you know, it's like net worth. If you know what your net worth is, it's not enough. You know how big your team is, it's not that big. So it's like asking GE how many employees do you have or how many locations do you have. So anyway, your rough ideas, what are you proud where you take the greatest satisfaction in about, in terms of the size of what you've been able to build and the number of leaders and lives influence that type thing.

Yeah, you know, that's such a great question, Larry, and thank you for the compliments on some of the wins we've had in our journey. But I really think really to give it, you know, a crystal clear answer of that is really true. The maturity of the leadership. I think that it's a philosophy of grow a little, mature a lot in your journey. And I've seen a significant amount of key individuals stay in their lane and not look left or right and go after the big picture. An opportunity where you take 40 years of work into 10 and people taking full responsibility of their actions, and that's where the worthiness comes, that's where the belief level comes. That's where the significant duplication comes. That's where everybody, the attraction stage starts. And I think that people come right in and have the edge on everybody else that perhaps comes into an opportunity in the country and just understands that there's a lot going on here and everybody can get an education. But then there's Harvard, mit and you know, we're Harvard. And I think it's because of the track record that my wife Victoria and I created when we started from the Manila. And that's really all we know. And we've not got good, but great at that process. And really going from a W2 into business ownership, entrepreneurship, and just really seizing the opportunity and being very grateful and humble and never forgot where he came from. And I think that that became contagious.

Larry, what did you have in your background before you started your business that set you up for success? Some things you heard, experiences you had, examples you've had what would, if you could think back, were there things that gave you a little edge?

You know, I think it's just the true testimony of my life. I think I've always seen my father, my mom and father always work hard. I always, they always had that abdominal spirit. They were the right driver in the wrong vehicle. And so I would always see them kind of go into a merry go round of their opportunity. And they would persevere, and they'd persevere. And I think some tragedy situations that happened with them with some devastation with some bad partnership and stuff like that, I saw the wrong way, but it lit the fuse in a young man and myself to really be driven to, you know, really, you know, really take it to the top of a true opportunity. And it's just been incredible. And I think from the adversity and some heartache, some financial hardship growing up, it really gave me the edge.

What does that phrase, that's kind of a key in your outlook? The right driver in the wrong vehicle. Talk about that, because there's a lot of people, you know, there's another thing. There's a Lot of right drivers following the wrong strategy. And that's what this is all about, you know, giving you the chance to hear strategies, thinking ideas from people that have used ideas that actually work in the real world. And rather than some kind of made up formula that really has no chance of succeeding, regard how you do it. But what would you talk about? What does that really mean to you, the right driver in the wrong vehicle?

Well, I would think it is. Is an ambitious individual, an ambitious person that motivated but in an opportunity that just, it just doesn't duplicate the motivation ambition of the individual. It's not tested through adversity. It's not been bonafide in American business. It's a third, you know, it's just one of those things where the rocket ship never breaks gravity. And you know, that's really where you're the right driver. Which means that you have the ingredients, you have the abdominal spirit, you have the significance, you have the motivation, you have the optimistic, you have the silver lining in things. And what you need is an environment. What you need is proper leadership. And with that connection you can go to a whole different level in a very quick period of time.

And when you came in, how did you and Victoria engage? I mean how did you like get into the machinery of what you saw? How did you. Was it a slow entry, was it a rapid entry? Was it painful for you personally? You have to learn some skills maybe you didn't have or make some adjustments or change some attitudes you had. How was. Describe your entry into your business?

You know, it's funny how opportunity, skies and overalls, we never identify it. Larry goes through our back door, through our front door. And I saw the opportunity with Victoria. I was 24 years of age and really didn't have a business background as a warehouse worker. Worked at UPS for three and a half years as a supervisor. I got hired on as Ellie county sheriff and they went on high and freeze in July of 92. And I had responsibility and I got, I saw the opportunity and what was significant about that is if it was true, if it was right, I'm going to do it. If this was. And it just, it made sense to, you know, our crusade, the things that we do for the impact we have on others is bigger than the rejection. And the process of that is those who change the most win the biggest. So when you come into the opportunity with people and your favorite word is F, that's not going to be Phi Beta Kappa. So there was a lot of change there. There's a lot of Change in maturing and business maturing and, you know, and just really rolling with the punches and learning from failure, learning from mistakes and just kind of being that weeble wobble, that piece of clay that becomes a vase and just a consistent process of what to say, how to say, when to say. And once we got confident with that process, then it really, we became effective in the marketplace and we increased our value in the marketplace. Larry, where I found that this is just significant and amazing.

Where were you lacking? Where were you lacking? Where did the drop balls show up early in your career?

Immaturity? I think maybe, you know, I think that we would work harder than most. I think that when things didn't go.

Now you were young, now we were talking about you were young. And inconsistency is the mark of immaturity. And that's one of the, I mean, you know, we see lots of. That's the main thing I tell people that are having early success in their career is like, now, don't be your own worst enemy. I'm going to tell you the number one reason that brings down successful young people and it's up to you to learn from it. But it's inconsistency. And so talk about. So you went through that stage significantly.

I think that we were exposed on who our true friends and family were in the beginning. We were exposed on if everybody's going broke to the left, we need to start going to the right. And we just started making some backyard decisions that weren't temporary but were long term. And we were fortunate to be around some good, significant people with some tough love that inspired us to, you know, believe and do great things and, you know, really rise to the occasion of being an impact for other people with our opportunity.

Hey, listen, there's a lot of information online, but there aren't a lot of people who have actually done something. In my case, I've actually built a.

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What are some of those, what would you say are the significant long term type adjustments you started making and that you've seen yourself continue to make? Like the pattern you settled into the groove, you settled into mentally activity wise friend Wise thinking. What, what are some of those long term changes and patterns?

Well, I think that the trade off, I think the trade off of comfort, the trade off of play, convenience, to trade off of what everybody else is doing and really understanding that we're going against a grain of, you know, normality because we're an opportunity to take 40 years of work into 10. And I think that that trade off meant, you know, who's in our stands, you know, having some faith, you know, self improving. I think that that was a big part too. And just it started every time we added value. As we are reading and adding value to our mind, we are eliminating and distracting negativity. And I think that that was a huge part. That as that started to be a process and a philosophy of our life, Larry, it was significant that age was, was just a number. It was overrated. And as I was young in business and young man in business, I started becoming extremely effective right away in that process. And I realized also, Larry, that we were doing things behind closed doors. Like a boxer becomes a champion outside the ring and gets a recognition in the ring. We were doing things like pdr practice, drone, rehearse on our merit, on our time where everybody else was, you know, going on vacation, doing other things, you know, and you know, of their situation. And we were trading that off to know that one day that we can have the rest of our life off and live spontaneously, have a great life.

And that is a great pdr. Let's talk about PDR a little bit later. But what would you say for new people getting started, wanting, you know, just the thing of getting your attitude right to make those first steps into independence number one, or it's actually the same things you do when you're stepping out from one career into another career, you know, the big transition to now I'm going to start something that I think can be bigger, more rewarding, more exciting and with bigger payoffs all around. When you step into something like that, what would be your advice?

You know, I think it's really, it's a financial blueprint that people have, you know, they emulate based on the environment they grew up on. And, you know, that's where they make their choices. Their parents went to the bank, their grandparents go to the bank. They're going to go to the bank. Monkey see, monkey do. And it's really learning concepts, doing the right thing, know all these different things that our parents never did. Our parents love us, but they, they're not financially independent. They don't make millions of dollars like, and so for the. Normally speaking for myself, Victoria. So what we had to do is think outside the box. What we had to do is really put ourselves in a positive zip, zip, positive shell around negative people and stay positive and really start to gravitate with our level and above of ambitious people, people that have been bonafide, that have been successful, who've been tested, tested and basically became mentors of ours. And it just inspired us to have faith in what they were, you know, showcasing to us what they, what we need to do. Because they went through it, they accomplished it, you're going to be okay, no problem. And what I found by having that mindset, whatever they accomplished, we were able to do in half the time. Larry. Just because there's proof in the pudding.

Yeah. And the thing is, the quicker you can realize it's not just you and your intent. Pretty much everybody that's a drug addict did not intend to be a drug addict. But they let themselves, they dropped their guard, they allowed themselves a friend into their circle who they got to a party or to a situation where it didn't, you know, was a normal thing. And a little of this and a little of that and it just, you got sucked into it, you know. And you have people like, well, you have people that were dogmatically anti drug, the worst headaches, you know, it's like, how did this happen to me? You know, and same thing in jail, you know, you have people that get sucked into criminal behavior and it's a step by step thing, you know, and he either can have a step by step thing lifting you up because of not your efforts, who you read what, who you get exposed to, who you allow into your circle of friendship, but also who you allow into your mind. You don't let people steal your mind with wrong thoughts, you know, because lies can be sugar coated.

Yeah.

You know what I'm saying? Most lives are sugar coated and they taste good, they sound good, it's unbelievable. And then, you know, you're flushed down the toilet there, you know, you dropped your guard. So we need to be aware of our limitations and our willpower and not expect ourselves to be this super disciplined, super committed kind of person that will hold the, the line. Like you said when you started, stay in your lane. Regardless of who's around us or whatever, we gotta make it e. You know, this all comes into making it easy for yourself to win. And I call it in my book, Sarah Winner stacking the odds of success. You're never guaranteed you'll win, but you're never guaranteed you'll be a failure. Failure either. So it's a matter of how you go about through the day, stacking the odds of success in your failure with your friends who you read, your new ideas, the skill sets you get, places you go, and you can be decisive. I mean, you can make good things happen by design to your decisions or just through neglect. Just kind of go where life leads you and go right down the drain. So you want to have a last comment on that?

You know, it's just such a deep, crystal clear situation that people will be in a fork in a road in life. When I said, you know, early on, some of the adversity that I went through as a young man becoming a young man becoming an adult, and I think that that lit the fuse for me. And I think what happens is people come in and I've seen they've been broken or they've been jaded, or they've had some tragedy or they've had some trauma in their life. And I found that this vehicle inspires them and heals them. An essence of just personal growth. Personal. They have so much to prove. They. They want to start and finish something for the first time in their life. And I think the same philosophy is there's things inside people that if they don't get that nourish, if they don't get that validation, they'll get the wrong influence in life and make poor choices because of the environment and their circle of friends. There's an old saying, Larry, that you take your five best friends and income, that's exactly what you make. Show me your friends. I'm gonna show you who you are. I read a book early on that says you only get one or two opportunities your life. Is this gonna be your first, your last? And so by, you know, understanding street smarts and understanding, you know, hard work, and I think that's what my parents ever always showed me was just hard work. That's all we ever knew, was just hard work. And I found that hard work beats talent that doesn't work hard, Larry.

Absolutely. Thanks so much, Neil. This is fantastic and priceless and valid information for all of us to think about and to incorporate in our lives. Thanks so much, Neil. Look forward to talking to you again.

If you enjoyed what you've heard and are dead serious about finding out for yourself exactly how this works in the real world. I've taken the most valuable business lessons I've learned over 40 years and put them into something for you to watch. Go to Whiteellumwinning.comwebinar now, in order to move up as fast as possible. I'm Larry Wydell, and I run the Million Dollar Mastermind. Go, go, go.