The Greatest News Was We Started with Nothing with Senior National Sales Director 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 webinar now to watch something I've put together for you. Now let's get going into this episode of Million Dollar Mastermind.

I'm back with Neil Gerfine. And Neil is celebrating, he and Victoria celebrating from Glendora, California, going over a huge milestone of $2 million in income. And he's doing it in a business where it's not a one time thing, it's not a made a big sale type thing. It's from the growth of businesses, outlets, organizations and things are in place for them not only to continue to make 2 million and more every year, but to be able to compound up to 3 million, 4 million, 5 million just as a natural course of staying on track. And who has that going for them. And so you've got somebody's an incredible athlete, got an incredible athletic offspring. I know at least one son and making more money when he goes to the professional events than most of the pro athletes out on the court. And so it's got to be a good feeling. Neil, welcome back.

Thank you. Yeah, it's been great, Larry. I'm just excited to be here and just be present and just kind of share from my heart just some of our experiences and our journey. It's been amazing.

What I like about it and I think that you have the chance, I mean, you got the credentials to speak on it. And that is we all start, we're small at everything, you know, and we're resources and everything. We're moving up like you said in the last thing. We're in the lobby trying to get to the penthouse and you gotta, a lot of times you don't even know where the door or the, to the elevator or the stairs, you know, and you're outside the building and you think, I've got to, somehow I've got to learn how to climb a mountain and just climb from the outside. But then you get inside, say no, no, there's stairs and elevators. Okay, now that becomes doable now and you start learning how to matriculate your way up the ladder. But the things you learn can impact all other areas of your life. For example, where you live. I remember when I started, right out of college, we got married. We were in a duplex that had a bedroom, a living room and a tiny kitchen and tiny bathroom. And that was our little spot in the World, it's important to have your spot, you know, your starting point. And then we got into a little bit bigger duplex, you know, two bedrooms, rooms. And that was where we, by the way, we launched from when I moved up to North Carolina and the actual three bedroom house we rented in North Carolina was the biggest house we'd ever been in. You know, so we were, we were moving up. It wasn't a hardship. But eventually better things happen. And so talk about your startup where you are like now, of course now, you know, I moved through and went through the big house stage. Yeah. You know, buy the farm and the, you know, the horses and you know, do all of, all of those things and then eventually sell all the big stuff. And now I'm down here, I got a place in Aspen and in Palm beach, you know, it's like, you know, where do you go to live when you got a billion dollars? Yeah, I don't have a billion, I don't have a Gulf Stream jet. But where do you go to live when you got that kind of resources? You go to Palm beach and ask. But there's two of the places. So yeah, I like those two. So that's why I split my time. And you know, it's, you can still keep working, there's still. And you can inspire other people by bringing them along. You know, I've had tons, hundreds, I don't know, thousands, but hundreds of people out to Aspen now, Aspen, we have had thousands, but hundreds of people down here into Palm beach. You know, lifetime member of Mar A Lago. Trump's living over there now. I haven't, I haven't made it over the bridge since I got back from Aspen last week. But they say he's having a ball. But you know, it's unlimited, what you could do for yourself at the top, but it seems so hopeless. And when you're working, you don't even realize the doors that will open to you. Not just for you, where you could live, the resources, the friends you can make, but also to your family. And so talk about how your journey on the behind the scene, behind the camera type has evolved from the beginning.

You know, Larry, I gotta say real quick here that it is like super special to understand the process. Like the greatest news all day is that we started with nothing. And you know, we, you know, when you look at material things, you know, or net worth or in essence, so what you learn first, you do the most, you do the best law of prophecies, right? You learn first, you do the most, you do the best. And so we just got excited about creating good habits. You know, we obviously started by paying rent to my mom and dad at a house that they are renting. And we're paying like 350rent at the time for a room and trading checks for groceries and just kind of keeping that rented house moving. As we were kind of figuring out life, Victoria and I, and the journey began right there. I mean, really, the dream was sold, the seed was planted, you know, and then because we, you know, stayed consistent to, you know, the meetings that we would attend and the trainings that we attend, not only did it become contagious, Larry, but we got inspired to plant our flag. And I think that when you plant your flag, you know what happens. You know, it's just, it's all part of it. We just got excited, Larry, truly, that we could create new good business habits and get consistent on that process. And what that did is it helped us eliminate distractions, life distractions, you know, agenda distractions, you know, from, you know, friends, family, you know, you know, perhaps people in your business, you know, and we just got so undiluted focused, Larry, that that's what vortexed us. That's where we realized, man, we're becoming the opportunity based on our business behavior, based on our off the field behavior. You know, we were very consistent on creating good business habits for our opportunity. And that part, it was huge.

Can you indulge me by walking through that process again? Because where you planted the flag, because if you don't plant your flag, you can go anywhere, you know what I'm saying? So you got to say, this is it for me. And you got to reach the point, you got to have enough feedback, enough confidence that you enjoy it. It's a valid thing, whatever. Your business is your concept. And so talk. Would you go through that again where you went through the process of you plugged in and then some things evolved. Commitment, you know, when you get involved in a new thing, it takes a while for your mind to move towards the new world. You're going to be in a new thought pattern and new activities, new friends and much less the language, but from where you came from. So you got to. There's a process of allowing your mind to make that transition. No matter what kind of Ferrari you have, it's not going to go, you know, zero to whatever, to 100, unless you had it revving up in the background, you know, in the, in the garage and in the warm up area, you know, like the Tour de France cycling races. But they don't show. But I, I know because in Aspen, you know, for years they would go straight from France in the Tour de France to the Tour of Colorado. And they, you know, they have these same tours in California, but they go straight to Colorado with those mountains. And each stage starts with the cyclists going around town three, four or five times. I'd be exhausted going around. Once they're, they're going around, around just to get the whole body loosened up in the group. And then they start to go 150 miles where they, they climb 14,000 square, I mean, tall mountains and, and things like that. And so same thing happened in racing, same thing in, in music. And, and all of those things, you got to warm up to get at the peak performance level. And so describe how you went through that, because a lot of times that's kind of like overlooked. People, they get, they get beat. That's where people wash out. You know, people wash out in the beginning. They wash out of swimming before they get in the pool, you know, or before they get to their 10th lesson, let's say, you don't know. They wash out a piano, learning how to play the piano before they get to where they can play one song through correctly, all the way through without mistakes, even happy birthday or something. And so this is where people wash out. And it's the same thing. You're a raw beginner. Whenever you start a new stage in your career or even a new stage in your business, an expansion type thing. So talk. You know, I just think it'd be good to kind of go through that again.

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 successful business, has accrued over $5 billion in assets under management, and has done well even during trying times. Now, if you want to know exactly how I've done this, go to Whiteellumwinning.com webinar Now, I've compressed a decade of learning into five short weeks. Just for those of you who want to give yourself an incredible advantage and are tired of waiting and watching others move up.

You know, Larry, I really feel that when people come into the business in the early stages, they look at the polished. No Gurfein, okay? They look at the polished Victoria Gurfein, okay? But what people need to understand is that we join just like they joined. You know, we, you know, we've made more mistakes than we've made our wins. Just kind of give you like an example. Like we Started creating really good habits. And it just became, that's what we do. You know, like when people say what do you do? We just get excited about eliminating distractions. We just get excited about being the first one there, last to leave. We just get excited about self improving at night. We get so excited about this part of the presentation. We. We get so excited about sharing our personal story. And as we are processing that you asked me about what does it mean when you planted your flag and that you can accomplish anything once you plant your flag. My father passed away of a massive heart attack at 55. And my mother was devastated. They filed bankruptcy twice, lost $125,000 retirement income back then. And I thought that was all the money in the world. But that dynamic I was in, gauged of really taking my opportunity to another level. And my wife was pregnant with my first son at the time. And you know, we had a lot of pressure on us right there because my father just passed away. My mother was devastated. I was a young man in business and I was in the process right there, pennies in the pockets, bill collectors perhaps calling, you know, behind my promises, you know, and right, you know, too much month, none of the money. And that's where I had a defining moment. And greatness, Larry, is born through adversity. And instead of saying, okay, God, why are you putting me through this? I knew that God would never put me through something he didn't think I can get through. And I realized right there I went from just like a young, young man to a man. I went from it's kind of an opportunity to ownership, Ownership of my life, Larry. Ownership of my family, ownership of my business, ownership of a situation, ownership of rejection, ownership of jadedness. Ownership of people that are wolves, that are dressed up like sheep are really wolves. Ownership of, you know, some will, some won't next. Ownership, Larry, like there is no tomorrow. You ain't Morse to cat. You don't got nine lives to live. Like that woke me up, that I hold on to that right like never before. And I seen the example of my mother and father, seen what they did financially and what they didn't do financially. And that inspired me and motivated me that I'm just, I'm just not going to be average and ordinary, Larry. I just don't care what people think anymore, Larry, that if I owe 10 cents, I'll give a dollar, I'll do what's right. If I make a mistake, I'll be man enough to apologize and learn from it and take responsibility of It I found when you do that, you don't give cuts. Like the opportunities, like, you know, being in line for a ride. You don't give cuts. You don't go to the bathroom. Your turn will come. But in that process of patience, of urgency, Larry, to get where we wanted to go, of our destination, our goals, our dreams, you know, it gave that edge, Larry. Like, this is it. Like, yes or no? I need to know. Like, as soon as that dynamic happened, our business exploded because we charged with the adversity. We. I let that heartache become my therapeutic because I was in honor of his, My father, of all those things. As a young man, that motivated me like never before. And I was. We were truly able to build our business on that, on that platform of, like, our crusade and what we do and what we represent. And seeing how that. That. That dynamic hurt my parents, hurt my mom, and it just was just more conviction, more desire, more enthusiasm. And, you know, I also learned that, you know, in that scenario that leaders are lonely because, you know, everything's great, everything's unbelievable, things are amazing. But, you know, you get your moment. You know, you kind of take a little. Take a minute, take five minutes, take 10 minutes to, you know, put your head in a pillow and cry and then right back at it again. And I think a lot of people can struggle with that because life hasn't happened to them like that yet. And they come in and they just. They don't like their fuse the way they're capable. And I think when they get around winners like you and I, Larry, it does get contagious. It does start to feud. And then when you see people who've been already humiliated in their careers or in corporate America or just in general, they've had degrees, they've had wins, they've had all sorts of different little wins. But at the end of the day, we're put upon or were laid off or whatever the dynamic was, filed bankruptcy, had. You know, sad situations happen. They see the opportunity, they seize our opportunity, and they're ready. It's just, they come in, they're already ambitious, they already come with a lot of moxie, and they come with some swag, and they just don't know how to really run with the vehicle yet. But because of the choices we made and that connection of helping them get in to see what we see and feel, we feel we truly became effective of getting people in a paradigm shift change and rolling in the right lanes that I started earlier with you, Larry, and that was a huge part of the Transition of the opportunity, Larry?

Absolutely. And really, when you talk about when you started you in Victoria, where you, you know, step by step, you were putting a rock solid foundation in place. You know, an approach and, you know, an approach to the business, an understanding of the business, a development of skill, a level of developing skills that weren't just adequate, but were rock solid. You know, you made decisions that created this rock solid approach that you could build off. And you people don't realize, you build an organization, you are going to be duplicating yourself. So if you're a goofball, if you're somebody who looks to, you know, avoid work rather than overdo work, looks to appearances, not substance. Looking for short term, temporary, showy success rather than lasting, repetitive success, you know, people say, larry, why do you keep working? I like winning. I long ago learned I can lose. Long ago learned that winning requires effort. I learned that if you take your foot off the accelerator in the car, the car will slow down. It doesn't matter if you've been a thousand miles, 4,000 miles, it doesn't matter how long you take the foot off the accelerator for. It's going to slow down. So you got to keep the foot on the accelerator if you want to keep moving forward in your life. It's, it doesn't, you know, Elon Musk will come with, you know, the autopilot, and then next I want him to attack life because I'd love to build autopilot life, but that ain't going to happen unless you're a robot. If you're going to deal in life, there's never going to be an autopilot. Anybody can design for you. You got to face it and deal with it. And it's like in the Bible there, where the parable of building on the house on sand, it looks great. You never know. But it's like you said, your flaws, your weaknesses will be revealed. But the great thing is, so will your competitors. You're competing with people and they're taking shortcuts. Eventually life is going to find them out too. So if you concentrate on doing it the right way, when the tough times come, you're able to stand and keep on going. That's the way it was when I was in construction. And every time we go through a down cycle, the guys who had things put together the right way could keep their subcontractors working, their carpenters working, and they can just motor on through. Whereas the guys who are running a house of cards type operation fell apart. But it's Life is going to test you, but it's also going to test your competitors. So what I heard out of you, that I think most people don't think about when you're starting something new, don't focus on making the money and getting the big thing. Focus on building, getting yourself established on solid rock, solid principles. Learn your craft, do the right things, don't look for shortcuts. Do what's expected of you to be successful and do more, and that will develop a toughness that will allow you, when you do make your breakthrough, to compound off of it. I think that's where it kind of shows off, Neil. People who have a big success and they keep on compounding or they even slingshot once they get. Get through a barrier. But other people, like, they go, kapoot.

Yeah. You know, Larry, I think that, like, a couple things. One, you know, gains are addicting. Like, when you talk about, like, your process, you know, what you do, the foot on the pedal of the metal, like, you know, on the, you know, never winning, you know, that's the fountain of you. And people don't understand that. You know, the minute they take their foot off the gas, the minute they check out, you see it so many times, they get things going. They get the momentum going. They get things starting to rock in their business. They start getting some. Yes. Momentum, and then they check out, and they don't realize how important it was to stay after it and stay on it and to crank it up even more and play scared and do those things where one day it won't matter. You know what I'm saying? And in between that process, with great leadership, they can have their cake. You need it, too. And the reassurance that they're on track and have little wins that'll lead to big wins in their journey. And really, success is not a destination. It's a journey, Larry. And people misunderstand that just because they start making a little more money in their business opportunity than they've done at a job. That's really not what entrepreneurship is. You know what I'm saying here? And it's so people realize that run towards, like, you know, it's funny, a police officer goes to the academy, okay, and they're in the Academy, literally, what, 31 weeks of discipline and understanding, all these different things, but they're really being taught to run towards bullets. And common sense says to run away from bullets. Well, as an entrepreneur, you're running towards freedom. You're running towards, you know, you know, you know, the light at the end of the tunnel, you're getting excited. You're starting to set goals and dreams. And these are things that are just so real, so imperative. Like, there's plenty of Mercedes out there. Real ones. And real BMWs out there, real Porsches out there. But yet my family never had one legally. Right. We no one really had a house on the hill, like. But yet when you see an opportunity, opportunity like this in American business and you can grab the bull by the horns, get excited where you come from. Get excited about what you're about to do. Get excited about the wins you've had, and let that compelling reason be the motivator not to let up, not to check out, not to take their foot off the gas. And it's kind of like, oh, yeah, oh, yeah. And I think God has that sense of humor, of kind of looking at us all like a jigsaw puzzle. We're trying to figure ourselves out. Really what it comes down to is hearing no, asking another way, you know, separating yourself from mediocrity. Continue to hang around with people that are having more success right now than you are, which will stretch your mind, stretch your vision, stretch your belief level, stretch your hunger and tenacity of how bad you want it. I see a lot of people get in, they start having some remote success, and they hang out with people with the same kind of success or less, and that's a mistake. They got to stay uncomfortable. They got to stay inspired. And that's where you're going to attract great people. That's where you're going to attract people that want to get buck wild with you. And people miss that ingredient. You know, they sit there and they look at it and go, how come I can't have that success? Like you're saying earlier, how come I can't have that success like that? But I'm telling you that, you know, that's the key about those who struggle the most will teach it the best. And by staying after it, and like I said earlier, making good habits and just staying consistent of doing good habits of winning and little wins and getting better with the process and getting better at taking corrective criticism and stride, they will rise, Larry. They will win. They will grow. Larry.

Hey, Neil, this is great. I didn't realize the time it got away from us. And I know you've got an amazing life, and I thank you for taking the time out. And we're going to do this again sometime soon because there's a bottomless pit of wisdom that Neil Gurfein can share with you. And help you do bigger things. Thanks so much, Neil.

Thank you, Larry. It's been an honor. It's been a lot of fun, Larry. I'm looking forward to doing it again. Great seeing you and great hearing from you.

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 whiteellawinning.com webinar now in order to move up as fast as possible. I'm Larry Wydell, and I run the Million Dollar Mastermind. Go, go, go.