My wife and I recently attended the Masterminds Summit in San Diego hosted by the Buffini Company. My friend Eric heard the name of the conference and insisted that we were going to learn how to be super villains; he still thinks this recap is just a cover up. Anyway, I wanted to share some of the insights and inspiration we experienced while we were there. I also want to share some of my struggles on the journey toward a success mindset.

The Masterminds Summit is a two and a half day event with the attendees consisting mainly of realtors and their families, but the content and purpose of the event is to motivate and inspire anyone looking to find direction in life, or anyone looking to be inspired. 

Brian Buffini is the owner of the Buffini real estate coaching company, as well as the main speaker for the event. This year, the content was taken from the book The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino. Now if you are like me, you would see the title of that book, and say to yourself “I’m not in sales, so I don’t need to read that book, also, what an overly literal title!”, but I was surprised how relevant the content of the book was to someone like me who is not in real estate or sales. Brian said that we are all in sales to some extent. We are always trying to win someone to our way of thinking, or we are trying to build trust in others, and that in one way or another we will benefit from this book.

They say you should never judge a book by it’s cover, and I think they came up with that phrase mainly for self improvement books or books on how to be wise with your money; because they have terribly literal and lame titles: The Greatest Salesman in the World, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Think and grow Rich, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Unlimited Power, etc. The titles have buzz words like sales, rich, win, and power, which are not inherantly bad themes, but can come across as selfish ambition rather than self improvement. The former focuses on the self for the self, the latter focuses on the self for the betterment of everyone connected.

I have encountered many “salesmen” in my life who were fake in their interest in me, and only focused on getting what they wanted from the interaction. These encounters don’t only take place in monetary transactions, but anytime someone comes to you desiring a specific outcome, or directing the conversation to please themselves. Some seek to discuss, and some seek to debate. These encounters left me feeling less rather than more, and that is not how I want to impact the world.

To be a person of depth, someone who is genuine, this is what I strive towards daily. This was at the heart of my dilemma. All of this is to set up the challenge that  Brian Buffini laid before us on day one. “Who wants to be rich?” he said, and the crown had an awkward mixture of claps, silence, uncomfortable shuffling in the seats, and maybe some laughs. I did not know how to respond. Of course I want to be rich; but there is some deep resistance to aligning myself with that word.

He knew exactly what he was doing. In all of his podcasts, conferences, and even his book; he is reluctant to ever use the word rich because he knows full well that it has gotten a bad rap. He addressed the elephant in the room at that point. “We have to become comfortable with that word, so that we can learn and grow.” He said, paraphrased of course. Life is better with money. Your family’s life is better when you have money. Your community is better when you have money. It is hard to say these things still, but you must accept them at their base level.

Here are a few reasons I think we have a hard time with this kind of vernacular:

1. Religious upbringing: Two of the most popular scriptures in the Bible about money are “the love of money is the root of all evil” and “You cannot serve both God and money.” Neither of these say that you shouldn’t have money, or work hard to make a lot of money; rather they challenge the vice of a covetous attitude, or a forsaking of serving God and others in the pursuit of monetary gain. It was a common misunderstanding that wanting money was contrary to following God, and that the pursuit of success was a selfish pursuit.
2. Absent Parents: Perhaps we grew up in a family where wealth was abundant, but the price we paid, was a distanced relationship with our parents. If we have a nice home, food, toys, clothes, and a beautiful home, but the dinner table is always missing mom or dad, then what’s it all for? We can learn from our parents, we are not fated to become our parents; but we take in the good as well as the bad, because both are our teachers.
3. Perhaps we grew up poor, and the idea of success and wealth seem so unfamiliar that we feel unworthy. If this is case, I want to encourage: Opportunity is out there, and no one should ever let their financial state dictate their self worth or limit what they can achieve. We don’t have to reach millions to make an impact, we need only do our best to enhance the live of those around us; and in doing so, we create a ripple effect that change the world.

We had to become comfortable with words like success and rich to fully immerse ourselves into the conference. After he broke down the barrier of resistance to the idea of success, he then told us the story of Og Mandino. It was an incredibly human story. It was the story of someone who cared deeply about life. Someone who wished to bring hope and opportunity to others. To be great, we must be grateful. To be great, we must love. To be great, we must be true. Sharing the story of the man before we jumped into his book, was a great way to open up the conference. Here are some of the takeaways:

The 10 scrolls of success:

1. Today I begin a new life
2. I will greet this day with love in my heart
3. I will persist until I succeed
4. I am nature’s greatest miracle
5. I will live this day as if it is my last
6. Today I will be master of my emotions
7. I will laugh at the world
8. Today I will multiply my value a hundredfold
9. I will act now
10. I will pray for guidance

The 10 vows of the Rich

1. Never again will I pity or belittle myself
2. Never again will I greet the dawn without a map
3. Never again will I be disagreeable to a living soul
4. Always will I seek the seed of triumph in every adversity
5. Never again will I perform any task less than my best
6. Always will I throw my whole self into the task at hand
7. Never again will I waiting hope for opportunity embrace me
8. Always will I examine, each night, my deeds of the fading day
9. What infirmity have I mastered today, what passion opposed, what temptation resisted, what virtue acquired
10. Always will I maintain contact through prayer with my creator

Here is a list of the special guests at the conference:

Sinbad, Kevin Brown, Connie Podesta, and Nick Vujicic.

I will give a brief high level overview of what each guest spoke about.

Sinbad: Various jokes.

Kevin Brown: The Hero Effect is a book by Kevin Brown that is based on the idea of being your best when it matters. “Heroes are not ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” he said. He challenged us to view everyone as extraordinary, and it is how we can change someone’s life if we choose to be our best when it maters. I highly recommend looking up his talk online. https://kevinbrownspeaks.com

Connie Podesta: Author of Life would be Easy if it Weren’t for Other People, she is a psychologist and motivational speaker. She spoke about the importance of recognizing different personality types in our social encounters, especially in business encounters. Whether it’s the DISC profile, Strengths Finder, the Enneagram, or any other personality identifier; everyone needs/wants different styles of communication and interaction to best connect. https://conniepodesta.com

Nick Vujicic: You may have seen Nick’s talks online already, but he is a quadriplegic motivational speaker who is well worth a listen if you desire to live a life of love and thankfulness. He shared his personal story of overcoming depression, physical barriers, and financial barriers. His mission in life became traveling around the world sharing the message that everyone needs to know that they are loved and that life is worth living. He started his talk by telling the entire room of attendees that he loves us, because he believes the there is power in hearing those words. https://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org

I hope that this article has shared some new insights, echoed existing convictions, and/or challenged you. Overall, Love, gratefulness, motivation, commitment, and vision are key on the path to a life of success.