“DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN?” LEARNINGS FROM DENIS WAITLEY

Here in Canada we are celebrating Family Day on February 20th. I thought I would bring some learnings from a luminary that really stuck with me on the topic of family and life in general. My mom used to say: "You cannot put your hand in a bucket of glue without some of that glue sticking." We were graced by Denis Waitley's surprise presence during the "Cracking the Rich Code" mastermind. In case you don't know him, he's a 90 year old, extremely successful motivational speaker. Keep reading or watch the following video for more...

You may be familiar with Denis Waitley's work, "the Psychology of Winning", "Seeds of Greatness", "The Winner's Edge", and so much more. This is a man who has lived. When we met him, he started by telling us a little bit about his health and about how technically, he's a 1933 model that he cannot find parts for anymore, because he's 90 years old. We were welcome to ask questions, and believe me, we took advantage of that and asked so many!

I'd like to share some of the main things he said that really stuck with me.

"Don't live for the moment. Live in the moment."

We are constantly looking forward to the next thing, or saying: "When I get there, when I do this, when I do that, then I will be happy." Except that there is no “there”. You don't have to live for when that moment comes. Live in the moment, right now, as you are pursuing your dreams. Find happiness today.

"I am responsible for most of my problems and most of my fears."

Of course, there are outside, external things that happen to us, but most of the problems that we have are in our heads. Our fears are usually created by emotions.

"If you treat your employees like royalty, you will have their loyalty."

It's not only catchy, it's so true, isn't it? When you treat people with respect, more likely, you will get respect back. You get what you focus on, and what you put out to people around you, that is what you will receive. So insightful.

The next two are a bit connected. I asked the question: "What would you do differently?" And to this question, he answered:

"You have to live for a reason rather than live for your success."

And that reason, very often, is what is really important to you. He mentioned that he wished he had been different with his family. He never missed his children's sports games or dance recitals, but he missed the practices. The whole reason why he wanted to be successful was to be able to spend time with the people that he loves, so living for a reason and understanding why you're doing things is much more powerful than living for your success.

And as we were talking about family, he added:

"I also wish that I had not given my children so much."

He continued on: "I wish I had let them forget their lunch. I wish I had let them earn money instead of giving them everything." He is a very successful, wealthy man. And he even mentioned that at a point in his life, he realized that the lifestyle he was living required for him to make minimum 100,000 dollars a month in order to maintain it. And when he decided that he should maybe sell a few of the houses and downsize his lifestyle, his wife filed for divorce. There goes another learning there.

He said: "My children would never tell me how grateful they were for a new car or the latest phone. They say: 'Do you remember when?' " These are super powerful words. "Remember when". Remember when we went there? Remember when we laughed so hard? Remember when we did this? Remember when? Create those "remember when" moments that you want people to remember you by. Live in the moment.

Thank you, Denis Waitley!