TRUE MONEY STORY
Let me tell you a money lesson that I will never forget. It came from an unlikely source. It
didn’t come from reading The Rich Jerk millionaire e-book, or from reading any of Donald
Trump’s billionaire guides. And yet, I learned this lesson before I brought a copy of Robert
Kiyosaki’s book, Rich Door, Poor Dad. The surprising lesson came from a fellow
college student, who happened to be a member of an infamous company I‘ll call Strange
Inc. (cheesy name used to protect its privacy!)
Basically, I met this big, husky guy, who I’ll name as Club M (I can’t remember his real
name anyway). In 1997, I went to a university cafeteria to watch the Chicago Bulls defend
their fifth NBA title against the Utah Jazz.
Club M was sitting across a table from me. I believe he shook his head in a friendly hello.
During the game, he kept making jokes and comments about the basketball game. Then
he slowly started to make some small talk about some business he had. My take in all this
was that this guy wanted something from me. When the game went into intermission, he
finally asked, “Would you like to hear more about my business?”
Being a reader of Zen, I had a “be open to possibilities” mindset. So I invited Club M to sit
next to me, and he got into his business pitch about Strange Inc. All I can
remember was that if I choose to be partners with him, I would be working under him,
selling generic products, such as energy bars, vitamins, to anyone. Then I would
have to recruit someone to work under me, and then that person who have to find
someone else to work under them, so on and so on. That’s how I could make money.
He gave me his email and business card incase I wanted to join him in
his venture. I called him about a month later after that weird meeting.
During that summer, I was broke. I had a full time job, but it wasn’t producing enough
cash, and I was just getting by. So I emailed Club M. We met at the same dormitory,
except this time inside a huge study room. He went over how Strange Inc. worked again,
because I was still confused about that whole process. But then, during his talk, he said
something that was more understanding then that whole ‘work under me stuff’:
“To earn more money, the idea is to work smarter, not harder. Your money should be
working for you, not against you.”
Let me tell you a money lesson that I will never forget. It came from an unlikely source. It
didn’t come from reading The Rich Jerk millionaire e-book, or from reading any of Donald
Trump’s billionaire guides. And yet, I learned this lesson before I brought a copy of Robert
Kiyosaki’s book, Rich Door, Poor Dad. The surprising lesson came from a fellow
college student, who happened to be a member of an infamous company I‘ll call Strange
Inc. (cheesy name used to protect its privacy!)
Basically, I met this big, husky guy, who I’ll name as Club M (I can’t remember his real
name anyway). In 1997, I went to a university cafeteria to watch the Chicago Bulls defend
their fifth NBA title against the Utah Jazz.
Club M was sitting across a table from me. I believe he shook his head in a friendly hello.
During the game, he kept making jokes and comments about the basketball game. Then
he slowly started to make some small talk about some business he had. My take in all this
was that this guy wanted something from me. When the game went into intermission, he
finally asked, “Would you like to hear more about my business?”
Being a reader of Zen, I had a “be open to possibilities” mindset. So I invited Club M to sit
next to me, and he got into his business pitch about Strange Inc. All I can
remember was that if I choose to be partners with him, I would be working under him,
selling generic products, such as energy bars, vitamins, to anyone. Then I would
have to recruit someone to work under me, and then that person who have to find
someone else to work under them, so on and so on. That’s how I could make money.
He gave me his email and business card incase I wanted to join him in
his venture. I called him about a month later after that weird meeting.
During that summer, I was broke. I had a full time job, but it wasn’t producing enough
cash, and I was just getting by. So I emailed Club M. We met at the same dormitory,
except this time inside a huge study room. He went over how Strange Inc. worked again,
because I was still confused about that whole process. But then, during his talk, he said
something that was more understanding then that whole ‘work under me stuff’:
“To earn more money, the idea is to work smarter, not harder. Your money should be
working for you, not against you.”
“Holy, Cow!!!” I thought to myself! It was almost orgasmic to hear this!
I currently work for a university as a lab manager for an Internet department, where I assist in providing online
courses to students around the globe. And my money works for me by contributing monthly to a 403 (b) plan,
investing in a portfolio of stocks, bonds and cash.
In a nutshell, I never joined with Club M back then, but today I’m grateful for his advice!
Copyright 2006 TrueMoneyStory.Com. All rights reserved. As Author I do not grant permission to copy or use this
article for any distribution or website. There are no reprint rights to this article.
I currently work for a university as a lab manager for an Internet department, where I assist in providing online
courses to students around the globe. And my money works for me by contributing monthly to a 403 (b) plan,
investing in a portfolio of stocks, bonds and cash.
In a nutshell, I never joined with Club M back then, but today I’m grateful for his advice!
Copyright 2006 TrueMoneyStory.Com. All rights reserved. As Author I do not grant permission to copy or use this
article for any distribution or website. There are no reprint rights to this article.
