How can I reach people who seem out of reach?

This is one of the questions that I often get from my readers after they notice that one of the commonalities of my podcast guests is that they are all independently wealthy.

It’s a good question I asked my father also once while he was in prison when I struggled with a previous homework assignment he gave me which was;

Daniel, this week quest is to dine with a millionaire and get him to tell you how he build his empire.

I was duped when I received that test of his, he knew well that me & my mom and I lived in the projects and that I didn’t know any millionaires personally.

A week passed, and I wrote another letter to him in which I complained about the impossibility of his quest. He responded with a teaching tale that opened my eyes to the possibility that courage paired with creativity can connect even a street kid like me to someone who would be normally out of reach.

Son, I received your letter of complaint, please remember that when you point your blaming finger towards someone, that 4 fingers point back at you. Be blameless. Always. Let me however give you a clue on how to get started with your quest. Many years ago, when I was living without a passport in the netherlands, I was frustrated with the people I worked with. I was a bookmaker at the time, and some of my clients were from the under-world and they often did not pay me because they knew that I was vulnerable and they knew they could get away with it. I couldn’t go the normal route to just work for big firms because of me being a ghost, so I had to find a different way to connect with great clients. The idea that I came up was simple, I would get up in the morning, put on my finest suite, my good watch and borrow the Mercedes of one of the associates I worked with to drive to the highway. There, I would park my car on the sidelane, and pretend that I would have a problem with my engine. Netherlands is a great country and people help each other there, so people would stop to offer me a ride. I however, waved off everybody who wasn’t driving an luxurious car and eventually got in with someone who even had a driver! When I got in, I chit chatted with him and our chemistry was so great that he gave me his card and by the end of the ride so that we could meet again for a coffee. I got out of the car, walked by foot back to the car I borrowed on the highway for an hour and did the same thing again until the next wealthy person would pick me up. It took me 2 weeks until I found someone who had some problems with his taxes where I offered him to have a look at his books for free and that way I landed the biggest deal of my life up to that point. I want you to think about this story, and write me again once you solved this quest of dining with a millionaire. I believe in you. Your father Elias

Receiving this letter, was like being hit by lightning, I suddenly realized that I didn’t need to look for wealthy people, but I needed to look for symptoms of wealth that allowed me to infer someone’s net worth.

I made a wanted poster in my home and wrote down the possessions and traits of a rich man to map out my plan.

I wrote down everything from big houses to fancy watches up to big companies and then I realized that I actually knew someone who might be a millionaire.

I was a basketball player at one of the biggest clubs in my city and I knew that there were 50+ sports divisions and that it was owned by the person who was the head coach of the man’s team in which my brother played.

The next time my brother played, I sat in the first row but I didn’t leave early like I usually would, I would go out and take my butterfly knife and ruin my bike tire and once everybody was gone, the coach of my brother came out and saw that I tried to fix my tire and offered me a ride.

During that ride, I told him how grateful I was for giving my brother so much playing time and how good it was for my family that he was off the streets and shared that I had the dream of becoming successful enough one day to provide opportunities like that to others and asked if he had work for me that would allow me to learn from him, free of charge of course.

He smiled, knowing that I set him up, and the next day my brother informed me that I had a new job as equipment manager and that I was allowed to travel with the team to Switzerland for a training camp.

That trip, still to this day, was one of the most transformative experiences of my life, I ate with the coach and the team every day and I didn’t just win a millionaire mentor but was embraced by the men’s team and suddenly had 12 new big brothers who taught me not only how to play basketball but also how to get girls, fight and how to walk like a winner.

I even learned how to ski, even though it took me longer than everybody else and I nearly died many times during the first week.

Anyway, that's it from me.

Best

D.K

PS - as usual, I attached a homework assignment below.

Homework Assignment: The Hitchhiker Technique

In today's homework exercise, you´ll teach yourself how to reach someone, who feels unreachable to you right now by utilizing the Hitchiker Technique.

The Hitchhiker is a persuasion technique that helps you discover your ideal target persona and takes you on a journey to make a purposeful connection with the best people in the world. Regardless of whether you are looking for a customer, a co-founder, or even a life partner, this exercise will be your Socratic sparring partner that will assist you in the discovery of your ultra leader.

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