« | Home | »

One of the Most Amazing, Heartwarming Stories I’ve Ever Heard

By Jim Gillespie | June 7, 2011

There’s a story I’ll share with you at the end of this article, and it’s one of the most amazing, heartwarming stories I’ve ever heard. This story actually reminded me of something that happened when I was in fourth grade, and I’m going to share that story of my own personal experience with you first.

When I was in fourth grade, there was a boy named Andy in my class who by today’s standards would probably be called a nerd. He spoke in a nasal voice, he wore glasses, he walked funny, he didn’t have any friends to play with at recess or at lunch, and during class he’d sit at his desk at the back of the classroom making little toy figures out of modeling clay. Andy was a strange boy, and I felt empathy towards him. I wondered what it must be like to be in his shoes, where his classmates thought he was strange and they didn’t want to be anywhere near him. However it was that Andy felt, I was pretty sure he didn’t feel very good whenever he was at school.

My birthday was coming up, and I decided I would invite Andy to my birthday party. I felt that somehow in doing so I could make him feel a little more included than I believed he was probably feeling at school. As soon as his parents read my invitation to the party, they called my parents immediately, as Andy’s parents were concerned that their son would only be teased and made fun of at my party, and my parents assured them that this wouldn’t be happening.

While he was at my party, Andy still acted strange, but he seemed to blend in with everyone much better than he had been doing at school, and I felt good about having invited him to my party.

Then several months later something interesting happened to me. Danny, a boy who had attended my birthday party, was having his own birthday party. Everyone I was friends with was talking about the party and looking forward to it, but Danny hadn’t invited me to the party. So I walked up to Danny and said, "I don’t understand. You and I are friends and you were at my own birthday party. So why aren’t you inviting me to yours?" Danny responded with, "You invited Andy to your birthday party, and I don’t want anyone at mine who would invite Andy to his own birthday party."

So right then and there, in fourth grade, I learned that sometimes when you do what you know is the right thing to do, you can end up feeling hurt. But even then, right in that moment, I knew that I had done the right thing. The feeling that came to me from trying to make Andy feel a little more included with all the rest of us, was more important to me than Danny not inviting me to his party.

In both life and in real estate, when you stick to your guns and do what you know within your heart and your gut is the right thing to do, you will be rewarded for it. You may not be rewarded for it immediately, but in the long run, you will be rewarded for it.

In terms of doing the right thing, one of the must successful brokers to ever work in our industry told me of the great relationships he’s solidified, while advising his clients to not initiate transactions he would have earned huge commissions from. His clients had never experienced this before with other brokers, and they realized that they now truly had a broker who cared about their own best interests, above the broker’s own best interests at all times.

In moving forward, the following story I’m going to now share with you is what reminded me about my experience with Andy in fourth grade. Dr. Wayne Dyer, in this six-minute video, shares a story about Shaya, a young boy with a learning disability, and his father’s anguish over seeing his son in this condition. But one day, while Shaya is interacting with a group of young boys, something quite amazing takes place that I’m sure both Shaya and his father will never, ever forget.

Click here to see the six-minute video.

___________________

If you’re interested in one-on-one coaching to take your commercial real estate brokerage business to the next level, click here to contact me.

"Through working with Jim Ive developed a system to locate a greater number of new prospects to work with in my area."

Walt Arnold
Sperry Van Ness

Click here to see more testimonials from my coaching clients.


Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »