There was a business man who was struggling to stay afloat. He was sinking into depression and almost ready to file for bankruptcy. One day he takes a long walk to clear his head. An older man passing by sees his expression and asks, “what’s the matter?” He explains his situation and the man listens intently. He then reaches into his pocket, takes out an envelope and hands it to the business man, saying “meet me here in one year.” The man goes home, opens the envelope and finds a check for half a million dollars. He looks down at the signature and it’s signed by John D. Rockefeller. He was known around town for being generous to strangers. The business man is elated and suddenly has the motivation to push forward. He tells himself that he’s going to put the check in a deposit box first as an insurance policy, then work harder than ever on his business. In the next couple months, he hustles so hard that he gets his business back on its feet and it starts to make profit again. A year approaches and his business is booming. He’s excited to visit the man again to tell him what happened. He still has the check and wants to return it and thank him. He arrives at the same place where they met a year before. No one is in sight, so he waits there patiently. An hour passes and a woman approaches. She says, “have you seen an older man walking around here? He often walks out of the mental health institution not far from here. He thinks he’s John Rockefeller.”

I love the story. I rewrote it in my own words after hearing it, just so I could take note of it. Beliefs hold power. Sometimes they’re not tangible or provable, but they can have tremendous effects on one’s reality. Whether it’s true or not doesn’t always have to come into play. The fact that one has it, can create new behaviors like discipline, focus, and determination. It can open up an abundance of possibilities, more so than if you didn’t have it.

JC