Just Ask Alice

Michelle, Helping the Goal Out

http://www.fnchiropractic.com/





Approximately eight years ago, I had to re-up my goals. I have this prayer/goal journal and I realized that most of what I had in it was either outdated and my orientation shifted or I had accomplished what I set out to do. I have to admit that, as of now, I have not kept up with the journal. But I do have goals set in my head. The latest accomplishment has been to bank on this goofy housing market.


(By the way, we keep hearing about how bad things are today in the economy. One thing I don't understand is that things are soooo bad; but why are these abandoned houses off the market with a good buyer in such a short period of time if things are so awful? Corrections are being made by the people and this ain't being covered by your mass media.)

When I revamped my goal settings, I had to decide on personal items/things to procure/conquer and added a twist which I hadn't given much thought before. The twist was simple: Meet people. Meeting people can be intimidating for some. We live in a society today where many of us don't even know our neighbors. Tell you what, your representatives, athletes, movie stars, rockstars are all like you and me.

One guy I had on my list was Alice Cooper. I found out all this stuff about Alice when I moved to the valley. He is extremely charitable, likeable and full of energy. So I began my quest by frequenting his restaurant whenever I got the chance - lunches, dinners, before games. I asked about when he might show and came this close (fingers length) to calling him on his radio show. Just before I got to this breaking point, my girlfriend at the time, Michelle, told me about a book signing with Alice. I was there. I was the only guy dressed up for the occasion. Michelle joked about this and told about my "stalking" him and Alice laughed. He also let me know where his favorite seat is at Cooperstown. Cool.











The meeting people list is so easy. It takes a lot of watching stuff and taking things in to accomplish the goal. Just being observant. I already do this with my work so have some experience but it is so easy to just put your head under a rock as well. Experience can be generated by doing something as simple as going to the mall or sitting on a patio with expectancy in watching things happen. This doesn't cost much, is relaxing and therapeutic even. It brings to mind the Psalm or Proverb, "Be still and know that I am God". Not really sure when much of us are all that still anymore. Always something going on. Maybe missing something important, you know.

The first guy I met who I knew was different and I recorded his name in my journal was Mr. Potter. I was in Vegas at House of Blues in a forty minute line and had to pee. I got this idea and went up to the doorman, shook his hand and asked him, one muscle guy to another, if he would let me in when I got back from the restroom. He said we'll see.


I got back from depositing the golden stream and my friend, doorman Joe, politely refused my premature entrance. It was worth a shot.

I waited in line for about five minutes and saw this guy go up to the doorman. I kind of thought to myself that, "hey, he's doing the same thing I did". So I went to the front and the newbie is shelling out a few hundreds from a wad to the doorman. He was asking, "how much is it going to take?". I looked at Potter, then the doorman and back at Potter. "I'm with him." Mr. Potter looked at me and said he didn't know me. I put out my hand, introduced myself, we shook and I got his name. Now we know each other. About five hundreds later we were escorted past the rose colored velvet rope and down the stairs. If I ever work a door again, I'm doing it in Vegas. Way way way great!


My new friend, it turned out was extremely well known. Before I knew it, we had the red carpet treatment, women surrounding us and an open bar. When Potter went off somewhere in the club, I got to talk to his driver, Frank. Turned out that Mr. Potter was a billionaire and was in Vegas on a whim and a weekend just for kicks and to check on some property. Frank, the driver, was a pretty cool cat and went everywhere with Mr. Potter.


Near the end of our night together, I got to talk to Mr. Potter, one on one. I asked him how to do what he has done. He said he was often in the right place at the right time. That he had the good fortune of being lucky. He asked me some questions: city where I live, do I like my profession, and do I believe in debt making money. Well, he told me to get out of Tulsa should be one of my priorities. And then to learn managing of people and to not let debt scare me from making potential return of investment decisions. To act quickly and boldly. We decided to call it a night, I got Mr. Potter's number and made a new friend.

Getting out of Tulsa needed to be my greatest priority because the city/town lacks a population where chances are slim as far as overall opportunity to be in the right place at the right time to get to know the right people where good luck might rain. I took his advice and made sure to not forget. It took me about seven years to finally act on his advice. After I had built my house in Oklahoma, it was extremely difficult to consider leaving when my practice was in motion and there was nowhere else to go excepting starting again from scratch. But I finally did it. There are some regrets and I live with them. There are more plusses than minuses. Name that book: "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway" by Susan Jeffers.

That Vegas weekend I went with friends Fred and Kim. Fred's in restaurant management and Kim has real estate license but waits tables still. I kind of (well, not kind of) ditched them waiting in the forty minute line in order to have my all night meeting with Mr. Potter. I got to see Fred and Kim dance on the floor while I received VIP treatment. I didn't feel bad about ditching them because they just weren't watching.


The next night I ended up at Hard Rock and then at Caesar's. HR was okay and I saw some people I knew were celebs. I only knew this due to witnessing a couple posses. At Caesar's it was way cool. I saw a bunch of guys who looked fun and began chatting with them. It turned out that they were L.A. Dodgers out goofing around. I'm pretty sure it was during a short break in the season. Didn't know, didn't ask. The Dodgers are fun guys to hang out with. Funny thing I noticed in being around them was that they all had the expensive watch and nice/casual clothes but they were wary of sticking more than a nickel or quarter in a slot. When the spare change floating around in the pockets was gone, they were mostly about just hanging tight around the stage and that was actually pretty good to see. Just a bunch of guys like you and me cautious about their hard-earnings.



Wish I were more of a picture-taker sometimes. So it goes.