It all started with Lisa yelling out, “I’M GOING!!!” And then she added, “Oh, and you can come, too, if you want”
In January of 2007, at Jared Gomez’s recommendation, Lisa and I watched the movie, “The Secret”. We both thought it was OK and had some interesting things to say, although for me it was a bit over-the-top and sensationalized, and it didn’t inspire me to make any changes in the way I lived. But there was one part of the movie that really resonated with Lisa, and that was when Michael Beckwith was on. She liked the way he presented himself and the things he had to say; she really liked his message. So after watching the movie, Lisa got on the internet and started searching for any information she could about Michael Beckwith. That’s when she came across an advertisement for a cruise that Bob Proctor was hosting that included Michael Beckwith as a guest host and teacher. She was determined to be there! And since I like cruises (they’re fun and very relaxing), I told her I would go, too. And even if I had decided not to go, Lisa would have gone on that cruise without me! That’s one of the things I really like about her.
One of the concerns that Lisa had about my going was the fact that I was right in the middle of school for my MBA. She didn’t want me to overload myself with stuff, so she was a bit cautious about my going. But I told her that it was the right thing to do.
The cruise was scheduled for October but we had to reserve and pay for it right then. I don’t recall the exact amount of the cruise, but it was somewhere in the $4,500 to $5,000 range. We didn’t have the money budgeted, but it felt like the right thing to do, so we paid for the cruise on our credit card and modified our budget to pay off the credit card within a few months.
On the first day of the cruise, we were standing in line to get on the ship when we met another couple who were also from West Jordan, UT. We got to talking and found that we had some things in common, other than just being from West Jordan. As we got on the ship, we found that our room was quite a ways away from the room that this other couple had, so we parted ways and said, “see ya on the cruise!”. We never did see them on the cruise. In fact we didn’t see them again until we disembarked from the cruise a week later!
Since Bob Proctor had arranged and contracted for the entire ship, everyone on board was of a similar mindset; that of positive thinking, self-improvement, motivation, spirituality, “Think and Grow Rich”, and the like. The casino on the ship was practically empty during the entire cruise, they sold very little alcohol and the guest talent show was amazing! It was very different from the other cruise that Lisa and I had been on; a very different vibe. It was good!
Each evening, Bob Proctor’s minions would enter our room and leave a small gift and an announcement for the next day’s events. On one of those evenings, the small gift was a black and gold poker chip with the SGR logo in gold print. Along with this little token was an announcement for a meeting the next morning where Bob’s people would introduce the attendees to this new club that Bob was starting; the “SGR Club”. I was very intrigued by the artistic quality of the poker chip and the name “SGR Club” just felt like something I wanted to learn about.
So the next morning, I went to the SGR Club meeting and Lisa went to another meeting. SGR stands for “The Science of Getting Rich”, which is a book written by Wallace D. Wattles and published in 1911. It’s the book that inspired Rhonda Byrne to make the movie, “The Secret” (the book is much, much better than the movie, by the way. The movie leaves a lot of stuff out and doesn’t really do the book justice). During the SGR Club meeting, I was absolutely enthralled with what was being shared and I knew right then and there that it was something I would be involved in. At the end of the meeting, when they asked for volunteers to be “Certified City Leaders” of the SGR Club, I jumped at the chance. I walked up to the front of the room and told Bob’s people that I wanted to be the Certified City Leader for Salt Lake City, UT. They put my name on the list and told me to be in Scottsdale, AZ at the end of October for a three-day training session.
Just before the meeting was over, Lisa had snuck into the room and was standing in the back. She saw me head to the front to talk with Bob’s people so she made her way up there, too. I told her what I was doing and she cautioned me again not to take on too much while I was in the middle of getting my MBA. I assured her it was the right thing to do and that it would all work out.
After the cruise was over and we were back in West Jordan, I made the arrangements to be in Scottsdale, AZ for the training. I had to pay for the entire thing out of my own pocket; no freebies. And just like the cruise, we were able to pay for the training by modifying our budget.
The training was great and I felt very good about the entire SGR Club concept and my involvement in it. I was nervous and a bit bewildered by it all, but I knew I was doing the right thing; so I persisted. On the last day of the training, we were all asked when we were going to hold our first SGR Club meeting in our respective cities. A guy next to me, when it was his turn to commit to a date, said, “January 10th, 2008!” That was just a little over two months away; and when it was my turn to commit, I nervously but determinedly echoed the date he had chosen. And so it was. Let the preparations begin!
I’m not going to go into all the details of the people I met and the places we held the Salt Lake SGR Club meetings in this brief history; suffice it to say that the entire time I was doing the Salt Lake SGR Club, it was a life-changing journey that never would have happened had I not jumped in with both feet and with a complete and total commitment. The couple from the cruise were also completely committed to it and helped tremendously to launch and support this endeavor; without their help and support, it wouldn’t have been what it was. And all of the people I met along the way were amazing and wonderful! I’m grateful for all of them.
The Salt Lake SGR Club met from January 10, 2008 through November 19, 2009. During that last meeting in November, I told the members that we were going to take the Holidays off and then reconvene on January 7, 2010. I also told them that on Monday, January 4, 2010, I would send out an email with the time, place and suggested topic for our first meeting of the new year.
On Monday, January 4, 2010, I sat down at my computer and started to compose the email that I had promised to send. And as I sat there, contemplating what I was going to say, the feeling came to me that I interpreted as this, “No; it’s over.”
I was not expecting that.
The feeling that it was over felt just as right to me as the feeling I had when I agreed to go on the cruise with Lisa and the feeling I had when I first looked at that black and gold poker chip. When it’s the right thing to do, nervous, or apprehensive, or not, you act on it; no questions, just do it.
So the email that I composed was a very different email than what I had planned to send.
The Salt Lake SGR Club ended the same way it started, as a total surprise.
The reason this is all coming back into my mind now, 10 years after the first Salt Lake SGR Club meeting, is that my SkyCor.net website was recently hacked and virtually destroyed. As a result of that destruction, I’ve had to rebuild my website and I decided to selectively restore some of the content from my original website and the old Salt Lake SGR Club website. This has given me the opportunity to re-read some of the posts that were on my original Salt Lake SGR Club website.
It has been quite a trip down memory lane for me. I am still extremely grateful for those two years and all the people I met along the way. It continues to be a shining series of events in my life and a profound experience. The people I met there have been a great blessing to me in my life.
Thank you, Lisa, for being determined to go on the cruise and for saying that I could come, too!
