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DR JOHN DEMARTINI - Updated 2 months ago

I love to tell the story of an experience I had when I was 14 that for me beautifully demonstrates the ripple effect that one moment in an individual’s life can have on another individual.

I was hitchhiking from Houston, Texas to Los Angeles with a small duffle bag and my surfboard and arrived en-route in El Paso, Texas. 

At this time, El Paso was largely made up of cowboys and cowgirls who weren’t overly fond of surfers, especially a long-haired hippie who stood out like a sore thumb.

I was walking through town, when I was confronted by three cowboys around the age of 20, who looked like they were going to beat me up. I didn’t know what to do, so I began to growl, bark and act like a wild dog, which actually worked and made them all back off. 

I didn’t realize it in the moment, but there was a gentleman leaning against a lamppost who witnessed what had just happened. 

He approached me and stated; “Sonny,” he said, “that is the funniest dang thing I've ever seen
somebody do. You took care of them cowpokes like a pro. Can I buy you a cup of coffee?” 

I told him that I didn’t drink coffee but that I would appreciate a Coca-Cola, so he took me to a malt shop, a couple of streets down where we sat on swivel stools and began talking.

Quite soon into the conversation, he asked me if I was a runaway. I responded that my parents had given me a ride to the freeway so that I could hitchhike to California to go surfing. We chatted for a while further, and then he told me that he had something to teach me and asked me to walk with him.

I was a little hesitant as it’s not every day that a 60+-year-old gentleman takes an interest in a 14-year-old surfer and offers to teach them something. 

We ended up walking a few blocks down the road and into the downtime El Paso library. This gentleman (I still didn’t know who he was) sat me down before going to some of the bookshelves to find some particular books he was looking for.

When he returned, he placed two books on the table in front of me. “Sonny,” he said, “there are two things I would love to teach you. You have to promise me that you will never forget what I am about to tell you. Yes sir I stated. Number one, is do not judge a book by its cover because the cover can fool you. 

You might look at me and perceive that I am some old bum who lives on the street, but I am one of the wealthiest men in the world. I have everything that money can buy – planes, businesses, homes, and companies, so don’t let a cover fool you.”

He then took my hand and placed it on top of the two books he had found in the bookshelves – one by Plato and the other by Aristotle. “Young man”, he said, “there are only two things that people can never take away from you in your life. They can never take away your love and they can never take away your wisdom. 

They can take away your possessions, friends, family, and everything else you have, but they can never take away your love and wisdom. So, lesson Number two is to gain the wisdom of love and the love of wisdom. Learn how to read.”

He made me promise him that I would never forget those two lessons, put the books back on the shelf, and showed me which direction to take to hitchhike on to California. 

I later found out that his name was Howard Hughes, an extremely successful businessman who was busy finalizing an El Paso natural gas deal for a brewery he was building in Austin. 

I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and met the right individual who said the right thing. My life changed that day without my realizing it at the time. 

I actually have cufflinks today that say “Love” and “Wisdom”, because of that man's ripple effect on my life. It’s also how I sign-off on all of my emails. Instead of saying “kind regards” or something similar, I say “Love and Wisdom”.

You may not fully realize that chance experiences such as this can have a massive impact.

I doubt if Howard Hughes ever knew what happened to me and how that chance encounter would change my life. 

A similar experience happened a few years later when I met a man by the name of Paul Bragg, another individual who said something that changed the trajectory of my whole life.

I am certain that the ripple effect of your life might be greater than you imagine. 

My life today is largely the result of meeting Howard Hughes on a street at 14, and Paul Bragg at the age of 17.

It is wise to pay close attention to the impact you may have on a day-to-day basis.

You may perceive that you can only make an impact by doing something on a massive scale, but that’s not always the case. You can make a massive difference by raising a child. 

You could make a massive difference by supporting local owner-managed stores in your area. 

You could make a massive difference by giving someone a sandwich when they have nothing to eat. You can make a massive difference by saying something that changes another individual’s life like Howard Hughes changed mine.

You might be reaching millions of people without even knowing it. You might be changing the decisions about what people decide to do in their life. You may be the catalyst for someone’s career choice, who they end up marrying, or why they decide to do the work to master their destiny instead of remaining a victim of their history.

Action Step:

An exercise I like to share, and one that I encourage you to do, is to write down the ripple effects that you have in your life. 

Look at all seven areas of your life - your spiritual quest, mind-development quest, career quest, financial quest, family quest, social quest, and health quest – so you can begin to perceive the impact that you have.

1. Make a list of everything you might do in a day,  week or month. Itemize everything that you do and identify the impact it has on the people and world around you.
    
2. Creatively brainstorm the impact that you've had by your very presence, the people you've touched, the things you've learned, the places you've gone, the things you've said, and the things you've done. Meditate on the impact that each of those things may have in your life and on the lives of people around you.
    
3. It is wise to keep going until you get tears in your eyes about the impact of your very presence.
    

It may blow your mind when you discover that what you do may be far more significant than first meets the eye. 

You may realize that you’ve been minimizing yourself. 

As I often say, when you value yourself, so does the world. 

When you minimize yourself, so does the world. 

Taking the time to do this exercise might reveal that the ripple effect of your life is greater than you imagined. 

It is wise to look at all seven areas of your life and not stop until your mind is open-hearted and you are blown away by the impact you’re making. 

The moment you value yourself and realize you're making a bigger difference than you have previously perceived, the WAY that you perceive yourself relative to the world changes. 

It doesn't get arrogant; it instead becomes more confident. It doesn't exaggerate itself; it is instead balanced by looking at the facts. 

This is not about imagining scenarios and delusions, but instead about opening your heart so you can truly see the authentic impact you have and the resulting ripple effects.

I teach a program called the Breakthrough Experience that I’ve been doing for about 34 years now. I've had thousands of letters come in from that program outlining the impact those two days have had on them, their family, their loved ones, and sometimes even the next generation. 

As Margaret Mead said, never underestimate the significance of a small group of individuals with an idea that could change the course of history.

The Impact of What You Value Most

In the Breakthrough Experience, and almost every program I run, I talk about values. 

Regardless of age, spectrum of gender, or culture, every human being lives moment by moment by a unique set of values or priorities - things that are most to least important in their lives.

These intrinsic highest values are fingerprint specific to each individual, and no two human beings have the same exact values.

Your highest values are where you're most likely to excel. Every time you live congruently with those highest values, and prioritize your life accordingly, you will tend to have the biggest impact on the world. This is largely because your highest values are where you are the most authentic, and living an authentic life inspires and gives other people permission to do so. It’s unstoppable and the ripple effect is incremental.

It is wise to give yourself permission to have an impact on the world by not playing small.

It’s one of the reasons why I teach the Breakthrough Experience most every week - to catalyze people to open the doorway to a possibility in their life they may never have given themselves permission to do. I want them to know that if they live congruently according to their highest values:

1.     Their space and time horizons have a higher probability of growing.

2.     The clarity of vision will expand

3.     The executive function of their brain will come online. 

4.     They will awaken and expand their leadership, resilience and adaptability. 

5.     Their authenticity, strategic planning, and foresight will come online.

All this will give them a competitive advantage and competitive edge over people who are not aware of the ripple effect and are not learning how important it is to be authentic. 

The most authentic you is the most impacting and most rippling-affected individual you can be. 

People tend to want to connect with authentic people whether in business or personal relationships.

You’re not being authentic when you exaggerate yourself relative to others and look down on them, or minimize yourself relative to others and look up to them. In both instances, you will tend to minimize your ripple effect. 

It’s yet another reason why I teach the Breakthrough Experience, to help people become more authentic, help them dissolve distractions, self-minimizations and exaggerations, and instead learn to put people in their hearts so they are free to live an extraordinary life that has a ripple effect on others. 

To Sum Up:

1. The ripple effect of your life might be greater than you imagine.
    
2. It is wise to pay close attention to the impact you may have on a day-to-day basis.
    
3. Documenting the ripple effect you have on the world may help you become conscious of ways you may have been minimizing yourself. 
    
4. The moment you value yourself and realize you're making a bigger difference than you have previously perceived, the WAY that you perceive yourself relative to the world changes. 
    
5. In one of my programs, the Breakthrough Experience, and almost every program I run, I talk about the importance of an individual’s intrinsic highest values. Identifying your highest values and living congruently with them can be a game changer. (Click here to complete the online Value Determination Process).
    
6. It is wise to give yourself permission to have an impact on the world by not playing small.
    
7. The most authentic you is the most impacting and most ripple-affected individual. 
    
8. You make a difference in the world. Let me help you recognize that and expand that by joining me for the next Breakthrough Experience program.

Are you ready for the NEXT STEP?

If you’re seriously committed to your own growth, if you’re ready to make a change now and you’d love some help doing so, then book a FREE Discovery call with a member of the Demartini Team so we can take you through your mini power assessment session.

You’ll come away with a 3-step action plan and the foundation to empower your life.

 

Book Your TICKET for Dr Demartini's Breakthrough Experience

If you’re ready to go inwards and do the work that will clear your blockages, clarify your vision and balance your mind, then you’ve found the perfect place to start with Dr Demartini at the Breakthrough Experience.

In 2 days you’ll learn how to solve any issue you are facing, transform any emotion and reset the course of your life for greater achievement and fulfillment.

You’ll unlock your true potential and lay the groundwork to empower all 7 areas of your life.

Get ready to take your life to a whole new level of meaning and purpose.

Today is the day you step into your power and value yourself by investing in your inspired life when you sign up for Dr Demartini’s signature seminar the Breakthrough Experience:

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