---
feed: "DANIEL_ON_SLOPE"
codex_section: "S18"
source: VideoTranscript
title: "MENtrepreneurs Level One Series - Chapter02.05"
conv_id: "video-chapter02.05-2010"
share_url: "https://www.youtube.com/@MENtrepreneurs"
created: "2010-07"
message_count: 1
category:
  - "MENtrepreneurs"
  - "Level One Series"
  - "Chapter 02.05"
  - "Change Thinking"
  - "Mentors"
summary: "Daniel Comp delivers a rich, mentor-filled session on 'Change Thinking' using real-life recording disruptions (wind, trains, neighbors asking for jumper cables) as a living metaphor for handling unexpected change without blowing up. He reviews the journey so far and draws wisdom from multiple mentors: Les Brown on lifelong learning and not letting labels or the past define you, Wayne Dyer on the shift from ambition to meaning, Tony Robbins on the six human needs and the power of contribution, Jack Canfield on finding and working with mentors, Zig Ziglar on gratitude and changing from fault-finder to good-finder, Napoleon Hill on the mastermind principle, Tom Hopkins on mental psych-up and attitude, Chuck Swindoll on taking charge of your mind, and a powerful closing sermon on how God uses imperfect people. The core message is that personal transformation requires drawing from multiple mentors, becoming available to a higher purpose, and shifting your mindset so that 'if there's no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.'"
keypoints:
  - "Real-life disruptions are not excuses — they are opportunities to demonstrate that transformation means responding to change without losing your center"
  - "Les Brown teaches that the past is not a predictor of your future and that labels (like 'educational middle retarded') do not define who you can become"
  - "Wayne Dyer explains the critical shift from ambition (external success metrics) to meaning (inner guidance and contribution) that happens in the 'afternoon of life'"
  - "Tony Robbins' six human needs (certainty, variety, significance, love/connection, growth, contribution) show that fulfillment comes from growth and contribution beyond yourself"
  - "Zig Ziglar demonstrates the power of gratitude and daily 'I love my job' affirmations to change from fault-finder to good-finder and transform attitude"
  - "Napoleon Hill's mastermind principle and Jack Canfield's mentoring advice emphasize that you cannot succeed alone — you must draw wisdom from others who have gone before you"
  - "The closing sermon reminds us that God uses imperfect, wounded people (Noah drunk, Abraham old, Rahab prostitute, etc.) and that the key is becoming available and saying 'yes' to a higher purpose"
tags:
  - "mentrepreneurs"
  - "chapter-02-05"
  - "change-thinking"
  - "les-brown"
  - "wayne-dyer"
  - "tony-robbins"
  - "zig-ziglar"
  - "mastermind"
  - "gratitude"
monomyth_stage: "11 - Resurrection"
gameboard_position: "Camp 8: Resurrection"
truth_score: 95
entropy_score: "Low"
tone:
  sentiment: "Mentorship"
  emotions:
    - "Practical"
    - "Inspirational"
    - "Transparent"
  sycophancy_level: "None"
  notes: "Daniel uses real-time disruptions during recording as a transparent teaching moment about handling change. This session is a curated masterclass drawing from multiple world-class mentors. The tone is humble, practical, and deeply encouraging. The powerful closing sermon on imperfect people being used by God is especially moving. No AI avatars; pure founder curation and commentary."
related_events: ["video-chapter02.01-2010", "video-chapter02.02-2010", "video-chapter02.03-2010", "video-chapter02.04-2010"]
syndication_status:
  arnie: false
  chris: false
  redmond: false
  clint: false
  pilot: false
ma5_inheritance: "Initium"
pre_silicon: false
voice_print: false
codex_candidate: true
phase: "Chapter 02 - Personal Transformation: Change Thinking & Multiple Mentors"
enriched_date: "2026-04-19"
---
![[MENtrepreneurs Level One Series - Chapter02.05.png]]

### Original YouTube Description

[No separate description provided in source file. This is Session 5 of Chapter 2 — "Change Thinking" — featuring teachings from Les Brown, Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Zig Ziglar, Napoleon Hill, Tom Hopkins, Chuck Swindoll, and others on mindset shifts, gratitude, mentoring, and becoming available to a higher purpose.]

---

### Cleaned Transcript

**(upbeat music)**

**Daniel:**  
Welcome back to The Enterprising Cycle, Chapter Two, and Part Five on **Change Thinking**.

Now, this is gonna be a bit funny because if it continues as it has been, my natural lighting source is the sun. And today is a gnarly, windy day in the gorge, and we have a ribbon of clouds between my studio and the sun. And for the last hour, it has been coming and going very frequently.

So I am really learning to deal with change as the conditions here in the set continually change. The neighbor comes asking for jumper cables, a train parks outside, and Idle's waiting for another one. So my plans for this morning are completely disrupted.

And that, in fact, is a pretty good personal testimony about where we're going on this personal Everest, if you will, about transformation.

See, the goal that I've had bridge on trying to build like a ladder across a crevasse is with my words explaining to you about how to monetize your passion, how to have sustainable enterprise that is prosperous. In other words, how to get paid for a long time to do what it is you love to do. Sounds pretty good, right?

Well, I'm actually doing that, and I want to help you to experience that. That's the point of the Enterprising Cycle.

It seems from my experience that the confidence to achieve any summit or a good goal lies in the fact that you trust your guide, your sherpa. And I want you to know that I am trying to do a couple of things simultaneously here.

I've been often told in my life that I'm the most transparent genius they've ever met. The true test of genius is whether one can explain complex things in simple terms. And I'm really struggling to try to digest decades of wisdom for you into an hour or so.

In this case, I'm using the Everest Expedition as an example. And I think it fits because one of the things that I'm trying to demonstrate is the fact that this is not scripted, this is not pre-planned. I am showing you that I am trusting in the process, that I'm giving this the time necessary in order for me to create the outcome I intend without having to force fit it together.

The distractions are not excuses for me. The setbacks are not reasons for me to blow up.

Now, you should know that I've slept on this overnight and come up with some ideas on how to stitch this material together. But this is also about the seventh take of the day. And for the last 15 minutes of doing this, the microphone's been switched on completely the wrong setting. So I'm picking up the ambience of the room.

Now I've got that all straightened out and I'm back again.

So giving yourself the time to acclimate is really, really important.

And let's go back down to base camp. You know, the three steps forward, two steps back, the climb high, sleep low. This process of personal transformation takes time. It also takes the right tools.

So let's go back down to base camp review for a second, some of the tools that we've got.

In Chapter One, I talked about small business is personal. And as Alex Zanardi showed us, that we should be prepared for change by having a really great attitude. We should also not defend our beliefs so strongly. We shouldn't be so convinced that we see things properly.

Paul Hegstrom says that we don't see things as they are. We see things as we are. You see, we interpret through all the filters of our experience and the conclusions, true or false, that we've come to, which even sabotage when we know the answer, as you've seen.

Now in Chapter Two, we went from awareness into transformation. We're talking about the process of this. And the scripture for me is to be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

You see, I remember that being really a frustration to me because I wanted to know how it was done. And it's taken decades to figure out my X factor, how personal transformation actually works.

It's through, as you've seen, brain plasticity. And you may have picked up that our being able, like with phantom limb, to mimic something is critical. And some of the new technology is gonna make that easier that we can actually see our brain at work during different emotions.

But for now, we've got centuries of men giving us the best they've got on how to get where we wanna go. And that's sort of what's happened with me. I've learned to mimic and follow the lead of mentors, to not go it alone, so to speak.

So we looked at Paul Hegstrom talking about how we get locked up, it's called Arrested Development. And that if we stay in that, we can mature chronologically, but we'll trigger, our emotions will come apart and we will self-destruct our business as I did for nearly a decade. Went from virtually retired to divorced, bankrupt, and now working to rebuild my family relationships and trust and respect and all of that.

So as Angelina has said, I have learned from my mistakes and I am in this process hoping to be clear and bridge, if you will, that chasm between us so that you will follow, join us on an expedition, if you will.

All right, so let me now talk about some of the mentors that I've had in my life.

I learned from **Les Brown** to be a lifelong learner. I also learned that our labels are not who we are and the past is not a decent predictor of our potential. Listen to Les Brown's story.

**[Les Brown clip]**

**Les Brown:**  
How many of you know if you had your life to live over again, you could have done more than what you've done thus far? Raise your hands, please.

Now that proves the point of what we do and what we accomplish in life is only a tip of the iceberg of what's possible for us.

So I want you to think about three goals this morning. I want you to think about some personal goal that you'd like to achieve. What does that look like?

My first personal goal was to buy my mother a home. Mrs. Mamie Brown... I was born in a poor section of Miami, Florida called Liberty City, an abandoned building on a floor with a twin brother and when we were six weeks of age, we were adopted by Mrs. Mamie Brown.

I saw a sign once that said God took me out of my biological mother's womb and put me in the heart of my adopted mother.

Mama was a domestic worker on Miami Beach. We ate the food left over from the families that she cooked for... And as a little boy walking around those big, beautiful mansions on Miami Beach, I'd say, "Mama," she'd say, "What is it, boy?" "When I become a man, I'm gonna buy you a big, beautiful home just like this."

How many have somebody special in your life who's been a blessing to you that you'd like to do something for? Raise your hands, please?

I want you to think about that person right now.

And also, I want you to think about now your financial goal. How much money would you like to earn over the next year or beyond? That would be your financial freedom number.

And I don't want you to limit it and whatever that financial goal is that you have envisioned, come up with a number. I want you to see it in your minds. I have my favorite book says, I give you all your eyes can see. I want you to multiply that a hundred times.

Next thing is I want you to think about not only your personal goal, your financial goal, but your social contribution.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm clear. We live in the greatest country in the world that gives us an opportunity to live a life of contribution.

I've found that most people fail in life, not because they aim too high and miss. Most people fail in life because they're just like I was with 14 years. They aim too low and hit.

I remember seeing the late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale who wrote *The Power of Positive Thinking* and Robert Schuller who talked about possibility thinking and the number one motivational speaker on the planet, Zig Ziglar who wrote *See You at the Top*.

How many like to help people? Raise your hands please?

I love to help people and my heart would say, "I could do that." And then my mind would say after I would leave there going to my car, "Les Brown, you can't do that. You were labeled educational middle retarded when you were in the fifth grade, put back from the fifth grade to the fourth grade. Les Brown, you can't do that. You fail in the eighth grade. Les Brown, you can't do that. You don't have any college training. You never worked for any major corporation. Les Brown, you can't do that. You don't even know who your birth parents are."

How many ever thought about something you wanted to do and you talk yourself out of it? Raise your hands please if you understand what I'm talking about.

There's an old proverb that says, "If there's no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm."

And so as you think about your goals and dreams, I wanna share with you, the most important thing is, is doing what you're doing right now. And that is showing up, engaging in a process that will begin to retrain your thinking.

My favorite book says, "Be ye not conformed to this world, be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."

I want you to give yourselves a round of applause for showing up to seize the day to make a difference in your life.

**Daniel:**  
I really appreciate **Wayne Dyer**, particularly for a period of my life where I learned from him that I had a scarcity mentality. I grew up in a household that didn't see the world as abundant. Things just didn't grow on trees. They would say, well, I think in fact they do.

And once we have the intention and put in the effort that the things we deserve in life actually do come our way, it may take a lot of time getting there, but that was first learned through Wayne.

And what I recently understood from him that you'll see in this upcoming clip is about the transition from ambition in our youth to the meaning that we want as we mature. That's actually the process I'm going through, and here's Wayne to describe it.

**[Wayne Dyer clip]**

**Wayne Dyer:**  
I got a cut.

**Interviewer:**  
Wayne, hold there for a minute. Hold there, Wayne, for a second. What is it?

**Wayne Dyer:**  
It's a bad angle, I gotta be lower.

**Interviewer:**  
How long?

**Wayne Dyer:**  
Five minutes.

**Interviewer:**  
Wayne, take five, just hang there. We're readjusting the shot.

**Wayne Dyer:**  
Absolutely, no problem.

**Interviewer:**  
You want some water, Dr. Dyer?

**Wayne Dyer:**  
No, thanks, I have an ocean here.

(phone ringing)

**Interviewer:**  
Finish that test real quick.

**Wayne Dyer:**  
All right, all right.

**Interviewer:**  
Hi, you've reached the office of Alex Chase at ICM. Please leave a message for Alex or Jason at the tone, thanks.

**Caller:**  
Alex, it's David. Call me back when you get this. I'm getting a little antsy. I think we should have heard by now. What'd the executive say? Do you know anything? And why haven't I had a meeting yet? Call me back, I'd appreciate it.

**Interviewer:**  
Wayne Dyer, interviews day two.

**Wayne Dyer:**  
Okay, we'll start with the transition from ambition to meaning.

**Interviewer:**  
Great, it's a good idea. I can give you an example from my own life. Might be helpful.

When I first started writing, I was very blessed to be considered, quote, successful. My motivation very often became how much money was I gonna make on this book? What was my next contract gonna look like? How many weeks did it appear on the New York Times bestseller list? What position was it? Did you get on the Tonight Show? Did you get on the Donahue Show?

**Interviewer:**  
Hold on, I'm confused.

**Wayne Dyer:**  
Yeah?

**Interviewer:**  
Yeah, if you were success, who cares what was motivating you?

**Wayne Dyer:**  
Well, I guess you begin to change your definition of what it is that constitutes success. I mean, success can be identified in those terms, and there are other ways to look at it as well.

**Interviewer:**  
But there's people listening to you. I mean, where would you be if you didn't initiate it? I mean, it got you started, right?

**Wayne Dyer:**  
I'm sorry to interrupt. Are we switching to a Q&A format?

**Interviewer:**  
I'm just curious. Sorry.

**Wayne Dyer:**  
No, that's okay. It's a very normal question. It's a very common concern that people have.

For myself, we talked about my writing, David, and yes, by all means it was successful, but there was a part of me inside of me that said, there's something more for me. I was writing books about psychology, *Your Erroneous Zones*, *Pulling Your Own Strings*, *The Sky's the Limit*. All of them were doing well. All of them were bestsellers. But inside of me, I was shifting. There was a calling to something else, and I could see the shift taking place in my life.

And the shift was, it was more in the direction of spirituality, it was more in the direction of higher consciousness. I began to become excited and thrilled by reading people like Krishnamurti, by reading people like Muktananda.

And I remember going to my agent and I said, "I wanna write a book about how to take some of these great spiritual ideas." He said, "No, no, no, no, no. You're gonna write a book about sex." He said, "This is gonna sell. This is like Dr. Ruth's has got one, but you're way better than Dr. Ruth." And he's going on and on. And he said, "And then I've got a second book for you and we're gonna do a two book deal, and you're gonna write a book about how to make money. Wayne Dyer's approach to making money."

And I'd say, "Artie," I said, "I can't do that." I said, "I have to write about it." He said, "No, nobody's gonna buy this stuff." He said, "That's just for airy fairy stuff. That's out there, that's all that new agey stuff." He said, "You don't wanna..." I said, "But I have to write that. That's what I'm living. That's what I'm feeling. It's so exciting."

And I remember submitting the proposal to him and he said, "All right, I'll send it in." And they reluctantly, they didn't give me much in advance at all because they didn't even believe in it. But off I went. There was a strong inner kind of feeling that I had something greater to give. I had something that I had to do that was beyond just going through the motions, just doing what I had already mastered, what I knew how to do.

I remember when I made the shift, even though there was a little bit of fear, I remember feeling probably the freest that I'd felt ever in my life.

Basically, I think, David, what I'm trying to say to you is that you get to a place in your life where you start to be guided by something that's larger than yourself. Just stay aligned with what you're here for and stay in harmony with spirit, with God, with source. Stay there, and as you stay there, the meaning phase of your life begins to take over. And once you cross over into the afternoon of your life, it's impossible to go back.

**Daniel:**  
Monday, you can't keep telling me Monday. If it was coming through, it would come through like five Mondays ago.

**Interviewer:**  
Well, we can take a pause here for a second.

**Daniel:**  
You see, but in real life, as the train outside's blowing its horn, it simply produced frustration for years and years. See, hope deferred, something that you expect to have happen that doesn't happen, that makes the heart sick, Scripture says.

But in fact, what I was seeing is that it exposed a lot of hurt as anger.

**Interviewer:**  
Okay, time for a creative break.

**Daniel:**  
So, okay, here's my office. And these tractors are like forever, you know, just, it's pretty amazing today. And the wind is really gusting and really, really blowy, so you can hear it in the studio. It's blowing so hard.

How to deal with change.

Morning, honey.

**Angelina:**  
Morning, hi. I know we're both here. Look at this, this is cool.

**Daniel:**  
**Tony Robbins** has been sort of the king of NLP, that's neuro-linguistic programming. It's sort of the way that our emotions dictate our outcomes. And there are six factors that he talks about in this clip from TED, of which we'll just listen to the last couple of them.

I really appreciate his contribution to my life about distinction, about gaining an emotional vocabulary, and that distinction is power, he would say. Let's learn some things from Tony Robbins.

**[Tony Robbins TED clip]**

**Tony Robbins:**  
How much uncertainty, who knows what's gonna happen next? Kind of exciting, like climbing up into a cave and doing that stuff all the way down there. Total variety and uncertainty. And it's significant, isn't it?

Now these first four needs, every human finds a way to meet. Even if you lie to yourself, you need to have split personalities. But the last two needs, the first four needs are called the needs of the personality, is what I call it. The last two are the needs of the spirit. And this is where fulfillment comes.

You won't get fulfillment from the first four. You'll figure a way, smoke, drink, do whatever, meet the first four. But the last two, number five, you must grow. We all know the answer here. If you don't grow, you what?

If a relationship's not growing, if a business is not growing, if you're not growing, it doesn't matter how much money you have, how many friends you have, how many people love you, you feel like hell.

And the reason we grow, I believe, is so we have something to give of value. 'Cause the sixth need is to contribute beyond ourselves. 'Cause we all know, corny as it sounds, the secret of living's giving. We all know life's not about me, it's about we. This culture knows that, this room knows that. And it's exciting.

When you see Nicholas up here talking about his $100 computer, the most passionate, exciting thing is here's a genius, but he's got a calling now. You can feel the difference in him. And it's beautiful. And that calling can touch other people.

In my own life, my life was touched because when I was 11 years old, Thanksgiving, no money, no food, and we're not gonna starve, but my father was totally messed up, my mom was letting him know how bad he messed up. And somebody came to the door and delivered food.

My father made three decisions. I know what they were, briefly. His focus was, this is charity, what does it mean? I'm worthless, what do I gotta do? Leave my family, which he did.

The time when the most painful experience is a life. My three decisions gave me a different path. I said, focus on, there's food, what a concept.

Second, but this is what changed my life. This is what shaped me as a human being. Somebody's gift, I don't even know who it is. I thought, my father always said, no one gives a shit. And all of a sudden, somebody I don't know, they're not asking for anything, this is giving our family food, looking out for us. It made me believe this, what does it mean? That strangers care.

And what that made me decide is, strangers care about me and my family, I care about them. What am I gonna do? I'm gonna do something to make a difference.

So when I was 17, I went out one day on Thanksgiving, it was my target for years, having enough money to feed two families. The most fun thing I ever did in my life, the most moving.

Then next year I did four, and I didn't tell anybody what I was doing, next year eight. I wasn't doing it for brownie points, but after eight, I thought, shit, I could use some help.

[audience laughs]

So sure enough, I went out, and what did I do? I got my friends involved, and I grew companies, and I 11 companies, and I built a foundation.

Now 18 years later, I'm proud to tell you, last year we fed two million people in 35 countries through our foundation, all during the holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all the different countries around the world, it's been fantastic.

[audience applauds]

Thank you.

So I don't tell you not to brag, I tell you 'cause I'm proud of human beings, because they get excited to contribute once they've had the chance to experience it, and I'll talk about it.

So finally, and I'm about out of time, the target that shapes you, here's what's different about people, we have the same needs, but are you a certainty freak, is that what you value most, or uncertainty? This man here couldn't be a certainty freak if he climbed through those caves.

Are you driven by significance or love? We all need all six, but whatever your lead system is, tilts you in a different direction, and as you move in a direction, you have a destination or destiny.

**Daniel:**  
It's funny how you can get to know an author pretty well if you spend enough time with them, and over three trans-ams, I have spent many, many complete days with **Jack Canfield**.

Here's some tips on how to find a good mentor.

Every one of us needs someone who's gone down the path before us. Look out there in the world and see people that are already doing what you wanna do. Maybe they're ahead of you in life, they're a professional, and they're doing what you wanna do. Maybe they're your boss, maybe it's someone in another industry, but identify that person, and once you've identified them, call them or write them, and say, "Could I spend 10 minutes a week with you on the phone?"

Start with a small request, and what we've always found is that when you start with a small request, they'll let it expand if they enjoy spending time with you, but if you ask for an hour, it'll feel overwhelming to them.

And just tell them, you respect them, you admire them, and you'd like to learn from them, and if you do that, and you'll do the things that they tell you to do and report back to them, "You know you asked me to do this, and you told me to do that, and I did it," then they're gonna feel empowered that they're empowering you, and they're gonna wanna keep doing that, 'cause we love to help other people.

So don't be afraid to ask, reach out, reach out to the people you want, and if you get a no, ask someone else. Never give up on your dream to have the perfect mentor. There are a lot of people out there that can help you. It's not just one person.

So ask, ask, ask until you get what you want, and then also end by always thanking them. You can send them a little present, then introduce them to other people, maybe send them an article that will be interesting to them. Give value to them so that they'll be glad to give value back to you.

**Daniel:**  
**Zig Ziglar** is a master at apologetics. The ability to explain wisdom on how it applies to our life.

Here's Zig Ziglar.

**[Zig Ziglar clip]**

**Zig Ziglar:**  
Number of years ago, Laurie Majors, my executive assistant, got a phone call from a lady in Birmingham, Alabama. At the end of the conversation, she said, "Zig," she said, "I believe this woman thinks she's got an impossible problem, but I believe you can solve that problem with her in just a few minutes if you will spend that time with her."

I said, "Well, Laurie, tell her to meet me backstage. I'll get there about 10 minutes early." My schedule was such that it was about all I had.

Well, I got there, and I was on backstage behind the curtain on one side. She spotted me from the other side, and as she walked across the stage, I had never seen as much anger in a human being in my life as I saw in her. She almost started crying when she saw me.

She said, "Oh, I'm just so glad to see you. I got this horrible job. I hate it, I hate everything about it. I hate everybody down there." I mean, you talking about negative nails, she was it.

She said, "Can you help me?"

Now understand, I've only got about 10 minutes.

So I looked at her, and one thing I have learned, I don't do counseling, but I talk with a lot of people who do in psychology, psychiatry, and the ministry. And they tell me that everybody who comes to you with a problem are not necessarily looking for a solution.

I couldn't understand that for a long time. Why do they bring you a problem if they don't want to solve it?

Well, I can tell you why. They want to tell you about it, you about it, you about it, you about it, and you about it, and if you foul up the deal and solve the problem, they can't tell you again, you again. They want the attention that goes with the problem, and every company just about it has that kind of an individual. They want the attention that goes with griping and complaining.

Well, I looked at the lady, and it wasn't unkindly, but firmly I said to her, "Yes, and you know, ma'am, I'm afraid your problem is about to get worse."

She said, "What do you mean?"

I said, "I believe they're going to fire you."

She was stunned. I couldn't have stunned her more if I'd hit her in the face with a bucket of ice water.

She said, "Fire me? Why on earth would they fire me?" The inflection in her voice clearly said, "They're the bad guys. I'm the good guy. Why don't they fire them and keep me?"

Have you ever noticed that people who are the problem never recognize that they are? They're in complete denial. They think denial is just a river in Egypt.

Why would they fire me?

I said, "Ma'am, I don't believe there's a company in America big enough to contain this much poison in one small spot."

Have you ever noticed that when somebody is about to lose something they've been complaining about, whether it's a car, a home, a mate, a job or whatever, when all of a sudden it appears they're going to lose them, it takes on brand new value.

She looked at me and said, "Well, what can I do?"

I said, "Do you really want to know?"

She said, "Yes, I do. That's the reason I came to see you. I came looking for help, but you sure haven't been any help so far."

I said, "Well, ma'am, I've got an idea, and I will absolutely guarantee you it positively, definitely, absolutely will work if you will just do it."

She said, "I'll try anything within reason."

I said, "Okay, when you get home tonight, all of your household tasks are complete. It's bedtime. Get off in a room right by yourself. Get a sheet of paper out, and at the top of it, write, 'I like my job,'" because she interrupted me.

She said, "That'll be easy. I don't like nothing about that job. Don't like nothing about those people down there."

And I said, "Well, just as a matter of curiosity, do you work there for benevolent reasons, or do they pay you for working there?"

She said, "Well, I gotta confess, they pay me."

And I said, "And you don't like to be paid?"

Oh, she said, "Yes, I do."

I said, "Okay, tell you what you do. Open your notebook right now. We'll start our list of the things you like about your job. They pay you for working there, and you do like it, don't you?"

She said, "Absolutely."

But she just stood there.

I said, "No, open your notebook now, and we'll get busy on the list."

She just stood there.

I said, "Ma'am, let me tell you what my experience in life has been. I've discovered that in 100% of the cases, no exceptions, people who won't take step number one never take step number two."

You see, she had come to me with an impossible dream. Her dream was that nice Mr. Ziglar was gonna solve all of her problems, and she would live happily ever after.

Well, folks, I got news for you. I can't solve her problems. I can't solve your problems. But I will give you some steps that I'll absolutely, definitely, and positively will work for you, as it worked eventually for her.

I said, "Well, ma'am, let me tell you something. Unless you're willing to take step number one right now, it's been nice talking with you."

She angrily opened her notebook. Before we got through there were 22 things she liked about her job. Not only did they pay her for working there, they paid her above average. She had three weeks vacation with pay. She had a retirement program. She was in on profit sharing. She had her own private office and parking place. 22 things that she liked about her job.

Now I said, "Ma'am, when you get home tonight, everything is finished. Get off in a room right by yourself, close the doors, change one word from 'I like my job' to 'I love my job.' Get in front of that mirror."

And folks, I cannot say this strongly enough, but I'm gonna try. The eyes are the windows of the soul. Look yourself in the eye, and with excitement and enthusiasm, say, "I love my job because they pay me for working there. I love my job because they pay me above average for working there. I love my job because they have a wonderful insurance program. I love my job before every one of the statements."

You would sleep better that night.

You see, there's something hidden in what I'm saying to you now. When she says, "I like my jobs," she was really saying, "I'm grateful for my job." And of all of the emotions we can have, according to Hans Selye, the number one stress specialist in America, the healthiest of all human emotions is gratitude.

I said, "You go down that list. I like my job, I love my job, rather. That is a way of gratitude." You would sleep better the first night.

Tomorrow morning, when you get up, get back in front of the mirror just before you go to work, get back in front of the mirror, and repeat the process again with excitement and enthusiasm, "I love my job because," and take the list with you.

Because the reality is, you see, you will have started to change from a fault finder to a good finder. Some people do really find fault like there's a reward for it. They really do.

Take the list with you, and you will be able to add to that list absolutely guaranteed.

Do this every morning and every night, and you will have an astonishing recovery from this advanced case of stinking thinking.

Now, I didn't say that to her, but I'm saying it to you. That's what it was. It was an advanced case of stinking thinking.

Well, six weeks later, I was back in Birmingham, Alabama. I was doing a follow-up sales seminar. Now, the lady was not in sales, but she had been listening to my tapes. She had been listening to Automobile University, and she had discovered that everybody sells. Everybody who will ever hear this is in selling. Whether you're a skilled teacher, a civil service worker, a military personnel, an executive secretary, it doesn't make any difference. What you do, you sell every day of your life.

There she was at the sales seminar, seated on the front row, grinning so wide she could have eaten a banana sideways. I'm telling you, you're talking about somebody who was excited she was turned on.

I said, "Well, how you doing?"

She grinned even more broadly and said, "Mr. Ziglar, I'm doing wonderfully well, and thank you for asking."

She said, "You cannot believe how much those people down there have changed."

I gotta lay it on the line, folks. You're not gonna change anybody else. Did he change you?

Everything really does begin with you.

Now you see, the unfortunate thing, this lady had been raised in a very negative environment. First her parents had told her that she'd never amount to anything. They said, "You know, you're always late, you're always sloppy. Why can't you be like your brother or your sister or whatever?" When she got married, her husband had continued it, and so her self-talk had become completely negative. Everything that she said about herself was negative.

You know, like dad said, "I'll never amount to anything." Or like my husband says, "I can't do anything right."

But when she started changing the input, then some radical changes took place.

**Daniel:**  
**Og Mandino** is a master at storytelling. You should wiki on him because his success is amazing. And when you learn where he started from, you'll agree with me that we are not our circumstances.

Here's Og Mandino.

**[Og Mandino story excerpt]**

**Og Mandino:**  
Picture this scene for me, if you will. It's a miserable winter morning, gray, sleet is coming down, very cold. And we're in the worst part of a Midwest city, Cleveland. Leaning up against the pawn shop window to protect himself from the driving rain since he had no coat to protect him was a bum, a 35-year-old bum. His hair was down to his shoulders, his eyes were bloodshot, his clothes were soaked, and he was miserable and alone.

Suddenly he turned and looked into the pawn shop window and on a shelf was a little handgun. And attached to the handgun was a tag, $29. And he reached into his pocket and he pulled out three soggy $10 bills, all he had in the world.

And he thought, hey, there's the answer to all my problems. I'll buy that gun, I'll get a couple of bullets, I'll take them back to that miserable room where I'm staying, I'll put the bullets in the gun, I'll put the gun to my head, and I'll pull the trigger. And then never again, never again will I have to face that miserable failure in the mirror.

That man was indeed a failure. He had managed in just a few short years to lose everything in the world that was precious to him. A lovely wife, a beautiful daughter, a nice home, a good job, and all his faith, and all his hope, and all his self-esteem. He had tried to play the game of life like so many of us do without bothering to learn the rules. And now he was ready to pay the price for his ignorance.

In the rain, in that cold gray morning in Cleveland, Ohio, he was ready to throw his life away.

That scenario, I'm afraid to say, is repeated hundreds of times every day in the United States and in Australia when people finally lose all hope in a future that once had so much, so much good things ahead of it. And that doesn't count the thousands who don't take their life, but just give up anyway. They quit, they stopped trying. And they leave what Henry David Thoreau once called lives of quiet desperation. They're dead at 30 or 35 or 40, even though we won't get around to burying them until they're 72.

Fortunately, that loser in the rain didn't buy that gun. He didn't blow his life away on that morning almost 35 years ago. Because if he had, I wouldn't be with you this afternoon.

I guess it's natural, and I expect that, though, whenever I'm being interviewed by the press, television, radio, I'm always being asked, how did you manage to turn your life around so dramatically? What did you do that raised you from the gutter to the presidency of Success Unlimited magazine in less than 10 years? And where did you, such a loser, with only a high school education, get all that wisdom, knowledge, to write all those best-selling books?

The most important secret of success that I had to learn the hard way and that I've been telling my audiences about for 20 years, and then you heard Cathy Lee mention it earlier, is that life is a game. It's holy and it's precious, but it's a game. And you can't play in that game with any chance at all of winning unless you know the rules.

Slight problem. While we were growing up, nobody ever taught us any of the rules. Not once. Not in primary school, high school, college, university, not once did anybody spend even 45 minutes teaching us how to set goals for ourselves, how to motivate ourselves and others, how to generate enthusiasm, how to use our time profitably, how to get rid of our bad habits, how to accumulate wealth, how to handle stress, and so much more.

And so most of us, most of us, we become spectators in the greatest game of all, pushed aside by the lucky few who seem to know what they want and who know how to get it. The pros, the great performers, they're all down on the field. We're all the money, all the glory, and all the action is. And the rest of us, we're spectators, we're up in the stands watching them. And we had to pay to get in.

Let's take inventory right now. Did you possibly learn anything during all those years of school that you could apply starting tonight if you wanted to turn your life around or make it better than it is?

You bet you did. You learned how to read. With that one great ability that all of you have, the ability to read, you can work miracles in your life.

Kyle Lauer many years ago wrote, "What we become depends on what we read after the teachers have finished with us." The greatest university of all he wrote is a collection of books. You will be the same person in five years as you are today, except for the people you meet and the books you read.

I have read hundreds of volumes over a few decades. Been a very avid lifelong learner.

**Napoleon Hill** really sort of started this off for me. You see, he says that what the mind can conceive that we are able to achieve. He said that one of the critical factors is not going in alone in the sense of building a mastermind group.

So here's a clip from Napoleon Hill.

**[Napoleon Hill clip]**

**Napoleon Hill:**  
We come now to the second of the 17 principles which lead to the master key with which you may open the door to the attainment of your definite major purpose in life. This principle of success is called the mastermind principle.

I want you to understand the nature of the mastermind principle because you must use it before you can take possession of the master key.

An understandable definition of the mastermind is this. It consists of two or more people who work in perfect harmony for the attainment of a definite purpose.

Now here are some interesting facts about the mastermind which give you an idea of how important it is and how necessary that you embrace this principle and make use of it in attaining success in your chosen occupation.

First of all, it is the principle through which you may borrow and use the education, the experience, the influence, and perhaps the capital of other people in carrying out your own plans in life.

It is the principle through which you can accomplish in one year more than you could accomplish without it in a lifetime if you depended entirely upon your own efforts for success.

And I have heard well-informed Bible students say that the first known application of the mastermind was that which existed between the Nazarene and his 12 disciples.

Of one fact, I am absolutely sure. When you form a true mastermind alliance with others and work with them in a spirit of perfect harmony, you can draw freely upon the spiritual forces within you in carrying out your plans and desires.

I also know that the mastermind principle can give you absolute protection against failure, provided always that your purpose in using this principle is beneficial to all whom you influence.

In my research while organizing the Science of Success, I had the collaboration of practically every outstanding, successful man this country has produced during the past 50 years. And I can tell you definitely that their success was due in the main to their knowledge and application of the mastermind principle.

**Daniel:**  
**Tom Hopkins** is a master salesman. What he really helped me to do is to not get hung up on selling, but rather on sorting. He taught me how to not be so afraid of giving someone an opportunity to understand a choice that they have.

Let's learn some things from Tom Hopkins.

**[Tom Hopkins clip]**

**Tom Hopkins:**  
The day you turn pro is the day you realize that attitude and selling is everything. Attitude is something you have to build within yourself.

You see, the most important thing you've got every day is your enthusiasm, your excitement for the job that you do in serving people. People will say yes to you more on your conviction, your excitement, your enthusiasm than anything else. And if you don't have it in here, you can't transmit it out there.

So how do you get this attitude?

Well, first of all, every day you have to do what I call mental psych up to get prepared for the day before you hit the street of selling.

How do you do it? Well, you first of all get rid of some of the things in the past that might be holding you back.

You see, a lot of us have a failure. And we keep dwelling on it. Please realize you can't change the past. The past is gone forever. I call the past a bucket of ashes. What do you do with a bucket of ashes? You throw it out every day. You don't try to re-burn them. That's what you must do with the past.

Every morning, make a commitment. I will live in the present moment.

You see, because dwelling on the past, if it's negative, is bringing those emotions into the present moment, the present moment will determine your feelings, your attitude towards the day, which will determine your productivity tomorrow. So by the negativity of yesterday, you're ruining your future.

Let it go. Live in the present moment.

**Daniel:**  
**Chuck Swindoll** is a master at apologetics. The ability to explain wisdom on how it applies to our life.

Here's Chuck Swindoll.

**[Chuck Swindoll clip]**

**Chuck Swindoll:**  
Let me urge you to take charge of your mind and your emotions today.

Hello, this is Chuck Swindoll.

Let your mind feast on nutritious food for a change. Refuse to grumble and criticize and blame.

Let your life yield a sweet, winsome melody that this world needs so desperately to hear. Not far-fetched daydreams, not talking about them. Focus on things that are true, not cheap, flippant or superficial. Things that are honorable. Not things that are wrong and unjust, but things that are right. Not slander and gossip and put-downs, but things that build up and cause grace to flow.

Take charge of that mind.

**Daniel:**  
I had a fabulous opportunity for nearly eight years to work with **Graham Kerr**, the former galloping gourmet. We have memories that I just wish I could evoke a mind meld onto you of some of the most hilarious things that we've shared together.

But here's a quick introduction to the fabulous, charismatic Graham Kerr.

**[Graham Kerr clip]**

**Graham Kerr:**  
Right, so that's beautiful. Now, what do you do? You just get, whilst that's just melting out there, oh my lord, this, you flame this in Kirsch. Go, baby. Right, so that's flaming in Kirsch. That's good. Now, have you come up? Now, now, there's something that's gotta happen soon. I'm gonna design my Monday's as one of the vacuum plug at the time. Me cherries are burning. Put that back in there again. It's all right, we'll get there. How would you like to go in there and help them? It's okay. Here we go, stop waving your fingers at me like that. Do you think that I don't know that I've run out of time? Here we go. I'm going, I'm not going to be beaten. I am not going to be beaten. I refuse, point blank. You don't really want to know what I think of this, do you? I'm gonna get it out, it kills me. Come on, come on now, come on, come on, this time, this time, come, please, here we go. One, two, three, four, turn it outside in. I'll see you through, it's beaten me, I can't do it. I'll see you through it.

**Daniel:**  
What I wish I could really help you understand is that he taught me the power of mentoring and he really helped me understand what it is to be a part of a team, how fabulous our efforts together as a team came out. It was really a wonderful period of my life.

And I'd like to give a little recognition to two of my personal mentors.

**Charlie Duke**, commander for Apollo 16.

**[Charlie Duke clip]**

**Charlie Duke:**  
I'm on camera for SCP number two, my camera and I'm heading home. Okay. Boy, is this fun.

I reached the top of my career in the astronaut program and that drive that took me to the top of the astronaut program was still there and I needed a place to channel that drive and so I decided to go into business, not only for the challenge of it, but to make some money.

And I really appreciate the time I've spent with **Dean Rush**. You would love to hear his story in his new book out about his time in Vietnam being shot down and his overcoming of tumors from Agent Orange exposure. That's how I got to know him.

He got to know me was I spent a few days in jail one time because of an ex who was antagonistic about getting more than her share, so to speak.

Well, Dean and I have gotten to be good friends and I really appreciate his time. That's what having a mentor does. It gives you periodic input on things that you need to see from a different point of view at a time when you're least likely to see it.

**Daniel:**  
I want you to listen carefully and what I'm going to read to you is humorous, but it makes the point of this whole sermon.

Are you listening, say amen?

**Audience:**  
Amen.

**Daniel:**  
So I want to ask you again, can God use you? And with that question, I want to answer it with this, oh, quote:

Noah was a drunk, Abraham was too old, Isaac was a daydreamer, and Jacob was a liar. Joseph was abused and Moses stuttered. Gideon was afraid, Samson had long hair and was a womanizer. Rahab was a prostitute, Jeremiah and Timothy were too young, David had an affair and was a murderer, Elijah was suicidal, Isaiah preached naked, Jonah ran from God, Naomi was a widow, Job went bankrupt, Peter denied Christ, the disciples fell asleep while praying, Martha worried about everything, the Samaritan woman was divorced a number of times, Zacchaeus was too small, Paul was too religious, Timothy had an ulcer, and Lazarus died.

God used everyone of them, didn't He?

So let me ask you a question. Can you give God a legitimate reason for not allowing Him to use you?

And the answer is what?

No, you cannot.

So what are you going to do about it?

You say, "Well, I don't know what to do next."

I can tell you exactly what to do next.

Here's what you do next.

"Lord, I heard Your message, and I know that it came out of God's Word. I don't know what to do at this point. I know that I'm a Christian, I'm a believer. I don't know what to do. Lord, what shall I do?"

I can answer that question for you.

You simply say this to Him, "Lord, I don't know what to do, but today I make myself available to You, to serve You anyway You want me to. To individuals, to more people than an individual, I'll serve You anywhere You want me to serve You, however You want me to serve You. Whatever You call me to do, the answer is yes. Now, I'm going to need some help, Lord, and You promised that help, so I'm going to trust You to show me what to do. I'm going to trust You to help me. I'm going to trust You to enable me to do my best at whatever You call me to do. But Lord, from this point on, no more wasted time, no more wasted life. I want You to use me, and I'm making myself available."

You tell Him that, and He'll probably wear you out.

For the simple reason, what He's looking for are people who are available.

Amen?

**Audience:**  
Amen.

**Daniel:**  
Father, we love You and praise You, and thank You for Your wonderful grace toward us. We don't want to waste our life. And I pray the Holy Spirit will sink this message so deep, let it have a hook in it. Let it be unshakable for all of these people who are so gifted and so talented and so skilled, and all of these people who think they don't have any of that. You said to each one is given a gift, and God, You're willing to use any and all of us. And I pray that every single believer who hears this message, look at themselves, ask the question, and make the surrender. And Father, I pray for people who are unsaved. Help them see every day is a wasted day when it comes to eternal things. They may be accomplishing some things that are very impressive in the eyes of the world, and they may be good things, but without Your help and without Your motive and without the purity of the heart that You require. Thank You for loving us, for giving us, and being patient. But God, You know, patience isn't what You're looking for, but activity led by the Holy Spirit. And that's my prayer in Jesus' name.

Amen.

And with that, let's wrap up this session.

I think you've heard all sorts of different perspectives on personal transformation, on ability to change our thinking.

Consider how this information can be applied, and by reviewing it several times, I think you'll find deeper and deeper layers of real character development in it.

I know I have, and that's why I've chosen it for you to look at.

Okay, you know what's next. That would be the poll and then the session essay.

**[Music]**

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**CODEX ENTRY**

**Date:** 2010-07  
**File:** MENtrepreneurs Level One Series - Chapter02.05.md  
**Monomyth Stage:** 11 - Resurrection  
**Gameboard Position:** Camp 8: Resurrection  
**MA5 Domain:** Initium  
**Summary:** Daniel Comp curates a masterclass on "Change Thinking" by drawing from multiple world-class mentors while using real-time recording disruptions (wind, trains, neighbors) as a transparent teaching moment about responding to unexpected change without losing center. The session features powerful clips and teachings from Les Brown (past not predictor of future), Wayne Dyer (shift from ambition to meaning), Tony Robbins (six human needs and contribution), Jack Canfield (finding mentors), Zig Ziglar (gratitude and "I love my job" affirmations), Napoleon Hill (mastermind principle), Tom Hopkins (mental psych-up), Chuck Swindoll (taking charge of mind and emotions), and a moving closing sermon on how God uses imperfect people and the power of making oneself available. The core message is that transformation requires drawing wisdom from others, shifting mindset, practicing gratitude, and surrendering to a higher purpose.  
**Key Insight:** If there's no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm. The past is not a predictor of your future, and becoming available to a higher purpose unlocks the transformation you seek.  
**Narrative Significance:** This session synthesizes all previous transformation work into a practical, mentor-driven framework for "Change Thinking." It is one of the richest and most actionable sessions in Chapter 2, providing men with a clear path forward through modeling, gratitude, contribution, and surrender.

---

**INITIUM.**