Who do you think is most likely to file bankruptcy?
- a professional athlete
- a lottery winner
- a guy making minimum wage
lottery winners 7 out of 10 file bankruptcy
pro-athletes 6 out of 10 file bankruptcy
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise
Why?
1. they did not have a plan
2. they did not listen to a professional financial advisor
3. they had more money than they knew what to do with
I don't know about you, but when you grow up working hard and your parents believe in discipline, and I mean the old-fashioned type, you value the dollar and you know that money does not grow on trees and when you get some, you try to hold onto it.
Today I was talking to a friend, and we got to discussing folks we knew who were wealthy. We both knew the Noble family out of Ardmore, and the Mitchel family out of Dallas and of course you know I worked for Ross Perot out of Dallas, and I also have a friend out of Alabama named Cam Lanier. All, we would consider rich. But what we found common amongst the ones we both knew is they were handy with a dollar and kind in spirit. So, I will tell you two stories to make my point.
Mr. Noble was at what was the SEA Ranch north of Grainola, and he had his cowboys working cattle and Tanny Olsen and his cowboys were there as well. It was common in the old days to help each other out when it came time to work cattle. Dad (Cliff Olson) was there that day and it was raining. Tanny offered to take one of the rain slickers from one of the cowboys for Mr. Noble. Mr. Noble refused and made the comment, "if one of my cowboys does not have a slicker, I will not have one either".
The second story is about Cam Lanier. A number of years ago I was working for Cam and getting to know him and I noticed he drove the same vehicle my wife did. He had a Ford Expedition about 10 to 12 years old and black, just like Shouna's. But there was one difference, Shouna's had been washed. I guess I should tell you a little about Cam (Cambell). He had built a cell phone company from scratch and sold it to what became T-Mobile. On the internet it shows he sold it for $4 billion.
These two men were known for being approachable and who worked right along side of their employees while being cautious about the dollars and generous in their spirit. These men were not arrogant or lazy. In fact Cam, whom I worked for, had me stay at his house and cooked breakfast every morning for us. His kids were grown and his wife has Alzheimer's and was in long term care so maybe I was just good company.
So what do you learn in the Osage?
- hard work is common in folks who made their own wealth. I should say honest wealth.
- folks who care about people and especially their employees, are successful even if they are not what we call wealthy
- what seems like they are getting wealthy off others labor is actually creating jobs for those folks like me and probably you
thanks for listening,
gary
gary@mylifelegacy.co
