The White Feather Hex by Don Peterson. The White Feather Hex by Don Peterson. It all started with a Dutchman, a Pennsylvania Dutchman named Peter Scheinberger, who tilled a weather-beaten farm back in the hills. A strong wiry man he was, his arms were knotted sections of solid hickory, forming themselves into knurled hands and twisted stubs of fingers. His furrowed brow, dried by the sun and cracked in a million places by the wind, was well irrigated by long rivulets of sweat. When he went forth in the fields behind his horse and plow, it wasn't long before his hair was plastered down firmly to his scalp. The salty water poured out of the deep rings in his ruddy neck and ran down his dark brown back. As he grew older the skin peeled and grew loose. It hung on him in folds like the brittle hide of a rhino. It seemed that the more years he spent in his fields behind the plow horse, the more he slipped back into the timeless tradition of his forefathers. He was a proud descendant of a long line of staunch German settlers commonly known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. He grew up in his fundamental religious sect, never having known any other environment. He was exposed to the sun, soil, and wind from the early days of his childhood, and along with the elements he was also exposed to the evils of the Hexer Eye. The Hexer Eye, or witchcraft, was something that was never doubted or scoffed at by his people. Then why should he, a good Pennsylvania Dutchman, doubt or scoff at such tradition? Perhaps had he moved away from his ancestral lands and had been cultured in modern communities, been educated and raised at other schools, he might have matured, but having no time for any other diversions than might be found on his rustic homestead, he grew up behind the plow horse, tramping in the dark stony pasture land, eking out his meager existence from the black fields of Pennsylvania. Now, Peter's life could have gone on unnoticed among these forgotten hills, except for the strange visit of Martin G. Meierstone, student of German history. It was a cold night when Peter met Meierstone. Peter had been sitting up rather late, pondering over an old yellowed book by the light of a kerosene lamp. The pale flame flickered about the walls, sending shadows scurrying back and forth, creating all types of weird shapes and designs. Peter huddled over the withered pages, every now and then glancing up at the walls to watch the fantastic games that light and dark were playing. Then putting his book aside for the night, he prepared to go to bed. He went over to the window to draw the shutters, stopping for an instant to peer out into the gloom along the stony path that ran from his house to an old footbridge about fifty feet away. Curling up from the gorge, mist seemed to play among the rotted planks. It rose and fell in great billowing blankets, sometimes concealing the structure from view. Peter was about to latch the shutter and leave when his attention was focused upon a figure that seemed to emerge from the fog, sort of fading in from nowhere. It made its way across the narrow span like some ghostly apparition. The mist enveloped his legs and clouded his features. Peter drew back in terror, for the mere appearance of the man coming out of the darkness was enough to fill his infant brain with visions of death and hexer-eye. As the figure drew closer, Peter saw that it was wearing a cloak. All the more ghostly it appeared with the cloak sailing behind him in the wind, like some devil's banner. Peter just stood transfixed as he watched the stranger come up the winding road to his house. Slamming the shutter, he hurriedly fastened it and then turned to the door to bolt that also. Too late. The door was thrown open, revealing a tall man clothed in black. His face was wreathed in a wide grin, a grin that seemed to make fun of the grayish pallor of his face and the ominous appearance of his wild garb.  The wind blowing about the fierce visage, tossing up the long strands of hair, and the way that the lamp struck his face, highlighting the thin, ridged nose and high cheekbones. Peter Scheinberger, hey? The man spoke in perfect German. Peter Scheinberger, the last of your plan here in America. It was several seconds before Peter could muster up enough courage to answer him. Drawing back slowly, he braced himself against the table, and in a thick guttural German asked, Who are you? The stranger shut the door and drew the bolt. He crossed the room, and with an air of one who was accustomed to having his own way wherever he went, scanned the shelves of Peter's larder with a practiced eye. Peter watched him closely as he drew down a bottle of wine, broke the neck against a beam above him, and settled down in Peter's easy chair. He poured a glassful and shoved it across the table towards the anxious Peter, and then poured another glass for himself. Meierstone, the stranger finally answered, Martin G. Meierstone. Then draining his glass, he added, student of German history. All this was beyond Peter's comprehension. No one ever had the audacity to walk into his house and help himself to whatever he wanted. It was indeed unheard of in his tiny social world. Well, what are you staring at, Meierstone boomed out? Take my cloak, please. Then be seated. We'll talk. Taking the cloak and draping it over a wooden peg in the wall, Peter moved cautiously around the foreboding character that monopolized his small house. Carefully seating himself opposite the man, he moved the table so that it set between them as a protective barrier. I'll make myself clear to you, Meierstone explained, for I want my stay to be as brief as possible. He poured himself another glass of wine, then settled back in the chair, half-closing his eyes. You see, I am a student, you might say, of German history or folklore. I am in the process of writing a collective history of the Pennsylvania Dutch folk, their habits, beliefs, and—he broke off for an instant as he leaned forward across the table, staring into the frightened eyes of Peter—and their superstitions. Shifting his chair around in order to get benefit from the heat of the fireplace, Meierstone went on. Now I want facts, Scheinberger, authentic facts. I am prepared to pay you well for your trouble, but I insist on information that is backed up with sound, accurate truth. Peter became more relaxed, but still slightly uneasy. He didn't like the attitude of this man, Meierstone. He was too sure of himself, altogether too cocky. But then, on the other hand, he had said there would be a financial gain from any business that he could transact with him. Money was something that Peter knew he needed in order to keep his farm going, and any income, however small it may be, would be welcomed gratefully. Yes, he decided he had better endure the rudeness of this man. For a few seconds, however, the tall stranger seemed to lose all of his cockiness, and a somber look crept over his jovial features. Have you ever heard of the hex of the white feather? Peter thought a moment before he replied, Yes, I have heard of it.  Yes, I have heard of it, he repeated. Good, good, you have heard of it. Now you will tell me about it, of course. I want to know all about it, how it is practiced, the results, and so forth. Is that why you came here only to learn of the white feather hex? Meierstone climbed to his feet and paced the room. Yes, he said. Peter noted a sad tone in his voice, and he waited for him to say more. Yes, Meierstone continued.  I have traced it down to several families, but none could tell me anything about it that was factual.   I know for a fact that Otto Scheinberger practiced the white feather hex and passed the power on down to your father. From there it stopped. However, there must be some record of it in your family. You are in possession of the books of your grandfather, aren't you? I have several of his books, some of them I've read. Well, Meierstone waited. Did you come across anything about the hex? Yes, answered Peter. I read about that which you mentioned. Splendid! Now we are getting somewhere. Can you find me the book that tells of it? Peter finished drinking his wine and setting the glass upon the table. He slowly rose and faced Meierstone with a look of superiority playing about his rustic features. No, I'm afraid not. You see, I've burned the book. Meierstone's face went white. You burned it? Yes, said Peter. I don't wish to have anything to do with such black magic. It is better burned. But you must remember the hex. Although the book is destroyed, you still have the information in your head, nine. I could never forget it if I wanted to, replied Peter reluctantly. If I could burn my memory also, it would be better. Meierstone went back to the fireplace and placed several chunks of wood on the blaze. A bright orange glow leaped out from the hearth and danced mockingly over his pallid brow, hiding his lank jowls in the shadows cast by the cheekbones. Like some grim specter he rose up, towering above the little dutchman. Peter had only to look into his eyes to see the imperative request that lingered behind the hallowed sockets. Throughout the remainder of the night, Peter, almost in spite of himself, racked his brain to bring back to mind everything that was mentioned in the book about the hex of the white feather. The idea was clear enough, but the minute details, the infinite possibilities for mistake, and the exacting specifications concerning the experiment were blurred in his memory. He knew that with time he could bring back everything that he had read, but it would take deep concentration and perhaps many days of trial and error to determine the right path that they must follow in order to have success. Meierstone, realizing that any distraction would break Peter's train of thought, sat quietly in the corner finishing off the dutchman's supply of wine. He watched Peter closely through his slitted eyes, and it seemed that his compelling stare was the only force that could drive the frightened Peter on. Every so often Peter would glance up and see Meierstone leaning back in the corner, half concealed by the deep shadows. Only his partially opened eyes could be seen flickering in the fiery glow of the hearth. Then he would cover his face with his large knotted hands, work the twisted fingers through his hair, and try to bring back to mind the evil recipe. The glow from the fireplace gradually died down to make room for the streams of morning dawn. Peter blinked sleepily and got up to stretch a bit. Outside the dull morning light worked its way over Peter's farm, clouds of mist still poured up from the gorge, circling the bridge and creeping up the bank across the fields. Peter unlatched the heavy oaken door and went outside to the outbuildings. Meanwhile Meierstone had started a fire in the stove and was placing slabs of bacon in the pan. Nothing like a good old-fashioned peasant's breakfast, he laughed as Peter came in the door several minutes later. So you brought a goat, eh? He noticed. Are you figuring on starting in soon? Peter sat a small kid on the floor and watched it scamper about the room, looking for an exit. Yes, we might as well. I don't like this business at all. I wish to get it over with as soon as possible, and Peter eyed Meierstone squarely. I expect to be paid well for my trouble. He was trying to make himself believe that that was his only reason for complying with Meierstone's demands. Actually, he was not so sure. As the heat of the noonday sun blasted down on their backs, Meierstone watched Peter pass a feather freshly plucked from a white leghorn under the nose of the bleeding kid. Meierstone listened carefully to what Peter was telling him. The breath of the victim had to be spread over the feather before anything further could be done. Tie him, commanded Peter. Meierstone held the goat by the scruff of his neck and fastened a halter about him. The other end was secured to a stake allowing the kid to run about in a circle of ten feet or so in diameter. We will leave him for a while, said Peter as he walked back to the kitchen. Meierstone followed in the Dutchman's footsteps, and when they were inside, he listened intently as Peter recited a monosyllabic chant over the feather. The chant is easy enough to learn, Peter assured him. You will master it quickly. I understand so far, Meierstone said. Then that is all, Peter finished, except that you can hang the feather up and watch it grow red. Red? Yes, Peter explained. That is the only way you can tell if the hexes worked. Peter went to a chest at the foot of his bed and drew out a small box of sewing utensils. He broke off a piece of black thread and replaced the box in the chest. Now I'll show you what I mean. Peter spoke weirdly as he tied the feather with the thread and suspended it from one of the rafters in the room. Just sit and watch. It was not many minutes before a light red tint crept up the feather's quill, spreading slowly outwards towards the fringed edges. Deeper and deeper grew the intensity of the color until it reached a pure blood red. Hurry outside, cried Peter. You can see the goat in its last seconds of life. Meierstone hurried after the Dutchman, jerking at the halter the goat bleeded in agony, prancing up and down frantically.  With a feeble, choking sigh, the animal dropped over on its side, its legs still twitching spasmodically. Meierstone bent over the hairy form and examined the head, now wet with perspiration. Nothing can be done for the beast? No, Peter looked on with a touch of pity in his eyes. Nothing can be done once the feather has turned red. As if the death of the kid was their cue, masses of thick thunderheads turned over with a deep rumbling thunder. The sky became crystal clear and a greenish glow could be seen working its way across the horizon. The sky darkened as the glistening thunderheads now taking on an onemous coloring warned the farmers of the impending storm. It was later that evening, rain drummed against the slate roof of Peter's house and reverberated through the rooms to where Meierstone and the Dutchman sat by the fire in silence. Meierstone broke the still atmosphere by putting forth a question that Peter somehow knew would be coming sooner or later. I wonder how the hex would react on a human being. Peter hoped to end the topic by answering him quickly and not beating around the bush trying to evade the question. It would kill him eventually, maybe not so quick as the goat, but it would kill him. What do you mean not as quickly as the goat? Do you think it would take more time on a human? Perhaps I have heard of cases in which the hex, once it was started, dragged on for many days. I see. Meierstone set back again, thinking to himself. Peter didn't like this. He wanted to get rid of Meierstone. Well, you have your information. I showed you how the hex works, so why not pay me and leave? Meierstone got up and laughed in the Dutchman's face. Crossing to the larder, he brought down a bottle, cracking the neck on the beam above just as he had done the night before. A wave of apprehension overcame Peter as he realized the old flip attitude of Meierstones was coming back. That meant definite trouble, and Peter began to fear the consequences. So why not pay me and leave? he again ventured. Or do you want something else? Peter knew that he didn't need to ask that last question, for already he realized the grim experiment that was playing about in Meierstone's head. Yes, I just told you what I wanted. I want to see the hex on a human before I go. Why, you have your information. Why do you want to see it work on a man?  For the first time, Peter actually looked at Meierstone and saw him for what he was. Of course, he couldn't be a student. No student would act as he did, or even look as he did. The words jammed in his throat as he was about to voice a reply. Ha! Martin G. Meierstone. Student of history. Student of German history. No, my little oxen friend. I'm no more a student of history than you are. But I need the hex for other reasons which do not concern you. Then, as if he were contemplating a great new joke, he continued. But, on the other hand, maybe the future of the white feather hex does concern you. Meierstone's voice was drowned out by heavy rumbling of thunder and the increased splashing of rain on the windows. But somehow Peter seemed not to notice. Somewhat later, Meierstone stepped quietly over to the sleeping form of his host. Peter had been over twenty-four hours now without sleep, and although the old Dutchman had tried desperately to fight off the drowsiness that overcame him, the recent excitement of the day had finally taken its toll. Lightning struck nearby, followed with an ear-splitting blast that shook the house to its rocky foundations. Pieces of slate flew off the roof and were carried away into the night. The rain poured down in a great deluge, blurring the window, making it impossible to see in or out. Meierstone held out a glistening white feather in his long spidery fingers. He placed it within a few inches of Peter's nose and watched the delicate edges riffle in the Dutchman's breath. Crossing to the table, he leaned over the white fluff and breathed the short German incantation over it. How it glistened in the firelight. He bent closer and closer as he whispered the magic words that Peter had taught him. His breath ruffling the feather, playing about in the fringed softness. He hung up the feather by a thread and watched it hop back and forth in the center of the room. Peter awakened and saw Meierstone sitting by the fire, noting every movement of the feather. What are you doing, eh? Meierstone swung around and glared at the bleary eye Dutchman. Sit down, he commanded. Sit down and watch the feather turn red. Peter didn't need to be told that it was his feather. He knew by the merciless eyes of Meierstone that everything was over. So you were determined to find out what would happen if the hex were tried on a man? Peter was surprised at how easily he took his fate. There was no need of excitement. This was his end and there was no changing it. Yes, I had to know, for I can't leave until I have a complete record of all the results. Meierstone certainly was not cocky now. He looked almost ashamed of himself as he sat there nervously watching a man's fate swing by a silken thread. I'm sorry, Peter, my friend, but that is how it must be.  The hex of the white feather. I can hardly believe that I have at last tracked it down. And you, Peter, are the last witness, the last link in the chain of those who know the secret, and how can it better end than by your becoming a part of the secret? Peter realized that he had not much longer to live and nothing he could do to Meierstone would change his fate. Perhaps he could save others, though. What is this glorious reckoning you are speaking about?  They claim to speak in the name of humanity no less. In that case, exclaim Peter, I won't let myself be a foothold in your damned work. It is of the devil and I'll have no part of it.  You are part of it already. Not if my body is destroyed before you can get hold of it. Peter played his trump card. He quickly sprang back and slipped out the door into the storm. Meierstone jumped up after him, but it was too late. He peered out into the raging tempest, making out the figure of Peter struggling with the hatch on the horse barn. He pulled his cloak about him and started towards Peter to stop him. The rain beat his face, blinding him momentarily, and before he could see clearly a dark mass pounded by, swift hoofs spattering mud all over him. Down the road sped Peter on the horse, down the road and towards the footbridge. Meierstone ran a few steps and halted. He heard the hollow staccato of horse's hoofs on the planks for an instant, followed by a splintering crash that rumbled up from the gorge. A long guttural cry pierced the black gloom as man and horse plunged down to the seething death awaiting them. Cursing savagely, Meierstone trudged back through the rain to the house.  There was one more bottle on the shelf. He smashed the neck and poured a glass. If one could see him bent over the table sending silent curses into his wine, he could readily imagine the feeling of defeat that had spread over Meierstone's countenance.  However, all was not over. So the Dutchman had died, the hex had worked, a lot sooner than he had expected, though. Now he certainly would be delayed in his progress, for he had counted on examining the body for any traces left that would suggest something out of the ordinary. One thing, however, he had learned, was that the hex at least worked on humans. The mangled body that was being washed over the rocks would be enough proof on that score. Meierstone poured another drink. He leaned back in the chair and placed the glass to his lips. He was tilted so far back that as he raised the wine to a drinking position, it blocked his view of the room. As he slowly sipped it, however, the room began to come into view. The ceiling first, and slowly the wall, his eyes focused on a piece of thread hanging from the ceiling. And as the wine sank lower and lower in the glass, the thread grew longer and longer, until in one last swallow he was able to see the end of the line. Meierstone's hand went stiff as he looked at the thread, for on the end of it was a pure white feather. In an instant, Meierstone realized that the hex had not worked. Peter's death at the bridge had been a grotesque coincidence. Had the untimely plunge in the rapids been the result of the hex, the feather would have long since been read. Therefore, the tragedy was no more than an accident and Meierstone's hands were innocent of the Dutchman's blood. That realization, of course, didn't bother him, for he was not concerned whether or not he was responsible for Peter's death. But he was genuinely worried in the failure of the hex. He wondered if he had done something wrong. If he had, the last link that could have corrected him was broken. From here on in he was on his own. He calmed himself and began to think. He retraced everything that he had done to see if he couldn't have found some margin in which error could have crept in. He remembered how carefully he had bent over the feather reciting the exact words taught him by Peter. He especially remembered that part of the hex, for hadn't the feather been ruffled by his breath when he spoke? Gradually the truth began to dawn on Meierstone. His own breath must have released Peter from the hex. The last person's breath that touched the feather would feel the sting of the power. Meierstone sat back dumbfounded.  What ghastly horror was he in for? Would he die quickly like the goat or would his death be prolonged over a period of days like Peter had suggested? He gripped himself. He wouldn't do to lose control of his senses. There must be a way out of the predicament. But Peter said that as soon as the feather turned red there was no turning back. Ah, there's the answer. The feather is still white. There's still a chance. Meierstone grabbed his cloak and raced for the door. He must get an animal, another goat perhaps, and expose the feather to its breath. He must hurry lest the spell will start working. The slippery mud dragged him back and impeded his progress, but he struggled on through the blinding storm towards the barn. It was so black outside that he could hardly make out the buildings. All at once he saw the barn looming ahead of him. Which door? Every second counted. He would try the first one he came to. Wait, what's this holding his cloak? Meierstone turned and fumbled with some barbed wire fencing. It had snagged him in the dark, and he soon became hopelessly entangled in it. Crying and shrieking he tore the cloak from his shoulders and ran on in his shirt sleeves. He wrenched open a door and sprawled in the barn head first. On his hands and knees he scurried across the mealy floor to the goat stall. The kids sprang in terror as he lurched in drunkenly, grabbing about in the dark for one of them. Catching one by the hind leg, he groped his way out again. Thrusting his shoulders forward, he slid through the gripping mud, tearing his way through the engulfing rain with his free hand. His leg left numb from the wound inflicted by the barbed wire, and a trickle of blood was running down his shins. Without thinking, he reached down to rub the wound, but quickly yanked his hand up again. What was that horrible sensation he felt as he passed his hand over the flesh he saw? He couldn't see in the rain, but his leg told him that it was something hairy, almost bristly. He ran on towards the house, stumbling in the treacherous mud. Once he fell completely down in the slime. Wiping the dripping earth from his face, he was told again that something was wrong. His cheeks verified his shins' story of a rough, jagged caress.  Screaming hysterically, he dropped the kid and fell forward into the door of the house. The latch gave way with his weight, and he tumbled into the cottage. Dancing madly on the end of a thread was a blood-red feather. End of The White Feather Hex by Don Peterson, read by Dennis Smith.


Yo, what's up guys welcome to the one percenter podcast. My name is dandy Klein Guys, what's going on man? It's Christopher Steinbrook the one and only let's go. Yeah, we're out here We're just free sign and they pulled us off the floor our guys are running around like crazy They're making calls, you know, we just finished our brand new sales office And we figured we'd jump on here deliver you guys some value deliver you guys some some cool stuff and a little bit More of a relaxed environment to get to know me get to know Steinbrook and all roll through interview him rolling through some Few questions and that's pretty much it man. I mean let's start off with this. Let me are you sure they're ready? Yeah, I don't know you guys ready.  So Chris you're 43 years old correct, right? Tell tell me a little bit about your backstory before coming like like when you were younger like from 18, okay? So 18 years old I was still in Chicago I Didn't really do the college thing like normal people like the whole success like oh my god. I gotta go to college I dropped out. Yeah, dude. I was like Restaurants I at 18. No, I took a chance at 15 15 15 years old I went to Chili's my sister got me a job at Chili's. I was like, man, I can do this. This is this is awesome I scared totally scared when a chili's right. I was a chili head. I Think every person honestly starts out at Chili's. Hey, I was delivering the good old Chinese here, man Oh, I know you're right rice dumplings. So I started at Chili's and I was like I was surprised. I was good at it like really good at hospitality I could relate to customers super super easy.  I'm like, no, dude. I'm really good Try not to be egotistical, but so I worked at Chili's and got a transfer my whole family moved down to Florida so we went to Tampa Bay and It's always been one of those like What are you good at if you're really good? Why are you settling for just Chili's? Oh? So I moved in and that's this girl comes in. She's like, I've never seen anything like this. You're an amazing bartender Let's go to Ebor at what age was this? This was at 21 at 21. Okay, so 21. I start bartending the clubs in Ebor I Can't go into that. Let's just say it was awesome. Hey, hey everyone in the car business.  We all came from some crazy stuff I think we've all done our fair share of crazy stuff But that's what that's what build sales warriors is, you know, whether you're going through crazy stuff Or you're going through traumatic things with family. You know, that's what makes us man Yes, so from 21. Yeah, so fast forward. It was just I mean, it was a whirlwind fine dining five-star You know, I did a country Western bar for two years little tight jeans cowboy boots Like I'm really good at adapting to different situations. That's that's one thing that me and you are really good at Oh, yeah, you know the cool thing is I see the le group as a giant puzzle piece You know, everyone has different puzzle pieces. We have guys that that keep up keep everybody up We have the guys that understand people at a really really high level and sell with tons of empathy We have guys that sell with just freaking running you over, you know, getting the deal done I'm going to understand where you're at to get it done So that's the cool thing is is you can learn from everybody in the company that has all these puzzle pieces And you hit on that, you know, we always talk about if anybody of you guys obviously you guys follow Andy Elliott Like the thing that really resonates and I don't think a lot of people understand this like an individual like an individual can be beat 100% but a team Guys think like a team cannot be beat a group of people that have the same purpose going absolutely crazy with the same passion and fire You're done. It's game over. Yeah, dude. I feel like every day.  I Mean, are they lions? Well, I'm Voltron. I'm old. I don't remember the names You know, maybe we're like Ninja Turtles except we got like way more. Are you old enough to know Voltron? No, man, 23 like all of the lions came together to form a super lion But go ahead so at 21 so 21 I fell in love with bartending. It was really really good at it I could adapt to anybody. It was almost like a chameleon personality. It doesn't matter what you are a hundred percent Yeah, so I fell in love with sales didn't matter at the bar You'd have the guy who's showing off the one guy who's the introvert and I would figure out the puzzle pieces Like you said if I had a U shape bar I would get the one-side talking but then I would get them talking to the other side get the flow And I would literally be able to put on a show and everybody would kind of like converse within each other It's like Annie says put on a show worth paying for it. It's doing it in all industries So we fast-forward I went into management and then I owned a restaurant in Tarpon Springs. It's a pizza restaurant. It's absolutely amazing. And then dun dun dun COVID Boom COVID just ended it 19 or 20. Yeah, beginning of 2020, right? So that's what I found. I found Andy. They were cutting the floor in half, man So the restaurant kind of in Florida, I'm sure everybody knows we went down to 25% I was like, I can't sustain this. We're not doing takeout.  We got this of what you're you know coming on is on that so I Was out of work for eight months like I was overqualified. I tried Panera bread. I tried to target Eight months I sat on the couch.  Absolutely. So the eight months goes by and it was I'll never forget it My girl my fiance who actually works here comes to home one night and she goes I don't understand. Why don't you go sell cars? I'm like What yeah the perception of a car say if you were go to Starbucks and say hey What do you think of a car salesman, right?  There's not a there's not a good perception when you close your eyes You think about a car salesman versus when you think about hey real estate You think clean-pressed suit and it's all about really really changing that because guys in the car industry Well, they get paid and it's a profession and there's guys that have been in it for years And I know like you're younger than me, but like my thing So living in Chicago when I was born and raised the car salesman was like, you know button-up shirt clip-on tie Hey, come on in. I'll get you the best deal and we're like I hate this guy. He's a scumbag But now it's so amazing because now we've moved into the 21st century. Everything's transparent It's unbelievable, but the difference between a trained salesperson and an untrained is so apparent now Thousand percent a hundred percent. So we'll fast-forward I go to clear water Toyota because I was a bartender for so long I knew the management. I knew the staff. I walked in. I got a job and That's where any shows up the coolest thing with you is you know, you almost had the skill set I talked about high-level communication lot and so does Andy I mean, that's that's the umbrella of sales is high-level communication You've been you've learned that for years Which is why you were able to jump into the car industry fast and dominate and adapt to the processes You're selling cars and commuting to people and then same thing coming in our company and moving up the ranks very fast more than anyone has in the company and it's just really killing it because the biggest thing is people understand like And I fell into it. I go into car sales and you use the word sale Sale is a transaction. We're talking about a transition. So Like that a bomb that's a bomb if we're on Bradley's podcast Let me hit the little button. I love it. So I'm talking about transition versus transaction now when I went there, you know The first three days. I'm like, I'm gonna sell a car. I'm gonna sell a car. Well, I had found Andy I started watching his videos. I reached out. We'll talk about that later, but My GM actually came to me. He goes. Why haven't you sold the car? It's been a week I was like, I don't know because I'm trying to sell. He's like, that's not why I hired you He goes, you're one of the best bartenders I've ever seen in Tampa Bay like ever like every time we came in you knew We wanted it was a relationship. He's like The car lot and for people that are in hospitality like write this down make make the connection like write this down The car lot is little. It's your business. Yep. If you're a bartender, it doesn't matter what you do You gotta take ownership. So like when you're running the bar You're taking ownership with what you're what you're running the people coming in same thing on the lot The biggest transition you can have as a salesperson no matter what industry in the car business You know, I don't care if you you're a suit salesman doesn't matter when they come in you take ownership in Where you sell what you do the people that come in because guess what you should you should walk in and they should think that You're the owner, you know, because that's how you get good business and repeats and referrals and you just serve at the Highest level. Yeah, so touching on that like I would look out in the car lot He goes, you know Camry's Corolla's rap for as he is like, that's a drink. That's a beer That's a shot. That's and I'm like, I love this. He goes, dude The customer's still the same they come on a lot because there's an itch and you need to scratch it It's not like I mean, let me ask you when is the last time on your day off?  It doesn't happen. It doesn't happen I'll look for all my phone for hours and I mean the average consumer. I don't know if you guys know Statistics that's a that's a tongue twister. I like that word say it again statistics the physics you got it Hey, this is why yeah, you know, and he had an old speech impediment I had one we fixed it. We got it But no a point being is you just really have to know You have to know your inventory guys I mean the biggest thing we talk about and Andy says the guy that gets paid is the one that knows his inventory What do you have? What do you have to offer now with that being said we roll into the first year? I Made more money like the my first month. I broke a record. I sold 37 cars in my first month They didn't even know what happened 37 cars in the first month. That's powerful I mean the only way you can do that is number one with work ethic I don't care how well, you know people if you're not sitting there put in the work You know a lot of guys have a problem here have a problem getting organized to understand how to do 37 because you're selling Average almost two cars a day.   Oh, yeah, that's huge and then then scale forward to what I mean you finished out your first Full year my first my first full year I finished out and I made just under a half a million with Andy just under half a million and you were only in the car business for Exactly one year one year I think that speak volumes because a lot of people think hey, I only sold for less than two years He sold for one year. Well, it's not about that the time and tenure in the business How long you're in and what you're doing, right? But how fast can you grow and scale that right there is a product of the training going from what I mean Making just over six figures bartending. Oh, absolutely to 500. Yeah time and experience that the thing you said that resonates the most Time and experience means nothing.  You're 40 years old like Every second of every day is something my grandfather told me a long long time ago And it really really stuck with me. If you don't like your situation change it Change it. You're not stuck. Yeah, you're just unmotivated Every second people are people can't see through a different lens. Yeah every second of every day You can start over if you don't like the path. You're on it. Just it's you I agree It's a choice. You're the one standing your own way. It's a choice It kind of brings me, you know, just to tell a little bit of the guys, you know my story I love it. You said you said like the choice, right? The choice was made for me to really elevate my life It wasn't when I initially first started training with Andy, which I'll go to that But you know when my dad passed away, I made the choice that like, hey, I'm gonna go crazy I'm gonna create something for my family for me for this company for everything that you know I thought about wanting and didn't really have the mindset to do or didn't have the work ethic Didn't have anything, you know, no right vehicle. A lot of times we talk about being in the right vehicle Number one, the car business is the right vehicle. It's the best business to be in but for a lot of people No, it's the way out and they don't understand it. It's the way out They see the money and then if they do it the right way, it can be a life change 100% especially for all like my young guys out there at 23 years old now I got in the car business when I had just turned 20 and I mean I was delivering Chinese food for about a year I dropped out of school lived in a one bedroom apartment with my dad food stamps disability the whole deal and it's not like a sympathy show But I was happy. I mean I was happy with like my life But I was not happy in terms of I don't I don't want to live that way for my family, right? I don't want to I want to make more money. I want to be more successful You know, I was happy here, but not like not truthfully fulfilling my purpose. That's the word right there fulfilled Yeah, it's all about being fulfilled.   We talk about Nelson. I mean, we're crazy man, but um No, yeah, so my six months so to tell my story about when I first kind of met Andy. I Was selling for about six months. You were Toyota as well. Yep. I was at Toyota Okay, guys, I was a eight car hand. I think my best month was like 11. All right. Boom.  They're raw. It was in Woodbridge, Virginia It's a store called a lestine Toyota and go check them out You know, I didn't go and do 50 cars a month But the deal is I went from selling about eight cars a month So I hit my first 23 23 car month made $17,000 in a matter of 30 days after my first master closer seminar. That's wrong That's insane at 20 years old. I'm like, dude, this change. This is life-changing. That's like changing money $200,000 a year just like that and I'm like, wow, so I see my potential. I start going crazy I keep scaling grown. Now, how did you get there? And I did you go from an eight car hand all the way up there? Well, I think the biggest thing honestly, so Was the mindset switch. So when I first came out to the seminar, I learned massive skill I learned massive closes all these things money justification. The training was sick But I went back and I saw who I could really become You know, I just started to really believe that like, hey, I can do it I am the one like I'm worth it And I just decided to not focus on anything else not focus on other people Conversations non-encomproducing activities like Andy talks about 100% and just went crazy and then scaled and scaled I transferred I had a position that was offered to me to help run a store and do finance as well and Andy calls me. Well, let me ask this when Andy reached out to you much like me because I want to hear your story first Yeah, when he reached out to you.  I was a little skeptical But the way that it was just so authentic. I'd never had a conversation like that I think we talked for about 30 minutes and it just moved me and I Didn't I hung up. We didn't you know do this seminar. I was like man Let me figure out some stuff and I drove back into work the next day and I'm just stuck Sticking in my head and I'm like, what's the worst that can happen? This is back when Andy had 5,000 subscribers and seminars were just starting so I'm out here and I'm like, you know what?  Like you you're speaking better than me.  That's a mindset shift guys like a lot of it. So when I reached out to Andy I did the same thing a lot of you guys are like lurking in the backgrounds You watch you watching you're waiting for the perfect opportunity guys What is the worst that can happen if you literally went through the same process if you gain five percent? Five percent on even if it's a 299 investment a thousand whatever I tell guys just reaching out to have the opportunity to have a conversation with you Whether you make an investment or not number one an investment will change your life But just connecting with us that will switch switch your mindset there And you'll start to see a better version of yourself you start making more money from our coaching We have different things, but you know just reaching out and getting to connect with you guys first of all It's the biggest thing. It's huge. Yeah, just taking that one step. I mean I was tell guys like hey for the guys that have been watching Multiple videos and seeing the gains if you had to write out the check that's how much YouTube content content has made you Would it be X amount? I mean just ask yourself, you know We're putting out value and he's putting out value because they aren't ready for what happened next It's fire. I mean we got some cool stuff planned for you guys But this leads me to kind of go into a to what I was talking about belong story short I Switch stores and then you know dad passes away He drowns in a pool. It's gonna be huge.  He's like the the golden, you know egg of the family, you know We're all real close really tight and I'm devastated the next day and he calls me. He's like we're moving to Phoenix and I want you on the team. It's like God had handed me this opportunity on a golden platter. Just like powerful Here's your purpose you go. You have a servant heart your leader and I just said dude I'm all in 30 days later. I'm out here. We're grinding in Phoenix and here we are been with him for about a year and a half And that's the big difference man when he talks about a servant heart like And nothing against other training companies like there's so much value out there guys like whether you train with us Whether you train with it doesn't matter who it is as long as you're investing and getting better Like stop being complacent like Brad talked about it when we went on the podcast. This this is huge I'm gonna touch on this. Do you remember when he's like?  He's like, what does that mean?   We're the same thing I go tomorrow. I'm cool. You know you want to make him proud.  I'm just gonna tell you right now like we have a lot of coaches this guy I mean look at his smile. Come on man. Look at his smile. That's contagious. Just happy man Just a positive guy. I'm always just and check out the tiktok yesterday with the book No, not a tiktok. We're not doing tiktok dances But we made a funny video if you guys are seeing stuff on the deadly scripts book Feel free to reach out<PHONE_NUMBER>, right? If you guys want the deadly scripts book You guys haven't seen it. It does come with a warning. I'll tell you that's a warning We send out some pampers with it because you just I mean you guys are done man It's it's gonna help you make more money and look don't reach out and think it's a this is not a $10 book It's an investment. It's a badass book. How many $10 books do you have that you use as coasters? No, there's nothing you can do. You can't watch a video and make a phone call I'm just gonna say this there's no pitch, but you can't make a phone call and then watch a video but what you can do is read off the script and Run them through the process set appointments make money your words use your words if Andy has this I would have paid probably 10 Grants this I mean, but that about 20 grand value easily. It's crazy But bottom line is I kind of want to go into the biggest problem of salesman What your thoughts are? I have some things that I think right like Advice on success. There's a video a few days back. I think it was like a week at your old He talks about car sales is the biggest problem. What is your take on? You know, what's the number one thing that comes to mind for you for a salesman's biggest problem? That holds them back from really going to the next level. Well, I'm glad you asked. There's two things number one Is a scarcity mindset like right now the market's up 300% doesn't matter.  It doesn't matter. It's ridiculous.  Yep. It's the market.  You have a bunch of sales guys, right? You put all this time in and I remember I'll say this when I reached out to Andy. I was like, man, I want to go to a seminar This is gonna be life-changing. I went to the dealership. I told four people and then I never told anybody after They're like, that's that's what do you mean? What does that mean?  Yeah, and hey, I went and studied my top guy Till I didn't right guy was doing 20 cars a month. I'm like shit, dude Let me let me follow what you're doing, right? He helped me make phone calls He helped me understand things and then well I found a guy who did more and I went to study him and it's like That's what's all about you got to take advice from the people that are gonna lead you to where you want to go And the big advice from guys doing 10 cars. Hey training's corny. You don't need to do that. Mm-hmm Why are you listening? I mean, why do you really care about it's the guy that's about it? Yeah, it's the guy that's been at the dealership for 10 years and he's still a 12 car hand Yeah, he's doing 12 cars a month. He has he's going in the real estate. Yeah, he's got yeah He's going in the real estate now. We love real estate, but the deal is is some there's some guys that are doing 12 to 15 they live off of You know half of my referrals and then it's nothing. I mean you could be doing 30 40 50 cars a month But bottom line is everyone has a different advice on success and another thing too I think it's huge is a lot of people are more concerned about the money and me and you are like really really We've talked about this a few times hundred times they're very concerned about just the money and play look I'm concerned about the money too, but There's a there's an old saying there's a string from your heart attached to your wallet 100% right so you have to get to the heart to get to the wallet And that's the only way you can do that is by being real raw authentic and hey look sometimes That's not a magic objection or word track even though you need to know them to close and move the sale forward and understand how to You know recognize their concerns, but sometimes it's just leading back on being raw and authentic and then having passion for what you do So I mean what's your take on you know passion versus like Transaction like what do you think like ROI most people are looking like that was it? I was let's get this deal done and I'm like hey Why don't I understand what this customer's really going through so I can help them get the deal done and I can help explain them Hey, maybe where they're spending money in other areas Onion you gotta have your wall down when you're Negotiating right because hey, we're not really negotiating well You don't want to say hey don't buy the car Jimmy's gonna you know Jimmy's gonna come in at five.  They do a little boop. It's three bucks. Yeah That's it. There's nothing. It's just it's a transaction. Thanks for buying the water. I buy thanks, but You go in and that one guy's like I Seen you in here before man. I really like that shirt. My god. This is one of the best waters. I've ever seen This is amazing. You got great taste. You know what you probably get. Yeah, you'll get thirsty later You should probably get another one and I hope to see you tomorrow boom the question is And I've heard this before and this is something I live by The currency of 2022 the way that we are gonna get paid and move people is relationships Wow, I think that's that's one of the most powerful things because This this transition that we've gone through we're distancing. We're doing zooms. We're less involved with human interaction So we have to learn to To really be close with our people and really understand that like we have to connect we have to truly care I always say this I always say this Do you truly care about your customers? They'll say yes, okay Well, why don't they feel it and that's a skill problem because you may really care and your heart may have the right intentions But if you can't push that through that transfer of motion to the customer They're not gonna feel it if you haven't trained on the things to say Well, they're they won't feel it. They'll so I'm gonna hit you something So the last car you bought right? Yep This one this is probably not an unfair question because you know the guy, but yeah, I would ask the other partner Yeah, if I'm gonna ask but for the normal consumer Walk to him and say hey, let me ask you something the last car you bought. What was the salesman's name? 99% of the people don't know he was a great guy.  It's rich. What is your reach? Yeah, what's your reach? This is not a You know, I don't even know the right business to talk about because every business is great, but you're not there to be a consumer Build your business build your brand have undeniable believability number one and what you do and How do you reach these people? I mean I was I sold in Florida I would get deals all the way from like, you know, Washington State I'm just gonna stay a student of the game man You know, I study everybody just like any studies everybody obviously I study any massively you want to know what they know Hey, I sell Andy if you guys don't know right like we're selling Andy We're training we're helping people come to seminars. We're helping people start on the training You know, we're your coaches We're the guys that can help you really understand where to start how to do it what steps to implement So that's everything you just gotta stay soon in the game man. Mm-hmm. It's easy to sell something Yeah, it's in again what we talked about. It's not it's not you. It's the market It's the market right now guys. If you would literally take a step back check yourself when the market shifts You're I mean are you gonna? I mean, what are you gonna say that word? You're I know I'm gonna say it When the market shifts, I mean there's gonna be so much stuff going on the prices are gonna go back when I was selling I mean, we listed at like two grand brackets. Mm-hmm, right?   I mean what we're averaging four grand a copy That's I mean that's just unheard of across the country and the pay plans are dictating these guys have I mean Yep, like one of my dealerships that I partner with I mean right now guys. I'm like, yeah, like what do you you know? What do you make a copy? Like what is your commission and he told me he was like I Was making 300 a car hustling going absolutely crazy and these guys are making 1,300 a car And then laying down at 10 Like I don't get it. You got to worry about it. We had to work up for many's man. It's crazy Um, they have no idea how good they have it It kind of leads me to so I got a few points here You know car a car still the biggest problem another thing that Andy said is you know money's not the problem It's your attitude and your mindset and that's the biggest thing and I know we talk about mindset and there's a lot of motivation A lot of energy a lot of information come in your way But the bottom line is if you don't have this together Consistently at scale meaning daily hourly When you're having conversations if you lose it for 30 minutes like what what's the problem? And we're cool. We had a great life.  I think a lot of people that goes back to the transaction Are you actually qualifying these people? What are their needs like I don't think a lot of people just say hey I'm looking for this car and they just go in for it.  It's true. Yeah, you can just go straight for it It's like going on a date. Hey, what's up?  Let's get married like That's a great analogy like it's funny how we think and how we operate everything and selling and quote There's analogies we're painting pictures. We're creating scenarios future expectations That was a bit right there once you kind of understand the breakdown of it You start talking differently you start communicating differently. It's an amazing thing.  You have a different style, right? Ian has a different style Andy has a different style. Well, guess what the style is closing But don't don't use yours. Don't don't don't make your style and excuse for not closing and not moving the needle forward Hey, someone may be a little more soft-spoken a little more, you know Whatever or someone may be super high energetic or someone may be it doesn't matter what it is Across the spectrum learn just understand that you need to close and convert the deals Like there's you could be a closer with anything. You remember them talking about know your audience Know your audience don't your audience red red hit on it the other day about a C8 I don't know if you guys watch the reel on it about selling a C8 The guy went straight in for the kill for the horsepower this and that in the car and it'll be in for his daughter Ask questions. You'll take your time That's everything and then so here watch this. So there's I got two more here that are huge bad habits and Self really recognizing. Hey, what are my bad habits and that's not necessarily like Doing drugs and drinking it could be like hey, I'm on social media too much. I'm not getting anything done during the day I'm having BS conversations like those are bad habits because they're not an income-producing activities If you understood that well, guess what across the country the average cost per copy It's like what $800 commission. Maybe it's 500. Maybe it's 1200 at the end of the day. That's a lot of money That's a lot of money that we had to sell four cars to get that Yeah, you had to sell four cars to get that so it's like you got to cut the bad habits You got to cut the unhealthy things that are costing you money and he talks a lot about leaks versus opportunities Leaks versus opportunities. Well a leak is hey, I'll get back with you. Okay. Okay. Thanks. That's a leak An opportunity is creating your own money doing the right things doing the right things on social media Right going likes the leads those are opportunities and once you start to understand the breakdown of math on that Or you're really losing your money, then you're like wow. Oh, yeah The non-income-reducing activities if you add them up, we broke them down How many cars do you sell in a month? How many hours do you work in a month and you do the math? It's an average of 15 car hand that's on 15 cars and you're working 10 hours a the average is like 190 hours That you're not selling. We're either selling a car looking for a customer or we're training to get better It's simple. It's if you want it This is if you want to come become elite you want to become better if you don't then I mean just keep going to the motions and taking Ups and that's cool There's nothing wrong with that the deal is that this is for the guys that wants to elevate have a higher level income Have a higher level mindset. This is the conversation for the guys that are hungry trying to and sometimes those guys that sit in the back We talk about this a lot. They just need that little tip. Yeah, the moment where you're looking is like man I think I want to do this The thing that scares you the most is what you should definitely do. What is the worst that could happen?  Yeah, get your money No one can take the knowledge from you and honestly I challenge all any of you that have been thinking about a seminar or see the videos follow us on social media By the way, you can follow Chris and I will drop the Instagrams here You can give us a follow you need to warn them though. We're way more intense in person Oh, yeah, we're made more intense for uh, well, yeah crystal Chris to give you a big old hug but you have to understand that There's there's two types of people watch this. I would use analogy there's a guy who Got with a got with a girl right and he got his heart broken and well He went on for years and years and he never did another girl because he was afraid to get his heart broken and then there was another guy that Got with a girl got his heart broken and he started going on dates again And this is just an analogy right step out of this first second He goes on dates dates dates. Well, guess what on that seventh date? He found the love of his life in a few months the marriage right that kids family grew up Well, guess what he wasn't paralyzed with fear and indecision about what to do He was just that's dangerous right and this is that's a funny analogy, but it's just the truth It's it's good to explain it in a different sense because then you're like Well, the guy that really wants to get better He'll go through the risk of getting broken getting burned going through different things By the way, we run the baddest program in the country. There's nothing that stacks up against us hands down That's a bomb. You could you can go and look you can go and look at Seminars and speaking events and different things closers right closer things They don't stack up and guess what they're like five ten grand You want to see Gary be you want to see all these other guys 997 you can get front row with Andy yellow. I mean bro. I think I told Andy we should charge five grand I see Well, no, you have to get in before you have the prices. What is it 256 rows upset in the nosebleeds? It's it's insane and I think we'll end on this and look guys if you want to come to a seminar We'll drop it again<PHONE_NUMBER> text Andy reach out to him. He'll get on the phone with you He'll help you figure out what the game plan is for you to succeed But um, I really want to talk about lack of execution and we'll end on this note This is the biggest thing and I could run for an hour just on this I coach hundreds of people privately through Andy's training that are that are paying month. They're paying monthly They're paying monthly that be in coaching and there's tons of people that are doing this Right, you have a huge team if Macklin's have a huge team. Sean has a huge team that they're coaching privately to just elevate right But the one thing I tell my team is If you call me with a silly question about something that's in the training Well, number one. I gotta make money. I want to go to work, right? We got a we're sales too. Yeah, and we're also coaches The cool thing about what we do is we're sales and we're coaches more coaches We're not babysitters. Yeah, but guess what if he calls me and he has a high level question I can see that he's training. Well, guess what that's the phone call I love I'll sit down for half an hour and talk to you because I can tell that you put in the work And that's what a good coach does. Well, a good coach also also holds you accountable This is another analogy if you're not training and you're trying to figure out how to get better and you're sitting there asking little silly questions Well, that's like asking the the basketball coach Just to to help you shoot three pointers or to help you dunk or understand a play But you didn't show up at 5 a.m to practice.  I'm not doing that. Yeah, you gotta put the work in But then there's a guy that shows up the practice that wants to stay after coach will stay after That's the same analogy. That's the difference with the one percenter. Yeah, but most people know what to do But they don't do what they know That's why personal trainers are so lucrative. You guys know you know what to do at the gym But you need the accountability. Yeah, you don't need another. Oh, it's five o'clock You guys keep hit more snooze button two-step system seven minute abs Just eat healthy and work out and look some of you guys want to get healthier or get in shape Go just go do it. It's just a decision Right where this isn't a fitness podcast, but hey, we love working out. I think working out is huge for you Gotta have everything but but like I don't even have time to go and eat out I just want to bring healthy food and keep my energy short Oh, we got so much going on No, you make time for the gym make time for your mindset Everything is training not just your mind but your body Are you speaking? Are you acting? Are you walking? Are you talking like the future person? We talk about future expectations all the time. Step into your future self. Do you see yourself? Like I see myself as a millionaire. Do you believe in yourself? I see myself as a billionaire You just haven't got more than a million come on But no, I'm saying like your everyday actions. We talk about this all the time Are you doing bad habits? Uh, I'm gonna be a millionaire and then they use that word one day one day. I'm gonna be a millionaire What does that mean? Right? I'm gonna get it now. What is it? No, what does that mean? What does one day mean? They when you get around to I say I say call your shop. I like to say day one, right? I like that. Is it one day or is it day one, right? I'm trying to get what you want. Well, it's it's day one No, I don't one day anything My biggest thing is at the age of 42 I refuse to mess with time. I won't do it at 23. I don't have time either No, that's the biggest thing too. You guys have no idea like if and I tell this to people all the time On the phone if I were to tell you the date that it's over. It would shock you to the core Oh, you would do you wouldn't even think about you because that's what we do as humans. We overthink everything What about this? What's gonna happen? What about what is the outcome? You want to live the best life in the world?  You're bleeding out. It's done. It's your last year. You're saying bye to your family Would you have regrets? Well, I don't know. That's a question that that you have to answer It's true But the deal is is you have to play like that if you're looking to to to go through and some people look It's not just money. It's family. It's health. It's all these different areas The money money doesn't make you rich, right? You're rich in your heart You're rich in fulfillment and contribution and all these other areas It's it goes full circle and a lot of people don't understand that and so they truly start getting the money or get out of the scarcity mindset True It's very hard to understand But if you can just trust what we're saying because it's the truth You get more money. It doesn't really change anything. It just makes things a little bit easier It's got a lot to do with social media. Like if you see it now everything is When does it happen? It happens now. We're a now society You know social media and don't get me wrong like social media is great.  I got the car. I got the million dollar mission. I got this. It's like guys My question is what is it like when the cameras are off? I know that our team 100 i can say this because i'm in this business 24 seven This is not a hype show. It's not fake when the cameras when the cameras are off sleeps on the couch in here And sales office. There's a little actually on our new table. It's awesome. It helps with my back But yeah, no, it's true when the cameras are off Yeah, nobody nobody runs like us. Who are you? Yeah How you do anything is how you do everything you don't build you don't build a company that annie's built and that we've helped build on Yes, and i'm being a fraud small work ethic and you know, if you were to have a conversation with me a year and a half ago Uh, I don't sound like the same person. I have a different mindset You can look at my eyes and I have fire Right like annie talks about and that comes with time and discipline of consistent action but We'll end on this man Look, if you guys want help if you want to go the next level if you resonate with chris steinbrook's story And we represent with you know, you resonate with my story dandy kline.  Yeah slow playing success. That drives me crazy I don't I don't understand that I agree man. I agree So hey, if you want to get in contact with us reach out We'll drop our instagrams here. You can follow me at danie underscore underscore kline chris go ahead drop your tag My instagram is coach underscore c stein and then go ahead a also reach out reach out to annie reach out to our team Reach out to chris reach out to me nine one eight two one out zero two five four You guys know the number. Appreciate you guys You start talking differently. You start communicating differently. It's an amazing thing. You got like a schwag Yeah, a little little swagger swagger is the most important thing And I put a post out this morning talking about your style, you know, hey, I have a different style You have a different style, right? Ian has a different style and he has a different style. Well, guess what the style is closing But don't don't use yours. Don't don't don't make your style An excuse for not closing and not moving the needle for it


Hey, YouTube is Zeke and welcome to the dream green show and today I'm going to show you how you can win a free Monthly give it in stock. So let's get into it All right, YouTube we're back if you stick around to the end this video I'm going to show you how can you win a free give it in stock that I'm giving away of AGNC, but let's talk about the new channel name I changed the name from Zeke the crypto miner to the dream green show And basically what this channel is about is me dividend investing Cryptocurrency in real estate. I know I haven't posted a lot of real estate videos But I'm going to get into those and I've been slacking on the cryptocurrency videos So later on this week inspect a Bitcoin or a Litecoin or some type of cryptocurrency video That I'm going to provide to you guys a lot of other channels like to steer away from cryptocurrency But I'm actually very knowledgeable about Bitcoin and all the other cryptocurrencies that I like to share with my family and I like to share with my Subscribers and also I've been dividend investing using Robin Hood I just did a video for $10,000 account that I have that I invested into all dividend stocks Now for the part of the video that you guys been waiting on is how can you win a free? AGNC dividend stock. Okay. All you have to do is click the link down in the description once you click that link And subscribe to my channel. You have 25 entries. That's the easiest way to win this free stock It's that just pretty much subscribe to my channel and you have 25 entries now after you click the link You can go back to that link every day until November 3rd to Get two more free entries and then on there I have a list of three videos if you watch the first video you get five another five entries the second video You get another five entries and the third video you get another five entries But the easiest way to get a bunch of entries to win this stock is to Subscribe to the channel. So go ahead hit the thumbs up button subscribe and Comment. All right, so you guys are wondering I never wanted thing in my life is gonna be too many entries No, I typically only get around a hundred to two hundred and on a very good day 400 views and not all of those people are subscribed to my channel So if you are a subscriber and you're watching this video, all you have to do is go ahead and click the link and Watch those videos to get your entries and since you're already subscribed you get another 25 entries for that But your chances are very high to win. This is not a $10,000 subscriber channel This is not a hundred thousand dollars subscriber channel. This is a very small channel. Your chances are win are very high So if you get in there and you come back every day and get those free entries and watch those videos You guys have a high chance of winning this free stock giveaway now I'm going to be giving away the stock value of what it is on November 3rd and then I will send it to you do PayPal or Cash up or High of an else that you would like the money accepted And then you go ahead buy the stock and then come back to this video or to when I post a winner and comment on that on How you are joining your free dividend stock that I gave to you but other than that guys go ahead hit the thumbs up button like and subscribe and Enjoy the competition


Hey friends, you're watching Divine Intimacy Radio and this is Dan and Stephanie behind the scenes. We're going to start the show in a second. Today we're going to be talking about the battles of the third mansion in the interior castle and the spiritual warfare that happens in that mansion. So but before we do, I want to tell you, oh well, you can pre-order Devil in the castle for 25% off from Sophia Institute Press. You can get to that pre-order through spiritualdirection.com forward slash shop and then use castle 25 for the code C-A-S-T-L-E 25 no spaces and the number 25 and you can get 25% off if you pre-order it. You can get half off of cases, a full case if you order it directly through Sophia as well. So that's that for this book and it'll be out of February of 2022 so pretty quick here. And it's a hard copy. It's a hard back. Yeah, really beautiful too. The design is really something else. Another thing coming up soon, actually in a week is Prostrate Hearts, a webinar to prepare in advance for the Graces of Lent. A lot of people do the lame thing of showing up on Ash Wednesday and going, I'm going to give up soda or something silly that has no substantive connection to the roots in or how it is that we really need to make spiritual progress. And so we pass by all the amazing graces, the powerful graces of the season and we don't make the spiritual progress we could have made if we would availed ourselves of the graces God desires to give us in the season. So it's leveraging the teaching I'm giving and what I'm following is a traditional pre-Lent in practice that predates the Second Vatican Council that was kind of, I don't know, set aside or whatever. And we're going to be talking about that and how you can have an extraordinary Lent. And that's free. It's at spiritualdirection.com forward slash event. So check that out. And then the last thing I'll mention is the Avalos Summit 2022 is on spiritual warfare. Bishop Strickland, Father Chad Ripperger, Father Dennis McManus, amazing lineup, July 15th through the 17th Catholic University of America, the Masses at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Comaculate Conception. It'll be great. Father Ripperger, I'm really looking forward to this because I'm going to be talking about something in his new book that he's been developing now for years on the hierarchy of authority in the sense of when can a lay person, for instance, speak directly to the demonic and when can they not? What authority do they have? Like does a man have authority over his wife or his kids? What if his kids are grown? All of those sorts of things. He'll be talking about that. So specialdirection.com forward slash events. Fantastic. All right. So let's jump into the battles of the third mansion on your mark. Get set, go. This is Dan and Stephanie Burke. Welcome to Divine Intimacy Radio. Your radio haven of rest. Your hermitage of the heart. Your monastery of the mind where the hearts and minds to heaven and draw on the wisdom of the saints. And today we're drawing on the wisdom of probably the greatest writer in the history of the church on the topic of prayer and spiritual warfare. Most people don't know her for her insights on spiritual warfare because she talks about it in conjunction with prayer, but this time we're going to extract out the spiritual warfare wisdom and talk about mansion number three in her interior castles. Right. I'm excited to talk about this mansion and this beautiful, beautiful woman, fiery woman, strong woman. There's nothing weak about Saint Teresa of Avila, of course. And just amazing. I mean, I think when you think about her, you know, she was always Catholic, fervently so and everything. But when she had an encounter at that point, you know, she was in her late forties. She then goes on to to find found. She founded twenty four, seventeen, okay, seventeen monasteries at that point.  She did. It was so exciting. The latter half of her life. Yeah. The world. Yeah. So be encouraged. Okay. So entering into this battle of the third mansion. Before we go into detail, I do want to frame it in terms of the Purgative Illumination. Okay. Quickly. So this mansion is late Purgative, early Illuminated. It bridges very few people get into this mansion, which is not because the Lord hasn't provided a way, but because they haven't given themselves to the sacraments and all of the means that God has meant daily mental prayer. So by this time, daily mental, this is years of daily mental prayer has been a habit. Daily examine the person's usually living by a rule of life, and there are key characteristics that help you identify if you're in this mansion, and I bet that's where you were headed. Oh, well, why don't you go ahead and start with that?  No, go ahead. Well, one of the key characteristics here that she talks about is holy fear. It is holy fear that I think is really important for us to understand because it's very central to this part because in a holy fear, it's not the kind of fear that thinks of God as a tyrant or is this terrible monster in the sky who's just waiting for me to mess up, but rather it's a holy fear that looks to him in love and profound reverence. And we have this profound desire not to disappoint him, not to fail him. This desire to really stay within his will. We have this huge desire to get better, to progress. So it gets very intense at this point, and it drives us to distrust ourself and to start putting hedges around our behaviors, our life, what we do. So when we start feeling that very fiery fear of the Lord, that healthy fire that keeps us on the narrow way versus a disorder of fear that keeps us focused on far less important matters. But when this Godward self-awareness, fear of God in this holy way, it helps us to understand that we're moving into this area along with all the other characteristics, right? Right. There are a few key indicators, and I want to come back to your point on reverence. And one of them is that by this time, the person is completely free of habitual, mortal sin at least. So you're not in the third mansion. You're certainly not in the illuminative way unless you have overcome by God's grace and your cooperation with him, both habitual, mortal and venial sin, which means that you don't take, you don't commit them as a norm, and so that you don't take them confession as a norm. That's how you understand. With respect to reverence, what's interesting is this, when a person is in this phase, you're not, you're going to have a tendency to see them act differently in the holy sacrifice of the mass, act differently about all manners of things that are holy and all of that. Reverence begins to permeate the life because you have a deep love for God, which means you revere him and you want to please him and you recognize that a casual approach to relationship with him in the way that we live is really disordered and problematic. So you're living very deliberately in this stage and reverence also leads to how we worship. So you're not going to find somebody in the third mansion who has no concern for the holy sacrifice of the mass, how they should comport themselves, for instance. So they're not going to be looking at their cell phone during mass. They're not going to be chatting with their girlfriend or husband or husband. Yeah, or wrestling through their purse, trying to find their to-do list to review before mass starts, you know, whatever it is, they're going to tend to be people who are getting the mass early, kneeling to receive the Eucharist on the tongue, you know, women tend to be veil. It just creates this higher sense of what's really going on. And then it affects the way we worship. So yeah, I think and prior to the veil, there's and a lot of women will understand this, there'll be a shift towards modesty and it'll be a natural shift, like all of a sudden there's this self-consciousness of my dignity and my worth as a woman on how I dress and how to how I behave and that there's there's this sense of when I go to mass or even to the grocery store, when I'm out at the movies with friends or whatever, that there needs to be this shift on how I carry myself because I'm no longer quite as vain, that's starting to be stripped away. And I'm starting to understand that I have dignity and worth as a daughter of the King and it's huge. It's a huge shift for women. Here's a few others that I've listed out here that just are from three survival herself. The person works hard to avoid committing even venial sin, loves doing pennants, acts of self-denial and reparation for sin, uses time well. It practices the works of charity is very careful in the use of speech. As you noted, very careful, very careful in the manner of dress and is diligent in the management of household.  And you begin in the third mansion as you're starting to exit the purgative way, your life is fairly well ordered. It's not out of control in any way. There are no passions that you have. They're out of control.  There still may be a lot of little things that you have to overcome. No doubt. It's always the case, but predominantly God is the driver of your life. He's the one who dictates or who leads or whom you follow. He's your compass in your anchor. There's a reason that, you know, we use the anchor as a Christian symbol. He becomes our anchor and everything revolves around that anchor, you know, on the cross and how do we deny our flesh in a way to become more rightly ordered to what God's asking of us? You know, this even the regulating of speech, you know, people can be quite flippant in what they say that can be very offensive. It can be, you know, latent with curses or taking the Lord's name in vain or even slightly sore or crass or imprudent, you know, all those things. And at this point, at this stage in the journey, you start to understand, wait, I pray with this mouth, I proclaim God's praise and His goodness. And I sing to the Lord with this mouth, perhaps I should be realigning what I say, you know, in the rest of the areas of my life. Right? Yeah. Being very, very careful of not to say things that I shouldn't or engage in gossip or whatever. So in terms of specific battles, one of the things that happens during this period, and just so you know, stuff, I'm on page 51. And this is this is where the key battle is, is that prayer begins to change. So what does that mean? So in the prior two mansions, which which have taken several years for the person to get through, they began daily mental prayer. And they begin things begin to transition. Whereas before their mental prayer was very life giving and peaceful and just encouraging and, you know, a lot of nice things. Now it begins to break down in its effectiveness. And I teach a class on this that covers this transition in depth. It's called Foundations of Prayer Union with God at the Avala Institute. You can find that out there, avaladashinstitute.org. But I will give you a summary in this and I do it in the book of how things begin to change that tell you that the difficulties you're experiencing, which we call contemplative oridity are not the same as oridity caused by sloth or oridity caused by lack of diligence and spiritual disciplines or oridity caused by those other human reasons or you're sick or you're not sleeping. There's an oridity that begins to settle in here as God takes us out of discursive and affective meditation into the prayer of simplicity, which prepares us for a contemplative prayer. So the question is, how do I know that I'm in that realm? So one is we've already mentioned vice and virtue, mortal sin is not present anymore in the person. Venial sin is fading and not habitual and virtue is developing detachment in the soul. We become detached from worldly things with sufficient measure of strength to an ability to endure dryness and prayer, even for sustained period. So we have distaste for vain conversation and other for other forms of worldly entertainment or engagement in the world. So things that we used to enjoy begin to fade in their interest to us. Right. All things are as as rubbish to us. Right. And that's not, you know, it's a beautiful thing.  And while this is beautiful and good, but same time, there are different there are purifying realities in this eridity that sets in as a purifying reality for us. Right. Our spiritual disciplines have we've been exercising for a time in mental prayer in particular, sound, sacramental participation. You know, you're going to confession every other week or monthly minimum if you're at this stage. So you have neither pleasure nor consolation in the things of God. It's interesting or the spiritual world or the material world. I'm sorry. So you might call it a kind of desolation. So somebody might say, well, wait a minute, you're saying this is all glorious and good, but what does it mean that you have no pleasure in the things of God? Well, it's because the Lord is it gave you a lot of pleasure and joy and goodness in your previous mansions. As you're exiting out of this life of sin and into this life of virtue and grace. But now it's time for you to learn a deeper kind of love and a deeper kind of prayer. And so he's weaning you off of those good feelings that you have. We get back from the break. I'll finish the list and it's really provided by John of the Cross, even though Teresa reflects on it. And we'll talk about how the enemy tries to mess with you in this period. OK, we'll be right back. But it's this is the timer it went from. I touched something. That took it from the big. No, it's not. That's I always use this. It just created the change the. I touched. Oh, here it is here. There it is. That happened. Turned into a circle instead of a. So anyway, are you ready to get back? Yeah. The markets that go. This is Dan and Stephanie Burke. Welcome back to Divine Intimacy Radio, your radio haven of rest. We're talking about the devil in the castle, Saint Teresa of Avila, spiritual warfare in the progress of the soul, which is a book that I just wrote. And as if you're listening to live stream, it'll be out shortly. If you're listening to show on EWTN, it's already out. Check EWTN's religious catalog. You hold that spiritualdirection.com forward slash shop, etc. So and we're in the third man. They're in mansion. Yep. And you can find all the previous. If you're just joining us and all these, this will be in a free mini course, eventually on the possible VA dot org. You can go out there.  And it'll be in spiritualdirection.com and make sure you subscribe to it. So you'll keep up with everything. Yep. Yep. So your desire, your strong. So the difference between aridity that is destructive and problematic. In your spiritual life to aridity that is healthy and good and indicative of a new movement of God in your soul is that you're detached from the world. It doesn't matter to you.  It doesn't matter to you for me. It was four wheeling at one point that really I love to do and outdoors stuff. And, you know, when that begins to fade an interest and it's a little shocking when it happens. But at the same time, you're drawn to be alone with God and prayer. So the aridity, that's the key indicator that helps you know that the aridity is probably healthy. Yeah. And, you know, one thing that she stresses during this particular stage, and it's forever, right? But in particular, during the stage, we must be humble. Yeah. Humility is really key because there's can be attention a temptation to pride. Sure. Or to becoming overly critical of, you know, or disdain or all these things, you know, we need to understand when we start to go through this, that we nurture this desire to go to prayer. But we stay very, very humble. We don't criticize others that are engaging in things that no longer attract us or anything. And we're being purified of these attachments. They are attachments. And so we're being purified. We need to be very, very humble and low and understand that if we're not growing in love while we're growing in humility during these stages, then something's off. Right. If we start to see others as the problem and only God is the answer, we need to be very careful that we're not treating others poorly. Yeah. It's a bad sign. If you think you're in this phase and you look at others with disdain as a norm or you judge them because they're not where you are, you are falling prey to one of the enemy's key tactics, both in the second and third mansion, which is to look down on others. You know, because a person is in the third mansion doesn't make them better in essence or more loved by God than the person who's just starting out. They're not. Their life is more oriented to God because of God. And God wants the other person to come and what they'll do if you're not succumbing to this evil is you will look at the other person with love and say, hey, come and join me.  Don't worry about it, but, you know, let's let me let me show you how to get free of habitual sin or whatever it is. And there's no judgment. It's just love. So in the last thing I already mentioned, which is indicative of this there's a lack of desire or inability to practice discursive meditation or receive satisfaction from it as before and a lack of desire to use imagination and prayer, those are all those. All of those signs together indicate that you're on. You're making a lot of spiritual progress and the Lord is taking you from a different into a different kind of into a different place. Right. And I just want to say one quick thing in that when they go through the serenity, you know, this they still have a desire to go to prayer. It's not something that you can overcome by strength of the will. Yeah. Right. This this is supernatural. We just have to continue to show up, just show up for prayer. Just continue your practices. Don't get to stir it discouraged and perseverance is key. And availing yourself of the grace that the Lord wants to pour out upon you. So I think we're going to go into the summary of the battles of this stage. Yeah. Pardon me.  You know, what's happening? I don't feel God anymore. And so we can get we can end up going into doubt or despair or narcissism. And that's really something we have to guard against. Well, and then this aridity is is what is aridity? It's the perceived absence of the presence of God. So whereas before we we sense the presence of God in our prayer, we were blessed by our expiration of the Gospels or things that we see in Jesus that we had never seen before and conviction that we've never had and joy that we've, you know, all of these great things happen and then suddenly we go to that same scripture. Maybe even our favorite passage and nothing emerges.    Why is he abandoned you? This is unjust. You know, all of these kinds of accusations will come or temptations will come to get you to stop mental prayer as a big part of the one of the most powerful ways of wrecking you in your progress is to get you to stop practicing daily mental prayer. Yeah. And this this next tactic of the enemy is can be very disconcerting. Yeah. So not only the enemy is accusing you, but it can also be a period where you find that you're getting persecuted. Right. Know that that's a very good sign and it is so stinking painful. Yeah. And and you're just thinking what in the world is going on? And sometimes the world is crumbling around you. And all you can do is keep your eyes on Jesus and keep walking. Right.  So if if you're being persecuted, criticized, attacked from others that that's tempting you towards discouragement or desolation, the enemy is trying to get you to go back. He's gone. Don't go this way, you know, but it's the way of the cross. And we know that if we deny ourselves, we pick up our cross. We follow the Lord that through the crucifixion, there will be a resurrection. There is no salvation without the cross. The cross is huge during this time and you must pick it up and keep walking. Keep your eyes on. Don't set it down. Don't set it down because they've already picked it up pretty well. Not correcting what you're saying. Just adding and the enemy wants you to set it down. This is this is too hard. This isn't working the way, you know, we thought it was going to go. And, you know, you're really wasting your time and sitting in this silence and prayer. Well, and people can say, well, if this is really, you know, this experience that you're having with God, if that's really true, you wouldn't be experiencing these difficulties out in your personal life or in your work life or whatever. And it's just that temptation to follow the world, the flesh and the devil, to be comforted, to to avoid the cross and the enemies. He's just so stinking, wily during this time. And you just must keep your eyes on the cross during this time. Don't give up. You and I have both faced huge persecutions during this time. Things that people would be shocked to find out from people that you thought you could trust or, you know, you were there to serve or whatever. It can be very, very ugly.  You know, I never it takes a lot of years sometimes to gain perspective on certain things. And that what I'm about to say may seem obvious, but I watched it actually. So it's one thing to believe something conceptually. It's another to watch it. And that is a little bit of what you said earlier. There's no resurrection unless there's a crucifixion that precedes it. But I've watched over the years, holy people following the key events in Jesus' life. Right. Right. And it's and I just come to believe that what it means to take up your cross is it means to embrace the same path that Jesus walked, of course, not with the same severity, because we can't suffer the way he suffered. But mystically, in many ways, there is an agony. There is a scourging. There is a crowning with thorns. There is a carrying of the cross. There is a crucifixion, a kind of death to self in the world and the way things were going to be crushing and then resurrection and then the joy after that, which is really followed in the it isn't fully resolved in, you know, the first three mansions. But, you know, you're going to your your it's normal to experience these these difficulties because both the enemy will use it to try to scourge you. But God is using it to purify you to heal you of things that are in the way of you drawing near to him and to becoming free from attachments and to be to purify you. And what's really beautiful is that the bigger the storm is generally the bigger the grace on the other side. So so let's talk a little bit about how to make sure we battle these tactics successfully of the enemy. One is you can never, ever, ever, ever stop practicing daily mental prayer. You need to make sure that you never give that up. I'm on page 54. If you're following along, if you happen to be doing this while when the book's available, you never give up on daily mental prayer, no matter what. And with Persephone and I and those in our community, we always tell people, worst case, even if I'm hospitalized, if I'm conscious and able to pray, I'm practicing mental prayer and Auxillium Christian norm. Those are two things that I'll never give up. One is a spiritual warfare prayer. And the other is just being with with the Lord in mental prayer. Right. And then pay attention to what the Lord's trying to free you from. Right. Stop holding on to the things that the Lord is trying to detach you from and pay attention because he's trying to get you to pull to to let go of those circumstances, those attachments, those relationships that are not good for you, that are holding you back from what he desires to pour out onto you. And some of those things can be very surprising, but look for attachments. Look for where the Lord is creating discord and ask him, what are you doing here? What's going on? What do I need to let go of? Am I attached here? We can't get through all of them, but begin to identify virtues that you're not that are not yet habitual in you and have a particular specific plan to acquire those virtues, active, actively develop strong spiritual relationships. Community is really important, which is why we're in community in a possibly VA. And the bottom line is if you get this far, frankly, you're ahead of ninety nine point nine percent of Catholics. All are invited. All are empowered. Few answer the call to authentic discipleship of Jesus. But if you're this far, you're way closer to him in the in the castle than you were when you began. God, be praised. God, be praised. OK, so until next time, may the God of peace make you perfect in holiness. May he preserve you whole and entire spirit, soul and body irreproachable at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.