Friday, May 10, 2024


To all my friends in the Million Dollar Community,

Are you sick of hearing all my ramblings yet? If yes, then you might as well delete this message now because this is definitely going to be another rambling session. If not, then read on.

This message is dedicated to Myra Daniels, a highly motivated police officer from Texas who purchased the ecourse a few weeks ago and has since read the material several times over.

Myra recently contacted me regarding a vehicle that she was thinking of purchasing. In our correspondence, Myra mentioned how most people think she\'s crazy for investing the time, money, and effort to come to New York to attend the Million Dollar Seminar and for planning on building her own business in general.

Now, I know that if Myra is in such a situation, one in which friends and family think she\'s crazy for building her own business and even more so for coming to New York for the seminar, then I guarantee that there are even more of you out there that are experiencing similar negativity.

Needless to say, I can relate to Myra\'s situation and that of many of you for whom people think your crazy for going off and starting your own business.

I\'ve told the following story so many times that many of you have probably already heard it. But in my opinion, it\'s always worth repeating. If for no other reason, it just reminds me of humble beginnings and the need to always believe in your self.

When I was starting my medical transportation company, my first business, many friends and acquaintances and even some family members thought that going off on my own and starting my own business was simply too risky. More specifically, they all thought my idea and motivation was some hair-brain scheme.

As a West Point graduate and a former Army officer I could have followed a million and one different white-collared options. So going off on my own without prior experience was not only NOT the norm, but to many it was kind of unheard of.

It was very early in the second year of my business. I traveled to Las Vegas to take part in one of my best friends wedding. There were several of our college teammates there – many of whom I literally had not seen in years.

As was to be expected at such events, everyone asks each other what\'s the latest, what are you doing in terms of work, etc.

Needless to say, it was a very big and eye opening experience for me when no one wanted to hear about my business. When people would ask what I was up to I would tell them and the conversation would abruptly end there.

Now, you have to understand. When I was at West Point, I like to think that I was highly respected as I was voted team captain of the Army football team by my teammates. So for many of these same people to \"blow me off\" in Las Vegas at a reunion type event, it definitely made me feel kind of like an \"outsider.\" It was definitely an eye-opening experience.

But what was so awesome about this whole experience is that all it did was motivate me even more – much more! When I got on the plane to fly home I reaffirmed my commitment to doing whatever was necessary to ensure my success as an entrepreneur.

Literally, on the flight home I began to brainstorm and write down notes on a napkin of new ideas, goal, and objectives of things that I wanted to accomplish.

Now, flash forward a year later. At another friends wedding in Pennsylvania, I again had the opportunity to reunite with many of these same friends. However, now the circumstances were absolutely amazingly different. A year later everyone\'s attitudes had somehow changed.

At that point in time, the economy had begun to slow. Now, many of my friends that were just now finishing their military commitments and were getting out of the Army were having difficulty finding the nice high paying jobs that were common place previously.

Now, many of the people that wanted nothing to do with hearing of my entrepreneurial endeavors the year prior, were all asking me about what I was doing, where did I get the idea, how did I do it, where did I get the will to go off on my own instead of following the norm and getting the typical white collared job.

But I like to think that the year prior, when everyone was \"blowing me off,\" that they weren\'t intentionally trying to be mean. Rather, I like to think that the concept of having to sacrifice in the short-term in an effort to reap long-term entrepreneurial prosperity was simply out of their realm of reality. I like to think that it was nothing personal.

Regardless, it was absolutely amazing to see what a difference had transpired over the course of one year.

Time has since continued to pass and the events of this story have now been several years ago. But these events will always be vivid in my memory. To me, they are moments of clarity of human nature. And the morale and message of the story lasts forever.

A few months ago I met with many of my friends in Pennsylvania for a funeral. Some how, a friend of mine and I were engaged in conversation and I told him of this story. And he somehow summed it up and said it best.

He said \"Joel, at that time, it just didn\'t sound sexy. When most of us were getting out and going to work in the pharmaceutical industry, investment industry, and management industry you were starting a transportation company. It just didn\'t sound sexy. But look at you now!\"

Needless to say, my friend\'s words were welcomed, genuine, and honest. And I did appreciate hearing it.

So again, for all of you that have friends and family that laugh at you, look down on you, and/or think you\'re crazy for starting your own business, a medical transportation company, a business that\'s \"not sexy,\" I understand. Been there – seen that – done that!

But now, the transformation is complete. Every time my friends and I get together several times a year for Army football games and other events, guys always want to hear what I\'m up to. Why – because I\'m continuously moving forward, working on growth and improvement!

Now, many of my friends regularly ask me for advice on new ideas and projects they\'re working on. Why – because I structure my businesses and my affairs so that everything I do is on autopilot.

At our recent Army Football Golf Tournament I was literally on the golf course using my friend\'s blackberry cell phone to check my payroll records, profit and loss statements for the week, daily revenue records and more that Kathy, my Office Manager, regularly emails me every Friday.

Think about it. When I was starting out, I was busting my butt doing whatever I had to do to get my business up and running and in a successful position. Now, while my friends are still working 50, 60, or more hours a week to put money into the pockets of someone else I\'m on a golf course checking to see how much money I was making – do you think I love it? Heck yeah! I absolutely love it. It\'s called FREEDOM!

So two quick important notes:

1. It doesn\'t matter where you start that counts, it\'s where you finish. Does building a medical transportation company sound sexy? No. But does checking the amount of money you\'ve made while you\'re on a golf course sound sexy? Yes, absolutely!

2. When it\'s time to dig a ditch you have to tie your boots up tight, pull up your sleeves, and just dig! Unlike the get-rich-quick schemes out there promising to make you a millionaire overnight, or that you\'re going to accumulate a million dollars worth of property for no money down, I can promise you that you\'re NOT going to be a millionaire overnight – regardless of what business you\'re in. Rather, you\'re going to have to invest into some serious ditch digging! Now I know that doesn\'t \"sound sexy,\" but it\'s just simple reality.

For the first two years of my business I busted my bust doing whatever was necessary to create success and build momentum. But now, my business is absolutely on autopilot. And I love it!

But here\'s what working hard, creating wealth, and being a successful entrepreneur all comes down to for me.

I don\'t ever have to live my life in such a way that I have to say \"I can\'t.\"

Now what\'s that mean. Well, I\'ll tell you.

When my friends and I were at our recent golf tournament a bunch of us were discussing plans for getting together at the upcoming Army/Notre Dame game, Army/Navy game, and the Army/Air Force game.

Where I committed to traveling to all of these games and events, most of my friends had to pick and choose what dates and games they could attend. Why – because they\'re committed to their regular jobs! Some of them \"can\'t\" get time off from work. Others simply \"can\'t\" afford financially to make it to all the games.

Now I can promise you this. There is absolutely no better or more liberating feeling than always being able to say \"I CAN\" – regardless of the time or cost! There\'s no better or more liberating feeling than being able to do what you want when you want.

And it\'s extremely gratifying knowing that my hard work has positioned me so that I never have to say \"I can\'t.\" My hard work now allows me to always say \"I CAN!\"

Not only am I going to make it to all of these football games, but I\'m also taking my mother and one of my sisters to Italy in September. Why – because I can! Time is not an issue. Money is not an issue. Why – because I\'ve worked hard, sown the seeds, invested the effort, and positioned myself in such a position that my affairs are on autopilot.

Now, I know that by now many of you are getting tired of my ramblings. If you\'ve come this far and you\'re now tired of my ramblings then feel free to delete this message at this point. Otherwise, I\'m going to give you another quick example of why I never want to be an \"I can\'t\" person.

My brother, also a West Point graduate, and I take great pleasure in being able to coach my nephew\'s modified football team.

The team is made up of 10 and 11 year olds. So the kids are big enough that you don\'t have to baby sit, but still young enough to where parents are influential and responsible for making sure their kids arrive to and are prepared for practice.

Saturday was our first practice. Prior to practice we addressed the team and all the parents regarding practice times, schedules, and other practice related info.

Well sure enough, after practice we had at least half a dozen parents approach us with their individual dilemmas of how they\'re going to have difficulties trying to get their son\'s to practice on time – mind you practice starts at 6:00 PM during the week and 9:00 AM on Saturday.

But each of these parents had work related responsibilities that in one way or another conflicted with being able to get their sons to practice on time.

Now don\'t get me wrong. I\'m all for dedicated employees. God knows I\'m all for dedicated employees! Without dedicated employees, where would I be?! But all I\'m saying is that it\'s just not for me. Rather, being a successful entrepreneur IS for me.

Where my friends had to start off by saying \"I can\'t,\" I\'m in a position to always say \"I CAN.\"

Where many of these parents had to start their explanations with \"I can\'t,\" I always say \"I CAN.\" And there\'s no better feeling than always being able to say \"I CAN.\"

Alright, I\'m done. I\'m done rambling. I\'m off my soap box.

There are many of you that have been members of the Million Dollar Newsletter for more than two years so I sympathize with you having to hear a lot of my ramblings. If you\'re new to the Million Dollar Newsletter, then this will serve as my introductory rambling session.

So what\'s my sales pitch in all of this? There is none!

Let\'s face it. If you\'ve been receiving my messages for any lengthy period of time and you\'ve never taken action to position yourself so that you can always say \"I CAN,\" then there probably isn\'t much else that I can say that will convince you.

Is a medical transportation company your only option for being a successful entrepreneur – one that allows you to always say \"I CAN?\" No.

Can it be one very important element of your entrepreneurial success? Yes, absolutely.

But regardless of what you choose to do, I encourage you to DO SOMETHING!

Life\'s short – very short. And it just seems like it keeps speeding up and going faster and faster. If you don\'t do something, anything, that will allow you to position yourself to always be able to say \"I CAN,\" then life is just going to continue to pass you by.

You\'re either going to influence life, or life\'s going to influence you.

Regardless of what you do, just do something!

See you at the Top,
Joel E. Davis
jdavis@milliondollartransportation.com