Hear What They Aren't Saying

by Greg Harrelson

During a routine meeting with a former high school friend, he happened to mention to me that his mother owned a property that may be desirable for development. As he described the land to me, I quickly discovered that it was one of the few large tracts of unimproved land still available within the city limits of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

I immediately started to see dollar signs as we discussed further how much money we could potentially make. He then proceeded to tell me the biggest problem was that his mother would not sell the property for fear the kids would take the money and blow it on things that do not matter and eventually be broke once again. As a woman who was raised on this land and in turn raised her children on the land, she would not tolerate that type of activity, so selling was not an opt ion.

Months went by, and he kept telling me that his mother would not do anything and to just forget about it. He and his brothers were upset about the fact that their mom would not sell. The family has no money, and they are barely able to pay the yearly property taxes.

I soon forgot about the property and was introduced to an amazing coaching company that started teaching me about the Law of Attraction. A few weeks into the class, we were asked to set an intention as to what we hoped to attract within the six-month course. They asked us to think big, so after much challenge, I set my intention to attract $20 million in six months. Keep in mind that I had never made more then $1.2 million in any given year so this was surely out-of-the-box thinking.

For about thirty days straight, I continued to visualize my intentions and discuss the vision with many people in my life. Unexpectedly, I received a phone call from my friend wanting to discu ss his mother's property again. This time I was in a different space, so I told him I thought it would be good if I had a chance to speak to her myself in person. He said okay and called me a week later with a time they could come into my office. Before the meeting, he mentioned again that she was worried about the family squandering the money away. I just listened without judgment.

I greeted the family as they entered the office, and we proceeded to go into the conference room. I could feel a little tension from the mother probably because she felt as if she had been forced to meet. In the beginning, it was my intention to have a conversation with her and the family to understand exactly what she was going through. She was concerned about the family getting so much money and what they might do. All the while I just listened. I spoke a little about estate planning, explaining to her how she could remain in complete control of the money and only drip the amounts t hat she felt were needed at the time. Based on the information provided by the family, I would have thought this would provide her with some relief. She acted as if she already knew she could control the money, so it was obvious at that moment that was not the issue holding her back.

Before I was in the Law of Attraction class, I would have likely just thrown my hands in the air and given up and declared that she was not going to do anything. I did the exact opposite. I remained calm and continued to have a good conversation. We talked about how long they had owned the property, who originally purchased the property, what they did with the land, and so on and so on....

It became very clear that she was deeply rooted in this land, and at one point, she said to me, "I can never imagine seeing someone else on my land." That was the beginning of a miracle.

All of a sudden, words started pouring from my mouth as if someone else was speaking thr ough me. It was as if I was an observer to a conversation versus actually having the conversation. I related to her and the fact that her family worked so hard. I was present to the blood, sweat, and tears they must have put into the land. We were connecting. I felt as if she felt that I understood, and more importantly, that I respected her for all that she had been through.

I said to her, "I once thought that maybe we could develop the land and place your family name on the street signs. Yet, now that I have talked to you face-to-face, I feel that is the last thing you are concerned about. You do not strike me as a person who cares if your name is on street signs. That would mean nothing to you." She immediately agreed. Then I said, "How about this? What if we take three to four acres of land and subdivide it and donate it to the City of Myrtle Beach? We will donate it for public park use only. We will donate it in honor of your grandfather who was the first pe rson in your family to work this land. Once we build and donate the park to the city, no one will ever be able to take it away. Then you could take the rest of the land and develop it. Think about this. Sixty years from now, this will be a place where your great-great grandchildren can go and push their kids on the swings. As they enjoy the park, they can talk about all of the blood, sweat, and tears that your family went through in order to create that park."

As I was speaking, it looked as if she had some interest in what I was saying, like she had never thought of that idea before. She looked down at the conference table for a moment and said, "Let's do it. Let's make this happen. I'm ready." That was the miracle. I found myself listening to her in a way that nobody had listened to her. Many developers, investors, Realtors, attorneys, and others had tried for years to get her property, and it was me who she said yes to. She said yes to the solution that I pres ented her.

Looking back over the past few months, I learned something. Prior to understanding the Law of Attraction, I knew about this property and failed in all attempts to develop it. After learning about the Law of Attraction, I created an intention, I attracted them calling me, and I set a time to speak with her. Because my intention was to serve others, I listened for a solution versus listening for an opportunity. The answer appeared without effort, and now we are on our way to building a wonderful community with that special park that her family will enjoy for many years to come.