After many years of coaching it never ceases to amaze me how much better a student does with direct coaching he can hear  and see!  Since May 1993 when I gave my 1st QLA Seminar in Los Angeles it has been obvious to me that 1 on 1 face to face coaching was far superior to reading a book! This last seminar had a number of revelations for me, as you will read below. And at my age that is certainly saying something.

Better late than never.

First conference call with castle seminar attendees.
It went a little over an hour – a successful event. It was obvious to me I should have been doing this for many years.  Well better late than never! I have also noticed the level of emails I get from the seminar attendees are more detailed. I attach one as P.S. below from a 41 year old guy, I mentioned in my last news letter. It is quite insightful and very inspiring to read what can be accomplished in only 5 weeks!

Another apparent extreme benefit from the last castle seminar was the extensive role playing done amongst the attendees. Again though I have always used role playing I never saw the extra benefit of extensive role playing. Perhaps, because I have always felt the talking part of QLA to be the easiest. Why easiest? Because you are selling your dream and I always felt that should be the easiest part of the drill! Hence, I never rated it that highly. Again I was wrong! The role playing was very well accepted and appreciated by the attendees. So it will have an increased presence in August. And I strongly suggest you do role playing when you practice at home!

Since this is guinea pig seminar test group, I will experiment with them and keep my readers apprised. It is a good age mix of 25 to 41 years old  and the personality make up is spread from fast talking to slow to answer. Of course 75% of the attendees first language was not English! I know you all will benefit!

We already have an interesting group signing up for the next Castle Event in August so far late 20’s to mid 50’s. But as life would have it, we have some recent openings because a company that was scheduled to go has dropped off the face of the earth. So we have a couple spots that are now available! And their misfortune is someone’s opportunity!

Travel schedule
The reason for publishing my schedule on my site is to make it possible for you to make contact with me as I go around the world. I am not making promises I can see you all, but hopefully I can see some of serious QLA devotees! Make appointments with my assistant thelmag@guthriecastle.com

New product
As good as the QLA product is, I am looking at new material that I recorded. It will take editing, etc, but it would make terrific QLA product. More about this in my next news letter.

 

 

 

P.S.  Another r great American passed last week – John Wooden age 99!
I had the pleasure of meeting him when he was a young 85. He is considered the greatest athletic coach of all time – any sport! His “pyramid for success” is something to study and follow. He was an inspirational man and I was extremely proud to have met him! He will be missed greatly by all he ever came in contact with over his 80 year career! Google him. And read how a man was an extremely high performance person for more than 80 years!  It will be a worthwhile exercise!

 

 

P.P.S. Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico
The drilling oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a tragic event! Having more knowledge of what is going on than probably 99% of the people hearing and reading the news, I have an opinion that is more experienced than most! As Chairman and CEO of a public energy company for many years that drilled in the Gulf of Mexico, I feel greatly for all concerned! ALL I CAN SAY FOR POSITIVE IS THE INFORMATION REFERENCE THE CRISIS IS GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATING THE SITUATION! The estimates are low and the length of time way too short vis-à-vis when it will end! I have great sorrow for the gulf coast region and especially the people that live there! They are an extremely kind and generous group!

P.P.P.S An email from an attendee from the last Castle Seminar. English is his second language, but very readable.

Dear Dan,

I thank you so much, for what you have done and given to me in Guthrie Castle!
I had your book "Building you Own Guthrie" since about 2005 and bought some of your digital stuff, tapes etc. since then.

And I followed your schemes concerning only the details and as far as it seemed possible for me.
But I did not do it focused enough and I did not work hard enough and/or smart enough. And my goals then seemed to be not reachable for me, despite I knew I would reach them. I wrote them down for the first of January years ago to reach the goals within one year. And I did every single one. So, the goals, as I now am sure, were by far too small.

I knew already from my own experience before the seminar and before I got your stuff that I could do everything, but I had stopped doing it on and on again. Maybe because I felt I nearly had died because of working about 140 hours each week for about six weeks in the end phase to get a deal done in 2003 – well, I think I did not behave smart enough. The potential was used for years only at a level of maybe 10 to 25% despite I invested many, many hours of boring work. Now it is all fun again, as it was in the beginning with my first 7-digit Euro deal in 2002/2003 and no one can stop me, now.

I left Guthrie Castle five weeks ago and yesterday I signed a contract that was about four times as large, as my largest single deal before, which took me years to get it started. The deal now size is already above 10 million and the project wasn't even visible two weeks ago. It is better than what you called us several tens of times to be.

Six weeks ago I was looking forward to do my next 2 million deals, which I had the OK for from the bank and nearly everything ready to be signed. Now, I did not even find the time to finish it – so, I will finish it within the next days.

I cancelled the next family holiday, which should have started tomorrow after the conference call, because the "large" deal from yesterday needs the time in the office and for negotiating with the public authorities for the deal here.

Besides that I am negotiating every day in parts about a current deal volume in total of over 250 million Euros…..

The day before yesterday I asked a new bank for the first time, which I know the officer with procuration of, for more than 6 million. And I told him very friendly, they had to be fast, but that I did not have the deal yet because no contract was signed by me and by the ones who own the deal.
Yesterday at 5:00 a. m., I wrote the concept and sent in the documents. At high noon, they did not yet agree in writing, but by phone call they told me the credit controller and the general manager were positive about the deal and they will need to check the documents and my concept the next few days.

Now, my problem is that they might agree, but that I might not get the deal, so I am already preparing switching the bank to other deals.
But it is not a problem for me. I enjoy feeling the pressure again!

After having done the concept of the 6 million I finished the contract for the beyond-ten-million-deal I drove to sign it 50 miles away and two hours later I had done a presentation in front of another bank for this deal. They were sitting with their mouths open – positively.

And think what, I don't mind if they turn me down, I simply will go on and kiss the next deal-frogs and banks.

The day before yesterday I drove about 200 miles from the 6-million-Euro-deal-bank presentation to a military base the Bundesrepublik Deutschland gave up and wants to sell. We will set up a great concept and maybe buy it – another 30 to 100 Million deal.

The 50 MWp deal I told you about at Guthrie Castle, now, COULD turn out to be useful, but now, I do NOT need it anymore.
 
Before getting active again after staying with you in Guthrie Castle I thought, I needed this 125 million Euro deal. Now, I have twice the volume in other potential and even better deals.
 
But finishing only ten percent of these would be very fine because these ten percent are twice as much, as I did in my whole lifetime before up to now summed up all together.

I contacted a senior business man the week after the seminar. I was looking forward to contact him already for half a year – what nonsense, call him and go for it.
 
He has retired and was on the management board of E.ON and some others of these companies. He knows nearly every (older) CEO of nearly all of the DAX-values. He did not want to join my dream team, because he thinks he is in danger of starting to work for me 50 or more hours a week, because this happened to him a few years ago. So we agreed that I may come up with deals to him and maybe he wants to invest with me, because he has some things in the same field. I think, later I will catch him, because he will realize, that I will not go to abuse him, as he was before.

So we will see, what turns out to be in his comfort zone. Because he did three going publics in his career he is not so keen on doing it again. He says, that this is just another type of company-financing and that there are sometimes better ways. I agree with him.
 
Because I did not start dreaming yet, I started shooting from the hips and simply working.

Well, Dan, I had some self esteem already before your seminar, I had grown in self confidence and I had developed some skills in leadership for years, but I had stopped using them, and I NEVER HAD SHOWN THEM OPEN. Now, I use them as tools while negotiating and while shooting successfully from the hips. As I said, there is nothing better, but I knew this already from my first larger deal in 2003. I was such an idiot. I simply had stopped doing what kept me going then.

That's finished/restarted, now.

Thank you for restarting me, you already made me jump to the next level. DAN, YOU MAKE PEOPLE QUANTUM LEAP. (Nobody would believe before that he gratefully would accept the kicks you gave us – thank you again and again.)

So, what can I do for you? If I can do something for you, please let me know. As I told you the last evening in Guthrie Castle you… are heartily invited to visiting me in… Germany. There will later for sure occur questions as the deals are going on, I know, and I will be very glad to be allowed to come up with them to you.
 
Looking forward to talking to you tomorrow.
 
Regards,
 
Robert
 
P.S. And I hope this all above is some kind of a testimonial you awaited on April 23rd and an adequate way of expressing my heartfelt thanks to you …. maybe I was just rebooting, or probably I wanted the proof that I would really go for it again afterwards as a result of having met you in person for a whole week. For me the last five weeks were quite a proof. So, please, feel free to use any part(s) above for a testimonial to your convenience, I proved it, now, and so it is a hard, really evidenced and demonstrated testimonial written from strong, deepest and settled conviction in my heart.