This past Saturday, I attended my 10 year reunion and hung out with people I hadn’t spoken to for over a decade. With a few exceptions, I did not keep in touch with people from high school so I was seeing everyone for the first time.
It was an amazing experience and interesting enough, none of the people that had tormented me in high school were there. I got along great with everyone and met a few folks I didn’t know before.
I really had a great time, which was a little surprising.
A conversation of note was with an old friend Alex, who I greeted. I use to work at Chuck E. Cheese with him, making pizzas.
Before the reunion, many of us had submitted bios of where we were at now, occupation, and a picture.
Alex had read the bio I submitted and said, “I read your bio and saw your picture. I recognized your face, but I could tell you weren’t the same person. What happened to the shy Ferny? You smile more, you’re confident, even your posture and the way you stand is different.”
I asked him, “How was my posture before?”
He replied, “You kinda hunched over, very shy and kept to yourself. Wow. You look good.”
I said ‘thank you’, and tried as best I could to explain what had happened over these past 10 years. It turned out he had recently started working with World Financial Group, a financial services network marketing company, and had discovered the blessings of personal development and understood the value of a positive association of friends.
So I connected with him on that level and explained that over these past 10 years, my association had changed, and therefore I had changed. I think he understood, based on his recent experience in this industry.
An Out of Body Experience
That Saturday was a surreal experience, because of how I felt as a socialized. Until then, I had no idea how much I had changed, until I mentally stepped outside myself for a little bit that night and I made myself aware of how I interacted with everyone there.
Kind of like an out of body experience…
Alex was right.
I was not the same person as before. I was more confident. As a result of this new me and my body language, I sensed that the level of respect people had for me was also different – in a good way. They were happy to see me, wanted to take pictures with me, were interested in my life and I was interested in theirs.
A couple of folks pulled me to the side and spoke candidly about how proud they were of me, being that I was latino, and how much they had respected me during high school, despite the fact that some of their friends would put me down behind my back.
I also sat down and had a great conversation with an old friend, named Lorena. She didn’t know this, but I use to have a small crush on her in high school. 
Back then, like any nerd with a crush, there were many times when I helped her with her homework and was the best friend I could be. She was always very grateful for my help, and she was one of those few friends who provided me with encouragement and support.
We caught up that night and I met her husband, Louis, who’s a great guy. They had flown in from Arkansas, where they settled down. They have been married for 7 years and are both doing great, with 3 beautiful children.
Lorena was also the only other full-time business owner in the room besides myself. Being a successful business woman, considering where she came from, having never finished college and raising a family was an extraordinary accomplishment and I was very proud of her and how far she had come.
We talked a little bit about business and we exchanged a few ideas. It was very cool to see people I grew up with doing so well for themselves and having become successful entrepreneurs.
The Alpha Networker
I guess the reason I’m sharing this is in part to reflect on how far I had come since leaving for college, and trying to piece together my transformation.
And most definitely, a HUGE part of my transformation was as a result of these past few years growing as a business owner, dedicating myself to personal development and becoming the “Alpha Networker”, Mike Dillard defines so well in his Magnetic Sponsoring course.
It was clear that the “Alpha Networker” was the Ferny who was present that night for my high school reunion.
The only part of the old Ferny, which remained was my heart and the stubbornness, which never allowed me to quit anything I began. It was this stubbornness which got me through high school and my failures in Network Marketing.
This ability to weather the storms of life, eventually led me to discovering Mike Dillard and Magnetic Sponsoring, and led to my growth as a networker, a marketer, a teacher and entrepreneur.
The growth and skill as marketers Raymond and I have gained is laid out in our Attraction Marketing Formula course. It’s the equivalent of $50,000 in business experience, instruction and investment we made to gain the knowledge necessary to find success.
It’s available for you when you’re ready to take a giant leap forward in your business.
As for my personal growth and transformation… well, I’ve described this journey as best I can in many of the AMF newsletters I’ve written, including this one. I hope this one, as well as the others, will inspire you to find the courage and confidence to move forward in pursuit of your dreams, despite the pull down from the “crabs” in your life.
But I can only talk to you about my journey. You’ll still need to embark on your own.