It hit me like a ton of bricks, when I realized what my first mentor taught me that “being successful is about helping people to get what they really care about”, even though he never actually said the words aloud. In his wisdom, Joe spent the last year of his life teaching me the secrets of “Think & Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. And I thought that I was just keeping some lonely old codger company by reading his favorite book with him.

When I first met Joe, he walked using a zimmer frame. He passed by my kiosk in the shopping mall where I worked and invited me to his place for tea, almost every day for nearly a year. I thought he was just a crazy confused old man. I soon found out just how wrong I was! The first lesson I learned from Joe was the simplest – nobody ever achieved anything by quitting! Joe was tenacious and polite. Eventually, I was won over to his way of thinking (of course).

As time progressed, I learned that his children were very successful, so much so that they rarely visited him. He grew up on the streets as a musician. One day he got a break and ended up being a piano player in one of Al Capone’s best clubs. Later in life, he became a teacher of music at a school for gifted children. Then old age set in!

He lost his wife to cancer, over ten years prior to our meeting, and spent all his money trying to cure her. He was also suffering from cancer, gaining remission not once but twice over the course of ten years. Joe lived by himself in a less than modest trailer behind the shopping mall. Some people would look on Joe and pity him as a lonely old man who had lost everything

In truth, Joe brought sunshine with him everywhere. He had the gift to give and keep on giving that changed my life forever. I realize now that he intentionally started me on my lifelong journey to understanding how to practice serenity and wisdom! Joe lived each moment to its fullest. His thoughts were firmly rooted in the present but showed great respect for the past and optimism for the future.

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