EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION
Episode # 329 Graham Dragon
Natalie: Hi everyone. My name is Natalie Ledwell and this is the Inspiration Show. Today, I have a special guest coming to us all the way from the UK, who has a very inspiring story. And it’s a fantastic story of how when life can throw you a bit of a curve ball, how you can choose to look at it in a positive way and actually turn it around to something that is really helping the community and helping, you know, the world at large. So, can you please welcome my guest, Mr. Graham Dragon. How are you, Graham?
Graham: I’m doing very well, Natalie. Thank you. How are you?
N: I’m absolutely fabulous today. It is quite warm here in LA today. I actually had to put the airconditioning on. It’s that warm. So anyway, let’s get into the show. Let’s talk first about your background and your story and a particular event that happened for you not long ago that really helped you to change the course of what it is that you do?
G: Yes, Natalie. Back in October 2010, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Fortunately, it was an early diagnosis, so it hasn’t metastised, so it hasn’t passed to the other parts of the body and so I have good prospects of surviving. I was offered a number of different alternative sort of treatment. One of which was to take out my prostate, well I’m a keen (1:36), there could have been problems in that area if they have taken my prostate out. So, I said, no thank you. And I went through radio therapy, which did create some problems. There are some side effects from radio therapy. But I’d certainly much have those than the cancer. And so for seven and a half weeks, I actually went through this process of radio therapy every day having to go in and then go in from that straight to work. Fortunately, a very understanding boss would let me go home early when I was tired. So that was the cancer. A lot of people I supposed could have looked at that as a very negative experience. But it actually turned my life around because I thought I had to do something positive with my life, particularly as I have been brought face to face with the fact that we all eventually die. And so, I started my own little business but not a business just for making money but something that would make a difference in the world and it was marketing personal development material, which is something I’ve been passionate about all my life but never got around to share it.
N: Right. I’ll just jump in there for a second.
G: Yup.
N: You were able to go, you had the radio therapy and it was successful?
G: Yeah. It was indeed.
N: Excellent. The work, your day job is how long have you been doing that and can you tell us what that is?
G: Yes. It’s a bit complex. It’s in financial services and I do a whole range of things including marketing, tax work, training financial advisers on tax, developing software, all sorts of things. And I’ve been in that now for about 30 years (overlaps with Natalie) before that I was an English teacher.
N: Okay, you don’t exactly have to tell me what your age is but what decade are we talking about?
G: I’ve only recently turned 61. So, there you go the exact age.
N: Ah, there you go, fantastic. So at the age of around 60, you were getting close to 60, you were able to move through this cancer challenge…(overlaps with guest)
G: (overlaps with Natalie) Yes.
N:…but you’ve decided at this age that you have to do something where you can contribute and make a difference…
G: Absolutely.
N: So outside of something that you know, a very logical kind of a career, you are now looking at something where you can help other people. So tell us a little bit about what gave you the idea for this and then how you got involved with the stuff that you do online?
G: Yes, certainly. But it was in the summer of 2011, so a year after I had the cancer, and I started the business called (5:00). I got some training on it from a couple who are quite known in england, in this area, for (5:09), and they trained us how to set-up in the field of marketing business and they gave different options, things like weight loss, making money online, etcetera, but the one that attracted me was personal development because it fits with my philosophy. I always believed in developing myself and being able to pass that on to other people or something that really struck the cord. So that’s what I began to develop myself. It was quite slow building up, 2012, early 2012, I made my first sale which was $0.32 and gradually it moved on from there. My first successful campaign was really the end of 2012. A good example, if you do a lot of this kind of business but don’t believe the people that say, oh you’ll make a fortune in 5 minutes. Like any other business, you have to work at it and that’s what I did.
N: I mean that’s the thing, even with mind movies story, the rainbows and puppy dogs version is that we had a great idea, we came out to the US, we did this hugely successful launch but there was a lot of blood, sweat and tears in there. A lot of risk we need in doing that. So I completely agree with you. So let me just quickly ask you before we carry on, so you said you have been a student of personality development. So how long have you been into this material and how did it help you in your cancer situation?
G: Well, I really first got into it in my early teens. And the first development book that I read was by (7:10) and not the one that everybody knows on how to win friends and influence people, although I also started that. But the one that really got to me was how to stop worrying and start living. And that made a massive difference to my life. I’ve always applied it like that. The principle that is something, if you think something bad is going to happen, then first of all accept that might happen and then look at, okay what do I now need to change? How do I cope with this bad situation and turn it into something good? And then when accepting that, then you don’t accept that it’s got to happen you look for ways to avoid the bad that is happening in the first place and in a nutshell that’s what (8:06) book is all about and that is something I’ve done all my life. And I find, I’m happy all the time. And even the big C coming after me, it couldn’t knock me off my feet because I could always find positives and that’s what I found building this business is to share what I’ve learned with everybody who wants to learn about it. So that was the beginning of my business (8:37), which incidently I got the web address showing on the screen but if you can’t quite read it, it’s www.beallican.com. So it’s easy to remember, be all that I can.
N: Now I know that you’re reaching a lot of people through your website and through the (9:03) that you’re doing there, but I also know that you’ve been in contact, come in contact with a woman who’s been doing incredible work in the world who has inspired you to really step outside your comfort zone and do something that most human being will never ever attempt. So tell us a little bit about meeting that woman.
G: Yes, certainly. Her name is Beth Albert. She’s in her around 20s, young, fully qualified physio-therapist. And she came to my local church, if you’d like to call it that, I’m a (9:40). So it was my (9:41) meeting. And she gave a talk about the work that she was doing first of all as (9:49) at the time in India, working with very, very poor people. Many of them saw children, babies with condition like cerebral palsy which meant they couldn’t really move properly and she was helping to, them to recover. Then she went off to Nepal, she did the same thing working at an orphanage in Nepal. And she came back and gave a talk about that, and I was so taken with the way that she has given her life over, totally, to this volunteer work in very poor countries, even though with her qualifications she could earn a lot of money but she’s turned her back on that, she’s given her life to giving back to the universe is how I like to phrase it, which is what I like to try to do myself as well in my own little way. So I then became secretary of a charity that she started called the himalayan’s people project Nepal. And the very first project was to help the children of that orphanage because suddenly the rug was pulled from under them. They lost the lease for the orphanage and all the children had to be sent back home. They couldn’t continue to get the physio-therapy. They couldn’t continue to be educated. They needed a new orphanage. Well, a local Buddhist temple gave them the grant to get the latter but still they needed to build the orphanage itself. And they needed 5,000 pounds to build the roof and the walls which they needed to do before the monsoon season, so that they could build the rest even though it was still raining. When I heard that, right, I’ve got to do something for that. And what I chose to do was rather a little distant with a 17-mile cycle ride in one day. I’ve never ridden anywhere that far. It was 70 miles just because I thought if I’m going to do it, I’ll choose a nice route. So I went chose, went through what we called the new forest. Lovely scenery. There I’m back from Winchester, that was 70 miles. I set off at 8 o’clock in the morning, things were going find until about 25 miles where I started getting cramps, and I thought, well, 70 miles I’ve got to go, I can’t even think about cramps so I just kept going. By 50 miles, the cramps were getting really severe and I had to keep stopping and pushing the bike until the last 14 miles, I pushed the bike most of the way. I only managed to cycle when it was downhill stretches because my legs were cramping too much, whereas, I was using different muscles when I walked or pushed the bike. So I got home about 9 o’clock at night but it was a wonderful feeling because I had achieved it. Great in all number of levels. Great to achieve something like that. And to do it knowing that I wasn’t in the best of health but I still achieved it. And even greater is the fact that I raised 1,300 pounds for that orphanage uphill in Nepal. That was, that really made it worthwhile.
N: And that’s the thing that I love about this story Graham is that you know, most people would be like, maybe I donate some money and do whatever they can but you really got off your butt, in every sense of the word, and went out and really did something to make a difference here. So how did it go with the orphanage, did it, was the building, did we raise enough money for that?
G: We raised enough money, as I’ve said, they needed 5,000 pounds. They weren’t just sitting there waiting for charity. They also did things themselves trying to raise money. The charity that (14:29) started, the himalayan people (14:33) of Nepal, managed to raise over 2,000 pounds. That was sent over. And they have achieved the full 5,000 pounds and more, so the building is now going ahead. In total, they need 20,000 pounds to complete the whole building but again, this concept of just go for it, they haven’t sat around and said to wait and see until we get the 20,000 pounds. They build it. They haven’t gotten the full 20,000 yet and they’re doing it, and yet they know that one way or the other that money will flow in.
N: Right. So if people want to make a donation where can they go to do that?
G: Yes, they can go to www.hppnepal.com. (spells it)
N: Wonderful. Awesome. Graham, thank you so much for sharing your story and experience and I hope that by your doing so that you inspire other people to come up with creative ways to really help a cause or a charity that they really felt compelled to do so. And knowing that when you can really put yourself into that positive vibration and into that happy state, that, that is really the point that you need to be in to creatively come up with the right decisions regardless of what challenge you’re facing in your life. So thank you so much again for joining me Graham.
G: Thank you for having me. It’s been a real pleasure.
N: Awesome. Pleasure to have you. Now guys, I encourage you to share this video and please get the word out about this incredible charity and the cause that we’re looking to support here. Now you can do that by clicking the facebook and the twitter share buttons on this page. Don’t forget to download the app if you haven’t done so already. So you can watch the shows on the go and please leave your email on the box on this page. I would love to send you the manifesting with the masters video e-course. It’s actually valued at $87 and I would love to send it to you for free. So until next time, remember live large, choose courageously and love without limits. We’ll see you soon.