There I was yesterday sitting at my desk minding my own business. For some reason I decided to turn my brain to jello and open my Facebook page. Yes Facebook…the newest way to waste time.

So there is an announcement that Neil Strauss is in Atlanta for a book signing of his latest work “Emergency”. Neil went into the world of survival skills.  An interesting concept. The reason I wanted to meet Neil was that he mentioned us in his best seller, The Game. Someone else was trying to pass of one of the skills we teach as their own and Neil was kind enough to point out that is it something we teach.

Sure it was only 2 lines in a book but what struck me about it is that Neil didn’t have to mention us at all. Those 2 lines would have made no difference in how well his book sold.

It is becoming more and more rare to find people who do the right thing for no reason at all. In a society that seem to be more about what you can take from others, I like to think that there is still a subculture out there that just does what is right. They don’t want a bailout from other people even if they might need it. Their opinion is theirs no matter how popular or unpopular it might be. They reject the idea that we need other people to decide what is good for us. They are offended by those in the media who would like us to believe that we are too stupid and weak to take care of ourselves so we need them to help us know what to think.

I have never met Neil so I messaged him through the mind numbing Facebook monster and he quickly replied. I got his number and we went to meet him at the Buckhead Barnes and Noble. It is about a 40 minute drive from my house but I will go pretty far to thank someone. My expectation is that we would have a quick 15 minute conversation and he would be on his way. Nope….He was just finishing up and invited us to join him and his friends for dinner. We had a great time and interesting conversation for over 3 hours. WE met some new people that live here in Atlanta. It was a good time.

Neil is real. That is the biggest compliment I can give someone.

As we were leaving I finally got to thank him for mentioning us in his book. I joked about plugging our Anchoring and Other Sneaky Stuff videos with ” Featured in the best seller The Game”. He seriously said to ” Go ahead it is completely true. Your videos were must see stuff by everyone.”

What was impressive was not that he said it was okay. It was how quickly he said it. Here is someone that I had never met before who was willing to let us plug a product by referring to his book and there was nothing in it for him. That is a rare quality in the business we are in. It should be more common.

So am I writing this to plug our stuff…No. If you are reading this you already know what we do. It is to show an example of how you never know when you are going to make new friends. A new friend is just one phone call away. Neil was kind enough to invite us to drop by when we are next in LA and he will take us surfing. That would never had happened if I did not seize the opportunity to connect with Neil. I could have just let it slip by.

The point of this post is that I want you to think about how many people you let slip away because you don’t make that one phone call. You hold back from connecting. You let it all slip by because you are shy or you don;t have time. TODAY…..make the effort. Make the call. Make the connection. You never know what might happen.

As for Neil……We will be out in JUNE or JULY…be ready 🙂 I guess I better go buy a copy of the new book….

Tom and Kim

6 thoughts on “As Featured in the Best Seller..” The Game””
  1. Good question Max

    I am not against men and women meeting. I am against the idea that you have to lie to them in order to get them interested. I am against the clown outfits, ridiculous scams, and the sideshow antics that are taught by some deeply disturbed people who think they can give this advice.

    At the same time, Neil Strauss does not seem to fit that mold. He is seems to be a genuinely nice guy who is intelligent and really knows how to connect with people.

    What he did for Kim and I was not much but it was nice enough for me to meet him and thank him. I can separate the man from the material. In a field where the norm is to be a classless punk, Neil Strauss is a class act.

    Tom

  2. Tom,

    Thank you for this nice reminder to connect!

    Incidentally I just finished reading “Emergency” and think it is a great book with some interesting lessons for us all. At one point I was worried a little about his sanity and naivete but the book has a GREAT unexpected ending.

    Loved his book so much that I bought several copies for friends of mine.

    Now I have to go on Amazon and order “The Game” so I can know what YOU are talking about… :o)

    THANKS again for the reminder!

    Dieter

  3. Im just onnocently wondering..

    Weren’t you against all the PUA pick up stuff?

    While some pick up stuff is much more extreme,
    to me Neil stuff is similar to a lot of stuff you didnt seem
    to like and agree with.

    Im really asking out of pure curiosity and questioning,
    and in good faith.

    I would like to know more about your thoughts on this,
    if its possible

    thanks!

  4. Several people in my life that I call friends and a few others I came by purely on ringing a number on a bit of paper or that I took on my phone on an impulse.

    I’m sure I’ve let dozens go by, but these things are two way and I’m sure a number have let me slip by too. Occasionally you get lucky and one of you doesn’t let it go without calling. Stuff can happen just after that :P.

  5. Great!

    Its always great to see that people like Neil exist and all people are not evil like some people say.

    Now if you will excuse me I need to make a few phone calls 🙂

  6. You never know where relationships will end up when you take the time
    to meet someone new. I am sure that he appreciated the thank you, and the fact that you took the time and energy to thank him in person. You never know where kindness will take you…I have been following those cookie crumbs for years….(for those who know me will understand the cookie crumb statement).

    Norm

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