William Danforth once wrote a important book entitled I DARE YOU! As a small boy before the time of drainage ditches, living in the countryside surrounded by swamplands. Those were the days of chills and fever and malaria. When he went to city school he was a sallow cheeked and hollow chested young man.

One of his teachers George Warren Krall, was what we would call a health crank. The class laughed at his ideas. They went in one ear and came out the other. But George Warren Krall never let up. Then one day he seemed to single me out personally, says Danforth. With a flashing eye and in tones that I will never forget, he looked straight at me and said “I dare you to be the healthiest boy in the class!” “That single dare on that very day, changed my life”, so says William Danforth in the now infamous book, I Dare You!

Written in the late 30s and as the president of Ralston Purina, William Danforth set out to impact the lives of all those willing to take a dare. The dare, to take your life on ,the dare to be adventurous, the dare to be strong, the dare to think creatively, the dare to develop a magnetic personality, the dare to share, are only a few of the dares that William Danforth accepted and challenged all to take in his classic book!

In this magnificent, tiny little book that has been read by over a million people, I being one of them , I accepted the dare!

In January of 2007, as I set my goals, I felt comfortable in the goals that I aspired to accomplish. But not so much as to have the greatest
year of my life.

I had just made the decision to republish and rewrite the book that altered my life more than any other…Lessons From Great Lives by
Sterling W. Sill.( Strangley enough Sill and Danforth were great admirers of each other and regularly sent gifts back and forth).
The book had been out of print and unavailable to the masses for over 20 years. It was an awesome experience challenging me to be better than I had ever been, to be more accountable more proactive and more diligent, to literally take a quantum leap in my life.

As 2007 now winds down, I can point to the very moment in my life when I decided to take that dare! It’s written in my journal.

It was a Saturday morning February 10 just after completing the Millionaire Training Circle conference call that I host for one hour
each and every Saturday to teach principles, habits and reference points for many of the independent contractors that I work with. I just returned from a workout and while eating my breakfast I decided that I would watch the now famous movie The Secret for the second time.

Within 10 minutes of watching The Secret, I had to stop myself. I was not doing what I was teaching, I was not taking the action in my life that would give me the greatest reward.

I stopped the DVD and immediately went to my office and grab my journal, I rewound the DVD and began to watch intently I felt as there was a message specifically for me, and that message rung true as I began to write each and every quote from the wisest of individuals that have ever lived. I was particularly struck when Bob Proctor made the statement..If you really want to know then study the wise ones.

It hit me like a sledge hammer.

From that day forward I have not missed organizing my thoughts and ideas to what Sterling W. Sill taught me and is now called my idea bank!

What a thrilling experience to know and trust in the famous line from Bacon who said:

“Reading makes a man full, but writing makes him exact”.

I have gone on record many times on radio and on public conference calls and audiences I speak to and said that this has been the best year of my life.

Not because of the money that I have made or helped others make, while I find it exhilarating to earn seven-figure incomes and seeing associates do the same, it is what the famous wise ones have told us, go out and make $1 million but not for the money but for what it will make of you in the process.

I have been energized, more focused, read more books, documented more experiences, been more interested in more people in more subjects than I’ve ever been in my life.

When I began the year one of my words to study for the year was wisdom. How you get wisdom, the great King Solomon tells us in the book of Proverbs that it begins with humility.

As I have opened up the books from the wisest to ever live, and written down their thoughts that added my own experience, I now feel as though I have had the greatest year of my life. I have read almost the entire published and unpublished works of a man who was noted and celebrated as the number one recruiter and producer for the better part of 40 years at New York Life Insurance, Sterling W. Sill.

I have also read countless books numbering over 50 on the year including revisiting the seven habits of highly effective people, much of OG
Mandino’s work and Victor Frankl. I have enjoyed the remarkable life of Elbert Hubbard who spent 14 years studying 140 of the greatest people.

I’ve enjoyed my visit to the Hall of Fame for great Americans. Where 102 of the most celebrated Americans have been inducted for their
contribution to America.

I enjoyed the Leonardo da Vinci experience put on in Sacramento this year. And I enjoyed studying many of the great lives featured in the
book lessons from great lives learn to be rich in all areas of your life.

I was fortunate to speak on Wall Street, keynote at the DSA and attend and participate at many other outstanding functions.

And as Thomas Carlyle said “great men taken up in any way are very profitable company for we cannot so much look upon a great man without gaining something from him“.

All of this has had a cumulative effect in all areas of my life. A life that I didn’t know I could live. A life that I only saw this fulfilling
in others. Now, my cup runneth over!

So as I conclude this inaugural blog I ask you, are you willing to take a dare.You can do it, you can make it the greatest time in your life. To help you on the journey be sure to register for the free ecourse to assist you. Make 2008 the greatest year of your life!!

I DARE YOU!

Dan McCormick