John Assaraf

I am so happy to be here with you, and it's going to be a lot of fun.

Maybe I should start off with how I got to what I've done. Listen, I think I'm an average guy. Mm-hmm. who is very passionate about living an extraordinary life. And so I've been focusing on, how can I live a better than average life, an extraordinary life? And one of the reasons I made that one of my focuses is when I was in school as a kid, I fell behind by two years. I failed English.

Maybe I should start off with how I got to what I've done. Listen, I think I'm an average guy. Mm-hmm. who is very passionate about living an extraordinary life. And so I've been focusing on, how can I live a better than average life, an extraordinary life? And one of the reasons I made that one of my focuses is when I was in school as a kid, I fell behind by two years. I failed English.

Maybe I should start off with how I got to what I've done. Listen, I think I'm an average guy. Mm-hmm. who is very passionate about living an extraordinary life. And so I've been focusing on, how can I live a better than average life, an extraordinary life? And one of the reasons I made that one of my focuses is when I was in school as a kid, I fell behind by two years. I failed English.

I failed math. I left high school at grade 11. My father was an alcoholic who used to beat me and my brother. My mother was kind, seamstress, and they always struggled. Started a relationship, struggled with money, and there was never enough money at the end of every month. And I didn't do well in life as a kid.

I failed math. I left high school at grade 11. My father was an alcoholic who used to beat me and my brother. My mother was kind, seamstress, and they always struggled. Started a relationship, struggled with money, and there was never enough money at the end of every month. And I didn't do well in life as a kid.

I failed math. I left high school at grade 11. My father was an alcoholic who used to beat me and my brother. My mother was kind, seamstress, and they always struggled. Started a relationship, struggled with money, and there was never enough money at the end of every month. And I didn't do well in life as a kid.

And I got in trouble with the law, sold drugs, did drugs, did breaking and entries, was in junior detention halls a couple of times. And that's kind of like my teen years. And at the age of 19, my brother, who was concerned for my well-being, specifically not going to jail or dying, one of the friends I was hanging with went to jail, another one died. And he introduced me to this one guy.

And I got in trouble with the law, sold drugs, did drugs, did breaking and entries, was in junior detention halls a couple of times. And that's kind of like my teen years. And at the age of 19, my brother, who was concerned for my well-being, specifically not going to jail or dying, one of the friends I was hanging with went to jail, another one died. And he introduced me to this one guy.

And I got in trouble with the law, sold drugs, did drugs, did breaking and entries, was in junior detention halls a couple of times. And that's kind of like my teen years. And at the age of 19, my brother, who was concerned for my well-being, specifically not going to jail or dying, one of the friends I was hanging with went to jail, another one died. And he introduced me to this one guy.

And this guy was a real estate developer in Toronto, Canada. I was living in Montreal. And he asked me if I would meet this guy for lunch and maybe he would give me a job. And at the time, I was working for that big electronics company called Phillips Electronics. And I was working in the shipping department, making $1.65 an hour, opening boxes, putting boxes away on the truck, off the truck.

And this guy was a real estate developer in Toronto, Canada. I was living in Montreal. And he asked me if I would meet this guy for lunch and maybe he would give me a job. And at the time, I was working for that big electronics company called Phillips Electronics. And I was working in the shipping department, making $1.65 an hour, opening boxes, putting boxes away on the truck, off the truck.

And this guy was a real estate developer in Toronto, Canada. I was living in Montreal. And he asked me if I would meet this guy for lunch and maybe he would give me a job. And at the time, I was working for that big electronics company called Phillips Electronics. And I was working in the shipping department, making $1.65 an hour, opening boxes, putting boxes away on the truck, off the truck.

And I hated it. I took the train from Montreal to Toronto, met this gentleman for lunch, and he asked me what I wanted to achieve in my life. And I said, well, I'd like to make more than $1.65 an hour. I'd like to move out of my parents' house, and I'd love to buy a car because I'm tired of taking the bus and the subway here in freezing cold Montreal in the winter.

And I hated it. I took the train from Montreal to Toronto, met this gentleman for lunch, and he asked me what I wanted to achieve in my life. And I said, well, I'd like to make more than $1.65 an hour. I'd like to move out of my parents' house, and I'd love to buy a car because I'm tired of taking the bus and the subway here in freezing cold Montreal in the winter.

And I hated it. I took the train from Montreal to Toronto, met this gentleman for lunch, and he asked me what I wanted to achieve in my life. And I said, well, I'd like to make more than $1.65 an hour. I'd like to move out of my parents' house, and I'd love to buy a car because I'm tired of taking the bus and the subway here in freezing cold Montreal in the winter.

And he said, it's all great, but what are some bigger goals and dreams you have? I said, I don't have any. And this was a pivotal moment in my life because he said to me, he said, would you mind doing me a favor since we're going to be talking about maybe you coming to work for me? I said, well, sure. He said, can you fill out the answers to these questions? And he gave me this document.

And he said, it's all great, but what are some bigger goals and dreams you have? I said, I don't have any. And this was a pivotal moment in my life because he said to me, he said, would you mind doing me a favor since we're going to be talking about maybe you coming to work for me? I said, well, sure. He said, can you fill out the answers to these questions? And he gave me this document.

And he said, it's all great, but what are some bigger goals and dreams you have? I said, I don't have any. And this was a pivotal moment in my life because he said to me, he said, would you mind doing me a favor since we're going to be talking about maybe you coming to work for me? I said, well, sure. He said, can you fill out the answers to these questions? And he gave me this document.

And the first question when I flipped over the page, Charles, was at what age do you want to retire? And I'm like, excuse me, what am I supposed to put over here? He goes, pick a number. And I was 19 at the time. And so I said, well, like, what's a good number? He says, pick, you know, 20, 30 years. And I said, it's like 45. Okay. He goes, sure, put it down.