Graham Newberry attended our recent Vancouver Achieve event, and while he was there he joined our coaching program. As I began to hear bits and pieces of his life, I knew I needed to speak with Graham. His story is an inspiring tale of what it takes to find the strength and courage to escape the valley of despair and fight your way back to success.

Graham was a realtor, married with two children, and living in British Columbia. After losing access to his kids, his real estate business went to zero ? he had no motivation to work and lost his confidence and drive for work and life in general. He was soon drinking too much, hooked on crack cocaine and hanging around the wrong people.

For the next three years, Graham spiraled further downward until he hit rock bottom. He spent over $200,000 in savings, began stealing to support his habit and eventually wound up homeless and in jail.

After hitting bottom, he was helped into a recovery centre for six months of treatment, then lived for another year in transition housing. He had lost his confidence, and lived with remorse, guilt, anger and embarrassment. He looked for work, but could only find odd jobs because of his police record.

Turnaround

The treatment centre, however, had taught him that he had to change his way of thinking. Slowly, Graham began to change his behaviours to support his efforts to rebuild his life.

1. He started to read great books, including Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, How to Win Friends and Influence people by Dale Carnegie, A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino.
2. Graham had learned that addiction is about isolation, and he began to make “social deposits”. He got involved in the community, became an Adopt A Street leader and organized and played at children?s Christmas concerts.
3. He created prayers and affirmations that he used through the day to begin to shift his thinking to a more positive mindset.
4. Between odd jobs, he wanted to get his real estate license back. Because of his record, he had to plead his case before the real estate board. After a nervous presentation, they agreed to give him a chance.
5. He set a goal to make $100,000 in his first year. He ended up making over $250,000.

How does a broke, recovering addict with a criminal record make over a quarter of a million dollars in the real estate industry in one year? Here?s what Graham did:

1. Knocked on doors five days a week for an hour each day.
2. Developed scripted questions to ask while door knocking. Graham says it took him 100 doors before he felt comfortable with the scripts. It took 1000 doors before he felt like a pro.
3. Studied and internalized the top ten real estate objection handling scripts, and practiced them hundreds and hundreds of times.
4. Used a quality, real estate-specific database management system to track and follow-up leads and transactions.
5. Became obsessed with internet marketing and maximized all sources available.
6. Continued to chant his affirmations as he walked from house to house.
7. Persisted even when things got tough or frustrating moving forward to the next door/expiry/FSBO/COI with faith and the determination to succeed.
8. Stayed actively involved in the community and routinely spoke about crime prevention, addiction. Emceeing music festivals and performing with his band…Social deposits!
9. Interviewed 3 TOP producing realtors in his area and took notes on what they do to stay on top ? to this day they help as mentors and a support group.
10. Thanked his ?Higher Power? daily for all he has been blessed with, and continued to live in gratitude throughout the day.
11. Built an amazing relationship with his children, ex-wife, friends, community, employer, family and most importantly…himself.

I love stories like this. We all face challenging times in our lives?it?s not if we will face them, it?s when we will. I hope none of you reach the depths of Graham?s despair, but what his story shows us is that no matter how bad the tough times get, never lose hope.

You can learn more about Graham and his work in this CTV interview.

Thanks Graham for letting me tell your story.