How did Bob Proctor get Rich?
How did Bob Proctor get rich? This is a story about a guy named Bob and how he got rich. He got so good at getting rich that he taught a lot of others how to do it too. But Bob wasn’t always rich.
Bob’s Early Life.
Born during the great depression, in 1934, money was in very short supply for Bob’s family. Proctor’s father was a veteran of the first world war. When Bob’s dad came back from the war, he wasn’t the same person and he later abandoned Bob’s mother and their children. He never really knew his dad but instead was raised by his mother and grandmother. But his mother had to work all the time to support herself and her children, so she wasn’t home a lot. Bob’s grandmother had a favorite grandchild, and it wasn’t Bob. Though she loved Bob, he felt isolated.
Growing up Bob felt alone and unguided. He didn’t do well in school and was asked by his teachers to leave school in the ninth grade. Bob was glad to drop out of school and the school was happy to see him go.
Not good at following orders.
With little prospects for success and without a high school diploma, Bob lied about his age and joined the Navy. But he soon found that he was not good at following orders. Bob frequently found himself in trouble. When an officer asked, “You know better, Bob, why did you do it?” He replied, “I know Sir. I don’t know why, Sir.” He later would say that he was sentenced to 2 years in the Navy.
Going nowhere
After his service in the Navy, Bob worked various low-paying jobs, some lasting only a few hours. He usually would get fired. He was unhappy, and often sick and broke. With no direction it was clear he was heading nowhere.
Bob had more debt than 150% of his annual income.
Soon he found himself in debt, and the creditors were calling. Consequently, all he thought about was getting out of debt. Owing $6,000 in debt but only earning $4,000 a year. If he saved all the money he earned, he still wouldn’t be able to pay off the debt.
At age 26th everything started to turn around for him.
At age 26th, Bob had landed a job working for the fire department in East York, Ontario. It was there that he met a man named Raymond. Ray saw something in Bob. And he saw how Bob was always struggling financially, but he saw potential in Bob.
“Bob, you are always broke and unhappy,” said Raymond. “Have you ever seen me without money and do I look happy?”
“No, said Bob. “You always have money, Ray. And you always look happy.”
It was then that Ray gave Bob a book and told him to read it every day, and to do what it said. Bob initially told Ray that he couldn’t read but that was a lie.
“Bob,” said Ramond. “If you do what I tell you to do – unless you see that I am lying or don’t know what I am talking about. If you do exactly what this book tells you to do. Then you can have whatever you want.”
Bob said later that he didn’t believe Ray, but he believed Ray believed what he was saying was true. Ray was a friend to Bob and believed in him before he believed in himself. The book Ray gave Bob was, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Bob was told to write a goal down on a small index card and to read it in the present tense twice, every day. He was also told to pick a goal that was so big that he would not know how to attain it. Bob wrote down that by a certain time he would have in his possession $25,000.
Fast Forward a year.
Though many of Bob’s friends and acquaintances made fun of him for setting that goal and reading the card daily but he did meet the goal and he was earning over $100,000 a year after just one year. He did not only 10X his income; he multiplied it over 25X!
How Bob Proctor Got Rich!
Bob started thinking about getting rich instead of only thinking about getting out of debt. Soon he was thinking about ways to earn more money. He heard someone say there was money in cleaning floors. Bob said, “I’m not too proud to clean floors.” And he got a small personal loan from a friend and bought some floor cleaning equipment and soon he was in the floor cleaning business.
Bob turned adversity into success!
Soon Bob had floor cleaning contracts all over Ontario and he was earning more money but he was working himself to the bone. One day after working all day and all night cleaning floors and working at the Fire Department, Bob collapsed on the street out of exhaustion. Embarrassed, Bob woke up to a policeman and a crowd of people hovering over him. Bob thought to himself, What am I doing? Then Bob had a critical moment of inspiration: If I can’t clean all the floors, I won’t clean any of them!
If I can’t clean all the floors, I won’t clean any of them!
Bob Proctor
The next day, Bob hired some workers and would go around all night from store to store in a nice suit and tie and bring coffee and donuts to his workers. He knew if he dressed in work clothes, his tired workers would expect him to help them clean the floors. But instead, they would not want to get Bob’s fancy suit dirty with floor cleaning, and Bob would go to the next office building and encourage the next employee.
The secret to Bob’s success.
Goal setting and visioneering were crucial to Bob Proctor’s secret to getting rich. Not only did Bob envision himself getting the money he desired to attain, but he went after his goal with action. But he also listened to a portable record of “Think and Grow Rich” and “The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale,” and he encouraged his workers to do exactly as he did. He was a master at getting his employees to set goals. So his employees were not just cleaning floors for a few extra dollars, they were cleaning floors for new cars, new houses, and new ways of life.
Massive Success Followed Bob Proctor.
Strategies that Bob put in place paid off big time! His income went up to over $250,000 a year. This was in the 1970s! London, England and all over North America Bob’s company was cleaning floors. Proctor noted that other people were cleaning floors but not making this kind of money. Think and Grow Rich were being read by other people, but they were not all earning the money he was making. What made him so different from everyone else? Curiosity drove Bob to find out the answer.
The Proctor Gallagher Institute.
Skipping to the end of the story, Bob did find out what made him so successful and he proved that he could teach others to do the same. Bob Proctor was featured in the hit movie, “The Secret.” The Proctor Gallagher Institute was formed in 2002. So many people’s lives have been impacted for good by Bob Proctor and the Proctor Gallagher Institute. He used the same tried-and-true methods for years. Bob Proctor was born on July 5th, 1934, and died on February 4th, 2022, surrounded by friends and family.
