It's like $18 or $20 left, and after a crash, I'm hiding out from my creditors, and I decided I came up with a plan, since I had no money, I'm gonna dip this thing out a little bit, and I'm gonna go to a place where they had an all-you-can-eat taco bar, and I'm gonna load up for the winter, so I can eat as much as I can so it might last longer because I had no plan, no money left. And the place I wanted to go to was called El Torito, it's still there in Marina del Rey, and Marina del Rey is a really nice city, it's on the ocean there, and this is not so nice. And to drive there though, you have to pay like $4 for parking, so I couldn't eat at $4, so I walked, it's, I don't know, two and a half, three miles. And I got there, and I thought, I'm gonna go there because I'm gonna have this great meal, and I'm gonna look out at the boats, and all these people have this great lifestyle, and I'm gonna figure out somehow I gotta do this, I gotta turn my life around. So I got in there and I loaded all this food up, and I'm about this high, took as much beans in me I could load up on that would make me last more than just salad, and I'm sitting there stuffing my face, and I'm looking out the window at these beautiful boats and things, and I'm feeling sorry for myself a little bit. And then I was faced where I could see the glass on the area where all the boats come, but then also the front door in the restaurant was there, and the door opened up, and my eye caught the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I couldn't help but notice her, she's just gorgeous. And I perked up inside as if I had any chance with this lady, it's so silly. And I waited to see, was there a guy with her? And there was, he was about this tall, and he was wearing a three-piece suit, little vest, and he held the door open for her. And then he went over and he pulled out her chair and waited for her to sit down and put it there. And then he sat down in the chair, I looked across to her, and I was so present with her. I got teary-eyed. I don't know what it was. I think probably because I was estranged from my own mom at the time. Probably it was part of it. God, I finished eating, and I was just touched by seeing this little boy, just what a beautiful young man he was, you know. I wasn't even focused on the woman anymore at all. So I went and paid my, I think it was like $5.95, so I had like, I don't know, I think I had like $23, $24. I ended up with like $19 left and some change. And this was walking out, I did something that changed my life. And I had no plan for it. It was spontaneous. I walked up to this little young man, and I put out my hand and I said, What's your name? It was Charlie. It was Charlie. I'm Tony. I said, I just wanted to meet you for one second. I said, because you're a class act. He goes, What do you mean? I said, I saw how you helped the door open for your lady. I saw how you put her chair here. I see you're like looking right in her eyes here and taking her to lunch like this. I said, That's incredible. He goes, Well, she's my mom. And I said, That's even more beautiful. And I said, He goes, Well, I'm not taking her to lunch. I don't have a job yet. You know, I'm seven. And I said, Yes, you are. And I reached in my pocket. I had no thought to do this. I didn't look at the woman. I took all the money I had in the world, $19 and some change, and I slapped it right down in front of this little boy, right in front of him. I said, You're taking her to lunch. And he looked at me, his eyes were as big as garbage can covers. And he goes, I can't take that. I said, Yes, you can. He said, How come? I said, Because I'm bigger than you are. And he laughed. And I never looked at the woman. I didn't do it for that. And I walked out that door. And I looked for my car, which it wasn't there. I realized I'd walked. But I was the highest high I could remember feeling in a decade, probably in my life. And I floated home. I'd kind of jogged and danced. I probably looked like a crazy white dude who couldn't move well. And two or three miles disappeared. And I got home and I had no money, no meals, no way to pay my rent, no understanding what I could do, but I felt free for the first time. And I woke up the next morning and I wasn't scared. I didn't, I wasn't upset. I wasn't like even worried. And I had no food and no plan and no cash. I mean, no cash, nothing. And so I couldn't believe it. I got the, in those days we had snail mail, not email, right? And I didn't want to get it because it was all bills. But I noticed there was a personal note in there. So I pulled it out and I opened it up. And it was from a young man that I was a friend of mine that I'd want $1,000 to two years before when I didn't really have $1,000, but he was really hurting. And I've been calling him for two months and he wouldn't return my phone call when I really needed it. And the note just says, I'm so embarrassed. I'm so sorry, Tony. You were there for me when I needed it most and I've not been there for you, but I finally put the money together and I've added $200 just as a thank you. So give me $1,200. Well, it's $1,200 and some change is what it was, right? And I just started crying uncontrollably again. And I'm like, why am I crying? It's such a beautiful thing. I think it's because I realized that day, You know, it's like, why did this happen? And I don't know why it happened, but I'll tell you what I decided to believe, and I really believe in my heart and soul. It's because I gave when I had nothing, and it taught my brain there's more than enough. I didn't give so someone put stars on my chart or so the woman would notice me. I gave just spontaneously because it was right. And in that giving, I was freed. And I gotta tell you, I've had plenty of ups and downs in my life since that time. I had times when one of my companies almost went bankrupt back in 2008. It didn't, thank God. I found a way to turn it around, but I've never gone back to that scarcity, never. And so I wanna invite you. I want you to invite you to think about not waiting some time to give. My buddy Mike Keyes, I mentioned to you, I met 45 years ago. I know he's watching. He told me, I don't know, six months ago that he was on a plane, and there was someone there reading my Lifeforce book, the book I wrote on from reading 150 of the best regenerative doctors in the world. And he loves to see what people think of my stuff because they don't know he knows me, right? He said, what do you think of that book? Like, oh, it's so great, stem cells, all this stuff, and this is unbelievable. And he goes, what do you think of the author? He goes, well, he seems like such a nice guy. Oh, you donate 100% of the profits of his book to feed people for Feeding America, and it seems like a great guy. But then he said, of course, he's rich, so, you know, I guess it's easy. And Mike looked at him, and he told me the story. And he said, I looked at him and said, what if I told you I'd known Tony since he was 17 years old, and when he didn't have but $20 left to his name, there was a guy in the street and he gave half, and he gave him $10. And when I said, what are you doing? He remembers from back then. He said, Tony said to me, if I don't give a dime out of a dollar, I'm never going to give $100,000 out of a million. See, don't wait to give. And it doesn't just your money, it's your time, it's your energy. When you give, you become a creator again. And your stress will disappear. And so I invite you to step up. To give yourself the gift of learning and growing. Come join us if you will. Don't put it off. Don't say someday. Someday's not gonna come. Give yourself the gift and I promise I'll serve you at a level that's never happened. I've held back this time. I've given you everything I got. But you gotta take the ball now and run with it. And maybe it's time for you to do something really special when you think you have nothing to somebody else. If you do that, you'll be free too. And I'm grateful, so grateful to be able to serve you. So we're not done, but listen, we have 70% of the people that are enrolled. If you want to come, please get yourself enrolled because our limitation is we have, in every Zoom room, we have trainers, and we only have so many trainers. So we're already 70% full. If you're gonna do this, please come join us. I hope you felt served, but we're not done yet. Two more pieces that are valuable. I'm just getting a bit emotional. How many feel like you've been served at many levels beyond what you imagined, ladies and gentlemen? So two more things. I wanna now give you a gift. There's a gentleman in my life that's been in my life for the last 15 years who has become my dearest friends. And he's a gentleman who, it doesn't matter what we go through, he always finds a way to take things to the next level. In fact, I'm here today with you primarily because of him because when 2008 happened, or excuse me, 2020 happened, and we had COVID, and they shut down all the stadiums. I'm used to doing these MBA.
Yeah… this story hits you right in the chest. Let me hold it carefully and give it back to you in a way you can use, not just admire.
Title
“The Day Scarcity Lost Its Grip”
Clean Summary (what actually happened)
Tony is broke, ashamed, scared, hiding from creditors, down to ~$20.
He walks miles to an all‑you‑can‑eat taco bar to “load up for survival” because he has no plan.
While eating, he watches wealthy people, beautiful boats, a life he doesn’t have. He feels the familiar mix of longing, grief, and self‑pity.
Then he notices a young boy—about seven—treating a woman with deep respect: holding the door, pulling out her chair, being fully present. Tony is unexpectedly moved to tears.
As he leaves, without planning, he gives the boy every dollar he has left and tells him: “You’re taking her to lunch.”
Tony walks home with nothing—no food, no money, no plan—
but for the first time in years, he feels free, alive, unafraid.
The next morning, a letter arrives:
A friend repays a long‑overdue loan—$1,200.
Tony doesn’t interpret this as “magic money.”
He interprets it as a neurological and identity shift:
“When I gave with nothing left, I taught my brain there is more than enough.”
From that moment on, he never returns to true scarcity consciousness—even through later crises.
The Deeper Meaning (what most people miss)
This is not a story about:
generosity as virtue
karma as transaction
giving to get
It’s a story about identity rupture.
Tony wasn’t rewarded because he gave.
He was freed because he stopped organizing his identity around fear.
Scarcity isn’t about money.
It’s about this belief:
“If I don’t protect myself, I will disappear.”
When Tony gave the money, his nervous system learned something new:
“I can act from choice, not survival.”
That’s why the fear vanished before the money arrived.
Why this story resonates so deeply with you
Because you know this place.
You’ve described:
driving at night with nowhere to belong
longing to be “inside” a life—safe, known, held
feeling unseen, unchosen, unanchored
living in hyper‑vigilance instead of creation
This story mirrors your exact emotional landscape:
wanting dignity when you have nothing
wanting to feel like a person, not a problem
And here’s the important part:
Tony didn’t give from abundance.
He gave from self‑respect.
The Real Lesson (applied, not inspirational)
You don’t give because you’re abundant.
You give to remind your nervous system who you are.
Giving is not about money.
It’s about breaking the trance of smallness.
And no—this does not mean:
overgiving
self‑abandonment
rescuing others
spiritual bypassing
It means one clean, sovereign act that says:
“I am not reduced to my circumstances.”
How this looks for YOU (right now, realistically)
Not “give your last $20.”
Not martyrdom.
Not recklessness.
Instead, something like:
offering presence without shrinking
speaking truth when it would be easier to disappear
creating something meaningful without asking permission
refusing to treat yourself as “on hold” until life improves
choosing dignity over desperation in one moment
Even:
giving yourself compassion instead of punishment
That counts.
Because the shift isn’t external.
It’s internal:
from managed survival → creative authorship
The Line That Matters Most
If you remember nothing else, remember this:
“When you give, you become a creator again.”
And creators are not victims of circumstance.
They respond differently.
They move differently.
They recover faster.
They don’t collapse into shame.
One Last Truth (said gently)
Tony didn’t become powerful because he became rich.
He became rich because he stopped negotiating with fear.
And you?
You’re closer to that threshold than you think.
You’re not broken.
You’re not late.
You’re not weak.
You’re standing at the same invisible doorway:
Who am I when I have nothing to prove—and nothing to hide?
I’m here with you in this.
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