Bob Proctor (1935- )
Dynamic Speaker and Thought Leader Known Worldwide for the Law of Attraction
"Set a goal to achieve something that is so big, so exhilarating that it excites you and scares you at the same time." -- Bob Proctor
Early Life
Born in 1935 to a middle class family in Ontario, Canada, Bob wasn't a scholar or prodigy. He was a child of the depression and wasn't interested in school at all. After only a few months in high school he dropped out. As a young man, he entered the Navy in Canada and served for four years. After he got out of the Navy he became a fireman. At this time in his life he was constantly broke, somewhat despondent, and physically unwell. Something needed to change.
A Life-Changing Man and a Life-Changing Book
Bob didn't know it but his life would soon undergo a radical transformation. Close to the firehouse where he worked there was an interesting and dynamic man by the name of Ray Stanford. Bob must have shared his plight with Ray because soon Ray gave him a copy of Napoleon Hill's life-altering book, "Think and Grow Rich." Ray could see the potential in Bob even if he couldn't see it in himself. He guided Bob into setting some seemingly impossible goals for himself. Stanford convinced him to immerse himself in the book and reread it over and over, a habit that Bob continues to the present day. Ray succeeded in waking up Bob's spirit. Motivated by the idea of finally becoming debt-free, Bob set a prosperity goal for himself. In 1961, he set out a goal to have $25,000 in his pocket by January 1, 1970.
With his mentor's guidance and with the messages of confidence he'd fed to his own subconscious mind, Bob opened his own business cleaning offices. The day he opened his business he had never earned more than $4,000 annually. Within two years, his income increased to $175,000 annually. By 1966, his income had exceeded over $1 million. He had reached his goal four years early, earning 40 times what he had originally envisioned.
Meeting Earl Nightingale
Bob's success was so phenomenal that he himself wasn't quite sure how it had all happened. In his youth, he'd been told that you needed to be highly educated or intelligent to amass wealth. He started to think more consciously about how his successes had occurred. He knew he must be doing something right. At this time in his life, he'd been traveling from place to place and was listening to Earl Nightingale's "The Strangest Secret" in his car on an almost daily basis.
One day at a sales meeting Bob said to one of his employees, "I'd love to meet Earl Nightingale in person." The employee came back with something like, "If you meant that you would have already done it." That comment got under Bob's skin so he pursued a meeting with Earl Nightingale and got it. Soon Bob moved to Chicago to work for Earl in his premier personal development firm, the Nightingale-Conant Corporation.
After 8 years of working with his mentor and rising to the position of Vice President of Sales, Bob knew it was time to start his own personal development company. He wanted to take his techniques directly to individuals.
The King of Outrageous Suggestions
Bob launched his seminar company in the mid 1970s. He gave a presentation to a few hundred life insurance agents of Chicago's Prudential Life Insurance Company. He challenged them to write $5 million dollars of business in that calendar year. The seminar took place in July. No agent had ever written that much business in a calendar year in the history of the 100-year-old company. Bob's reputation as a thought leader was established when more than one agent accomplished this goal in the remaining six months that were left in the year. If this success wasn't exciting enough, the performance level of the entire division increased dramatically.
The Secret
In 2006, Bob Proctor was interviewed for the movie The Secret. By this time Bob had been teaching and lecturing for over 35 years. His organization, Bob Proctor Life Success Consulting, was offering seminars in over 100 countries. The film's widespread distribution and intense interest from the viewing public catapulted him to an even higher level of success. Another important event for Bob and his organization also happened in 2006. Sandy Gallagher, a corporate litigator for more than 20 years handling billions of dollars of mergers, acquisitions, and funding transactions, attended one of Bob's seminars in Washington. She became excited by and immersed in the information Bob was offering. Her goal was clear. She made up her mind that she wanted to work with Bob as his closest advisor. Without Bob's knowledge or consent, she began developing a new and revolutionary program for corporations, Thinking Into Results, that she wanted to offer through Bob's organization. Sandy took over the reigns of Bob's 19-company empire in 2009 and brings her talent for business and financial intelligence to his team. The newly named Proctor Gallagher Institute is true to the original mission that Bob began over 40 years ago.
In addition to Bob's bestselling books, the Proctor Gallagher Institute offers physical learning systems, digital learning systems, audio downloads, DVDs, and workshops/seminars.
A Partial List of Books and Programs Authored by Bob Proctor
- You Were Born Rich (international bestseller)
- The Science of Getting Rich
- 11 Forgotten Laws
- Mission in Commission
- The Winner's Image
- The Goal Achiever
- The Success Series
- The Success Puzzle
- The Recruiting Puzzle
- Being Your Very Best