It is about becoming the person it takes to achieve what you set out to do, and the lessons you get along the way.
Success is a personal thing and should be based on what you want to do, not based on your friends or family’s choices for you. They often have a different view of what you will or should become. Besides, is what they’re doing what you want to become? If not, why take their advice? Sure, listen to their opinion but remember, it’s exactly that – an opinion! It’s your ship so take control and steer it yourself before they try and take over and ram it up the backend of someone else. Remember, I am just the compass giving you direction. Chances are you’ll be off course more often than not, but you will end up at your destination eventually.
Having not completed school or tertiary education I have this attitude that anyone can achieve what they want. I couldn’t care less if you don’t have a PhD or degree, or even if you didn’t make it past the 9th grade. Personally, I cannot even do basic maths. I know how to add, subtract and divide using a calculator and it usually takes me a couple of goes to work out a percentage.
Another major influence on this book was that I had been working full-time for 10-years, and was heading in the same direction that a lot of society had chosen. I knew if I continued down the same path then life was not going to change until I chose to make the changes happen. Once I made those changes I found I had achieved more than most people twice my age! I realized then that we all have a choice – keep doing the same old thing year-in, year-out – or change!
I have found that if the mere thought of, or talking about goals and dreams were painful to anyone, they were probably the people whose car was rejected by a scrap metal yard, or whose communication was via an argument or who demonstrated a lack of ability to use their ears instead of their gob, or the ones who couldn’t remember what state of the country their children lived in. It’s pretty sad and no wonder they found goals hard to achieve. Remember, self-belief is the first thing any goal requires.
I don’t care if you’re single and young, middle-aged and married or divorced, widowed, or older and wiser. It really doesn’t matter! By simply taking a few steps first in your mind, then in your physical life, things will change so rapidly that you’ll be blown away.
Remember this message:
Don’t Quit!
If it’s not working, change what you are doing!
There is a big difference between simply changing actions to get to where you are trying to go, and quitting. Don’t quit!
One thing I can promise you is that you will come across a time in your life when it is all going to blow up in your face. You will want to run - but don’t be a handbag and run. Turn around and run head on into your challenge. We will work on this together later in this book, but I want you to step-up and accept the fact that you are going to face fears both physically and mentally. I identify when fear is controlling my state of mind by understanding that fear can subconsciously drive you in the direction of quitting. So, to me that is a simple way of identifying when fear is controlling my state of mind. I become aware of that fear and I tackle it straight away.
I have found that other people’s words can create unnecessary fear to a large degree. I may discuss with them a big real estate deal I am about to do and they say things like, “What if interest rates go up?” or “What if the market has a down turn?” and I have just signed the contracts and I start to wonder that maybe I made the wrong decision! The simple way around this is not talk to them about it and only seek advice from someone who has done it! Keep in mind that ‘FEAR’ stands for: ‘False Expectations Appearing Real.’
So let’s get on with it and I ask you to keep your sense of humour throughout this book and life. There is no monetary value on a good laugh and it’s also good for you. What might seem bad in your life at the moment may be something you will be able to laugh about in years to come! We are all under the pressure of ‘modern day’ life, and seem to be busy doing more and more while achieving less and less. Peak hour traffic is getting worse and the work hours are getting longer. Holidays seem less frequent and shorter and we all feel like we are getting old too quickly.
This is not the way it’s supposed to feel! Often times the only reason we are unhappy in life, I find, is because we are missing out on enjoying the pleasure of the important things that money doesn’t buy. Things such as laughter, family involvement, giving and receiving love, and helping someone become something. But the reality is we live in a society that is dominated by money in the physical aspects of life. Simply put, if you have CASH it’s a lot easier to live your life, fulfil your goals, and assist someone else to experience the things that money can’t buy.
The point being, it is impossible to make it through the physical plane of life without CASH, and what you want will determine how much of it (cash) you need. So how much do you really need?
Making money is easy. It’s about doing whatever it takes to become the person who is wealthy – that’s what counts. I see it as being no different from a successful sports person. They work hard for a long time and often get no money, but they have a cabinet full of trophies instead. They have fans and they have critics. They train, practice and prepare harder every day. And they make sacrifices most people could never contemplate. Then one day a young Adelaide boy called Lleyton Hewitt wins the US open tennis tournament and Wimbledon, and takes home $1-2 million in prize money. Pretty cool yeah, but I promise you one thing, he’s underpaid! If you had to go through the pain of what he did to get to where he’s got, then you would also know that the money doesn’t justify the sacrifices made. Besides, I’m sure Lleyton wouldn’t have been doing it for the money in the first place. He just wanted it bad enough and understood that, ‘winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is’.
I don’t really need a lot of stuff in my life. Love, health and freedom of time are good enough for me. But hey, if you have to drive to your beach house in your Ferrari, then that can be fun too.
Now I know that I’m far from perfect. However, I feel that if I can change someone’s life for the better by sharing the experiences that I’ve had in an easy-to-read format, with a bit of humour and reality, then it was worth my time to write this book. I’ve met so many great people in my life, because I’ve made it a priority to get around the best people in any area or field of life I’m interested in. I believe everybody has the ability to be and do something special with their life, but every now and then we just need someone else to believe in us.
It is difficult to keep on swimming against the current in life, trying to continually improve yourself and achieve the tasks or goals you set. There will always be setbacks and interruptions along the way that will slow you down, but as long as you keep your destination in mind and get back on track as soon as possible, then you will keep heading in the right direction.
This book is designed to give you a set of values and opinions to consider throughout your daily life. It will also make you aware of your daily actions and help you to take note of what you are doing with your time. As you come across situations, you may need to make a decision on the spot either way. This book will help you to assess your position in life and view your decision from all available points of view.
Whether it helps you make a positive change to your life financially, physically or emotionally, as long as it makes a difference, then I know I have made a contribution to the world, and I’ll know it was worthwhile writing this book!
Chapter 2: Your Choice
You are where you are today as a result of your choices yesterday. You may believe that someone else is responsible for where you are at in life, but that is nothing more than passing the blame. The reality is that there is not a thing you can do about your past and no matter where you are presently in life, you can make changes to tomorrow’s results, but it has to be your choice. What you get tomorrow is nothing more