1 Million Dollars in 365 days…

People often ask me how I find the time to do everything that I am doing, with relation to my business interests, family, friends, social and sporting activities. Well, the truth is that I have my days when I don’t have time to do everything I want!  I think it boils down to a fundamental - you have to MAKE TIME to do the things you love to do.

Do I make time to do everything I do all the time? Maybe not at first, but I always find a way to be grateful for whatever situation I am doing. Do I like cleaning the toilet? No, not until I realise how lucky I am to have a toilet! Imagine not having a toilet and having to go in the bushes all the time?! Reminds me of being back in Africa… (haha only joking). See how much we can be grateful for!

How to get more time out of your day:

1. PRIORITISE - Write down the things you want to accomplish everyday and then prioritise them. Don’t be afraid to limit yourself. You’ll soon find out what your actually capable of every day.
2. BE TRUE TO YOURSELF. You are more likely to complete things if they mean something to you. As we have previously covered, your time is your most important asset, so be careful what you commit to. You need to view your time as valuable, because if you don’t then neither will other people.
3. GET UP EARLY! No one seems to like step! Well, if you’re not willing to make some changes to your life, then you’re not going to get any different results - it’s that simple. What if you work full time? How will you get time to do those other things that are important? Why not get up 30 minutes earlier each morning to focus on something that’s important to you? Work on your new business idea, pick a hobby, spend time with your kids if they’re awake!
4. DO THE LITTLE THINGS - make sure you put the little things on your list of stuff to do. Not only is a great and encouraging to tick off items on your “to-do-list”, but sometimes the little things can have a big effect on your day.
5. KNOW YOUR GOALS - Like I’ve said before, it’s important to know where you want to go. Write down your goals and put them somewhere where you can see them daily. This way you can put some simple steps on your list, which will get you closer to the achievement of those goals.
6. EXERCISE - If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking - I’m already so busy, how can I fit more into my hectic day? Well, to start with, you’re going to need some more energy! So why not start off your day with a run/swim/yoga/Pilate’s/brisk walk? It’s amazing what even a quick walk can do for your energy levels, creativity and problem solving skills!
7. MAKE TIME FOR YOUR ONE THING - For me this is my family. Everyday I make sure that I fit my family in to my life. Whether it’s helping out with bath time, reading stories, taking them swimming, going for a walk, or even taking them for a drive. It’s awesome to spend time with my kids and wife, and this is something that has the ability to re-charge me and ensure that I am always committed to achieving my goals.
8. HAVE FUN! I know it sounds cliche, and it probably is. The truth is, that like anything in life, if you’re not having fun doing something, there’s little chance of you continuing to do those things. If you’re having fun, while you cram more into your day, then you’re going to keep doing it, which means you’re going to achieve more!

Those are some of the practical things that I do in my days. Please feel free to add some tips in the comments section on what works for you.

Have a most excellent day!

Kind Regards

Ryan Kilfoil

The Kiwi Millionaire

124 days!! I’m getting so excited! And so I should be - that’s not much time until I achieve my goal of making $1 Million in 365 days!I am honestly amazed at what I have achieved over the pas 241 days.

A couple of years ago, If you has asked me if I could achieve all this in maybe 5 years - I would have been sceptical. I am just so grateful for all the wonderful people I have met on my journey so far, the things I have learned and the people that I have been able to help.

I believe that I have certainly become a better person, more loving husband and father, spending more time with my family than ever before. Every morning I wake up and am so grateful that we are living in our own house and I am surrounded by the ones I love. Life really can’t get any better…

I’m confused?

So what’s with this whole “live upside down” title? Well, currently most people view the world and everything in it in one way - the “right-side” up. If we go back to the beginning where I talked about how thoughts create your actions which give you your results - we can see that if the majority of people are living life according to one perception, then they will be getting a certain set of results.

For example, you get married, have kids, get a 9-5 job, work till your 65, try and live off a pension and die. Sorry to be so morbid, however I am just trying to illustrate that this in no way appeals to me, or the type of people I surround myself with?

Oh, now I get it!

Why? Because I believe there’s more to life. I believe we are all put here on this planet to live life to the full - to enjoy our time here. Life is all about the experience, the journey. No one knows how long they have until we die, so like you’ve no doubt heard from others - make every second count.

On the other hand , there are people that do the opposite to what everyone else is doing. This means that they in turn get different results. For example, if “everyone” is going out for a beer tonight - do the opposite. Go home and spend it with your family, perhaps stay late at work. Just do something DIFFERENT!

Why? Because if you are sick and tired of getting the same results that you keep getting then you need to change. A great way to start this is to do the opposite of what the majority do. If the majority of people that you associate with are happy, successful and wealthy (in the holistic sense), then by all means COPY them! However, I presume that if you are reading this today then you are one of the minority who want to do something about the results you are getting.

THOUGHTS > ACTIONS = RESULTS

One day there will come a time where people will be better off by doing the same as the minority - until then - keep doing the opposite!:-) Makes you think doesn’t it?….

The other day I was trawling the interweb, as I do sometimes, when I came across an article about a property developer who wanted to develop a barrier island in the Tauranga harbour, New Zealand. The more I read about this particular gentlemen, the more I was intrigued.

His name is Christopher Wingate. According to this interview in the NZ Herald, Chris was a self made millionaire by the age of 25.

“He knew from a young age he wanted a different life and so instead of spending his days hanging around the Western Heights shops he spent it in the bush or wondering around some of the tourist businesses talking with the owners.

Each Friday night we would have fish and chips- one piece of fish each. The others would hog their piece of fish but I would focus on the chips knowing my fish would be there long after they had scoffed their fish. I guess then I knew I was different

Married 24 years with 4 kids, Chris was a self made millionaire by the age of 25. He has lived in Australia, New Zealand, Vancouver and Hawaii.

He is currently filming a movie called GOVERNMENT, a 9/11 type film about what he calls “idiots in power.“

The part that really struck a chord with me, was when Chris was talking about the biggest low point in his life, and how a change in perception, totally changed the way he was viewing life at that time:

“My darkest hour was when:

I lost the Matakana Island litigation at the Privy Council. I had won the 4 week trial in the NZ High Court - the defendants were clearly guilty and all the documents and cross examination proved that. Then the Court of Appeal changed the facts and ignored others, I was shocked democracy could be so negligent or corrupt. The Privy Council were supposed to be the beacon of intelligence so when they rejected my appeal I just went blank.

I came through it by:

On the flight back sitting in first class talking with a Chinese businessman from Singapore we started talking about what we did. I explained I had just lost a court case and began talking about it all . I started showing him some photographs of Matakana Island from my briefcase and among those photo’s were pictures of my family and our home, While looking at them I realised my family were about to lose their home as we had put everything into the litigation. Suddenly I found myself crying.

The Singaporean man put his hand over to mine and said ” Maybe I don’t know how bad things are for you but I want to consider this, imagine if you were on this flight for a different reason, imagine if one of your family had been killed and you were flying back to New Zealand for that reason, you would be here right now praying to god he take everything you own in exchange for that family member to be alive again. Money is not as important as family that is your priority and that is your wealth and reward”. I got off the plane with a smile and my family needed that.”

The story behind the Matakana Island litigation is covered in this Scoop article. Chris Wingate has also set up a website about the venture.

I was really touched by his story, his passion and drive. Here is an example of someone who believes in something and is standing up for what he believes in by doing something about it! Great stuff Chris - I hope your story empowers and inspires others like it did me. Thank you.

My loyal subscribers, spam assassins and random blog hunters! Welcome and thank you for your patience over the last week or so. I’m fully recovered from my marathon and I’ve been having the most amazing time taking action to achieve my goals!

Now as corny as that sounds - it’s the truth. The people I have been meeting just keep getting more empowering - and they all seem to be in the right industry, willing to lend a hand with whatever challenge is at hand….coincidence? I think not….

On my path to make a Million dollars, I have a number of strategies in place, with new plans being made daily Recently, I have just acquired an Email Marketing company. I’m really excited about what we are doing in this space and know that this is going to be one of the must-hear stories in my interview on October 6th 2009!

I’m also currently undertaking due diligence on another start-up company, which I hope to be involved in within the next month.

Why am I investing in companies?

I see these organisations as opportunities, vehicles to achieve my financial goals, so that I can continue my work to achieve my other goals and help people be successful in their lives.

So do I have hundreds of thousands of dollars lying around, ready to splurge on the next new business idea? No - not yet.

Am I smarter than everyone else out there? No.

Am I crazy? Some people think so.

The thing that separates me from average Joe out there, is one, simple word. Action.

“Action is what happens when you decide to stop dreaming and start living your dreams!”

So stop worrying about what other people think and take action on something that’s important to you. That’s what I’m about to do.

On personal note - thanks to everyone that has emailed me over the past week and I will reply to you all personally - it means a lot to be able to help other people.

Have a happy, productive and empowering week my friends

A vital part in achieving your goals, is knowing exactly what it is you want to achieve! One of the more popular ways to do this is through visualisation, whereby you “imagine” your goal and what it feels like, once you have achieved it. So below is a picture of my goal (well, in US Dollars anyway!)

Now as I time ticks along I am becoming increasingly aware of the impact that achieving my goals is having on my life. I believe, that to become successful, you need to help others be successful.

This approach is a great way to build networks and really have an impact on others in this world. It’s really all about networking and hanging out in the right circles. The other week, in my butterfly analogy, I talked about making a garden to attract the butterflies instead of chasing the butterflies for the rest of your life. I really feel that is where I am in life at the moment. My garden is just blossoming and all these butterflies are being attracted to it! It’s AMAZING!

The Secret Steps to Mastery:

No matter what you want to achieve in life, what goals you set yourself, there are a number of strategies to ensure success.

1.  Find someone who’s already done it. This strategy can bring you some very quick results. The great thing about people that are successful already, is that they usually are more than willing to help others achieve success - if someone asks them to help. Often people make assumptions about successful people, thinking they are too busy to help someone else. I know of a number of very successful people that really enjoy helping other people in their lives.
2. Get in touch with them. Send them an email, write them a letter, give them a call if you can get their number, or perhaps you know someone who knows them - get them to make the introduction. Tell them what you’re doing and why it’s important to you, then ask them if they can help you - you may be surprised at their answer.
3. Learn from them,  there’s no need to re-invent the wheel… take their advice, and remember that it may not be a simple case of repeating the exact same steps, however I believe there will always be a large amount of value delivered every time you do this exercise.
4. Rinse and repeat for best results. Don’t just do it once and wait for your goal to fall in your lap. Keep doing it until you get the results you are after. Try and surround yourself with the type of people that have the results you are looking for.

It makes sense - doesn’t it? If you want to learn how to be rich, spend time with people who are rich and have made their fortunes. If you want to be healthy, wouldn’t it make sense to surround yourself with healthy people?

You encounter these people in your everyday life, so start to make yourself aware of those around you. Are they empowering you to achieve your goal? Or do you feel dis-empowered after spending time with them?

So if you find yourself talking to someone that makes you feel great, and appears to be like-minded, ask them for their card/phone number/email address (and it would pay to tell them why you would like to stay in touch so that they don’t call the police!).

“What have you got to lose….except your goals?”

Ok, so maybe it was JUST 42km, but it may as well have been 1000 miles! This is the start of the 45th Rotorua Marathon, complete with Maori Warriors giving us runners some extra motivation.

It turns out that 42km is quite a long way. This was certainly such an amazing experience and I stil can’t really come to terms with the fact that I actually completed it. You reach different milestones on the race. There’s the 1km mark, you feel great, charged and full of energy. I was still feeling great at 10km.

At 18km I couldn’t take it anymore and had to start walking. I had managed to injure my right knee (which did happen once during training). I was alternating between running and walking, but eventually it was too painful to run.

When I set out to achieve this goal and complete a marathon, I envisioned myself running the whole thing. Sometimes life doesn’t always work out exactly how we plan, but don’t let that stop you. I certainly didn’t let it stop me. I decided before I even ran the marathon that I was going to finish.

I wanted to complete the marathon (my first ever) in under 5 hours. I had trained for 12 weeks and put a lot of effort, sought lots of advice from experts, and drank a lot of water and ate a lot of carbs! I also was doing this to raise money and awareness for STOP THE TRAFFIK - an international organisation dedicated to freeing people across the world from slavery.You can read more about the fundraising at http://www.justgiving.com/ryankilfoil

I didn’t make the decision to start walking easily. I tried to run through the pain as long as I could. I had never walked any long distances before, so wasn’t sure how my body would react or how long it would take me.

“It didn’t matter that I didn’t know those answers. I knew the outcome -I would finish this marathon today.”

That really helped me get through this. It’s crazy because you don’t realise how long it takes to walk 1km until you have to walk 25 of them in a row! I kept picturing myself walking over that finish line.

The last 10km were really tough…..then the last 3 were even tougher. They were tougher physically but, mentally, I knew I had made it at about the 36km mark….when I turned the corner and saw my beautiful wife standing there, so happy to see me. It gets lonely on the road…

This is a picture of myself, walking the last 100 metres, with my beautiful wife and our daughter Sophie, cradled in her arms:

Walking with her gave me more energy. I couldn’t stop to moving because my legs would seize up so I just kept on walking as fast as I could. She walked with me for a few seconds, gave me a kiss and moved back to the car, where our 12 week old daughter was still sleeping.

At the 3km mark I got another boost, when I saw my dad walking towards me. He walked with me for those final 3km. It felt like ages, and it was so great to have him by my side. When I got the final 200m, I was greeted by the rest of my family. It meant so much to have them all there, cheering me on. I felt like I was about to cross the finish line in the Olympics for gold….what a feeling!

As I walked over the finish line, there was more cheering and the announcer called my name. 6 hours and 26 minutes of constant movement. I did it. I completed a marathon - my first ever. Sure, I was in a lot of pain and my body ached from fatigue, but I felt like a million dollars!

Sometimes in life we get thrown some challenges, and it’s all about how we respond to those challenges and the support that we surround ourselves with, that will decide the outcome.

This is me and my good friend Dan Necklen, after finishing the marathon. I couldn’t have done this without you mate. Thank for the support - you’re a legend!

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank all those hundreds of people that have supported me in this effort. Those that had the courage to make a donation to make a difference for those people in this world that are still sold into slavery - by supporting my charity - STOP THE TRAFFIK.

For all those amazing people that gave me advice about running and training - thanks for your efforts, it was all worth it! To my wife and two kids, thanks for your patience, especially on my long 2 hour runs. Your support has been invaluable! To everyone else that I haven’t mentioned personally, sorry but my goal tonight is not to make this the worlds longest blog post…although it probably getting there!

I would like to end this entry, by saying to everybody - don’t be afraid to challenge yourself. This is how we grow and evolve. When you next challenge yourself, throw everything you have at it. See yourself crossing that finish line, whatever it may be. Until next time, keep those dreams alive….

 All the best - Ryan Kilfoil

I did it! I completed my first marathon! Man am I glad to get that goal achieved! Thanks to everybody who sponsored me and donated to STOP THE TRAFFIK. While I didn’t reach my goal for fundraising, we still managed to raise well over $1000 in just a few short weeks - so top effort if you helped out!

We’ll save all the detail for the next post - still waiting for some photos so I can include those too. Now, I thought it would be an opportune time to talk about achieving your goals. It turns out:

“The world is full of people who really want to help you achieve your goals”

Since I completed my marathon, I have been working on some amazing projects. I didn’t actually realise how much time and energy preparing for a marathon takes!! The clock is ticking and there are 152 days until I achieve my goal of $1,000,000

It’s all pretty full on at the moment:

• I’ve just started a new company specialising in online marketing for small to medium businesses. I’m really excited about this service and the value that it adds to businesses. I’ll let you know once it’s all up and running
• I’ve been pricing up some quotes for printing my book. It’s almost finished and should be available for sale in June! I’m really passionate about telling my story to empower other to achieve their goals!
• I can’t stress it enough - if you want to achieve something, just take action! It’s amazing what happens when you put your intentions out there!

One of my recent goals was to generate extra income every week. Although this has been one of my goals for a few months,  and I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve only started really focusing on it this week. Since then, I have received multiple business offers, to work alongside some very creative people on different business ventures.

I can’t actually believe that these have materialised out of nothing! It’s crazy!….or is it? I think it’s pretty simple. I’ve put my goals out there, and I’m backing them 100%. I’ve not afraid to tell people what I’m doing, because:

1. I know that I can achieve these goals
2. I really don’t care about people’s negative comments

So - that’s me for now - better keep on top of it. I also can’t believe how far I’ve come in just over 200 days. My current life is worlds apart from my life back then - and I have so much to be grateful for - and all from simply changing the way I think…

Part 1 (The Preamble):

There are so many things in my life that I am grateful for. One of these great things, is the ability to talk to all sorts of interesting people on a daily basis. I think this is one way you can definitely inspire yourself to take action everyday. There are some amazing people out there, and just talking to them gets me excited and motivated to achieve the things I want in life.

Over the past few weeks I have talked to some very interesting and successful people with regards to my fundraising efforts for Stop the Traffik to try and canvas more support. Some of the coolest people were listed below:

• Mike Pero from Mike Pero Mortgages
• Michael Mayell from CookieTime
• Scott Townsend from Just Tees

Without a doubt, Scott Townsend captured my attention the most. This 21 year old from Hamilton is doing some amazing things. He is the director of http://JustTees.co.nz and has come up with a crazy stunt, designed to get his business some more exposure. This is entrepreneurial thinking at it’s best!

While I can’t blab on about it too much on this post, I will talk about it at a later date. In the mean time, have a look for yourself - RIGHT  HERE! While you’re there, you may as well vote and tell your friends to do the same. Crazy times call for crazy measures!!

So I was supposed to be talking about a butterfly right?….

Part 2 The Butterfly Story:

Someone else that I met yesterday, said something pretty profound. I thought it was an excellent analogy, so decided then and there to share it with you all:

We’re all looking for success in our lives, whether that comes in the form of money, love, being healthy or a combination of these things (plus other things I haven’t mentioned). Let’s say that whatever our goal is like a Butterfly in the wild. For this purpose, our goal can be “to earn a million dollars in one year” (don’t know where I got that idea from!).

So we set out to catch our butterfly. So perhaps we buy ourselves a net to catch this butterfly with. We then spend a considerable amount of time and energy trying to catch this $#%$ butterfly with out net. It just so happens that this butterfly is one of the world’s most elusive butterflies and proves to be a challenge. So it’s time to bring in the big guns, we then purchase an even bigger net (with extendable pole) in our attempt to finally get hold of this creature.

This carries on for some time (I told you it was an elusive butterfly!). Eventually we give up. After maxing out our credit card at “Net’s R Us”and spending a good part of our time chasing this butterfly. We look around us and realise that the world hasn’t stopped while we were chasing the butterfly. Our famillies are older, our children grown up. There are some experiences that we have perhaps missed, even though they were important to us.

Some people spend their whole lives chasing the butterfly. Sometimes this can become all-consuming, and they never get the chance to refocus their lives on what’s important. So perhaps this is your chance. Your chance to refocus on what’s important in your life.

But if I don’t chase the butterfly with my expensive nets, then I’ll never get what I want!?

Well, what if I were to tell you that there are other ways to bring this butterfly into your life? Why not spend some time making a garden. Very soon, Butterflies will be FLYING TO YOUR GARDEN! No chasing involved You can grow this garden and add to it as you want. It won’t take up much time, which leaves you with lots of time to spend with your family and friends and on the other important things in your life.

So focus on the important things in your life, tend to your garden and let the butterflies come to you. Don’t spend your life trying to catch the butterflies and miss out on all the wonderful things life has to offer. Happy gardening…

Wow, what a weekend it has been! So many things happening, with just under ONE WEEK to go until I find myself running the Rotorua Marathon…

In my effort to raise ₤10,000 in just 10 days, I’ve contacted everyone from CNN, to Tony Robbins! I’ve emailed CEO’s and social networked like there’s no tomorrow, so here are some of my tips, which have actually generated some great results.

How to Fund Raise on a limited budget:

• Setup a fundraising page. For something in NZ I would use, www.fundraiseonline.co.nz, and for overseas I would use www.justgiving.com. These organisations give you the frame work to donate directly to your chosen charity and don’t cost anything to get started. To see my justgiving page, click here.

• Upload a video on Youtube, supporting your charity. This is a great way to get your message across through one of the most powerful visual mediums. Don’t be afraid to try something different to make your video stand out.

• Contact your local newspapers. They usually jump on a story about something wanting to do some good in this current economic “doom and gloom” climate. It could be as simple as sending an email to the editor….you never know what will happen.(right column, about half way down)

• Get some free press. Try sites like www.free-press-realease.com and you can get something like this in no time at all. This can give you some massive leverage.

• Use your social networking sites, such as facebook and setup a group for your charity. Invite people to join and ask that in exchange, they donate a small amount to the cause.

• Open a Twitter account and start tweeting! This is new to me, but so far I’ve connected with some amazing people, including Tony Robbins, Larry King & Hugh Jackman!You can follow me on www.twitter.com/kiwimillionaire

• Lastly, and by no means leas, EMAIL EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND THOSE THAT YOU DON’T KNOW! Include some info about what you are trying to achieve, who you are raising funds for and how they can help (include link to donate, and/or forward email to their contacts). Don’t be afraid to go to the top, email CEO’s, people making the news, celebrities.

You really can achieve so much with the power of the internet, combined with people’s passion. The only thing that is stopping you, …. is you.

If you got some value from this post, please help me with my Charity - Stop the Traffik,by donating whatever you can afford to www.justgiving.com/ryankilfoil. Thanks for your support and all the best with your efforts