2) My Story
I’m 26 years old. Life is absolutely fantastic. That’s probably the most important thing I have ever learned - that YOU choose the outcomes in your life. Whether you think you do or not is irrelevant. Some people choose to blame others for their outcomes, some people choose to take responsibility for what has happened and can say “this has happened, I cannot change the past, and I can change how I react to this event”.
When something next goes “wrong” in your life. Stop for a minute and ask yourself - “If I choose to spend part of my energy today getting all angry and worked up about this, will that help me at all? If I choose not to spend my energy getting angry, and rather use that energy in an empowering way, will that help me more?”
I live in New Zealand, an absolutely beautiful country, home to the All Blacks, Vegemite & Pavlova, amongst other things. I moved here when I was 16 with my parents, brother and grandmother. We left South Africa in search of a better future for us kids. New Zealand has certainly provided that. There were certainly a lot of challenges along the way, however the things that I have learned from my experiences so far have been priceless.
At school I got a job working at Pizza Hut washing dishes. It was my first real job, and an amazing feeling to “earn” money. It certainly made me appreciate it a lot more. I worked there for a couple of years. Next was apple picking in Hawkes Bay with some friends. There I learned about hard work, and what happens if you don’t work hard. I completed a Diploma in Computer Engineering, and worked in a computer shop for a few months. I enjoyed it but I needed something bigger and better.
Time to take on the world. I moved to Australia’s Gold Coast for 6 months. I found a job as a “software salesperson”. There I learned about business ethics. I then went back to South Africa for a 4 month “working holiday”, staying with my best friend, Matt. We worked a few odd jobs, bar work mostly and we partied pretty hard. Life was great. We then set off to the UK. We found jobs in a great little pub called the Rose & Crown in Warwick. There we learned about being “peachy”. We had a great time there, admittedly we drank a lot too.
Apart from a 2 week stint lying on the beaches of Portugal, we worked pretty hard, but had heaps of fun doing it. It was time to move on. First stop Amsterdam! We stumbled around in a drug-induced haze, preferring to spend our money on juicy fruit, rather than museum entry fees.
We then bought a bus ticket which allowed us to travel all around Europe for a few weeks, just hopping on and off wherever we pleased. Here I learned how to sleep on a bus. It is more difficult than it sounds. I also learned how to survive on beer and 1 tin of baked beans for a week at a time. From sleeping in bushes outside the Colosseum because we couldn’t find accommodation in Rome, enjoying the amazing view from the hostel in Lyon, France - we took in everything we could! We met so many amazing people, shared stories and ate wonderful and strange foods. Europe was such an experience. Another lesson that we learned was that you don’t need to speak the language to communicate. It’s amazing what can be achieved with body language and a bit of charades in a foreign country.
After a short trip back the UK to replenish our ever-diminishing funds, we headed off to Bangkok, Thailand. After a few nights in Bangkok we sought the cleaner air of the islands. Hopped on a “luxury bus” on a gracious 14 hour trip to some coastal down. After being dropped off at about 3am and being forced to purchase food from a local restaurant, we caught the ferry to Koh Tao - an island paradise in the Gulf of Thailand. We spent just over 3 weeks there. Relaxing, swimming, diving, thinking, partying, listening to music and eating great Thai food. It was a great experience.
After returning home to New Zealand, it was back to work and friends & family. Got a job back at my previous place of employment, working for a major NZ Telco in a busy mall. Working weekends has always been over-rated I think! I also started studying again and over the next 2 years, completed a NZ Diploma in Business, majoring in Marketing. I also did a number of psychology papers as this topic has always fascinated me.
In August 2006 I started a company with some like minded individuals, called Paymex. It started off as a dream and over the next 2 years certainly turned out like one. It went from strength to strength and I am so grateful for everything I learned in those two years. It really helped develop me as a person. Unfortunately in late 2008 Paymex went into liquidation. It was then purchased by Enform and continues to trade and change the way New Zealanders do Business online. I will always be proud of my involvement in Paymex, even though I don’t have anything to do with it anymore.
2007 was a momentous year - my son was born in March! That was such as an amazing experience. I followed that up fairly shortly by attending a 2 day seminar in Auckland, help by Kurek Ashley, a peak performance coach. What I experienced in those 2 days certainly changed the way I think, and ultimately my life. Kurek helped me realise that one of the msot important investments anyone can make, is in themselves. And I also go to walk on searing hot coals with bare feet. This made me think….if I just did something that I thought was impossible - what other things had I been staying away from because I thought I could not achieve them? All of a sudden there were no more limits.
Next challenge - real estate! Admittedly, I couldn’t have a picked a better time to start real estate! I got my real estate ticket and entered the work force. In 9 months I sold one house. I also worked my butt off, my fiance was forced to go back to work just so that we could eat. Even then the bills mounted up and we had to borrow money from family just to keep our heads above water. Although this was a very difficult time for my fiance and I, especially with ensuring that our little boy was well looked after, I still feel that I learned some invaluable lessons during this time. I also learned when to move on. I was so passionate about succeeding in real estate, that I didn’t want to accept the fact that I may need to find another job in order to make ends meet.
With my background in sales and telecommunications, I moved into my current role with another major Telco in New Zealand. This organisation has been really great for me. Again, I have learned so much regarding business, negotiation, personality types & even personal relationships. I do feel that this is a company I can give the majority of my focus to. For the first few months, I wasn’t doing that. I was doing what I needed to do to get by, and nothing more. My main focus was Paymex and taking it to the next level. Things with Paymex changed so quickly I was left wondering what had just happened. It was such a great thing though. Now I looked around me, re-evaluated the things that are important in my life and focussed on what I needed to focus on to ensure my success.
Although my job is going great, and I’m spending so much quality time with my family, part of me is yearning for something else. What am I looking for? I’m hoping you can tell me. That’s actually the main reason for writing this blog - by writing all my thoughts down I hope to get some clarity on my future. It’s very important to me that I achieve my goals in life. My latest goal is to be a Millionaire in 365 days….well, actually it’s only 350 now. So time to get cracking! I hope you enjoy following me on this journey, and more importantly, I hope through reading my blog you are inspired to take action in your life, to make all your dreams come true.
