1 Million Dollars in 365 days…

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…

Here I am, about to run a marathon in just over 2 weeks. My purpose - to raise $10,000 for Stop the Traffik. This is something I feel very passionately about. I rallied for support, and found it difficult to understand why others didn’t share my passion in supporting this amazing organisation that dedicates themselves to bring an end to people trafficking all around the globe.

<<<<<<<<<<To Sponsor me now - please visit www.justgiving.com/ryankilfoil >>>>>>>>>>

Then it hit me. The reason I am so passionate about this charity, is because I know what they do, the difference they make. So that’s what I’m going to do right now. I’m going to educate you about Stop the Traffik, and how people trafficking is still alive and kicking in almost every country in the world…So please, take a moment to read this. To understand what we are allowing to happen in our world.

What is STOP THE TRAFFIK?
STOP THE TRAFFIK is a global movement working to combat the fastest growing global crime, people trafficking. Around the world men, women and children are being treated as commodities—something to be bought, sold, and enslaved.

STOP THE TRAFFIK has more than 1000 member organisations in 50 countries & a grass roots following of ordinary activists around the world. Some of us sign petitions, wear symbols of the campaign, spread the message, and some of us show our support through adapting our lifestyles.

They believe that when people act things change. And I do too.

Real Life Trafficking:

“Masud was 12. His parents were persuaded, tricked, to let him be taken from his home in Bangladesh to a new life in England. He was sold - ‘Trafficked’

He left his family home with an unknown man who travelled with him to London then onto the South West where he was abandoned in an Indian restaurant. To survive he worked in the restaurants living in small store rooms, sleeping next to jars of chutney and bags of onions. Sometimes when there was no work he was forced to sleep on the streets. He was not able to go to school and his life was controlled by the restaurant owners.

When he was 28, with the help of STOP THE TRAFFIK he contacted the local police and immigration team who helped him to obtain a passport and identity documents, resulting in him being able to return the Bangladesh to obtain a UK visa and to be reunited with his family.

Masud is now living legally in the UK. He is married and is building a new life away from the restaurants.”

Stories like Masud’s are happening all the time, making People Trafficking the world’s fastest growing illegal trade.

So I thought we were pretty isolated here in little old New Zealand, surely we don’t get this sort of nonsense here? It turns out that I was wrong:

“A graphic US Government report on modern slavery has accused New Zealand of being a “destination country” for the trafficking of women for sex from Malaysia, Hong Kong and China [for some reason Vietnamese women are not mentioned in the report….read the full story“

 Fairfax Media | Thursday, 05 June 2008

“New Zealand immigration officials admit that women could be working undetected as sex slaves in New Zealand, the Weekend Herald reported on Saturday.  The Cabinet will be asked to set up a taskforce involving seven government departments to stop human trafficking in this country…read the full story”

April 04, 2009 The New Zealand Herald

So make a decision right now. Take this knowledge and do something about it. Or do nothing. This is your chance to make a difference. Please help me support this organisation, by sponsoring me for my Marathon in 2 weeks:

<<<<<<<<<<To Sponsor me now - please visit www.justgiving.com/ryankilfoil >>>>>>>>>> 

Thank you for your support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Ryan Kilfoil

“Ability to influence a system, or an environment, in a way that multiplies the outcome of one’s efforts without a corresponding increase in the consumption of resources.”

www.BusinessDictionary.com

 The above is the definition of “leverage”. In the past I have talked mainly about using leverage to help others, through charity etc. An example would be my fast approaching marathon, where I am trying to raise over $10,000 for Stop the Traffik. (If you enjoy this post - please sponsor me here) By contacting some local and national newspapers, I have managed to get my story run, and attracted a lot of interest in my efforts to raise funds to stop human trafficking. Seeing as I had already decided to run the marathon, the only extra thing I did to generate interest, was to simply contact a few local publications. Only a little effort compared to the massive results it obtained for me and the charity.

Today I’m going to talk about using leverage in a different way - to help you achieve success in your life. I’m assuming that by now you have some direction in your life, you have set your goals (and written them down), have your dream/vision board setup and work towards your goals on a daily basis? Excellent - if not, maybe start here. So now that you have your goals - how can you use leverage to achieve them?

How to use leverage to achieve your goals:

1. Choose a goal to focus on.
2. Find someone that has mastered that goal before. If you have a goal that hasn’t been done before, or you can’t find anyone that’s an expert in that field, then try to get in touch with someone as close to that description as possible.
3. Contact them. By taking action to simply saying “Hi, this is my goal, I believe that you have done this before, can you please give me some advice?, you’ll be surprised at the reaction you get. Lots of successful people are more than happy to share their experiences. Whether it’s just a quick email, or perhaps they take you under their wing and provide some mentoring - you’ll still be getting some top advice that you can use to achieve your goals!

As you are no doubt all aware. I’m running a marathon on May 2nd, after never running further than 3km before I started training 8 weeks ago. When I made the decision to run a marathon, I began to research running on the internet and sifted through countless pages of conflicting information about what I should and shouldn’t do.

So I decided to see if I could find someone who had at least run a marathon, and have a chat to them. Somehow I managed to do a lot better than that. I found Ross Steele, who also lives in Tauranga, New Zealand. Ross has just returned from Kilimanjaro after running his 26th Marathon!!!

Not only that, but finishing that Marathon meant that he had run a marathon on Seven different continents, making him a member of an elite club, with only 240 members world wide. Ross was definitely qualified to give me advice about running marathons. Ross will also be completing in the same Marathon I will be completing on May 2nd.

I emailed Ross the yesterday and he gave me a call shortly afterwards, only too happy to meet me to talk about this passion that is running marathons. Ross was fantastic, giving me time loads of advice and practical tips that I now see as invaluable.

I feel much better equipped for my marathon and have only grown more confident since talking to him, and learning from him. Even if it was just an hour that we spend discussing running. So I learnt what a powerful tool it can be, to talk to someone who has achieved as much success in the area that you are trying to excel in.

You can read more about Ross’s recent achievements here. So now that you’ve finished reading this. What are you going to do? Have a coffee? Get back to work? Have a sleep? Or are you going to take action, and get in contact with someone RIGHT NOW, who will be able to help you achieve your goal?

 Tonight at 8:30pm, New Zealand is supporting Earth Hour to raise awareness for the impacts of Global Warming. In just over 30 minutes, I will be turning off the computers, tv’s, fish-tank (they’ll be fine!), lights and pretty much everything else electrical.

It’s a beautiful evening and we’re going to spend the hour outside, talking and enjoying the peace and quiet. I think it’s a great initiative, and apparently if everyone in NZ turns off their appliances and lights, there’s a lot of money to be saved too. It just goes to show what a little bit of vision and passion can achieve.

Speaking of achievements, today was a monumental day for me! I ran a half-marathon! It wasn’t  an official half-marathon, but as I have my full marathon coming up in 5 weeks, I thought it was time to push the boundaries!

I left at 7am this morning and ran a long, long way from home. Then I ran all the way back! 21km later, I collapsed on the floor after stumbling in my front door, 2 hours and 15 minutes after starting my crazed journey! After a few minutes of rest and water, I was able to hobble around for the rest of the day! I am so proud of myself, that I have completed this monumental task. I believe the mental part of the marathon is going to be the toughest, and after today, I KNOW that I can complete it, AND finish raising the $10,000 for STOP THE TRAFFIK!

All around the world, people are making a difference. It seems that this is the age of the philanthropist. The world is in one of the of the most challenging economic times ever. One would think that anarchy would rule and people would only care about themselves. I believe the opposite is happening - people are becoming more aware of “giving” as a way to heal the world.

If you have something you believe in, something that you want to see changed for the better. Perhaps now is the time to come out of the woodwork and do something towards your cause. Don’t be afraid as you have nothing to lose. The worst you can do is raise awareness, experience massive amounts of personal growth, and ending feeling like we can all make a difference.

Happy Earth Hour. Make your hour next.

As most of you have heard I am running a marathon on May 2nd, 2009. I have started training over the last few weeks and run further than I have ever run in my life! I also chosen to raise $10,000 for my favourite charity. Since I could not decide what charity to donate the funds to, I have given the vote to those visiting my blog.

If you haven’t already voted, please do so now. The votes will be tallied at 4pm on Saturday 28/02/2009 and the winning charity announced.

“There are only 7 days left to vote”

http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/ryankilfoil/

Thanks for all your support! I cannot believe all the positive comments and emails I have received. And don’t forget to sign up for email alerts (top right of the blog) to keep track of my progress.

I’m running a marathon - that’s 42 Kilometres! It’s the 45th Annual Rotorua Marathon which is held in Rotorua, about 65 km’s from where I live in Tauranga, New Zealand.

The furthest I have ever run was about 5km. So this is certainly quite a goal I have set myself - and like I say, when you challenge yourself, you grow and evolve a lot faster than if you were just cruising through life.

So where do YOU come in? Well, part of the drive behind my desire to do a marathon, was to raise some funds for a charitable organisation. I have narrowed it down to four charities below and I would really appreciate it if you could vote for your favourite charity.

The winning charity will be the charity with the most votes on 28 February 2009. The winning charity will receive all the funds that I have managed to raise on the 4th May 2009. My goal is to raise $10,000.00 for the winning charity, so I appreciate you taking the time to vote today.

Today I made a decision. Well, technically it was yesterday. I was talking to a friend of mine who mentioned that he used to run. Now I like to run as well, as it’s part of my regime to keep fit. At the moment, I run three times a week, and run 2.5kms per day.

It’s not a huge run, and it helps me focus and feel great. So back to my story - I was talking to this guy and he mentioned that he ran a marathon last year.

 ”How far is a marathon?”

I honestly didn’t know. Apparently it’s 42km! Wow! I’ve always wondered why people do crazy thing in life - such as running incredibly long distances - I still don’t think I know the answer to this question, however I do know that something inside told me that I should take on this challenge.

Now here’s an example on deciding and committing to a goal, even though I have no idea how I am going to achieve it. I mean, come on - the longest distance I have ever run in my life is less than 5km - and I’m planning on running 42km!!

So yesterday I made the decision - today I have spent some time researching it by talking to people that have run a marathon before. Remember: whatever you are planning - talk to someone who has done it before. Their advice can be invaluable.

I’ve now got an action plan of how I am going to prepare myself for this marathon of a … well… marathon!

The KiwiMillionaire’s guide to running a marathon:

1. Look after your joints - you’re going to be putting them under some serious pressure. Maybe take some glucosamine & condroitin. Fish oil is supposed to be pretty good too.
2. Get the right shoes. You are going to be clocking up a lot of km’s on them so you need something that is going to be comfortable, provide you with the support you need and last the distance.
3. Get some running shorts!I honestly didn’t even think about this step - now I am wondering how I would have survived without them. Google it if you need to understand why!
4. Track your progress. Setup a simple spreadsheet and record the distances you are running. Write down what you have eaten that day and how it makes you feel. Soon you will realise what your body needs to function at it’s peak.
5. Recovery is as important as the run. Don’t be running everyday, you need to rest your body to ensure that it recovers after each run, especially as they get longer and longer.
6. Run the same distance for 1 - 2 weeks, then increase it and repeat. For example, start with 2 weeks of running 2km per day (3 times a week). Increase it to 4km for the next two weeks etc.

I am by no means an expert in this field - so take my advice with a pinch of salt! I would appreciate comments from anyone who has done a marathon before - and if you haven’t hopefully you might be considering it now!