1 Million Dollars in 365 days…

Yes, I know, I talk about action a lot. And I guess that’s because I am constantly astounded as to how this affects my life and those around me. Taking action is one of those things that we all know that we need to do, if we want to get something or get somewhere in life.

Taking action is also one of those things that can be challenging at times. I have to agree, because I often find myself knowing what to do, but not taking action and doing it! There’s always a plethora of excuses we manage to conjure up, and we may even do such a good job of convincing ourselves that it becomes a habit NOT TO TAKE action. This creates a problem, as if you’re not taking action towards your goals, then I hate to break it to you….but you’re not going to achieve them…

So what can we do to overcome this challenge of not taking action? It’s simple. Grow up and take responsibility for your goals. Once you take responsibility for what you want to achieve in life, then you know that the only thing standing between yourself and your goals… is you!

One of the challenges in life is to change the habits that we have become used to ie, that we can’t have everything we want in life, that we are here to work 9-5, then retire and then die (how exciting!) etc etc. These have been drilled into society on so many levels, it can be difficult to undo them, however it can be done.

Just be conscious of your thoughts, as much as possible. If your thoughts turn into actions, which then generate your results, it makes sense to monitor your thoughts to make sure that you’re having empowering thoughts.

Once you decide to take action and follow through everything changes. Taking action is the key to success to everything in life. So if you’re been putting off something that you know is a critical factor in your success, then consider this your personal reminder - DO IT NOW!

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

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

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…

While one can argue that there are many secrets to a successful life, some of these “secrets” are plainly there for all to see. You may have already stumbled upon them, without realising the sheer power they can offer you.

This particular “secret” that I will disclose with you now, has helped me through so many periods of my life, where it looked as though there was no silver lining. Sometimes when things don’t go your way, despair can take over your soul and suddenly you lose perspective. It is this perspective that helps us frame our world in a more meaningful way. Perspective allows us to escape the daily grind of our supposedly mundane lives and helps to define our purpose and ultimately, our journey.

So what is this secret that will propel you to success? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you gratitude…

How can something so simple have such a profound effect on your success?

Well, I believe there are two reasons:

1. When you are grateful for the things you have, the life you lead, you are saying “thanks” to the creator / higher power / universe or whatever you believe in. You are saying “I love what I’ve got so far and I appreciate it, so give me some more!”
2. Being grateful can instantly change your mood, and make life seem that much better, no matter what’s just happened.

As I mentioned, gratitude gives us perspective in our lives. Even when you are stressed and having a “bad day”, by taking 1 minute to think about the things that you are truly grateful for, you can shift your energy to more empowering thoughts and instantly make yourself feel better.

In fact, why not do it right now? I’m sure there’s never been a better time! What have you got to lose? And I personally guarantee that you will feel MUCH BETTER after completing this short exercise. For the next 60 seconds, just think about the things you are grateful for in your life.

I’ve learnt just  how important being grateful is. I have become more aware of being grateful and use this strategy on a regular basis to keep myself empowered and positive. At times, when I feel myself slipping (yes this happens to me too!), I think about what I am grateful for, and I instantly get back on track. Now I’m doing this right now - so I hope you are too!

What am I grateful for?

• My family (my beautiful wife & two children, my parents, brother, grandparents etc etc)
• Being in a position to write this blog, and interact with an audience on an international level - the power of the internet!
• Being surrounded by like-minded people that support me, no matter what crazy goals I come up with!
• Everything that has happened in my life so far - it has made me who I am today.
• Owning our beautiful home with our garden & amazing views
• Being able to afford to give 10% of my earnings to Charity
• The ability to run & learn how to run far! Please support my marathon here!
• Being able to spend time with my wife & children
• That I feel so passionate about my purpose in life
• That my wife and I love each other more and more as every day passes

It’s funny where you can actually areas of your life to be grateful for. Again - going back to perception. Say you are angry because you have a huge tax bill to pay? How can you be grateful about that? Well, if you have such a big tax bill, then you can be grateful that you earned money to enable you to get a tax bill!

It may seem strange, but how many people out there would kill to have a job and earn money? Here you are complaining about a tax bill, when there are people in our world that would trade anything to receive a paycheck and would happily pay any amount of tax as at least they earned some money!

Gratitude has certainly helped shaped my life and the way I do things. It has given me perspective on how I lead my life and the decisions I make. It is constant reminder of the wonderful life I live and that there is so much for us all to achieve. So please, take what you can from this post - and next time you’re feeling down - just think about all the things you are grateful for!

Today is a milestone for me - only 200 days left until I achieve one of the biggest goals I have ever set for myself! Even more exciting than that - it’s my son’s 2nd birthday today! While he’s having his morning sleep, I thought it would be an opportune time to update everyone on the life of the Kiwi Millionaire! It’s quite an exciting time, especially when I look back and see how far I have come since I started this, only 165 days ago…

To wake up every morning and look around, and see this lovely new home that we are living in…it takes a while to get used to! But I am sure I won’t have any problem getting used to this, especially the views! Every time I look out to the distance, it honestly takes my breath away. I am still struggling to come to terms that I actually achieved this goal, in record time and almost 6 months before I had dreamed of owning our own home (more detail on our home to come in a future post!)

I must apologise for my lack in posts over the last week. I have been so ecstatic since we purchased our new home, and have spent the last week finishing off the move and all the things that go along with it.

One of these trivial tasks was to get our phone line and internet connected at the new house. Now I had already imagined sitting on my deck, looking at the amazing view in the evening, with my latop, writing my latest post while watching the sun set. My vision was cut short, after calling my ISP for the third time in as many days to check on the status of my connection, only to be told “we are sorry, we are unable to provide you with broadband at that address, so have only organised connect up a phone line”.

I would love to spend the next 37 hours discussing the government’s plans to bring broadband (and fast broadband) to homes across the country, but I think I have better ways to spend my time So today, 1 week after moving into our awesome new house, we got an internet connection via a wireless provider which is working absolutely superbly!

It fees good to be connect again. It just shows you how we can so easily take things for granted. In hind-sight - it was really a fantastic thing that I had no internet, as my evenings were spent unpacking and finalising everything with the move. If I had internet access, I dare say that we would still have a boxes scattered throughout the house!

So with my new found connection to the world, I have lots of exciting things to do - writing new posts, finishing my book, raising $10,000.00 for charity, completing the next stage of my new success project, and keeping in contact with people from all over the globe, that share similar ideals and feel that success in life, is something that should be shared and encouraged - so I better get cracking! A big thank you to all those people that have sent me emails and posted comments, I will be replying to you all very shortly.

Have an awesome day!

The Story So Far…

This weekend is going to be flat out - we’re moving into our first home! While this is very exciting, it’s also astounding as to what we’ve actually achieved in such a short amount of time.

One of my Grand Dream Goals was to buy a new house for my family and I to live in. I wanted a new home in a safe area, in an excellent school zone and a house where we could entertain friends and family. Oh, and I also wanted it to be a great investment. I even went as far as deciding that I wanted to make $80,000 profit on this property!

My goal was to purchase a house that would fit the above description on or before the 17/09/2009. I wrote up this goal and placed it on my dream-board. We were always on the look out for properties of interest in our local area with the hope to make one of these homes our next home.

I thought I was well on track with my goal, taking lots of action in searching and finding suitable properties, driving around and looking at open homes to get a feel for the market. I kept an eye on the finance markets and other developments that I thought could affect the housing market.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I made a massive commitment to achieve this goal within a single month! The pressure was on - I was excited, but also lost as to how I was going to achieve this.

How to buy a house in 30 days:

Ok, so maybe it took me just under 60 days before we actually moved in, but we had the contract signed in 28 days! Some people might think that it was a strange and lucky series of coincidences that helped us get into our first house - I think it was faith. Faith that what’s meant to happen will happen.

1. Believe. Somehow, somewhere, deep inside of you, you have to know that this is going to happen. From the moment I made the decision, I knew that it was going to work out. I didn’t know how, but I had no doubt in my mind. It was the same feeling I had when I said that I was going to make a Million dollars in 365 days!
2. Prepare yourself. You know that this is going to take some extra work & commitment to achieve and if you know what to expect, then you’re more prepared to take action. How badly do you want this? You need to decide that you are willing to do everything that you can to achieve this goal.
3. Live like you’ve already achieved it. From the moment I made the decision, I came home and told my wife, I rung my parents and told them. I told everyone I knew, work mates, that we were going to buy a house. Then, every time we moved forward another step, I told everyone all over again. “We’ve found this house, we’re going to put in an offer”. This continued the whole way through the process -telling everyone when we put an offer in, when the offer was accepted, I started telling everyone that we had bought the house and even gave them the day we would be moving in! Even though our offer was subject to a number of factors, I focused my passion and desire on the end goal, and didn’t worry about any potential challenges, as I knew there would be a way around them.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 until desired outcome is achieved!
   

Then something strange happened…

By focusing my mind on the end result, things seemed to fall into place. It was like I could see into the future, I imagined the day we got the keys and walked into our new home. I imagined, sitting on our patio and watching the sun set. I imagined my son running around the garden. It was all so real.

There were certainly challenges that we encountered during this process, however we always overcame them, and they never seemed impossible. Things just happened when they were supposed to - at times, it was difficult to believe!

Our offer was subject to a number of conditions. One of these was that our finance would be confirmed by 26/02/09, otherwise the vendors could get out of the contract. This was an area of concern because we weren’t able to confirm finance until about 1 week later.

The vendors rung us a week before the end of our finance condition to ask if we would mind extending the finance clause and asking for an extension - that is what we needed! But why would they ask us to do that?

Turns out that they had purchased a property subject to the sale of their house becoming unconditional on 26/02/09. They had since discovered that the area they were about to buy into, was not what they originally thought. They tried to get out of the contract but it was water-tight - apart from if the sale of their house fell through…

If we asked for an extension for finance then they would be able to avoid buying the house they didn’t want and we were able to buy the house we wanted! Funny how things work out, aye?

Lately there’s a lot going on both locally and internationally. What happens when there’s a big event such as this massive shift in economic climate? People get made redundant, there’s down-sizing, expenditure cuts & job security is a thing of the past.

So what do you do? What if you have all these goals that you have set for yourself in 2009 and then along comes this big “recession” and throws all your plans out the window. Do you go back to living your ordinary life? I don’t think so.

Remember there’s ALWAYS two sides to a coin, no matter how many times you cut it in half and how thin it becomes. So what is the flipside in today’s climate? OPPORTUNITY!There has never been a better time to seek opportunity. And you know what they say”Seek & Ye shall find”. Now’s your chance to test that theory.

“Live in the moment, not in the past or the future. Live for the right now”

The Kiwi Millionaire

 We all come up against obstacles in the journey to achieving our goals. One thing we have to remember is that it is usually the journey that is the most transformational part of the entire experience. When you reach your goal, you realise that it wasn’t even about the end result, because you received so much more from the journey itself.

I believe that in order to get the best results, we have to focus on what we want to achieve, and then see where we are in relation to that goal. That means, what is happening around us RIGHT NOW. Not this month, I am talking about these couple of minutes that you are spending reading this.

Stop for a moment and close your eyes. What’s going on right now that could be your next opportunity? Take a minute to appreciate the silence and very soon you will see that there is actually no such thing as silence, there is always something happening. All you need to to is decide what you are going to do with it.

How to find opportunity in your everyday life:

• Always keep an open mind - don’t dismiss anything
• Always ask yourself whether something can be improved upon
• Don’t focus on finding the opportunity, & opportunity will come to you

Whether you are looking for a new business, new property, new hobby or anything else that you would like to add value to your life, then now is the time to do it. Your future is in your hands, all you need to do is take action. So decide on an action to take, and take it, right now…

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.

Wow! The results for the voting have absolutely astounded me! Thanks to everyone for their votes so far, and everyone’s comments and emails. You have no idea how great it is to receive so much positive feedback about this journey!Congratulations to the Child Cancer Foundation which is now leading with approximately 75% of the vote. I have also received so many great emails of encouragement from many people that have had dealings with this this charity in the past and now. It is great to hear how much great work they have done and how many people appreciate all their support.

For those visiting this blog for the first time please vote here:

I also bought some new running shoes, socks, shorts & singlets today. As I am taking this very seriously, I feel it is important to invest in this event. I’m also taking some Omega 3 Fish Oil supplements, glucosamine & chondroitin, to ensure that I look after my joints.

I’ve also setup my online fundraising page. If you like what I’m doing, you can donate today and when the winning charity is announced on 28/02/2009, your donation will be given to this charity.

Otherwise you can visit the fundraising page (http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/ryankilfoil/), and I then once the winning charity is names, the two months of excessive fundraising will begin!