You are the Architect of your Future, you just need to be brave enough to take control....

Nobody is born with any of the knowledge to create their "dream" life. One must seek out the information and skills required in order to create their desired life, their goals and their dreams. Well, this lesson is about where I sourced my inspiration, my ideas and concepts, my motivation, advice, and skills. The traits I believe helped me create the life I wanted and the financial security I desired for my family and myself.

Now, I am a firm believer that we are all born the same. We are a blank canvas, and though our environment definitely shapes our future at the start, I believe it is our choice as to whether we choose to accept that as our future destiny, or whether we decide that it is not for us and be brave enough to reshape our life into what WE desire it to be.

Over the course of your lifetime, you will find yourself in situations that will shape your belief system and your future. From time to time, opportunities will present themselves and it is up to you to have your eyes, ears and mind open so you can recognise these opportunities and take advantage of them. Often, you will have naysayers, various percieved fears, and your own negative thoughts that will hold you back from becoming a better version of you. Stopping you from taking a bold step into your better future. Your destiny is in your hands, it's up to you to shape it the way you want and ignore the people that say you can't do it, to ignore the fear and the negativity, and find the will power to start, and the determination to keep going when things get tough - and you can be absolutley sure things will get tough, because nothing worthwhile comes easy!!!

Sadly though, most people just accept where life takes them, they will blame their upbringing, the environment they grew up in, the lack of direction from their parents, the economy, their education (or lack thereof), their employer, their spouse etc. I'm sure we have heard many excuses from others in the past. They are just excuses. The truth is, they never had the intestinal fortitude to step out of their comfort zone to try and keep trying each time they fail. The do not realise that failing is an important part of the process. In reality, when you win, you learn nothing, but every time you fail, you learn something new, become smarter, stronger and better equipped for the next attempt.

Remember, Thomas Edison "failed" around 1000 times before he discovered that tungsten wire was the best filament for making electric light globes. Imagine, one tousand attempts before getting it absolutley right!

Did you know that Colonel Sanders' started trying to sell his Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe at the age of 65? Did you know that he presented his fried chicken recipe and got rejected 1009 times before he got his first successful franchisee in 1952, when Pete Harmon of South Lake in Utah agreed to sell Sanders chicken. Sanders' business eventually grew to the point that he was able to sell his KFC business 8 years later in 1964 for 2 million dollars - which was a lot of money back then!

As I have said in the past, I had no inheritance, no tertiary qualifications (I started a degree but never finished), came out of the tough "blue-collar" slums of Sydney, started a business with no skills or experience, faced 17.5% mortgage rates and 21.5% business overdraft rates, while learning how to be a dad to our first baby and keeping things together for the family..... honestly, I think I have done most things the hard way! However, admittedly, I did not have any successful family or friends that I could seek advice or mentorship from. As a result of having to do everything the hard way, it means I have learned much more than I needed to, in order to achieve my goals.... I have been schooled and tested by life itself !!!

Family: I learned the importance of family from my parents. I had a close relationship with both my mum and dad. They were great people, so much so, that a friend of mine from university, that was from overseas and lived in boarding schools all his life and as such hardly knew his own parents, would be welcomed into our home by my parents and he called them mum and dad also!

My parents taught us love of family and compassion. My mother was the most influential in that area of my life.

I learned what it took to be a good provider and father from my own dad. He was not exactly the type of dad that would go outside and play games with us, nor go bike riding or to the beach. However, he was always there at my school on parent days, he would help with our homework, he taught me how to drive and he taught me how to problem-solve. In fact, dad was a great problem solver.

My father was also the undisputed head of our household, and "his home was his castle", and he never failed to remind us of this.

I was the luckiest guy in the world to meet my soulmate at the age of 18, marry her at the age of 26 and build a life and family together. We have a true partnership and a relationship that I know is the envy of many. My wife is a beautiful and smart woman that has been able to adapt herself to be a scientist, wife, mother, business partner, administrator of our business, investor, finacial controller for the business and our personal finances. However, her absolute passion is her family - her husband and her sons. I thought I learned a lot from my parents, but they were just the begining, I did not understand what "family" was about until I watched my wife become a mother and dedicating herself to our sons. At the same time, I became a dad, and my world changed. My wife is my greatest teacher when it comes to family - not by what she said, but rather by her actions and her dedication to me and my sons. Her family is her "happy place" and I love that!

Work Ethic: My father had a good work ethic and he lead by example in that area.

That good work ethic instilled itself in me and became part off my DNA.

Dad was also a problem solver - there were few problems he faced that he could not find a solution to. I saw him overcome financial issues, logistics issues, family issues, work issues and building/maintenance issues around the home. I saw how he solved problems, and even that instilled itself in me and became part of my DNA.

Inspiration: Now this area gets a little complicated, because "inspiration" can be applied to many things including: 1) Wealth Creation, 2) Business Ideas, 3) Marketing, 4) Career Path and so much more, so I will deal with the sub items one at a time.

• Wealth Creation: I loved my parents, and if you have read my previous lessons, you will know why my parents were not able to provide guideance and advice when it came to wealth creation. However, my mother's sister and brother-in-law (my Godparents) were able to amass a small fortune in their lifetime - even though they were "blue-collar" workers like my parents. I was always curious as to how they were able to afford things that my family could not. They always seemed to be living comfortably. I began to see that their property investments were the root of their wealth. Hence, the seed of property investing was planted at an early age in my life - probably around my mid-teens.

• Career Path: I had an interest in science as a kid, probably because stuff like nature, and how things interacted fascinated me. So my father bought me a microscope as a birthday present one year. I loved that microscope. In a subsequent year, dad bought me a chemistry set - and that was it, I was hooked. I loved that set and eventually decided on a career in science - specifically chemistry. After scraping into university, I started a B.Sc (Chem) and switched to part-time so I could also waork and earn money. Working as a trainee chemist in a lab, my eyes were opened to something unexpected.

• Vocation: While working in a lab, I began to see how the company I worked for treated my boss (Ron), who had a heart of gold and was absolutley dedicated to his job and the excellence of the products we manufactured. In fact, Ron had developed the technology that many high tech companies from around the world needed. Ron had made a lot of money for the owners of the business..... and yet they treated him like crap. Considering the vast fortune they made from Ron's expertise, Ron never received any accolades, no company car and no benefits. However, the people such as the production manager, the sales staff, the accountant etc were all given cars and benefits, but again, not Ron. I began to realise a few things at this point: 1) The world is not fair, 2) Those who scream the loudest get the attention (Ron never ever complained), 3) There is no money in science (at least not for those working in a lab), 4) If you can't appreciate and value yourself, then nobody else will see any value in you. At the same time I was experiencing these revelations, I would have sales reps from scientific equipment suppliers coming to visit me to sell me testing equipment for my job. These reps would rock up in their company vehicles, sit with me over a coffee and present their offerings, maybe sell me some stuff, and then jump back in their company car and go do the same with the next guy, and what's more is that they were paid quite handsomely for what they did. I decided I could do that too! So I resigned from my lab job and went for a sales job. I was still doing my degree part-time, although very unenthusiastically! However, it was hard to get a sales job without sales experience, and hard to get sales experience without a job in sales - it was very challenging.

  • My first sales job was in the financial industry. Once I started, I felt that it was a very unregulated (at that time), dishonest and "slimy" industry, that was run by a bunch of "cowboys" that had a lot of people making a lot of money off the backs of financially illiterate people - it made the movie "Wolf of Wall Street" seem all the more real. I lasted 9 months and got out. However, their sales training was amazing, and I had quickly learned that I was good at dealing with people, it was a valuable experience. I not only learned how to sell, but also how to sell an intangible product (someting you cannot see or touch). For the record, the industry has now been cleaned up and regulated now by the government to stop all the stuff that went on in the 1980's.

  • My next job was a more traditional sales role selling actual product that people could see and touch - this was easy compared to what I did before. So easy in fact, that I was meeting my sales budget working just 3 days per week! As such, I asked my employer if I could have a small commission on any amount I sold over budget (remember, I learned to value myself!) - they said no. So I found another job that paid more and went to work for them.

  • In my third job, I was inspired to start my own company to sell the same sort of product to the same sort of customers that I was already selling to. That was the point I began my own business and with no experience in business, no experience managing people, no experience in bookkeeping, or anything else business related, a whole new world of learning began!!!

Motivation: Working for yourself and by yourself is a tough gig. Staying motivated is hard. I would attend motivational seminars, listen to motivational tapes in the car, read motivational books and seek out motivational sources wherever I could, because nobody I knew was doing what I was doing. I had the work ethic, I just needed to run at 100% performance 100% of the time (which is impossible by the way). Staying motivated is crucial to success, so be sure to read, listen, watch whatever you need to to keep up that motivation. Find like-minded people to hang out with that are trying to do better also, these people will be a great source of motivation - especially at the start. However, remember that those who start with you, may not finish with you, so your group may change over time.. My motivation came from the above sources that I mentioned. Fourteen years ago, my wife and I were feeling rather down and vulnerable by some bad investment decisions we made, so we attended a Success Congress in Sydney that was at the old Entertainment Centre. There were thousands there and the speakers included Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, Tony Robbins and so many more. One speaker asked everyone that was a business owner to stand up, and there were several thousand that got up standing including my wife and I. The speaker asked everyone that had been in business for 3 or more years to remain standing and everyone else to sit down, many sat down, my wife and I remained standing. Then those that had been in business for 5 years were to remain standin and the rest sit. We were still standing, and by this time at least half the crowd was sitting down. Then the target was 10 years, and we were still standing while 80% of the room had sat down. When the target was raised to 15 years, we were still standing and there may have been 100 people or so still up. Then the speaker asked everyone that had been in business for 20 years or more to remain standing. I could see that there was a handful, maybe a dozen people still standing, and my wife and I were still up. However what I remember most was the look of awe from those that were seated around us, and then people started to applaud louder and louder. It was at that point that my wife and I were reminded that we were doing well, and that a small setback is just that, a small setback that will pale into insignificance over time. It was the "shot in the arm" we needed to refocus and get going again.

We ALL need motivation and a dose of reality now and again. Seek it from wherever you can.

Skills: I had to build on my skill set, and there were plenty of "sets" that needed building and attention!

• Selling: I was a good sales person with good people skills, but I wasn't the best, so I attended many seminars, read many books and listened to many tapes in the car, and practiced my techniques and delivery to continually improve and get to the point where I felt I was better than all of my competitors. Zig Ziglar was my favourite sales trainer by far, and I loved the way he used to sell.

• Marketing Strategies: When I was in business, I would always keep an open mind, open eyes and ears to any new marketing concept or idea. You never know what little snippet of information may give you a great marketing idea. One time, around 25 years ago, I heard someone talking about a corporate function that was literally a "Casino Night" held in a hotel function room for the senior staff of a large company. I took that concept and created a Casino Night for our customers, I included our suppliers, and held one in Melbourne and one in Sydney. I included all food and drinks, $200 of free chips to all attendees (the chips only had face value but were worth nothing), with the person that was able to have the most chips by the end of the evening declared the winner. During the evening, I would give away bottles of champagne, port and whiskey randomly to the attendees, and, if they ran out of chips, I would sneak then another $100+ so their fun would continue! The winning prize was a night for two at the REAL casino hotel, dinner at the hotel and $100 worth of real casino chips to spend on the night. The entire cost of the event was a little more than a full page colour advertisment in our trade magazine - that nobody would notice. HOWEVER, the news of the Casino Night spread quickly after our events and it became an annual event, with more and more customers coming each year. A simple event such as this, became the talk of the industry and propelled my company to superstar status with more companies doing business with us and our market share going through the roof. Of course, nowadays, you cannot run events such as these due to corporate governance and what is deemed to possibly be viewed as "gifts", which are no-no's in today's world. Personally< I think they have sucked the fun out of business interactions and business relationships - but what do I know? Marketing ideas and inspiration can come from anywhere - be alert for opportunities.

• Technical ability: I wanted to know everything about my products and everything about the competitor products so I could give my customers the absolute best information and comparison without any bullshit. If I thought my product was best for my customer, then I would do everything in my power to ensure they bought my product. However, if I felt that my product was NOT the better option (which may have happened maybe 5% of the time), I would be honest and tell the customer that what I offered was not the most suitable and tell them which competetive product (in my opinion) was best suited for their application. So I digested tons of technical information relative to my business, as well as travelling overseas for factory training.

• Property Investing: I watched my Godparents build their wealth in property, and decided it was a good idea for us too. So my wife and I bought our first investment property around 1998. Of course, we did not know what we were doing and it wasn't until I read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robery Kiyosaki that everything "clicked with us. I read EVERY Robery Kiyosaki book that he ever published, and really began to understand what investing was about. My wife and I did a course with the Rich Dad Company to become better investors. I did a personal small group session with Robert Kiyosaki over a weekend that cost $5,000 to become a better property investor. My wife and I attended several seminars regarding property investing to become better investors.

• Share Investing: I spend a lot of time reading a lot of material. I subscribe to several share investing newsletters and follow certain commentators whose philosphies and strategies I have found to agree with. I am a fan of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, and I like the way they view investing. I also like Howard Marks from Oaktree Capital and agree with much of his thoughts about the market and investing. I also bounce ideas off my youngest son, who has a passion for share investing. We share our thoughts and ideas. he is a smart young man in this area, but his investing goals are different to mine as he is looking for capital growth, whereas I am more focussed on income, and this is just because we are at different stages of life. My son has made some great suggestions for us, with ideas/concepts that I may never have considered, and though he is 33 years younger than us, we are happy to listen to his sound advice and thoughts...... at least on this matter anyway!!!!

Decision Making: There are times when I'm at a crossroads and need to make a decision and begin to weigh up options, making a "pros & cons" list. At such times, I rely on my wife to help with this process, but also on one of the most logical and practical young man that I know and that is my eldest son.

My eldest son has a clear logical mind that uses facts and data, as well as weighing up pros and cons, and he can make things seem clearer with his perspective on matters. It really amazes me that he has this capability... it is one of his strengths.

Nobody is truly a self-made person.

Everybody needs help and guideance from others with more skills, experience, knowledge and connections.

Trying to do everything on your own, will either lead to failure, or at the very best, will slow your progress down significantly.