Hello Everyone,
What is this Blog about?
This is Blog is about my journey of discovering the path to wealth with the final outcome of becoming a Millionaire. Most people become millionaires and then write a book on how they did it. (of course, adding to their wealth through book sales). This Blog will be my trail that will lead others, hopefully you, to becoming a millionaire. I am inviting you to take this journey with me. I believe that anyone can do it when they put their mind to it.
Millionaire?
The goal is to become a millionaire using three different vehicles: Property, Business, and Stocks.
How will you benefit?
I hope that my story will inspire you and motivate you to becoming financially successful. Along my journey I will have to test avenues, companies, products and theory to create my own wealth. I hope that I can save you the time and effort of researching and hopefully you can learn through my mistakes.
Who am I?
Before I discuss this I want you to know why I can freely tell you. I do not wish to work for egotistical bosses and slave driving companies in order to be another rat in The Race. I post my details here for everyone to know as a milestone. By doing this I hope to confront my fear of leaving a “stable” job (the social norm) and release myself from The Race. Back when I was a competing in Track and Field, I used to tell people that I was going to break a school record even if I had my own doubts. I did this because it made me accountable for my own goals. When I told people about my goals it meant that if I failed, then I was not only letting myself down but letting those who believed me down, and gave those that did not believe me a reason to rejoice.
Motivational Story
A thought may have crossed your mind, ” what if he fails” (which i cannot, as wealth in the prize, being a millionaire is the byproduct of my new wealth), future employers may find out about my background, consider me unemployable, and dismiss my application. Well, risks have to be taken in life. What else would I do? Overwork for the rest of my days with sporadic moments gazing at MTV Cribs, the Apprentice, or Breaking into Tesco’s and just wishing that I had have taken the chance to become what I dream of becoming.
Here it goes. I grew up in the slums of Dublin. Ballymon, Thomas Street, and “The Bond” was my grazing grounds, also the home of Heroin. In all rights it should be an inherent life path of robbery and drugs. All my family say with firm belief that I would have ended up dead or locked up should I have not gone to the states at the tender age of 15. My mother was a heroin addict. That is still very hard to admit and to write down for the world to see. I’ve kept it a secret from the world for so many years. Trying to fit the norms of those in higher social platforms. It’s important for me to say this, although I can imagine the shrieks. Internally, I send an immediate “free-fall drop” off the social platform.
As I promote the companies I create and my success builds, I also want to call out to every teenager attending the school of Hard Knocks and tell them to believe that they can do anything they want in life. I’ll dive into my thoughts on this later.
As a kid I got into lots of trouble looking for a “buzz” that would distract me from the feeling of being isolated from the rest of the world and completely different than anyone I’d ever met (as all teenagers feel I suppose?). So, my grandmother brought me up until I was 14 and instilled some yet to be discovered values before sending me off to a better life in America. My father lived there and agreed to take me on board. I’d met him 3 maybe 4 times before this and we were both in for a shock.
I started High School and searched for something that I could throw myself into. There was the Jock’s: basketball (i couldn’t jump), American Football (I was small and skinny), Punks (not into death) Gang Bangers (not into rap) and so on and so forth. I ran the mile in P.E. The P.E coach introduced me to the Track and Field coach. I ran a mile every day for two weeks. After the two weeks, I raced against other schools in the 1600m and the 3200m. I won the 1600m and took 2nd in the 3200m.
you know kid, you have talent, you keep this up you could land yourself a scholarship to a university and get a college education.
That was the beggining of practice in the morning, school by day, practice in the afternoon, working graveyard shifts from 10PM to 6AM at Denny’s. I continued the tradition of working graveyard shifts throughout college. I next went to Norm’s, a couple of rungs down the social ladder of restaurants. I started working more hours for less pay. What was I thinking? I had no clue about how to progress in society. I had no clue that I should have been using my new skills to promote myself to higher end restaurants where I could work less hours and earn more money. Nobody thought me about this. I was just too busy paying bills, working, studying and training. I didn’t see the world around me. I don’t remember even picking up a newspaper. I was in junior college before I realised I was going in the opposite direction! Who where my teachers? My parents? My society?
I eventually figured it out.
I start to here through the grape vine, that if you get a college education you could get a good job. My worries would be over. I could afford to put a roof over my head and food on the table. Then Maybe I could settle down one day and buy a house with these things they call “Mortgages.” I know there are kids out there today at age 17 that are Einsteins and are well informed through the use of the internet. I won’t lie. I was no Einstein. I didn’t know how to do homework. “You mean I’ve to complete this work at home? and then turn it in for points? these points add up and give me a grade? good grades equal good job?” How the hell did I miss that one? Again I ask, who was teaching me? I just figured i’d one of those other letters in the alphabet and so be it.
Anyway, I practiced every moment I could. Calf raises while standing in work. Holding my breath for as long as I could to make my lungs strong for competition. I did my times tables while waiting for buses or cycling to work.
I earned the scholarship, I got the A grade for most of my classes, I graduated with distinction and left my name in the school record books. I suddenly found my self lost. There was no longer structure, no one telling me what to do and when to do it. Where do I go to get a job? What kind of job can I get? I didn’t see my self qualified enough to get a “proper” job, the good job that everyone talked about. Where the hell was my job and money? I had a marketing degree but I could only get a marketing job if I had appropriate experience. I went to some interviews and it seemed to me that the market seen a marketing degree as a door-to-door salesman, or a telesales person, or a leaflter. I worked in Telesales for a while, I know many telesales reps that identify with the image below.
I left America with a thought that a degree from America would see me well. A big fish in a small pond say. I hadn’t seen my family in 10 years. I was illegal in the states the whole time and could not leave the country. I could write a book of short stories on the life of a person living illegally in the states! I figured I wouldn’t stay long. Get to know my family before I head of to see the rest of the world and settle somwhere exotic.
My degree wasn’t worth the ink that was used to print it. Not even a Nickle. Surely I was in Ireland, the place of the Celtic Tiger? It was 2004 and all was not looking promising. I resigned to the fact I would need a Master’s degree to get this so called “good job”, I heard at the time, through the grape vine again, that those with a Master’s Degree earn more money than those with a Bachelor’s!
Why not says I.
It was a year earlier I had communicated my dream to a guidance counsellor when she steered me towards a job as a “Business Consultant.” I looked it up and found just the course at Smurfit Business School.
Where was I going to find over 12,000 for fees, 2,000 laptop, 6,000 for living expenses. Even If I was to get a job at the standard 18,000 to 20,000 a year for a new hire, I would have to pay rent 9,000 a year, food, travel, clothing, entertainment. No unemployment allowance while attending a graduate course? How would I afford all of this?
I seen they offered partial scholarships for athletics. It had been a year since I had trained like that but I thought, why not give it a shot. Get in shape, run a few races and get a partial scholarship. Dublin was cold and windy with frequent thunderstorms and rain. I wanted to train in the mountains with sun and a beach. I signed up for the “Dole” had it transferred directly into my bank account on a weekly basis while I lived in the Barcelona. It was great. Not sustainable for a long period, but fantastic to run in the mountains and along the beach in sunshine again.
I got injured. A friend said the army would pay well and I could buy myself out after a period of time. What better I thought? I get paid to train? Get paid to get in the best shape of my life? Train with weapons! Sounds like it would be a blast. I joined the army for a year. I threw grenades, fired rifles and got into fantastic shape until I jumped into a ditch like Silvester Stallone from an old Rambo movie. I jumped with a General Purpose Machine gun, weighing 24lbs, and ripped a tendon in my ankle. Looked like the running was going to be put on hold. At least I had saved enough to partially pay for the degree. I quit the army after 14 months and went of to Micheal Smurfit Business School to earn my masters.
With a bill of over €20,000 for fees, laptop, accomodation etc…. I took out a loan for €5,000, my granmother took out a loan for another €7,000 and I used my savings for the rest. I worked three nights a week on the door as security and eventually I earned my 1st Class Honours. By this time, I was getting the hang of this learning and homework malarkey.
The next couple of years were spent trying to help a property developer save his business. He wouldn’t invest in marketing and would not reduce the prices of his inventory. I got several offers to buy large quantities of inventory but he was too greedy. He eventually went under. I got out on time realising that the ship was sinking. I learned a valuable lesson. The price of your service or product are not dictated by you, but rather, by the market. Better to make many sales than some sales, even better, to makes some sales than no sales.
I spent some more time in large corporations, meeting people with egos many times greater than those people in the world that exist to do justice and support their communities. Money and power are very attractive and extremely destructive. Best to explore what these are and solify your values and faith before getting mixed in the two. Life has so much to offer! I can’t imagine anymore, the thought of seeking power and justling for position and wealth.
After working for a few years I began asking my self this question.
My sister died in a tragic accident last year. 09/09/08. If you knew you were going to die tomorrow would you live today differently? I spent 25 years of my life in the academic institution. I came out of it wondering what the hell was I doing in there? What if I had died a couple of years ago. Sure I have some great memories but my whole life I have been waiting to graduate so that I can begin living without the worries of bills and working in dead-end jobs. Now I look around especially as it is a recession and see that most of these jobs are a dead-end. They are created for you to complete tasks for other people, so that they may profit and earn financial freedom and a enhanced feeling of self worth. I had connected the dots WRONLY! I thought education equalled financial freedom and feeling of self worth.
Then you look around at governments. I look at all the money and time I have spent on getting an education, only to get a tax paying job. Then look at the amount of money that is taken from my paycheck for taxes to pay for Education, infastructure, roads, health. Then I look at the Toll Bridges charging me an arm and a leg. I look at overpriced public transport. I look at the huge charges by private doctors. Medication costing 5-10 times more than in other countries. If I really sit down and think about how this big machine is run and what my part is in all of it. I really begin to see myself as a hamster in a wheel. My paycheck is used to fund the development of things that I will be charged again for later. This here says it all.
I have now changed my outlook on life. I live everyday now like it’s my last, that means the work I do, thoughts I think and prayers I pray.
What I realised in life is that there’s no rule book. You can see this all over the world by taking a look at just different we live in different countries and what is deemed acceptable in one and unacceptable in another. There is a “guide book” It’s only that “a guide book” and biased towards with the most wealthy maintaining the most wealth. It seems a large population of people did the same thing I did. Followed the system. Now can’t seem to find a way out. Society has created a guide book to steer their children in a direction that will allow them to sustain life and reproduce. However, I don’t believe in merely existing.
My life is now dedicated to my cause. The gain of wealth and wisdom that will be used to help highlight and offer people an alternative path. Wealth is not to be viewed as only a monetary form but rather wealth in the mind, body, and spirit. I’ve kept this page as short as I can to give you an introduction to me and my path. I have hundreds of stories from my travels so far. Many of them I have analysed and reflected on to gain insight into life. They change. But I’m willing to share with you what I’ve learned so far, and I’m more than willing to continue on this journey in the same manner. Trying different things, reading different books, setting up businessess, starting and mending relationships all the while reflecting how and why.
I look forward to your stories! and any comments you wish to share.
