4 breakthrough moments that changed my life

The journey to building wealth is like any other journey we take in life. There will always be twists and turns along the way, unexpected bumps in the road, challenging times when you’re tempted to give up and pivotal moments when you’re called upon to make a decision that could alter your final destination.

When I look back over my own journey, I notice there were certain periods in my life that didn’t feel hugely significant at the time, but I now consider them to be breakthrough moments – moments that were pivotal to my success.

Oprah Winfrey called these “Aha!” moments, and often shared stories of sudden realisations which were quite dramatic in the telling.

But in reality, the greatest “Aha” breakthroughs always came to me in moments of reflection, when I asked myself questions such as:

Am I settling for ‘average’, or do I have the desire for more?

Is there a better way to achieve what I want from my life?

Am I using my time and skills in the most effective way?

And importantly, do I have the courage and commitment to change my job, my circumstances and my behaviour to get what I want?

The “don’t go with the flow” breakthrough

When I came to Australia in 1991, there was a very distinct mindset amongst migrants that as a new citizen, I would have to follow a certain path. This invariably meant achieving some sort of local qualification and joining the job market at the back of the queue.

A mentor of mine advised me to always follow the minority, never follow the crowd.  At that time, the majority of people believed that earning $100,000/year was out of their reach. Their belief or mindset was that because 99% of the population was earning nowhere near that much, neither could they.

It was the first time I learnt about mental money barriers, and I was determined to break them.

I reasoned that if I could earn up to $2000 a week in a job that would overlook my lack of experience and focus instead on my determination to learn and work hard, I could make $100,000 in my first year. Because my mind was focused on what could be rather than what was, I was soon employed by a life insurance company who trained me in the importance of setting goals and reaching targets. Working with people who had already broken through the mental money barrier introduced me to the power of the possibility mindset. And yes, I easily reached my first targets.

The Lesson: Limiting your thinking will automatically limit your income.

The “less is more” breakthrough.

Between 1995-1998 I was stuck. I was setting myself higher and higher money goals, which saw me working hard at multiple jobs to earn $300,000-$500,000/year.
Now I realise to a lot of people, earning half a million dollars doesn’t quite equate with their idea of being ‘stuck’.
But I had big dreams, and I had read enough to know that people making a million dollars or more weren’t necessarily smarter than me or worked harder than me.
They were just doing something I wasn’t doing.
I finally realised that by receiving multiple sources of income from different jobs, I was spreading myself too thin. What I needed to do was to focus instead on earning one big source of income from one job.
So in 1998 after attending a property investing seminar, I made 4 very important life-changing decisions:

1. To act and change my thinking to achieve my goals
2. To believe in myself enough to quit all my jobs and focus solely on becoming a successful property investor, with a clear goal to owning $20 million worth of properties in less than 10 years
3. To surround myself with people who were more successful than me so I could profit from their wisdom and knowledge
4. To work hard at continually growing my income so I could have more money to invest and still enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle

The Lesson: It takes the same time and effort to work on one big income-producing project as it does multiple, less profitable projects.

The “think rich to become rich” breakthrough

If ever there was a shortcut to success, for me it was choosing to work with property investment experts who knew more than me (and earned far more than me).

Not only did these people show me exactly how I could make more money and what habits I needed to change or develop in order to become financially free, they helped me understand that rich people have a specific ‘millionaire mindset’.

Becoming rich in their minds and lifting the limits on their thinking was key to their success.

Thinking rich means you:

• Don’t wait for things to happen, you make them happen
• Dream bigger and don’t be afraid to strive for more
• Value time over money by letting industry experts guide you while you focus on growing your income
• Stay committed to your goals no matter what the obstacle
• Stay positive and see every challenge as an opportunity to grow

Lesson: Live within your means, but think beyond your means.

The “wealth vs income” breakthrough

Money plays such an important part in our daily lives, and yet so many people are total amateurs when it comes to money matters. It’s not something we talk about to our friends, and financial literacy is certainly not anything we are taught at school.

So when it comes to money matters, it’s not surprising that most people don’t realise there are two distinct aspects; one is cash flow or income, which is money generated by your physical capability through time, skills, knowledge or physical work. The other is wealth, which is something outside your physical self in the form of an asset such as property that goes up in value and brings you an income.

Earning a good income is not the same as having wealth. If you’re earning well and not saving or not using your income to invest, you will never achieve real wealth.

Once I understood the crucial part my income would play in acquiring wealth through multiple properties, I focused on doing what needed to be done in order to substantially grow my income year after year.

This allowed me to reach my initial goal of $20 million worth of properties in 7 and half years.

Lesson: Income is not wealth. Using your income wisely yields wealth.

Opportunity comes to those who DON’T wait

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