What a special day it was yesterday...a real contrast for me.
I attended my Uncle Phil’s funeral and saw two Aussie women win Gold at the Olympics.
My morning started by watching the awesome efforts of both Sally
Pearson and Anna Meares, who won Olympic Gold medals for Australia.
I listened with a tear in
my eye as Sally Pearson (100m hurdles) told the camera and everyone around the
world, what she had said to herself before her race.
“I want this, it has to be mine...it can’t go any other way...”
These powerful words saw her take out the Gold. She had already
won it in her mind.
Then I heard the story about Anna (sprint cyclist) who in 2008
fractured her neck, dislocated her shoulder and tore ligaments and tendons when
she crashed her bike at 65kms per hour.
She was 2mm away from needing life support to breath for the rest of her
life. Here she was today winning Gold
(beating the Brits too!).
What struck me about these two women was focus and determination.
Back to my morning...once I had the kids sorted, I headed
off to Uncle Phil’s funeral in Sutherland in Sydney’s south. I arrived to find the funeral parlour filled
with lots of different people; old family friends, air force colleagues and
Qantas pilots. Uncle Phil had served his
country in the RAAF then worked as a commercial pilot for many years. The stories told at his funeral of his tough
upbringing in Queensland, unwavering support for the Cronulla Sharks (that’s
commitment!) and successful career and family life was touching. Uncle Phil had
achieved a lot in his 90 years of life, the word they described him as was
“Steadfast”.
The inspiration that I received today was amazing...the
theme I was seeing for the day was;
Focus, Determination
and Steadfastness.
In the morning, I was jumping up and down and full of pride
as I watched our awesome Aussie women win Gold Medals at the Olympics.
Then, later in the day, I found myself reflecting on what
has been an equally awesome achievement of my Uncle, who I most remember for
being pretty hard nosed and strict on us kids, but he was obviously focused,
determined and steadfast in order for him to achieve what he did in his life.
My take out of today is:
1.
We can really achieve great things in our life,
no matter our circumstances.
2.
All we need to do is focus on our goals and
commit to achieving them and stay steadfast.
When I started investing in property 12 years ago, my
motivation was my family’s future (and still is). I was pregnant with my first son and realised
after reading a life changing book, that if we didn’t take responsibility of
our future then we’d end up at the mercy of others (government pensions).
So instead of kicking back and relaxing whilst pregnant, I
studied and sat in lecture halls whilst my ankles swelled.
Then I worked two jobs so that I could be in a position to
borrow enough money to invest and pay
my half of our home mortgage. I purchased my first investment property at 7
months pregnant and sold it when my son was 3 months old, netting
$120,000. That was my first property
investment experience and I was hooked.
Not long after my son was born, I also started my own
business. My husband worked full time.
As we raised our son and then had another, I grew my business to what is
now a very successful property development project management business.
This has not been easy by any means. I’ve stayed steadfast
during times when it would have been easy to give up. I’ve been determined to change our situation
and thus our future as quickly as possible.
I knew I couldn’t afford to wait until the kids are older; I needed to increase
the momentum, using the time during growth spurts and starting school to invest
in property.
I haven’t missed anything vitally important but I had
vitally improved our retirement prospects.
I’ve focussed on my goals and 12 years later, I’m achieving
great things. Maybe not as magnificent
as those women who won Gold today, or my Uncle Phil’s but things I’m incredibly
proud of.
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