There’s the easy way…
And the hard way. You can take the path less traveled…or follow the crowd. Let’s face it, life is full of choices and no one knows just what’s the right path for them.
It’s sort of trial and error.
Today I have three businesses.
I run an English school, I run this site and I am putting on a financial seminar.
Three very different fields – why? That’s just the hand life dealt me.
I started teaching English back in high school and loved being able to make a difference in people’s lives so I’ve done it every since and intended to only do that up until a few years ago.
Had it not been for a tsunami, a failed partnership and a client’s comment it’s quite possible things might be very different than they are today.
I always felt that my gift was being able to inspire other people, it just so happened that for most of my life teaching English was the one thing I knew how to do.
But no one ever said you have to stay who you are…you can change anytime you choose. And I did.
Success principles, time management, marketing and finance are now all part of my daily life in one form or another.
Sometimes it’s a book, sometimes it’s an audio program I picked up. Sometimes I listen to them in the car, other times I’m doing the laundry.
Somewhere, sometime, somehow I’m learning…and in the process, changing.
But one thing never changes – my desire to pass along what I’ve learned.
As one of my jobs is running an English school, I constantly keep track of my competitors. I either want to stay one step ahead of them or join forces with them, if the opportunity arises.
One thing I do know is that I offer something different than my competitors out there in each of my businesses.
- My English school prides itself in care and aftercare.
- This site offers a whole range of success concepts 100% for free.
- My financial seminar (FFS) is the only one of its kind in Japan.
Smith’s School of English is Hirakata which you can see here is a team effort and I tip my hat off to my compatriots in arms. We have the experienced, but tough teacher, the patient teacher, the grammar expert and the cheerful teacher.
What sets us apart from our competition is we go the extra mile and put results first. Our students may be challenged, but they will learn and get a serious education.
isucceedbook.com touches on all realms of success with an emphasis on philosophy. After all, my main focus is to make people think.
How does it compare to some of the big sites out there? iSucceed is a small fish, but I try to put everything in a way that students will find challenging and interesting at the same time.
And finally the Financial Future Seminar helps educate people on the financial situation we find ourselves in today in 3 easy-to-understand videos and which I can’t say enough about. If you care at all about investing or the future, these videos are well worth sinking your teeth into.
I spend close to three hours a day sifting the Internet for information from the best minds in the business and compress their ideas into short, direct slides that everyone can understand.
I’m an educator first and foremost. And somehow I seem to have an ability to make people better, so I choose to do just that in three realms; English, success and finance.
All three I believe are critical for the world tomorrow, none more so than finance.
English will still be English in 20 years, even if there are a few new words or expressions that have snuck in. Success is what it is. The concepts of being better have been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. With new technology, there may be a new way of looking at them or applying them, but what makes us human hasn’t changed. So success will be tomorrow what it always has been.
Finance has, and always will be important, but I believe that within the next few years, history will be written, and not the good kind.
What has happened leading up to, and since, Lehman Brothers collapse back in 2008 will be studied for years to come. Most people will laugh at us and ask the question, “How couldn’t they see what was coming?”
I believe this with all my heart, just as I believe English and computer skills are critical to remain competitive in our ever changing world.
I know that not everyone will choose to join my school when there are others out there. I know that many people might overlook this site as I’m not a household name and I know that many people laugh off my concerns for our financial future. But none of that deters me from continuing to get my message out there.
In my youth, I would get upset when people ignored my advice, but I’ve come to realize that you can only do what you can do. Even Jesus didn’t have a 100% track record.
There will always be those people that believe you and in your message and in my case, they might not believe all three of my messages, and that’s ok.
All I want to do is make a contribution.
I could cave in and give the market what it desires, but when that clashes with what I believe, then I wouldn’t be true to myself.
It’s not always an easy path doing what you believe is right, but it’s the only one that in the long run will make you happy.
Find your passion, work hard at it, never give up and do what’s right…and I believe that in the end, things will work out.
You only get one life, live what you want to do.
Adrian Shepherd