Friends and family…they’re irreplaceable.
They are there for us when we need them and always willing to lend a helping hand.
That said, they are often the biggest killers of dreams.
They are the first to tell us that something won’t work and all the reasons why we should just give up.
And many times, they’re right.
Dreams can be seductive. We imagine ourselves being rich and famous doing what we love when in actual fact, the chances of that happening are often slim to none.
But there is a chance.
And that’s all someone needs if you are willing to give it all you’ve got.
When I first decided to write a book on success, one friend poured some cold water on my vision of my future, by saying, “There’s no way you’ll be successful.”
Another friend of mine told me that I was “wasting my time” and that I should “get serious” about working my business.
It was hard to hear those things, but I never wavered.
Why?
Because I was given a second chance at life and believed that I had a message to share with people.
What was that message? That’s not quite as easy to answer because it’s evolved over time.
For years all I wanted to help others master English, because I could see just what a powerful tool it was and would be moving forward.
But when I sat down and looked at my life 5 years ago, I didn’t like what I saw. I loved the relationships I’d built and the work I did, but I realized that it wasn’t going to get me where I wanted to go.
It was because of that that I started looking for opportunities…and it wasn’t long till I found one.
That “opportunity” turned out to be, for lack of a better word, a nightmare.
And yet, it was thanks to that experience that I began studying.
I started with business, but that soon morphed into the more general field of success and began to learn from the likes of Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar and Jim Rohn, that dealt more with the mental side of success.
When I made success a study, everything changed. My thoughts, my attitude, my philosophy…I was hooked.
So my message, then evolved from teaching English to using English to teach ideas and principles that could help transform people’s lives regardless of their field of expertise.
Around the same time that I started studying success I felt that I should also start studying investing if I ever wanted to be wealthy.
I would spend 2 hours a day on success and 15 minutes on investing…but now it’s just the opposite.
Two hours of my day now goes to reading newsletters and listening to interviews to understand how I can protect myself from what is coming and how to benefit from it.
And now here I am, just a few days away from my first official financial seminar.
Later this year, I’ll be opening it up to the general pubic and doing it in both English and Japanese.
So just what is my message today?
To be successful in the 21st century there are four areas we should focus on:
- English
- Computers
- Success
- Financial education
Notice that I said the word “should” because one could still be very successful without any of them, but I like to play the odds and I feel that these give people the best chance to succeed even in the most trying of times.
But who am I? And why should anyone listen to me?
I’m not a self-help guru, I’m not a financial adviser with millions in the bank and I’m no computer genius -what I am is someone who cares.
It’s my greatest asset and also my greatest weakness, but I choose to believe the former.
And it’s because I care that I feel I must share what I’ve learned.
I do believe, with all my heart, that the information and ideas I have gathered can change peoples’ lives.
That’s why I taught, that’s why I wrote my book, iSucceed, it’s why I write this blog, it’s why I’m doing my financial seminar and it’s why I’ll be creating a 4-day seminar later this year.
Who knew?
Me, an English teacher who majored in psychology but focused on Japanese, is now a financial success guy.
It just goes to show you – we can be anything we want to be. All it takes a little bit of time and a whole lot of heart.
People often say to themselves, “Who would want to listen to me?”
My answer to that is, you’d be surprised.
People are always looking for ideas. Ideas to have better marriages, deeper relationships, better sales, less stress,a slimmer body, more time, bigger bank accounts – the list is endless.
If you can help people with a problem, then get out there and start sharing it.
For years I wondered what I wanted to do with my life…now I know.
It took me 37 years, a tsunami, a failed business and a whole host of other experiences along the way to get me to where I am today.
And it is my sincere hope that the messages and ideas that I share with you(here and in any of my materials) help you live a more successful life.
Adrian Shepherd