Cut a long story short I didn’t get the job.

Feeling unfulfilled for the next couple of month my wife Fiona suggested I do the Date with Destiny course with Tony Robbins in May 2018. 5 ½ days of self-discovery and mapping out your destiny.

I felt a little indulgent as I had completed the same event in 2006 and thought, what value I could get in doing it again. Surely it would be the same and at 47 maybe I needed something different. Anyway, I bought the ticket and rang my cousin who lives in Cairns and asked if I could stay with them. Stacey and Mick graciously obliged.

It was the first day and I had registered and grabbed my manual and I sat down by myself and I had ponded, had I made the correct decision? Shortly after a very kind lady Moya came over and sat next to me and just started chatting. I had found a new friend and was happier about the decision to go to the event. We waited in line and met up with her friend Gaenor and had a great chat as we waited in line.

In these events, you are generally given a buddy to work with over the 5 days. We were put into groups. Our Group was group 17 – and had a real international flavour with a very large Russian contingent. They ask us to look around your group and identify your top 3 choices, just in case when you choose if you don’t get your first choice you can chase your second or third option.

It was time to choose, I looked around I and saw a couple of people to choose from. The first one was man shorter than myself small build and Asian in appearance, he had glasses, I thought maybe it is a sign as I had sat next to another amazing American man with Vietnamese heritage earlier in the day. So I decided he was going to be my first choice, the 2nd choice was a well a very muscular Russian man who looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I got my first choice Malcolm from Malaysia was my first choice a 27-year lawyer. He was going to be my buddy for the next 5 days. He was a vision of me back from about the time I was engaged and looking for our first home. His wife Elly and Malcom who have since come to stay with us, have dreams of building a Japanese Bungalow Malaysia.

I had many insights over the first few days and I had a session around values and rules and my associations around those which was quite profound. I wanted to be an Ironman but did not even have health listed as one of my values.

I specifically remember it was relationship day and I was feeling a bit lonely and upset that my wife was not with me. She was off chasing her dreams. What dreams did I have been doing the same sort of role for the last 12 years? Was this as good as it got? Anyway, we in a guided meditation where we were asked to be a bird and saw over the oceans and forests and I wanted to be an eagle but a Rozella kept appearing. And I found myself not soaring but scooting through the trees. I felt like I couldn’t soar and at the end of the meditation I felted dejected and that this may have been a waste of time coming here. It was because I was replaying a vision from 10 years ago. Building my dream home and seeing Rosellas in the trees from my bedroom. That dream was fulfilled, but there so no new compelling vision.

We were that night to complete some homework which was to complete my vision board. I was not compelled to do it and did not feel inspired either however I continue to write down key elements of the vision board which include a purpose statement. I Drafted “I am a Fun loving leader in my community that cares for the environment. “

That morning we were told to wake up at 8:07 am, I woke up about 60minutes early. Just before I woke about I had a dream, a dream where my Buddy Malcolm came to me and he gently put his hand on my shoulder and said all will be OK. He said to me with his gentle caring and loving nature “You are enough”. You Are a Man, you are a great father and provider.

At that point, I burst into tears and continue to write for the next 50 odd minutes in barely legible writing with tears pouring and sobbing uncontrollably.

I realised at that moment that Malcolm was me 17 years earlier, but maybe I was not brave enough to take some more risks. I was a good leader 17 years ago. It is time to be not just a good or great leader but an outstanding leader. I settled in the year 2000 when I said I couldn’t afford some additional leadership courses, and decided that morning I would no longer settle for being above average.

I considered being a coach at the age of 30 and told myself a bullshit story that I was too young and did not have enough experience. I had felt I had no credibility because for many years I had not been kind to my body. Whether it was overindulging in food, smoking cigarettes, alcohol and the occasional joint.

Then I thought about my buddy. 27-year-old Malcolm was going to chase his dreams and build his dream Japanese bungalow and I was excited for him.

I decided then I was going to be the best version of myself. A Fun Loving leader that cared for the environment. In sitting at that moment I could hear the crackling from the fan spinning above me. It was time to ensure I had the best tools for myself too. I decided to enrol in the Tony Robbins leadership Mastery which I had wanted to do 17 years earlier. That morning I walked in and signed up immediately.

One of my first steps was to apologise to my neighbour for not being the loving and caring neighbour that I could have been, rather an angry cranky man that was concerned about damage to material property because of the Camphor Laurel Tree, a feud that lasted 10 years. My frustration had stemmed from his apathy and lack of trust and as well as fear for the safety for children where to concrete slab around the pool had lifted. I sent him an apology email and when I next saw him I shook his hand and offered an olive. The day before the planned removal I went over to the other neighbour’s house to inform them of the removal, she said she had a dream that the tree would should not be cut down. I made a promise to her and the tree that I would serve environment and make it up to the bother of them.

So while going for a morning run from between Clifton beach and Palm Cove looking out to the beach I realised then and there my first full ironman event was to be in Cairns where Not only would I face some of my fears and limiting beliefs around swimming with sharks and Crocs and Box jellyfish, would be faced, I would also honour part of my purpose of being a fun loving leader that cared for the environment.

So the first Charity had been chosen – The Great Barrier Reef Foundation

I came back to Sydney. I was catching up with a work colleague and he share his weekend where he talked about one of his friends being involved in farming biofuels at that point I thought, I needed to speak to him and connect him with my buddy who wanted to start an international fertilizer business.

I connected with this man and heard his story and was inspired by him as he was also involved in a foundation to help indigenous Australians from an education and business perspective. Self-empowerment of the indigenous community was a very powerful approach. After all Tony Robbins help me help myself.

The second foundation had been selected – The Go Foundation

I met Jon Summers at DWD who shared a vision of getting 100 scholarships for the magic moments Foundations and I had sent my two kids to the Youth leadership summit, which leverage tools from Tony Robbins. So it was decided we would do the ironman together and help raise funds for the Magic Moments Foundation MMF and honour the work done by Tony Robbins and the Magic Moments team

The third foundation had been selected – Magic Moments Foundation

At this point I realised I needed support as I had never done fundraising and need help from people that had done this before.

So I thought who better than my cousin Eleni (Thank you Eleni) who had done numerous successful fundraisers. I said to her if she helped me we would include her foundation in the 4.

So entered the 4th foundation – NIDCAP, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead

It was at this point I had decided to create my own foundation and do this properly.

I registered for Cairns Iron June 9 2019 and engaged an accountant to formally setup The Dreamtime Believers foundation.

So entered the 5th foundation The Dreamtime Believers foundation.

The Go Foundation had requested not to be included in a joint competition, and after discussions with the team it was decided we had enough to do with the three other foundation and decided to go forward with the four foundations, and we could revisit down the track.

At my current job at Fujitsu we often talk about co-creating without partners and customers, which got me thinking, what were the synergies between the foundations, and how was it linked to my purpose, to be a fun loving leader cares for the environment.

One of first foundation goals was formed based on a discussion with a riding buddy on John Bradfield’s vision on running water from Northern Queensland into South Australia’s Lake Eyre.