Well folks, I believe this will be my last post before my time frame of 365 days is up. I started writing this particular blog post in Perth, Australia. I am now in my original home town of Somerset West, South Africa.

When I took up this challenge, 364 days ago, I could not have dreamt that I would have experienced all the joys, challenges & range of emotions that I have encountered thus far.  The people I have connected with, because of my journey have been amazing! So I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your inspiration, feedback, help & love over the past year.

To recap, for those of you who don’t know, just over a year ago I had an experience that changed my life. I was struggling to make it as a real estate agent. I had a lovely fiance and a little 6 month old boy and not money. My fiance was forced to go back to work, while I juggling my straining career and looking after my son. When I thought it couldn’t get any worse it did - we were broke and the strain was tremendous.

I spent my nights in tears on the phone to my mum, begging her for money to pay that weeks rent. We were piled high in debt, credit cards, store cards & personal loans. I had to borrow money from my younger brother to pay for groceries so that my family could eat. I even asked my 90 year-old grandmother for a thousand dollars at one stage.

As you can imagine, this put stress on my relationship with my fiance, family & friends. It was my 26th birthday (6th October 2008), when I decided that enough was enough. I knew that I had to do something different if I wanted to change my love and the lives of those I cared about.

I made a goal, to make $1 Million dollars in 365 days. From that moment on, my life has changed. I no longer was a spectator in my life, going with the flow and making excuses for why I couldn’t do certain things and placing blame on external factors.

I was now in control of my life. I realised that I needed to do some different things in order to achieve some different results. My plan was to start this blog and update my journey as I went, culminating at my final goal - 365 days on.

One of the challenges at the end of this time frame for me, was to quantify all of the success I have had & been privileged to enjoy. I didn’t want to seem egotistical and at the same time I wanted to keep the relationships I had built with my readers, a truthful one. So I’ve decided to talk about the areas of success that I have focused on, for the past year. Not to show off, but to show you that you can achieve everything you want in life, just by simply changing the way you think.

There are many areas that I invested in, on my journey:

• Family- my number one priority. Because it’s when I’m with my family that I am happiest. My family bring me more joy than anything else in the world. I’ve managed to spend quality time with my family on this journey. The following year is going to hold even more time for my family.

• Friends - value them and keep them close. Don’t be afraid to have too many friends or to give out more love, it’s amazing how much love one person can have. I don’t have time for hate, it will not get me where I want to go.

• Holidays - I like to celebrate my successes, and part of this for me is to spend time away from attaining my other goals and just focus on enjoying myself with my loved ones. Have little break aways, they don’t have to be expensive and you’ll be amazed at how you can recharge your batteries with just a few days away.

• International Travel - one of my favourite things to do. I love experiencing new cultures & getting to know people in other countries. I love that I can provide this experience my my family and children. I believe that it gives them a better grounding and respect for others.

• Property - We managed to purchase our first home in March this year which was an amazing experience. We love our home and I feel very blessed to call it my home. It’s great to entertain family & friends. It’s a base for me to reflect on life and a sanctuary for our family.

• Business (for myself) - I’ve always been interested in business. At first it was about making money, but I soon realised that I’m not going to be successful by focusing on money. I’m in business to help people, to help myself, my family & the world. I love being able to take an idea and make it a reality. We often don’t give ourselves enough credit as to what we’re actually capable of. I’ve been involved in a number of start-ups and believe there’s no better way than by actually “doing” it.

• Work(for someone else) - An instrumental part of my success has been my full time job. I have been privileged enough to work for a company that has a great team of people. I’ve been able to apply what I have learnt on my journey so far, to achieve some great successes. My job gives me flexible time & security. It has also been a great place to learn from others and through my job I have met many interesting and inspirational people.

• Giving - before I started this, I didn’t really believe in giving and always felt that “charity starts at home”. There’s no better feeling than being able to help someone else. Whether you are volunteering with time or money, you can have a massive impact. It’s been challenging at times (see my marathon) but there’s nothing like other people relying on you to push yourself and see what you are capable of!

• Mental - this is a big thing for me. I’ve realised that your mind is very important in everything we do. You need to be careful what you let in your mind, because it all influences who you are. I’ve spent the last year
  re-training” my mind and making certain things habits. You can train yourself to do anything. I mean how many of us have bad habits? Why not focus on good habits instead?

• Health - With my holistic view on success, I’ve been able to focus on my health. I want to be able to enjoy my kids and my family. I don’t want to be stressed out and die at a young age. I’ve realised the importance of regular exercise. We all know what we should be doing, I’ve just been able to put it into action. It’s about empowering your body and mind, so you need to look after yourself too.

• Relationships - I feel that I’m a better father & husband than I was 12 months ago. I feel more connected with my wider family and my circle of friends has expanded rapidly. It’s like moths being drawn to light - if you’re positive and empowering then people are drawn to you - they want to be around you. So all you have to do is make the decision to be positive and empowering. And don’t get hung up if you don’t succeed all the time - just keep trying

• Personal Development - I’ve attended a personal development seminar, attend courses & read books that empower me and help me achieve my goals. This helps me reprogram my brain so that I am more successful in what I do. I like to learn from others, so often seek advice from people that have “been there, done that”. I’ve met some amazing people and learnt from every one of them and will continue to do so.

So the big question is “How did I do all of this”? Well, I took advice from lots of people. I studied other successful people and I believed in myself. I’ve lost count of the number of people that have laughed at me and what I’m doing. It was a challenge for me to get past what people think. Now I feel so liberated because I know that I can actually achieve anything I want in life. I now gladly tell people what I’m doing. If they laugh, they stop pretty quickly once they see the conviction in my face.

Sometimes you have to hear things a number of times before you take any notice. All I did was take ACTION on things that lots of people have told me since I was born.

“I hope that this is yourmoment. Maybe you’ve had goals in the past, done things, heard successful people speak, done personal development - whatever. Well this is your time, this is your chance to prove yourself, to make a difference, to live the life that your dreams are made of! How? Just choose to take action right now. That is what has started me on this wonderful journey.”

I’m not asking for money, you don’t have to buy anything. All I’m saying is give it a go - what do you have to lose other than everything you’ve ever wanted? It’s better to give it a go now, than to wish you’d given it a go when you’re lying on your death bed.

THE WEEK BEFORE I ACHIEVED MY GRAND DREAM GOAL:

I’m in a strange place right now. I’m in this beautiful country where I grew up. I’m staying at a luxurious apartment with amazing views, a pro golf course & beautiful sunny weather, yet I feel as though I’m missing something.

On my journey I’ve learnt a lot things to help me through difficult times, and I’ve never come up against a challenge quite like this. It was a long flight with our two beautiful children. We even brought my mother-in-law with us to help with the kids. We have been looking forward to this trip for months! The main reason was to attend my best friend’s wedding in South Africa and then show my family where I grew up and introduce them to a large contingent of family and friends in South Africa.

After spending our first night in South Africa, we awoke excited and eager to explore. While we were getting ready that morning, we received a phone call - my father in law had suddenly passed away. To say that this news was shocking was an understatement. All of a sudden everything changed.

After a very busy 24 hours, we managed to get my wife, mother-in-law and 2 kids back on flights to New Zealand. I am now still in South Africa for my best friend’s wedding on Saturday. We are often faced with difficult decisions. I am so grateful that  have such a strong wife. She has truly been amazing.

The last year has been incredible for me. I’ve learnt so much, achieved so much, met so many amazing people and totally transformed my life and that of my family. My father in law’s sudden death has reminded me, once again, how precious life is and that we really do need to treasure every second of every day.

This isn’t the ending I had envisaged for my last week, however it has certainly put things into perspective again for me. After much soul searching, I have decided what I will be doing with my life and how I will continue on and help others to achieve their goals. To get through the last few days, I’ve had to really use my “gratitude” tool. This basically involves me asking myself “what am I grateful for” and “what’s great about this”. While often, especially in times of despair, these are the most difficult questions to answer, if you keep asking them, eventually you will get the answers you have been searching for.

If you are reading this right now - then you are unbelievably blessed to still be here on this earth. Don’t waste any more precious time. Enjoy yourself & love everybody. God Bless.

Ryan Kilfoil - aka The Kiwi Millionaire

I would like to dedicate my final blog post to an amazing, talented, clever & passionate man, loving father, husband & son. To John Stone, may you rest in peace and may your memory continue to inspire us all.

“HELL NO” I year you say! Most excellent! Because, as a long time reader of this blog you know how lucky we are to be here today, to have another bash at life and another 24 hours in which we can do ANYTHING WE WANT! Now is that exciting or what?

So, no matter what time of the day or night you are reading this, be grateful. Be grateful that you have the ability to see this blog, that you have access to the amazing world of the internet.

You now have some decisions to make:

• What I am going to do with the next 24 hours?
• Who am I going to spend my time with?
• What am I going to contribute to?
• How I am going to feel for these next 24 hours?

Take a moment and find a pen and piece of paper and you write these 4 questions down, then spend the next 5 minutes, answering them.Be honest with yourself. How did you answer these questions? Did you answer with the normal everyday stuff, like “go to work”, feel “depressed” or “angry”. My guess is that you didn’t. I think you wrote about the things and people you feel passionate about. The things that make you feel good and empowered. Happy and successful.

As strange as it may seem, you actually ask yourself these questions everyday.

And you answer them…

• You choose what you are going to do with your time.

• You choose who you spend your time with.

• You choose what’s important to you and what you want to contribute to.

• You choose exactly how you are going to feel, every moment of every day.

It may be a bit hard to swallow, but it’s the truth. We are all responsible for what happens in our lives. I’m not saying everything is your faults, but at the end of the day - you have the choice as to how you want to handle a situation, challenge or success.

So if your written answers to those 4 questions, aren’t what you normally do every day - then maybe it’s time to take some serious action and change the things you do everyday, so you start living the life you want. It’s your choice and I know there’s lots of support for you out there.

So give it a go…

“unwavering - marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable;  “

The free dictionary

With 40 days left until I reach my goal of making a million dollars in 365 days, I barely have time to reflect on my journey so far. It’s been one heck of a journey. I’m not there yet, but I’m still confident that the right things are happening. I’m certainly not sitting on my butt waiting for a Million dollars to show up out of nowhere! I’ve spent the past10 months on a journey, a quest.

It has been one of the most challenging times of my life. I’ve managed to increase my income, and I now have multiple streams of income, yet I’m not ready to sit back and relax yet. If anything, this journey has encouraged me to shoot even higher for the stars, to accomplish even more in my life and to realise my grand dream goals along with my beautiful family.

In a little under a month, my wife, children & mother-in-law are all flying to South Africa to attend one of my best friend’s weddings. I am really excited as I get to show my kids where I grew up and the place I used to call home just 10 years ago.

It’s a LONG flight from New Zealand to South Africa, so that in itself is going to present some challenges. We’ve also had some challenges recently when it came to cash flow. With all my different “ventures” on the go at once, there’s a fair amount of investment going on. Obviously there’s bills to pay, food to put on the table etc, just like any other family.

One of my goals is to never have to send my wife back to work (unless she chooses to). She really wants to be with the kids and she’s doing such an amazing job so far, there’s no ways I’d want her doing anything else.  This has added some pressure to our financial situation - especially with some of the financial goals I’ve set (see: 1 Million Dollars in 365 days!)

However, this has not perturbed me and while it can be challenging at times, it’s nothing compared to what some people have to go through. I often have to re-read some of my blogs to keep on track. Sometimes it’s easy enough to give out advice and also easy to forget to take that advice yourself!

So to cut a long story short, today just as I was thinking about how we were going to pay a particular bill - I opened up the mail….the the problem was solved. Just like that! Now it may be cutting it a bit fine, but we hung in there and things worked out. I’ll finish off with a great saying from Kurek Ashely :

 ”You always get what you wish for and it rarely comes in the package you were expecting!”

Laughing is certainly infectious,and I think it’s even better when coming from children. I know I always go on about being grateful for what we have, and I make no apologies for it! I think we need to make more noise about the awesome stuff in our lives!

People seem to get too complacent and don’t emphasise all the great things we have going on! Everyone likes drama so they focus on dis-empowering events such as murders, assaults, abuse, poverty…the list goes on. You only have to watch the 6 o’ clock news to see what I’m talking about. (This is why I don’t watch the news anymore).

It appears that it’s more abnormal to focus on empowering events, such as eating a meal with your family around the dinner table. Again, this depends on what is important to you in your life.For the majority of people, once they lose something like “Spending time with their family”, this soon becomes the most important thing in their life and they would usually do anything to get it back. Don’t wait until you lose it. Make the most of it now.

And for all my friends abroad that don’t have their immediate families with them at the moment, or those that have lost loved ones, don’t worry as luckily the world has millions of people of all ages, ethnicity’s and geographic locations, that are looking for love and support.

“Sometimes the best way to receive something, is to give it.”

So if you’re looking for a “family” why not volunteer somewhere, get involved in a community group or visit an old-age home.

I’m sure you’ll be surprised by what you get in return for your time.

So, I posed the question “Where does happiness live?”. I thought if we could track down it’s location it may be easier to locate when we need it. Where do I start looking though? Then it hit me - that magic binary machine that is google…

As with most things, I went to the first link - the one with the highest ranking on google. Turns out it was written by a lady named Helena Aramendia:

“Probably the most important thing that I see is that happy people do not identify with their life or their situation. This is my personal definition of freedom. They do not rely on any external factor in order to feel happiness. They are happy even if, at a given moment, they feel upset, or sad. They “are” intrinsically happy even if they “feel” different emotionally at some point. That makes me think that if both feelings are possible at the same time, it is safe to conclude that happiness is not an emotional response, but a state that is generated and developed at a deeper level. Is happiness a state of the soul ?”

This is a really good article and I would suggest reading it if you have a few minutes. It gives a great perception on happiness and how we can achieve it. There are lots of ideas, from meditation, affirmations, thought patterns, through to volunteering, karma & religious beliefs.

Read the full article here....and choose to be happy

Seriously though, I’ve been to one of Kurek Ashley’s live seminars, walked across searing-hot coals without getting burnt, and totally transformed my life. Kurek doesn’t get all the credit, however he certainly started me on my journey, and what a ride it has been so far - life ROCKS!

So back to the point: The theory is that you choose an area of your life (for example, your finances) and then each day you do something that will improve this area of your life by at least one percent (1%). This kind of leads on from my previous post about the 30 day plan.

After a year….you guessed it, you should have improved in the region of 365%! Now that’s quite a major change, even taken over a whole year. When you look at all the things you did that made up each one percent, they probably weren’t big things or very difficult to carry out.

It could be as simple as:

• making a phone call
• talking to someone
• thinking something about someone or something
• Trying something new
• Ending a bad or dis-empowering habit
• Doing something good for someone else
• The list goes on….

The thing I like about this approach is IT WORKS! Not only do you actually improve the areas of your life that you set out to, but you also begin doing something much more important. You start to think yourself rich. Now by rich, I don’t necessarily mean money, I’m talking about wealth in the holistic sense. You’re having a thought that you may not have normally have had:

“What can I do today in order to improve my finances/relationship/friendship/health/etc by one percent?”

By asking yourself that single question on a daily basis, you are beginning to form a pattern. Keep working at it and soon that daily pattern will turn into a habit, which means it becomes part of your every day life, just like waking up and going to sleep. This habit happens automatically, so you are automatically improving your life!

So I hear you ask, “Well if I can turn this into a habit, couldn’t I repeat this process with other strategies and turn them into habits”? OF COURSE YOU CAN! Imagine living your ultimate life - everyday, and all you’re doing is doing the same stuff you normally do?

So swap for you negative thoughts for positive thoughts. Get those dis-empowering thoughts and actions and replace them with empowering thoughts and actions. Spread the love. Make hapiness you mantra. Enjoy it and stay positive…

The purpose of this 30 day program was to challenge myself, take things to another level and give myself a sort of “detox” from the everyday things in life. This was also an experiment - I knew what I wanted to achieve, but I wasn’t sure how it was going to work.

My main focus was to complete the 30 day program. I could then evaluate it, the results I got and then refine the program for the next 30 days and so on. The objective is to improve my life in a holistic way - covering as many aspects of my life as possible. The way I designed it was simple:

“Complete 5 daily tasks, each day, for a period of 30 days. “

It’s pretty basic to setup. I just made a word document, tabled with each day and 5 rows for the 5 tasks for that day. The way I planned it, was by thinking of the goals I wanted to achieve. An example of my plan below

As I mentioned….pretty simple, yet effective. Now as you can see, I would leave a couple of spaces each day so that I could add some tasks either on the day or at the beginning of the week.

Some tips for making your own 30 day program:

• Once you’ve completed your program, print it out and staple it or get it bound.
• Reward yourself - under the last day, write something you will get if you complete the 30 days, that will motivate you to continue
• Choose tasks that work towards making you feel empowered and achieving your goals
• For extra motivation, encourage your partner (or friends) to do the their own 30 day program & then compare results at the end (and celebrate!)

One of the coolest things for me, was once I completed the first 30 day programme, my wife asked me to set one up for her. She’s been doing really great so far and seems to be achieving more & feeling more empowered!
You may also be pleased to know that I’ve put “update blog” as one of my five to-do’s, every second day, on my current 30 day program - so the drought is over!

So get cracking & start your 30 days program TODAY!

To be honest, I thought it would be pretty crap for $1. Another lesson - don’t judge a book (or dvd) by it’s price! It was really great and I originally thought it was just because I was on holiday that I enjoyed it so much….that was until I put it on a couple of times when I was back in NZ.

This guys really impresses me - he’s grounded and seems to have his priorities setup:

“From his genuine nature, to his big heart, to his all-around charisma, once you connect with his vibe you realize that he is truly unique. Donavon lives an incredible life, one that he never takes for granted. His vocations and drive have enabled him to live the one person’s fantasy, as a reality.

First and foremost, you have Donavon the husband to his wife Petra and father to his sons Hendrix and Ozzy. Their love and presence are the driving force in his life, as can be seen by the beautiful tattoo of the three on his forearm. Next you have Donavon the pro-surfer, who has and continues to travel the world extensively surfing in some of the most popular and also most remote places on the globe. As a matter of fact, both Donavon’s surfboard and guitar case have seen more places than most humans ever will. And of course, you have Donavon Frankenreiter the musician, who is about to release his third, and probably most important album to date titled Pass It Around (Lost Highway). ” - Donavonf.com Bio

He spend his life surfing, and travelling the world playing his music, with his wife and kids. Some would say that music is his passion, however I believe that his family are his passion. I’m willing to bet that he would give up playing concerts all around the world in just an instant if his family asked him to.

One of life’s biggest challenges is to find our purpose, the reason we are here on this earth. I think you know when you’ve found your purpose, because it consumes your life. It changes your life and everything seems to fall into place. I’m not saying that you won’t come up against challenges, rather that you know the challenges are there for a reason

So perhaps the time has come….for you to follow your heart. Are you inspired every morning when you wake up? Are you surrounded with like-minded people, people who you love and care for and those who feel the same about you? Is everyday a blessing or a chore?

Maybe you’re not doing what you should be. So why not explore some different options:

• Tired of your job? Ask your boss for a promotion, or quit your job!  Yes it may be scary, but it will also probably be one of the most exciting things you will ever do!
• Sell your car, pack your stuff and book a one-way ticket to Timbuktu (or London for those who are less adventurous)
• Do you have a skill that can earn you a living? Why not start your own business? There’s tons of resources to help people who decide to work for themselves. Find a business mentor and get started!
• Why not try to volunteer somewhere? I’m sure if you look, you’ll find dozens of opportunities to volunteer in your local community. You may be surprised at how rewarding it can be.

What ever you decide - make sure that you do what makes you happy. A friend of mine recently sent me this definition - I hope it helps you.

“I have recently concluded that the secret to being happy in life is limiting the gap between where you are at and where you think you should be.”

 Chris Wingate

 All the best and have a FANTASTIC week!

Ryan Kilfoil - The Kiwi Millionaire

Taking action is also one of those things that can be challenging at times. I have to agree, because I often find myself knowing what to do, but not taking action and doing it! There’s always a plethora of excuses we manage to conjure up, and we may even do such a good job of convincing ourselves that it becomes a habit NOT TO TAKE action. This creates a problem, as if you’re not taking action towards your goals, then I hate to break it to you….but you’re not going to achieve them…

So what can we do to overcome this challenge of not taking action? It’s simple. Grow up and take responsibility for your goals. Once you take responsibility for what you want to achieve in life, then you know that the only thing standing between yourself and your goals… is you!

One of the challenges in life is to change the habits that we have become used to ie, that we can’t have everything we want in life, that we are here to work 9-5, then retire and then die (how exciting!) etc etc. These have been drilled into society on so many levels, it can be difficult to undo them, however it can be done.

Just be conscious of your thoughts, as much as possible. If your thoughts turn into actions, which then generate your results, it makes sense to monitor your thoughts to make sure that you’re having empowering thoughts.

Once you decide to take action and follow through everything changes. Taking action is the key to success to everything in life. So if you’re been putting off something that you know is a critical factor in your success, then consider this your personal reminder - DO IT NOW!