It may seem strange that an accountant would say that money is not important. But I was lucky in that I was never brought up to be materialistic. My parents arrived in Australia in 1971 from Ireland with one suitcase, $20 in their pocket and within a few weeks mum was pregnant. If I ever tried to get ahead of myself then my dad would always bring me down to earth ... sometimes with a thud. For a man that never had a chance of secondary school education, he was well trained in the "University of Life" and I consider him to be one of the smartest people that I have ever had the pleasure in meeting. Tragically he died a few years ago at the age of 59. Another good life cut short. But an eventful one. He never made a million dollars as a bricklayer but he took time to experience many things in life and provided a great life for his family.
His death was a timely reminder to me that life is way too short ... so why work so many long hours? After all, when you are 80 & looking back on life are you going to reminder those great times in the office late at night? Or great times with family & friends?
If you saw my blog last week you will know that the one thing that really, really, really irks me is when someone calls or emails me and says that something it is URGENT! When in reality it is not. Let me tell you what the definition of urgent is.
Imagine that your pregnant wife goes into labour and you are on cloud nine, about to be a parent for the first time. But then you see the fear in the doctors eyes & you are quickly told that there are complications. Within an hour you are holding the warm, yet limp, body of your daughter as you were told that she was born sleeping. And that your wife is having emergency surgery to save her life in what is now a 50/50 situation. She is then whisked away to intensive care. During that time you get harassed by a client for something because it is "urgent" ... but it can really wait another month. What do you think is urgent? Yes looking after a client’s needs is important but it is not urgent. Of course being with your wife is what is urgent & in fact the only thing that matters in the world at that time. World War III could break & you wouldn't care.
Sadly this exact situation happened to me last December. Most people dream about angels, but I got to hold one in my arms. ~Sophie Cleo~ we love you.
People are saying that times are tough at the moment – but trust me they can get so much tougher. As the saying goes ... when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
We are getting close to the end of the financial year. A lot of you are doing some tax planning and taking advantage of my great tax tips. But one tip that I didn't put down is making a donation to charity and perhaps that you should think about putting something back to the community. Make a real difference in your life.
I am determined to make a real difference. Back in December, we were hoping to walk out of that hospital a healthy baby girl, but instead walked out empty handed. Gut wrenching. An extremely tough period in our lives. But the ladies at Bears of Hope were tremendous and provided amazing support to us. With 1 in 4 pregnancies in Australia end in sadness & empty hands, we want to help other families during their tough times as well. As a result I am running the Sydney marathon in September dressed in a leprechaun outfit to help raise funds and awareness for Bears of Hope. Yes 42.2km of pleasure. It is not pain ... I know what real pain is. I appreciate your support.