From My Mail Bag...

I have some personal questions for you and you may choose not to answer them. I have read many of your articles and followed your numerous travels and am intrigued by your lifestyle. I am a Canadian C.A and now a C.P.A also, and often thought of traveling the world with large international firms, learning new cultures etc.

How do you support yourself? Are you still involved with Venture Capital? I think the thing that I most admire is your willingness to express your views (whether I agree or not is irrelevant), your ability to train with a busy schedule and your consistent high-level performance (almost identical time at IMC for 2 years). I know a lot of people would admire the athletic accomplishments, but I most respect the well-rounded accomplishments and the ability to keep things in balance. If you were doing 11+ hour IM's, it wouldn't take anything away from the way you are balancing your life.

I think this may be a good article for you to write. There are a lot of people out there, like myself, who would love to improve their times, but really want to balance a life with training and you seem to do that more than anyone I have ever seen.

• With great achievement comes great sacrifice.
• It takes no guts to do what you love every day. To do otherwise is insane.

Travel - some ideas on what I learned from travel.

The more that you truly learn about the worries and concerns of people in other cultures - the more that you learn tolerance and see that we are all exactly the same. Why do my thoughts touch people - because I am you. The issues that you are facing are the same as what is going on in me. The differences that we place between each other are simply creations of the mind to soothe our egos.

Travel "itself" is a huge pain in the ass - disrupts the routines of the body and creates a lot of stress. There are certain lessons that are worth this disruption. However, now that I have traveled a lot, I really appreciate the advantages of staying in one place. In order to truly achieve something meaningful - any major project - one needs to stay in one place.

There is no faster way to learn patience than to spend time traveling in Asia. I suppose that this lesson might hold true for South America and Africa as well - however - I don't like travel in areas where there are concerns for personal safety. I've been shaken down by the cops in Mexico and it was both scary and a nuisance.

What do I do for a living? Let's make this a little broader. Gordo, what do you need to have a fulfilling life. Love, mental stimulation, physical challenges, shelter, food, tri gear, race entries and transport. I think that is it.

First I'll cover things that generate directly and indirectly cash:

Writer - I write for XTri, just wrote an Ironman book with Joe Friel and run my websites.
Coach - I coach 12 ironman athletes.
Consultant - I am a minority owner and director of an Investment business.
Landlord - I own my house in New Zealand.

Writer, coach and landlord - these generate enough funding for me to cover my lifestyle. Consultant - this generates the funds necessary to help my circle.

The G Circle - some people in my circle know that they are there. Others are there but don't realize it. Most of them don't realize how much I love them and how much they help me - an issue with the important people in my life since my teens. Maybe they realize it but they would certainly like me to say it more.

Would you rather have a little time with someone who is truly alive or have all day with an energy sink?

When you hear me start talking like that... that's when you have me feeling a little defensive. Most of the time, I am quiet and that leads to problems. I've found that the answer to the above question is actually yes - otherwise - I'd have no friends at all! However, the secret to getting to yes is making those that we love understand that this is the case. I also think that people don't mind being 2nd, 3rd, or 100th priority so long as they know what's happening.

Back to that circle. I operate on the team concept. People are on the team - if we are on the team together then we need to help each other. The easiest thing that you can give someone is money - good bit on that in the bible. The poor man giving a quarter vs. the rich man giving $1,000.

Ultimately, I expect that I will move more explicitly towards having employees. We'll see, right now I don't need it. It seems to work quite well with the whole team freelancing for each other. In fact, some of my "employees" pay me.

Things I've learned about wealth.

• Money is simply a store of energy. People with lots of energy can easily get the money that they need. Money is never an obstacle to happiness. Lust for money, lust for possessions - these are quite often obstacles. If you think you need more money in your life then you are likely looking at things backwards. What you really need is something in your life that builds your energy. Once you have energy, your need for money will reduce and/or you will see the path towards the wealth that you require. This is why a lot of "new age gurus" are into sex as a way to free the mind - they are using the energy created by sexual union to get things moving for people. Personally, I think this is an illusion of energy but, hey, it works for some.

• If you really want anything - love, money, respect, power… then the quickest and most effective method is to give it away. This is a very powerful concept.

• The fastest way to get anyone to do what you want is to put zero pressure on them and love them. If you are able to do this and free yourself from any desire for an outcome - you'll get what you need.

• The things that you truly love to do - the things that will give you real meaning in your life. They don't cost much. Most of us spend our money/time/passion on illusions of happiness. When we simply do what makes us happy - that's when things sort themselves out. That's why I am successful, I have found a way to facilitate and help people do what makes them happy. Once they are happy, I get 10x my investment.

Who is in the G Circle - without a doubt, all of the people that I admire and respect have these characteristics in them:

• They are do-ers. The get stuff done. They aren't talkers. Nothing bugs us more than you calling us on some bullshit that we are spouting.

• They are addicts. If you are not an addict then you'll never understand what I mean. Every elite that I have ever met in my life is an addict. Personally, I think it is a prerequisite for success in any field.

• They are psychos. Elties are not normal people. We are not average. There are times that we wish we were average, but deep down we know that's just a momentary weakness. The easy path is not for us.

• They don't think that they are elites. They know that there is nothing special with them - they know that all they do is work hard. They see that they get a lot more done than most but can't really understand why others aren't as effective.

We are unlikely to be able to change our core nature - believe me, I've tried. I think that the best that we can do is become aware of our nature and then, while staying conscious, work with our Circle to do our best to make sure everyone experiences love on a daily basis. I often ask myself, does XXXX feel loved by me "right now". When I can get to the point in my life that everyone in my Circle feels loved by me "right now" that is a source of unlimited freedom, unlimited power.

My life does not have a lot of balance. I achieve because I do - it's that simple. You want a rich life, a life with meaning. Then make decisions based on personal happiness and love - that would be my advice. Deviate from either of these, go too far in one direction over the other, then problems pop up. Balance love and personal happiness - I think that should be our goal. Everything that people look for from the world, from their job, from their god - it's all inside us.

My good friend, Stu, used to call me Gordo the Human Cannonball. Is a Human Cannonball dangerous? Only if you get in his way. I have a long track record of eliminating every single thing that stands between me and my goals. Another pattern that I need to be aware of as our goals in the "now" change based on the natural flow of our lives. I try to make decisions slower these days and think about them for longer.

Give this a read. Feel free to ask any follow-up.

g

PS - when I say "you", I don't mean you. Well I do mean you, but I don't really know you... ;-)

I really enjoyed your article. I printed it off and mulled it over last night. When I want to think about things, I pull out my violin for about an hour, which seems to clear my mind and at the same time get my creative juices flowing. When I was done I re-read your article.

The thing that struck me first was that I had originally said you had a balanced life-style, yet I don't know you. It was my perception, probably because I saw that you were involved in a "successful" business, were traveling around the world, were married (a wife was mentioned in one article but I sense that is no longer the case), had many physical accomplishments and most important, seemed happy. I think when I see happy people, I assume they have a balance in their life.

I agree that what makes you happy is love, relationships and pursuing what makes you truly happy. I look at Tiger Woods, who by all accounts is happy (again maybe my perception), yet all he does is play golf. It is not, in most respects, a balanced lifestyle as the world would normally define it, yet he is doing what he has a passion for, has a strong relationship with his family, and is happy. Money has nothing to do with it. You come across as happy and energetic, and people want to associate with those types, so in that sense, you are successful in my books.

Why then are most people not happy? I think it is because we don't follow our dream. Why? For some, they cannot define what their dream is but I think it is more likely they are afraid to define it. If they try and do not achieve it, they feel like a failure. It is safe to dream from a distance, because you cannot fail if you don't try. I like what you said, the worst you can do is get your old life back.

After reading your article and learning a little more about what makes you tick, I would have to say that I admire your conviction to follow your dreams and to do whatever makes you happy. For many, it may sound self-centered, but as you know, we can't follow our dreams without the help of many people.

I completely understand when you say you have a desire for isolation, as I have a similar trend. I have a life full of loving people, parents, two brothers including a twin, six sisters and a wonderful wife. I have a trend in y past of sabotaging friendships/relationships but I also have really tried o change that about myself. Do I tell them what they mean to me often enough, not even close. I tend towards solo running/biking/swimming and often purposefully avoid training with others. As you said, we may not be able to change our core nature, but we need to be aware of it.

You gave me a lot to think about and I appreciate it. I have traveled in Europe and Central America and agree people are the same everywhere. It is hard to believe there are so many conflicts but I think they are caused by a very small minority of highly egotistic people trying to force their views on others. When you break it down, we all want the same thing. We want to love and be loved, we want peace and we want to be happy. It's really simple, at least in theory.

Hope you had a great run. I gather you are preparing for the Ultraman in Hawaii, what are your goals? I'll be the first to congratulate you when you go under 9 hours in an Ironman, next year.

I think you have hit on something here - when I think about the people that I know that are "happy" they are not in the least balanced. They are content with where they place their time but they have a real passion for something and spend quite a bit of time on it.

You are right - I'm not married any more. Things didn't work out there - my ex-wife and I are pals. The relationship is different but better for both of us.

I went to a swim clinic given by Josh Davis, gold medal swimmer. He said that in fully committing to his goals, he experienced some of the deepest pain of his life. However, pain (like everything else) is temporary and, ultimately, his commitment/his passion left him much richer for the experience.

Ultraman goals - the main purpose of Ultraman is to give me a target so that I can do the endurance training required to get really fast at Ironman. It also gives me an excuse to do some really ridiculous training sessions. My race goal is simple, I want to finish under the cut-offs and go Top 25. As there are 25 entrants, I am quietly confident of my ability to deliver!