Fail to prevail

Matt Leech 29th January 2013

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Take a look around and look at the people that make it and you will learn that they were all failures at some point. 

Michael Jordan got cut from his high school basketball team (and cried for days), Walt Disney was told he lacked creativity, Henry Ford went bankrupt 5 times before he was successful, the list goes on and on.

What can we learn from this?

Personally, I think it means we need to be fearless, try new things, implement ideas and take risks because I believe you need to fail to prevail.

I heard that when applying for a job in Silicon Valley, the main question and focus was on how many failures you have had and if they were big enough to justify working in their business. I think they might be onto something...



Winning isn't fun if you can't share it

​Matt Leech 19th January 2013

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I've learnt a lot about winning recently that I wanted to share with you.

I used to think winning was important but it can be an isolating experience, I have come to realised that it's not important at all. The only time winning can be great is if you can share it.



So I wanted to share a story with you that a friend of mine told me, he said “success is nothing if you can’t share it.” I must admit when I heard this, I knew it was instantly something important but not something I had considered before. I was interested so I asked, “What do you mean?”

He began to tell me a story about how he and nine other friends share in a race horse for fun & love of horse racing. They make the effort of getting together at race days and cheering on their horse. He told me that their horse was to race at one of the big meets and himself and nine other mates would all catch a plane to the event, stay in a hotel and spend a few days together. They were having a fantastic time at the airport, plane trip, hotel and eventually getting to the big day.

When they arrived on the big day, there was a well known horse owner right beside him and his group, so they all went and introduced themselves and discussed their horses and wished each other luck for the race.

The race started and eventually got closer to the finish and they all started to cheer and enjoy themselves together as a group as their horse started to look like it could come third. They noticed that the well known horse owner was not cheering his horse on even though his horse was leading the pack and looked to be the certain winner.

The nine of them ended up getting third place which was of major excitement, and the well known horse owner got first place. My friend went on to explain “even though we came third, we were the winners on the day as we experienced it together and celebrated over the following days, we will never forget such a great experience”. I couldn't help but ask about the well known owner who won first, he replied, “As soon as the race had finished he congratulated us on third place and went on to say he was heading home. He was actually there with no one to celebrate his win with."

Obviously, winning can be great but personally, I think winning is much better if you can share it...

The frequency of money

Matt Leech 17th December 2012

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Do you get paid monthly, fortnightly or weekly?



I think we can all agree that the frequency in which you get paid can have a huge bearing on your capacity to manage your cash flow.



I often hear clients mention that they "hate getting paid monthly" as it feels like a long time between drinks.



It actually doesn't matter if you earn $400,000 or $40,000 per year I hear the same thing all the time.



When you delve a little deeper into the frequency of money, it's ideal to match your bills & expenses to the frequency in which you get paid i.e. if you get paid fortnightly, make your mortgage payment come out fortnightly.

If you get paid on the 15th of every month, try to move all bills to come out on the 17th so that you have a true indication of what's left over after expenses. Knowing what this surplus is opens up a lot of possibilities. (I know it sounds easy but you would be amazed at how many people don't do this). 



With access to so much credit, it 'muddies the water' on what we actually have to spend and we end up relying on credit cards to get us through. The debt cycle begins that you use your "real-time money" (the latest pay you received) to pay back last months credit card spending.

Where I see couples often go wrong is where they have a joint account and they both have access by keycard. They are both spending with no idea of what the other is spending and the frequency which the money goes in & out isn't understood. By building some structure to their lives, we can organise a 'salary from their salary' so that their needs are easily met with some surplus left over to grow. 

For more ideas on tools for cash flow, shoot me an email here matthew.leech@psk.com.au

The secret ingredient is belief

Matt Leech 10th December 2012



The secret ingredient is belief!

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belief in yourself in every possible way. I was in the car with Jacqui this morning and we were discussing self belief .We came to the conclusion that you can't really get anywhere unless you believe in yourself.

It became obvious that if you didn't have self belief, any achievement in life would feel like luck instead of achievement.

You would feel that the world somehow 'happened to you'  instead of 'you happening to it''.

You would feel powerless to control your own life and ultimately your happiness.

I can't imagine anyone wanting to live like this and the power to change it all comes down to how you perceive yourself. Have you ever heard the saying "fake it till you make it"? it's kind of like that but it's an internal discussion.

I think Henry Ford nailed this one;

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't- you're right"

Inspired by the Bupa ad: Meeting the wealthier you

Matt Leech 28th November 2012

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I saw the Bupa ad the other day and it got me thinking.......

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Instead of finding my healthier self, what if I met my wealthier self? What kind of advice would the 'wealthier me' give me? 



One question that stood out to me was: What did the 'wealthier me' do differently?



I'm sure the answer would have been something simple but effective, so It got me thinking about the simple things that I didn't give enough attention to or the idea that I didn't proceed with or maybe it was just laziness. By meeting the wealthier version of yourself gives you the interesting but useless gift of hindsight.



I wondered if the 'wealthier version of me' would be happier, we all know money can't buy you happiness but I certainly believe that your finances can affect your emotional state. With that being said, would the 'wealthier' me be more happy or content with their situation and my guess would be probably not. 



In our society today, it's never enough! the 'goal posts' are always moving and as you know, once you hit a goal or a milestone you instantly set a new one. It's human nature!



So I guess if you're 80% happy and content with where you are right now, take a moment to appreciate it and stop looking for the wealthier you because you might not find them like in the ads.



It doesn't matter if you're right or wrong

Matt Leech 23rd November 2012

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Decisions & choices!



We get so caught up in making sure we make the right choice or the right decision that sometimes we forget to make one, right or wrong. 



From meeting a lot of different people, I have learnt that successful people will make decisions and commit to the outcome of that choice even if it's bad.



I also meet a lot of people who spend too much time trying to make their mind up and still make the wrong decision and not commit to the outcome.

Right or wrong is just a point of view and if that is stopping you moving forward, I suggest you make a choice and move on.

I feel that the more choices we make in our lives results in more progress & success. I would feel much better about having new challenging choices on a regular basis than having the same choices over a few years.

Winning with your home loan

Matt Leech 6th November 2012

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I know its Melbourne Cup today (it’s all I've been hearing about)  but I'm also expecting the RBA to cut interest rates today.



There are many variable rate borrowers across Australia still waiting for their lender to announce a rate cut, and there will be further disappointment when you realise that your lender kept some or even all of the rate cut rather than passing this onto you!

Many borrowers might be feeling complacent about their home loan: all lenders are doing the same thing, so what’s the difference? When in reality NOW is the time to review your home loan!

Because of the reduction in borrowers, the banks are offering discounts on standard variables in addition to the rate cuts which means you can get a better deal.

Be smart and review your home loan because you will score some big savings by giving your home loan a health check and negotiating to switch home loans.

Don’t let your lender dictate your financial situation for the next 30 years of your life. Use the power of knowledge and take advantage of the slow mortgage market to score a bigger discount on your home loan.