No man's an island

Leanne and I have just spent the week on Richard Branson’s Necker Island, a private paradise in the East Caribbean Sea, but you’d be mistaken for thinking everyone’s here seeking solitude…they’re not. Yes, we’ve taken time to recharge, but it’s the new connections we’ve made that are of most value.

Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future. We are the sum of the people we spend the most time with. I know that, for better or worse, my environment shapes the person I am, and the attitude I have towards life and opportunities. While I know the physical place makes a difference, it’s people that have the biggest impact and we make sure we surround ourselves with ‘go-getters’…positive and ambitious people who go out and make things happen. It’s why we’ve continually sought to connect with those who have done considerably greater than us, success leaves clues and we’ve always kept our eyes and ears open for them.

We hear a lot about ‘like-minded people’, it’s bullshit people tell themselves to create comfort…I want to be around people who think differently, challenge my ideas, and are significantly more successful than me, it’s how we all grow.

Whilst it’s not a certainty, and still involves a big personal commitment, talking with positive and ambitious people makes an impact on how Leanne and I think. We don’t want to listen to moaning about the same old stuff every time we’re with people. The people we’ve met this past week aren’t moaning about circumstance, they’re making moves to take advantage of them.

Our team are similar, we see the opportunity where others simply see problems, it’s how we’ve made big progress in comparison to others, we’re on a forwards and upwards trajectory, always.

We used to get a hard time from friends for always being on the phone working, nowadays the people around us are all working just as hard, they have the same challenges, and think nothing of cancelling plans last minute to deal with something, or jetting off to a private island to recharge for a few days, it’s just a different approach, and one that aligns with ours as we keep growing our family office.

I learned a long time ago that the type of people I want to do business with don’t hang about in the places I used to, and we wouldn’t achieve our goals alone. Our big ambitions require committed and driven partners, and an expert team, who are too focussed on the big prize to waste time sweating the small stuff. We’re surrounded by people that share our commitment to making it happen because we know no man’s an island, and success is a team sport.