Welcome to episode number 79 of The Growth Booth. Thank you for tuning in today, where this is the second episode in a two-part series where I'm talking about life lessons at the ripe old age of 40 years old. Now, in episode number 77, a couple of episodes ago, that was the first part of this two-part series where I shared 20 valuable insights and experiences that I've had over the past 40 years.

In this episode today, I want to round out that list with another 20 life lessons, things that I've learned through the wins, the losses, the struggles, the sacrifices, and plenty of curveballs that life has thrown at me in my business, my personal life along the way.

Picking up from where we left off in episode number 77, tip number 21 that I've got, or lesson number 21 that I've got, is to recognize the importance of financial planning for the future. Now, this awareness kicked off for me around about two decades ago. I left home at the age of 18, and for the first time, I had to truly fend for myself. I remember around about that time, a friend of mine introduced me to Robert Kiyosaki's books, specifically Rich Dad, Poor dad, which I absolutely loved, because for the first time, I felt like I'd been exposed to this idea of passive income and what passive income could do for my life. It really kickstarted my interest in financial independence and in not needing to rely on anyone else for my financial needs and for understanding that there was another way to win the game of life from a financial standpoint.

In fact, if you want to learn more about the way that I handle my finances and the way that I handle wealth building, I would encourage you to check out episodes number 21, number 22, and number 23 of The Growth Booth because this is where I dive into my wealth building framework and I talk a lot about how I use investments, different types of investments, so stock investments, properties as well, a range of different types of properties and investments, and also smart money management to grow my wealth and to protect it over time.

You can also check out an interesting blog post on aidanbooth.com/wealthblueprint. As always, we'll make sure that we include all of the links to the things that I'm mentioning in the show notes, which you'll be able to get by heading over to thegrowthbooth.com, navigating to episode number 79. We'll also, if you're watching the video version of this over at YouTube or somewhere else, we'll make sure that in the show notes you'll be able to find out where these links are.

So getting back to that point there, recognizing the importance of financial planning for the future, I think it's worth adding here that financial planning is not just for people who are doing well financially. In fact, it's more important for people who are not free from the shackles of financial struggles. There's a lot you can do here to get started, regardless of your current situation.

For example, a small thing that you might want to do is to set aside a portion of your income for savings and investments. And that alone will take you a long way towards potentially achieving financial freedom. I think also educating yourself on personal finance is important. Understanding how to create a budget, understanding how to track your expenses and save a portion or invest a portion of your income each month.

At the same time, I also think it's important to realize that depending on what your goals are, you may or may not be able to achieve your financial goals by working a day job. I say that because not many people I've met have got truly wealthy through day jobs. They might be able to have a nice income through that, but the people that do the best from a financial standpoint typically are people that build their own businesses or build their own investments.

The good news is that this is something that you can do while you've still got a day job. In fact, that's what I did when I was getting started. I had a day job and I was pouring my money from my day job into building my online business, which pretty quickly overtook the amount of money that I was earning in my day job. So just something else to think about there, and I think by planning for the future, you can see and secure your financial well-being and therefore enjoy a comfortable lifestyle that can bring with it.

Lesson number 22 is to learn to accept and embrace change. And I think this is really essential for personal growth and adaptability. And I think change can be looked at from two different perspectives. The first is fear, and I think this comes from a scarcity-based mindset. The second way to look at change is through a lens of opportunity, which is looking at it through an abundance mindset. If you know that change will happen, then you can choose how you're going to approach it.

For instance, being open to learning about new technologies and how they can enhance your life either in a professional world or in the personal world, is a huge opportunity. Chat GPT is a hot topic right now and some people fear it, some people fight it, some people embrace it, and you get to decide how you approach that. I think understanding that change is inevitable, and understanding that instead of resisting it, you can embrace it and see it through the lens of an opportunity is something that can pay off in a lot of dividends over time.

Lesson number 23 here today is to embrace lifelong learning and don't hesitate to seek expert advice or coaching. And I think this is important for four reasons, really. The first is that continuous growth helps you to adapt and change and enhance personal fulfillment. The second is expertise. There are always people out there who know a lot more than you do in certain areas or can plug holes that you may have.

One of the easiest ways to get ahead in my experience is to tap into external expertise. I've got countless examples that I can give you here, but one of the early ones that really set me off on a good path was when I hired a property coach to help me buy the first property that I ever purchased in New Zealand. I seem to remember paying this person around about $400, and they guided me through the negotiation and also the selecting of my first investment property. That $400 that I paid has paid itself off in dividends so many times over. In fact, I was able to secure the property for $10,000 cheaper than I would have been able to buy it for if I didn't have that coach. So from a financial standpoint, it paid off immediately.

I've seen this repeat itself over and over and over again. Working with experts pays off big time, and this is something that I'll come back to and talk about here shortly. Perspective is something else that you get from working with an expert coach. Sometimes you can be too close to a situation to clearly see what's happening and an outside pair of eyes or a mentor can give you an objective perspective and help you see things from a new angle. This can be enormously valuable. It certainly has been in my life.

Accountability as well is a big one that comes with seeking advice from experts because oftentimes they will provide you with another level of accountability. Business partners can also be great for all four of these things. I've been incredibly fortunate to have an amazing business partner in Steve Clayton, and not just Steve, but other people as well, for many years now. So I think in essence, to round this point out, embracing lifelong learning and seeking expert advice is about recognizing that we don't have all the answers and being open to wisdom and guidance from others who may have been there before us. I think it's a lesson in humility and growth and the pursuit of excellence in general, really.

Lesson number 24 is to sort of cultivate a sense of humor to navigate through tough times. I think some of this comes down to deliberately not trying to be too serious, which can be hard for some people, me included, actually. Maintaining a sense of humor can help in coping with some challenging situations.

Another thing I'll say is that if you're able to maintain perspective, keep your feet on the ground and realize that a terrible day for you might be a dream for someone else. When things are going badly, just try to remember that you're probably much more fortunate than many people out there and many people would kill to be in your situation right now, even if you're having your worst day.

Lesson number 25 is to be open and receptive to feedback, and I think actively seeking input from others. This could be from a colleague, it could be from a mentor or a friend or anyone really can provide incredibly valuable insights into ways that you can improve and ways that you can grow. I think valuing constructive criticism is an enormous opportunity. Some people have a tendency to be defensive when receiving criticism, and I certainly was like that in an earlier stage of my life. I've trained myself to be open and receptive to feedback and think about it as an opportunity. It's really a wonderful opportunity to continuously refine your skills and expand your knowledge and develop that growth mindset that we know propels people forwards.

Lesson number 26 is to set boundaries in personal and professional relationships. I think the more boundaries that you can sort of build up, not just in an emotional sense but also in a physical sense as well, can be really helpful in establishing a healthy dynamic. Let me give you a couple of an examples. One for me is that I think the people on my team and the people I work with know that I'm normally offline on the weekends. I'm normally offline after 05:00 PM local time.

They also know that I've got a young family and they are my priority. Sometimes that means that I can't do things that they might want me to do when they want me to do them, but that's okay because I've established those boundaries and I'm living up to their expectations. There's nothing worse than when you set an expectation that you can't live up to. I think a lot of this one in terms of boundaries comes down to setting those expectations. 

On a physical level, it's nice to have an area which you limit to doing your work and you leave your work in that area. I'm fortunate nowadays to have a couple of different offices that I can use and that allows me to have that physical divide, if you like, between my personal life and my work life. I think setting those kind of boundaries can help you stay healthy in your relationships and help you grow in your business as well.

Lesson number 27 is to keep exploring and fostering your curiosity. Curiosity is a driving force for personal growth and fulfillment in my experience. In episode number 77, one of the things that I spoke about was developing hobbies. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I really believe that finding things that you can get curious about, finding new interests is important. Whether it's delving into different cultures, learning new skills, engaging in different hobbies, embracing any kind of curiosity that comes up, will open your mind to continuous learning and broaden your horizons.

Actively seeking out new experiences is important as well, because oftentimes you're not just going to find something land in your lap that makes you interested. So today, for example, I was looking at a new device. I can't remember the name for it now, but it's a new device that will allow people to do scuba diving of up to 10 meters in depth without needing to have a big tank on their bags. It looks like an amazing device. I'm just thinking, "Wow, this is a way that I could get into diving more without all of the complications that I normally have when I try to try to go diving on vacations." So that's diving in, excuse the pun, diving into another interest or hobby that I can get excited about, and learning more about it and developing different areas of my personality outside of the nine to five of business.

Lesson number 28 is to volunteer and to try to give back as often as you can to charity, and in particular to your own community. I think this is something that allows you to make a positive impact, and you would be amazed at the impact that you can have on other people in more unfortunate situations. For charitable endeavors, what I've done is I've set this up on autopilot. When I say I,  I'm really talking about my wife and I. We like to regularly give to charities. For several years now, we've been donating mainly to children, actually, in challenging situations on the border of Venezuela and Colombia. These are kids that live in really harsh environments. A little bit of money can go a long way to changing these kids' lives. So that's something that we donate to regularly. We've also done things like, we've built schools in India, we've given over $100,000 to building schools in India.

It's incredibly fulfilling for me to start diving more and more into this area of philanthropy as I'm changing into a different phase in my life. One of the things I have found is that the more you give and the more generous you are, the more you tend to receive. This is not something that I've come up with. I've certainly read a lot about this and I've seen other people talking about it, but I found that to be true in my own life. Not just in giving monetary donations to charity, but in anything. Giving back doesn't need to be financial either. There are lots of things you can do to help others. The key in my mind is to set aside some time or some money to help others without expecting anything to come back in return.

Lesson number 29 is one that is something that I'm very, very passionate about. It's traveling, and it's traveling to expand your perspective and your worldview. I was incredibly fortunate at the age of 12 to spend a year living in the UK. I was living just out of Bath in England, and I was able to go over there because my family made some sacrifices to live in the UK for a year. This really ignited a passion for travel in me. I can still remember seeing the other side of the world. I was this 11-year-old kid when we shifted over there from a farm in New Zealand and landing in London for the first time, and then seeing so much of the history and diving into that rich culture that Europe offers was amazing.

Since then, over the past 30 years, I've traveled all over the place. I've been fortunate to visit well over 50 different countries, hundreds of cities around the world, countless national parks, natural wonders, and truly majestic places. These days, with a young family, I spend between sort of one to two months traveling with my family every year. We absolutely love it because it opens our eyes to other ideas and perspectives, other ways of doing things.

My favorite places to visit are those that are rich in culture and history. I always try to seek out learning opportunities when I'm in these places to sort of sink my teeth into what makes each of these places different and special, and also to try to draw out any of those learning experiences that I enjoy so much and pass those on to my kids as well.

Traveling doesn't have to mean globetrotting either. It doesn't need to be expensive. There are lots of different ways to travel. I mean, you can jump in an RV or a campervan or something like that and cruise around the country that you live in. Oftentimes, you can get to amazing places without even needing to fly. You can do it on a shoestring budget.

In fact, I remember in my early 20s traveling around Europe with my wife and with a backpack on our backs. We could live in Europe for like $20 a day, depending on how we were doing things, cooking our own food, staying in hostels. It doesn't have to be crazy expensive to travel and to get all of the enjoyment and value that comes with it. So travel, without doubt is on my list here. There are just so many upsides. I think it's one of the best ways to spend time and money now.

Lesson number 30 is to let go of past baggage and really free yourself up from old resentment and regret. I think holding on to things that have hurt you in the past or mistakes that you've made in the past consumes a lot of mental and emotional energy and can act as a pretty heavy weight when you're trying to move forward. This is baggage that can taint our perspectives, that can influence our current and future relationships and even impact mental health as well. And I think by learning to let go, realizing that every day you wake up and you've got a new day ahead of, you can free up this energy to focus on what you're doing now in the present and what you're going to do in the future.

I think allowing yourself to forgive yourself for the mistakes that you've made in the past and really sort of find ways to create space for more positive emotions, like being grateful for the things that you do have and the things that you can control, helps you move forward and helps you get into that place of personal growth. So letting go of past baggage, it's not just about moving past things that mistakes you've made in the past or ways you've been hurt in the past. It's rather a conscious choice of focusing on your own growth, on your own well-being and on your future happiness.

Lesson number 31 is to read widely, to continually expand your knowledge. This is something that I get a lot of enjoyment out of. I publish a lot of the books that I read on my blog, aidanbooth.com/books, if you want to check that out. Mainly in that list that I publish, they are business books, but I think diversity, as they say, is the spice of life. I try to read a range of different books, and I feel like it's one of the cheapest ways to learn from some of the smartest, most interesting, greatest people to have ever lived.

I mean, it's mind boggling really. I can learn about investing from Warren Buffett, I can learn about innovation from Elon Musk, I can learn from Michael Jordan about being an elite sportsperson and so on for the price of a pizza. It's amazing. You can consume content in lots of different ways. It could be on a Kindle, it could be on Audible, like an audiobook, it could be in paper format. It doesn't matter. You can even do it in video format as well. Spending time reading, and not just reading, but consuming valuable information as opposed to a lot of the crap that exists nowadays.

So instead of wasting time on social media feeds, which are just dominated by publicity and just crap, really, you can redirect that time into reading something or consuming something that actually improves you as a person. It doesn't need to be boring. In fact, I recommend diving into areas that really interest you the most. If you can get in the habit of doing this, it can actually become quite addictive and can lead to massive personal growth. So again, check out my reading list aidanbooth.com/books to see what I've been reading lately.

Lesson number 32 is to value time over money. I spoke about this a little bit, actually multiple times in episode number 77, where I was going through the first 20 tips. But I think valuing time over money means prioritizing experiences, relationships, and personal growth over material possessions. So instead of solely chasing these financial success, focus on activities and connections that bring you joy, fulfillment, and long-term happiness.

A question that I sometimes ask myself is, what would my ten-year-old self advise me to do? And the answer is almost always the same. It almost always comes back to how I spend my time. Right now, at the stage that I'm in in my life, it comes back to spending time and prioritizing time with the people that I love, my family, my kids, and so on and so forth.

I get a lot of enjoyment out of my business, but it never dictates what I want to do. In fact, the whole reason I started an online business was because I wanted to build a lifestyle business, one that could bend to fit my dream lifestyle. Affiliate marketing and ecommerce, I think, are amazing for this. I think it's important to recognize that time is a limited resource and that nurturing meaningful relationships and creating lasting memories are far more valuable than material possessions, and that true happiness and fulfillment come from the connections that we cultivate and the experiences that we have with loved ones.

Lesson number 33 is to embrace your age and where you are in your life right now. I say this from the viewpoint of a 40-year-old who is still very much working this out. Tony Robbins has got some interesting ideas about something that he refers to as the seasons of life, and how we roll through these different periods, sometimes multiple times. The idea is that life is like a series of seasons, each with its own characteristics and tasks. These seasons serve as a metaphor for the different phases of our lives and the cycles of growth and change that we experience.

So spring, for example, is the season of learning and opportunity. It's about starting something new. It's about planting seeds that you can nurture. It's about setting goals. It's often a very exciting phase. It's when you're feeling energized. Just as spring and nature is a time of growth and renewal, this is a stage of life where we're learning, we're growing, and we're developing.

Summer is the season of action. It's about hard work. It's about protecting and nurturing what we've planted and dealing with the heat of life's challenges. Autumn, or fall, is the season of harvest. It's about reaping what you've sown and enjoying the fruits of your labor and recognizing your progress. This can symbolize a period in your life where you might be starting to see the results of your hard work, perhaps achieving career success, business success, or realizing your personal goals.

And then winter is the season of reflection and rest and planning and facing harsh realities, sometimes learning from mistakes and preparing for a new cycle. It's not like the first 20 years of your life are going to be spring and the next 20 are going to be summer. You can roll through these seasons multiple times. Tony Robbins emphasizes the importance of recognizing and embracing the season that you're in currently. Each season carries with it its own challenges, its own rewards that are necessary for our growth and our development. And by accepting, understanding, and embracing the nature of these, we can navigate life's challenges so much more effectively and live a more fulfilled and meaningful life.

I know that in the first 40 years of my life, I've definitely been through a few different seasons. I think my first 20 or even maybe 30 years were about learning who I was, being happy with that, understanding what I wanted. And then over the past ten or 20 years, I've really doubled down on my strengths. I've worked hard to build a foundation that would deliver my dream life. I'm not sure what the years ahead are going to bring, but I know that they're going to bring their own sets of challenges. I feel like I'm at my very best when I'm embracing these and when I'm able to maintain perspective of where I'm at and the season that I'm in.

Lesson number 34 is about practicing patience and understanding that good things take time. If you are a regular listener of The Growth Booth, then you might remember episode number 1 of The Growth Booth, where I shared a story of the bamboo tree and how, if you plant a bamboo tree, if you plant a seed for bamboo and give it enough water, give it the right kind of soil, give it enough exposure to sunlight, you won't see any visible growth.

In the first year, you won't see anything. If you continue to nurture that bamboo tree, even after the second year, there'll be no change to that bamboo tree, you still won't see anything. And if you continue this for the third year and the fourth year, you'll still see no growth. But in the fifth year, something amazing happens. That bamboo tree that you planted can grow up to 80ft, which is like, 25 meters high or eight stories in just six weeks. It literally shoots out of the ground and shoots up incredibly quickly in the space of just six weeks.

Why does this happen? It happens because for those first years, the bamboo tree is actually growing, but it's growing underground, and you can't see it. It needs to do that because of the height. It needs a strong foundation. So once it's got that foundation, once it's got that root system in place, then it's got the support for the upward growth and that's when it starts to grow.

I think the bamboo story or the bamboo tree provides a good parallel with many things in life and you really do reap what you sow. Sometimes, in fact, most of the time, good things really do require an investment of time or energy. Certainly, in the business world, this is true. I mean, I don't know of many real overnight successes because I just don't think they really exist, and that things that seem too good to be true often are too good to be true. But if you remain patient, if you remain focused, if you remain committed to a vision, then you can succeed.

Learning to appreciate solitude is lesson number 35. I think you need time for self-reflection, introspection, and personal recharge. Taking moments to be alone, to reconnect with your thoughts, values, desires is really important, especially when you can often get wound up in the treadmill of life. I think it's worth making it a habit to get some downtime in whatever way works for you. It could be journaling, it could be meditating, it could be taking peaceful walks and walks in nature, it could be doing a workout.

I often get a lot of this downtime when I'm actually away on business trips because I'm doing long haul flights on my own. I've got time in a place on my own. So instead of dwelling on that, I try to turn it into a positive and appreciate that solitude, and the very quiet moments of solitude are the moments that often allow me to reconnect with my thoughts, recharge my energy and get clarity again on my goals. I think learning to appreciate solitude is important.

Lesson number 36 is to recognize that it's okay to outgrow your friends. Throughout life, people change, people evolve. It's natural therefore, that your friendships should evolve and change as well. As people enter these different seasons of their life, the different stages of their life, we often pursue different interests. We've got different values. The values change, the priorities might no longer align, and that's okay. It's okay to outgrow friends and inevitably you might outgrow some friends and naturally develop others. And this is okay as well because people change. There's nothing wrong with that. Don't dwell on it. Just embrace it and realize that it's a fact of life.

Lesson number 37 is to develop your street smarts by staying informed and being aware of your surroundings. And this, in my mind, is about reading situations and understanding people. It goes beyond book smarts. In fact, this is something that's very hard to develop through academic learning. It involves a practical understanding of situational awareness. This is, by the way, something that can keep you safe. It can help you make better decisions. It can help you navigate the different social and professional situations that will pop up in your life.

I think looking at this a little bit wider, it helps to stay informed about current affairs, it helps to be aware of things that are happening in the community around you and not just live in your own bubble. This understanding can help shape your perspectives, inform your decisions, and help you make you a more well-rounded and engaged person.

I think the ability to read people and situations effectively is also a key component of emotional intelligence. This is a skill that can lead to stronger relationships. It allows you to really emphasize empathize, I should say, with others, and foresee potential conflicts and then also behave accordingly in different situations.

I think being well-rounded and street smart really does enhance your problem solving skills, resilience, adaptability, and prepare you to face unexpected challenges which we all know get thrown at us all the time. Cultivating this idea of street smarts is a worthy endeavor and something that will naturally happen to some degree. But by really getting out there and living your life and being constantly aware of what's going on around you, you can certainly accelerate this.

Lesson number 38 is to find mentors who can inspire you and actually seek out their guidance. So this could be in a professional context, it could be in a personal context. I've had mentors for the past 20 years, normally multiple at any one given time, normally in multiple different areas at any given any given time. They've always helped me shorten the growth curve in a dramatic way to make better decisions, to avoid falling into traps, and just to do better in general.

Around about, probably about nine years ago, maybe even more than that, we opened up something called the Blueprint Academy, which I've often spoken about on this show, and we've often had members of the Blueprint Academy come on who I've interviewed. The Blueprint Academy is one way that we provide mentoring and that we can help coach people. If you're interested to learn more about that, you can always get on the waiting list by going to theblueprintacademy.com. It's not open always. It's a very small group of people that we work with. There's only ever a spot opened up, there's only ever a chance to get in if there's a spot that opens up. But getting on the waiting list is certainly a good way that you can potentially tap into that coaching.

Look, if it's not us, then if it's not us in the Blueprint Academy and if it's not something related to your business, then coaches in all areas of your life can be helpful. I've got a wealth manager who sort of acts as a wealth coach, if you like. I've got personal fitness coaches and so on and so forth. I think this is something you can apply to lots of areas in life.

Lesson number 39 is to cultivate resilience and understand that challenges can make you stronger. Cultivating resilience is essential for overcoming obstacles and really bouncing back, I think, from setbacks. I think challenges are an inherent part of life and viewing them as opportunities for growth can lead to personal development.

I've failed so many more times than I've succeeded. Failing has really built up a certain amount of resilience in me. Challenges and difficulties, I think, are just part of the parcel of anything worth achieving in life. They're simply part of life. I think building up resilience and becoming antifragile are powerful characteristics that have served me well, and I see those in other people that have done amazing things in their lives.

Lesson number 40 to round out here is to continually reevaluate and redefine your personal definition of success. I think your definition of success will inevitably change over time as you pass through the different seasons in your life. I'm pretty sure that your idea of success today is probably not the same as it was 20 years ago because over time you start to value different things.

It's important that you reevaluate and you redefine what success means to you and what are the things that are important to you, what are the things that make you happy. By reevaluating, you can make sure that you're always pointing your ship in the right direction. For instance, there's a typical goal in society often which is equated to achieving specific goals in an employment standpoint or in a social standpoint, such as financial wealth or professional status.

However, through a little bit of introspection and self-reflection, sometimes people discover that the real things that they should be worried about and the real things that mean success to them are more like things that relate to personal fulfillment, like spending time with their loved ones, like being healthy and having meaningful connections. So again, continually reevaluating and redefining success allows people to align their goals with aspirations and to continually stay connected with values to be able to have that sense of fulfillment in your own life.

That wraps out my 40 tips for the first 40 years of my life. If you did miss the first in this two-part episode series, then make sure you check out The Growth Booth episode number 77. You can do that on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Apple Podcasts, or of course on The Growth Booth, just head to number 77. This episode here today is episode number 79.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to ask you to follow the show. Connect with me on social media. You can do that on Facebook by going to facebook.com/aidanboothonline or by going to Instagram and going to instagram.com/aidanboothonline. You can also search for The Growth Booth on YouTube and you'll find it at youtube.com/thegrowthbooth. You can also find out more about ways to connect with me over at thegrowthbooth.com. As I mentioned earlier, blueprintacademy.com is where we offer our coaching on a more individual and personalized level. So thank you so much. I hope you've taken some value out of this episode, and I look forward to sharing some more value with you in the next episode of The Growth Booth. Bye for now.