Peter Fletcher

  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact

The question that defined my career

February 17, 2014 by Peter Fletcher

A 1970 XY Falcon

A simple question about a car defined my career. Image: Sicnag http://www.flickr.com/photos/42220226@N07/


At 21 I craved freedom and a better than decent living. I was already bored with nine-to-five and the predictable income that came with it.

I wanted more. Real estate would help me get it.

My third interview was with Brown James and Associates in Kalgoorlie. Graham Brown and David James were the rising stars of the property market in the Goldfields.

Their offices dripped with the accoutrements of success. Dark jarrah panelled desks matched the dark wood panelled office partitions.

It felt like Wall Street had landed in the desert.

The interview began. I was offered a coffee. None of this instant stuff mind. This was the real deal – percolated and made fresh.

I ordered a white with one. The secretary brought it in. I sipped, careful not to burn my lip or spill any on my clean white shirt.

“So Peter, where are you working now?” the big boss asked.

I responded coherently as I looked with fascination at how grey his hair was.

“He doesn’t seem that old but man he’s almost white,” I thought.

I sipped more coffee and tried to focus again.

The questions continued. Why are you leaving your current job? What are your goals? Where do you hope to be in 5 years?

With each question and each answer my confidence grew. That jarrah desk would soon be mine.

Inevitably they wanted to know how I’d deal with having no income for the first few months. I was as broke as a two bob watch but I handled their questions deftly. Paraphrasing Paul J. Meyer I explained that I knew what I wanted and that I was willing to do whatever it took to make it happen.

Nothing would stand in my way.

The bosses were impressed. They smiled and nodded approvingly.

I thought I had it in the bag. They could ask me no harder question – or so I thought.

“Of course you’ll need to take buyers out in your car,” said the moustachioed David James. “What are you driving?”

I was completely unprepared for the question. Being able to live on the smell of an oily rag was one thing but stumping up thousands to buy new wheels was another all together.

And there was no doubt I needed a new vehicle.

In the car park out the back, right next to the big boss’s gleaming new Commodore, was my rusty 1971 XY Falcon. It had a column shift and vinyl bench seats that burned your bum in the summer sun.

I paused for what felt like an eternity.

Right there I had a choice and it would define me forever. I could make excuses about my lack of preparation and hope for an interview once I got my financial act together or I could step up to the plate and deliver right now.

I chose the latter.

“I’ve got an old bomb in the car park but if I get the job I’ll be going to Perth to get something nicer,” I explained.

“Sounds great,” said David. “When can you start?”

I was in.

But now I had a problem – a big one.

With nothing in the fridge and less in the bank, where was I going to get the coin to buy new wheels?

And if that wasn’t enough Rita and I were planning to get engaged. I had a ring to pay for, a sales reps registration course to fund, and I had to survive the next few months without a regular income.

To be continued.

Filed Under: Motivation Tagged With: David James, determination, job interview, motivation, persistence, planning

The secret shortcut to getting strong and performing better

January 6, 2014 by Peter Fletcher

Henry Day

Henry Day (centre) knows a thing or two about getting strong.

One of my goals for 2014 is to do 20 consecutive chin-ups. It won’t be easy.

To achieve it I’ll need to get stronger – a lot stronger.

To get some much-needed advice on doing just that, I turned to Henry Day.

If anyone knows how to get strong, it’s Henry. He owns and runs a gym that specialises in helping athletes lift insanely heavy stuff.

At The Musclepit, there are no mirrors, few machines and a noticeable lack of ego. Instead, Henry leads a group of men and women determined to redefine the limits of their own strength.

Included in that group are several past and present world powerlifting record holders. They lift huge weights. Plate after plate of iron is loaded onto bars until the bars bend in the middle, like giant metal hunting bows.

Clearly, Henry knows his stuff. So when I asked him “what’s your top 10 tips for getting strong?”, I expected an answer that involved eating properly, getting enough sleep, and lifting big weights.

Instead, Henry looked at me with a kind of that’s-a-stupid-question look.

“Ten?” he said. “I can answer that in one”

I waited.

“Discipline.”

“What? I thought you’d tell me to eat more or lift big weights.”

“Nah, all that’s good, but until you’ve got the discipline to turn up to the gym, until you’ve got the discipline to do another rep, it’s all a waste,” he explained.

And right there Henry captured the essence of peak performance.

Discipline.

The discipline to run in the rain, to lift weights in the heat, to make sales calls when you’re tired.

They all take discipline.

They take hard work.

They’re not glamorous and sexy, but they demand grunt and determination.

And they demand that someone turns up and switches on.

Filed Under: Daily blog, Life strategies Tagged With: determination, discipline, Henry Day, Musclepit, powerlifting, running, strength, weightlifting, weights

About Peter

Speaker, trainer and coach. I write about living, loving and working better. Love a challenge. More...

Subscribe

Get the latest posts delivered to your inbox.

Recent Posts

  • The Perth Property Market: Free Drinks For Everyone
  • Perth Property Market Performance – W/E 22 August 2021
  • Perth property market report
  • Mandating madness: The case against compulsory e-conveyancing
  • PEXA: Stop treating conveyancers like idiots

Top Posts & Pages

  • Foucault on Confession
  • Why saying "You've got potential" can be the worst thing to say
  • Home Page
  • Deconstructing queer theory | Steven Seidman
  • Foucault on power relations
  • The panspectron: Panopticon improved?
  • My bounce rate is too high and what I'm doing about it
  • 7 unconventional behaviours of inspiring leaders
  • Who owns the client data in your business?

Location

You can find me at Residential Settlements in Burswood.

5/170 Burswood Road
Burswood WA 6100

Let’s catch up

If you're ready to take your business to the next level, get in touch with me now.

Send me an email using the contact form or call me direct on 0419 538 838.

Connect

Connect with me on one of these social networks.
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022 · Agency Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in