I don’t even like football. Why on earth did I read the back pages of the newspaper that day? It had an article interviewing a football manager. One question – one answer. It got stuck in my head.
What’s your biggest regret?
Never going to university.
Context is needed. No one in my family had ever been to university. I had no qualifications at all when I left school. I worked in dead end jobs. University is not anything within the realms of reality for someone with my background.
I adopted the regret. It wasn’t a real regret. It was a moment of madness.
I liked rugby. I had a clear ideal. I wanted a university that was within 10 miles of Twickenham, home of rugby. I wanted the university to look “like a fairy-tale.”
Research. If I could live for free to take GCSEs, from A Levels onwards I could have a student grant. I went to my mother with the proposal.
“It’s my biggest life regret not going to university. If I can live at home for a year without having living expenses, I’m on my way to my dream.”
In fairness to my ever-patient mother, she took my fake regret in her stride. It was as if she knew me!!
What does it take to succeed when chasing your dreams?
Year 1 – GCSEs at college.
Year 2 – A-Levels start, student grant kicks in but it’s not enough. I take on 4 jobs.
A typical weekday. Up at 5am, open a newsagent at 6am and work until 9am. Get changed; grab breakfast in the car on the way to college. 9.30am-5.30pm College. Get changed, grab tea in the car on the way to the theatre. 6pm-9pm work in the theatre. 9.30pm – 11pm study.
Weekend: 9-5pm job 3. 7pm-11.30pm working the bar, job 4.
Year 3 – A-Levels, still 4 jobs, multiple collapses with exhaustion.
But… I find THE dream university and attend the open day.
I apply. This will have been 3 years of hard graft to just get this far. I am 100% driven and committed – never has my focus been so razor-sharp.
The decision. Rejection.
Overcoming limiting beliefs and even more barriers.
My reaction. Unacceptable response from the university. I have worked too hard. I am going to that university. I write a letter to tell them they can either accept me this year and get it over with or I will be applying every year for the rest of my life because I am going.
A new letter arrives. The university have amended their decision and I have a place. My tutor says this is unheard of and I must be mistaken. It’s in black and white.
On my 24th birthday, I walked through the gates of the university I had dreamed about attending. I graduated 3 years later with honours – and my whole life changed forever.
A dream. A plan. Focus and determination. Not accepting “no” as the answer. Having a mindset of unlimiting belief.
Helping your achieve your dreams.
Dreams are possible. I help people find their paths and achieve their dreams because I know how to make the seemingly impossible a reality.
Take your moment of madness right now – book your free consultation and see where your dreams can take you.
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