I’ll set the scene – I remember turning 30. No big deal but my 20’s were done and my world was now focused on a very young family, paying a mortgage, paying bills, putting food on the table and everything in between that makes a young somewhat immature guy grow up pretty quickly and between myself and my wife of only 2 years, we worked really hard. Self employment can be a real test of resilience driven by ambition. Victim hood and marshmallows weren’t in the script at that time. You and your family’s survival was on your shoulders – not the government, not your employer – I was my employer. Entitlement wasn’t a word that comes to mind in those years.

I remember turning 40. Wow fancy that! Turning 30 seemed only like yesterday, yet look how far we’d come. In the latter part of the decade we sold up everything and moved with our two young children to a warmer climate. We wanted a change and we bit the bullet. We had some savings that with a bit of luck would last a couple of months. We arrived with no jobs and a pre arranged/ site unseen rental property in a shitty mass development. We found work and bought a block of land in the first month and started building a home. Pretty balsy really when we look back. We were going to make this work, we were committed to our future in a new city – We’ve never been shy in taking a calculated risk, we burnt the boats so to speak. It was a struggle for a few years. We still ask ourselves how we got through everything that life throws at you in that period between 30 & 40. Challenging in so many ways, not a walk in the park but that’s part of the gig. But we succeeded and we progressed.

My 50th year arrived. Another blink of an eye and another decade gone. I have to admit that turning 50 did have an affect on me – it was a huge reality check. My life was starting to move on. If I hadn’t noticed it before, the clock was definitely ticking and I’m sure it was picking up pace! Our kids were doing well and kicking goals beyond our wildest dreams. My wife has never wavered from being her true stoic self. Looking back, we always laugh at how I would be constantly telling her how extraordinary she was (and still is), the way she’s always on the positive “we can do this – we will do this” type of attitude. She truly motivates people, yet she never saw that in herself. She just got on with what needed to be done and if it wasn’t for her, chances of me being where I’m today would probably be “Buckley’s”.

That decade also flew and here I am at 60 years of age. Our two children both have professional careers and are married. Our daughter resides in Canada and our son in Australia, we’re an international family I guess. Over the past decades we had invested in real estate. On many, many occasions it required a lot of blood, sweat and tears to meet the holding costs, though we kept pushing forward. Our confidence in our decisions and commitment has now paid off. We’ve also been fortunate to have had good, long term jobs that have allowed us, after so many years of raising and educating our kids, paying multiple mortgages and what felt like inching through the mud at times, to also grow our financial position.

As I sit here writing this post, looking out on a cold Canadian morning with snow falling, I’m on 6 weeks’ leave. I can’t recall ever having 6 weeks off in my life. We now have two grandchildren born within 8 weeks of each other. One being Canadian, one being Australian. We’re using this time, not only to spend it with our new granddaughter and Canadian family but to step off while we get our heads around what we plan to put into place over the next year and beyond so as we get the most out of our next decade – God willing.

I’m not sitting here contemplating the meaning of life – well maybe just a bit. But the biology aspect is simple – we’re born, we breed, we die. So putting the survival of the species aside, what decisions you make on your life’s journey will ultimately dictate where you end up. We all make bad or wrong decisions along the way, it’s part of the learning. But good responsible balanced decisions – grow good long term outcomes. Bad irresponsible decisions – bad long term outcomes. It’s a bit like compounding interest, it takes time to grow your investment but the returns over time are well worth the discipline, required commitment and belief in yourself. When I was 30, 60 years of age sounded so surreal and yet here I am, that time has arrived.

I’ve still got a few goals on my list and I’m not intending to “Hang up the gloves” just yet, but life has a time frame so let’s not mess around. The clock is ticking and time waits for no man.

To quote U2’s song “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”. For me right here and now, I haven’t found it yet, though I’m getting very, very close. Be patient, take responsibility, back yourself and play the long game and you will be well on your way to a great future.

As always, thanks for reading – RD

• William Buckley was a convict who escaped a penal colony in 1803. It was thought his chances of survival were very small leading to the phrase “you’ve got Buckley’s or none” (or simply “you’ve got Buckley’s”).

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