Well this month it’s all about living a life of true success and very grateful to his Excellency Mr. Patrick Bourne, Ambassador of Ireland to Singapore, Lord Mayor of Dublin Paul McAuliffe and Ronald J. Bolger Honorary Consul-General of Singapore in Ireland for the launch of my new book Conversations In Singapore: Searching for True Success on the Silk Road One Question at a Time, available at Liberties Press.
In 2015 I got to drive overland from London to Sydney. A journey that was to involve travelling through 23 countries. It took twenty-two-weeks to complete taking in the Silk Road from Istanbul in Turkey to the end of the Great Wall in China.
The purpose of the trip was twofold –
Firstly as a personal adventure and secondly as a source of inspiration for the writing of a new book on the meaning of true success and not just what the dictionary and common culture would have us believe it is.
It was a journey through some of the world’s most inhospitable regions and difficult terrains: a daunting route to many places I had never heard of before. Camping would often be the only means of accommodation available in such desolate environments as the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border.
The only thing is, my life, and the book I had set out to write, and was writing during my travels, were to change utterly, and amazingly, while staying in Singapore. Parandin, whom I was to meet in Singapore, allowed me to enter into her world and that of her family while staying at their hotel.
She shared with me the knowledge, wisdom and profound insight (developed over many generations and handed down to her) into the true meaning of what it is to be successful in life. She came from a tradition of people who were passionate about supporting and encouraging people to live lives of true success.
They believed that, from ancient theology to contemporary psychology, our words shape our story and this becomes the framework for our behaviours; and our behaviours determine the way we lead our life, and the success we have. That the story we tell about our life becomes the story of our life, because we do not so much tell stories, as stories tell us.
The book weaves the conversations with Parandin as to how best live a life of true success with the story of the journey on the Silk Road itself.
So if you are feeling:
Lost, with no real sense of what true success is for you or how it could be achieved within your life;
Angry and disappointed that the success you want for your life has evaded you to date;
That you have been pursuing the wrong type of success for you, or even in fact that you have been pursuing what others see as success for you;
Disheartened, believing that it is now too late in your life to achieve that success you would now so readily accept, or;
That you are at an age where you are only now setting out in life, and want to know what it would be for you to live a life of true success.
Only now, none of these can be enough to stop you. The true success you want for your life can be made real; it really can. This is your life and your life alone; it is worth investing in it at every level. I wish you true success in every area of your life, in a way that is unique to you and that engages your heart at the deepest level. I encourage you to keep striving, even when you meet with disappointments along the way.