- Talk to us about your new book, Homeless to Billionaire.
Within the book, I know you share 18 principles, right!
Share with us maybe, two or three principles,
you think that are the key,
that are the most important for our audience.
Yes.
- The book itself like I said, is an autobiography
but also goes through 18 principles that I learned
throughout these years and how to master them.
One of the most important aspects to success
is goal setting.
Then of course visualization and then also how to
control emotions and don't get negative
about events that are happening to you.
And how to expect problems and actually find solutions
in any problem that happens to you.
There's a couple of principles that I write
about in my book.
- There are a lot of people, they teach goal setting.
I'm curious. What is your process?
Like how do you set goals maybe differently?
Some people they say that you should set them
in present tense.
Some people say you set the goals in future tense.
Some people say that you shouldn't set goals more than
for a first couple of years.
Cause if it's too far then it's like they won't
accomplish them. Everybody says different things right.
What's your style?
- I believe that setting goals it's very important
to mix them.
Cause most people, what they do wrong is they just write
these big goals, I want a million dollars, I want a new car,
I want a new house. But what they do wrong is that,
sometimes the mind says well, maybe that won't happen
or I don't think you can but, its--
- Or I'm not good enough.
- Precisely. Or you need to put also certain specific dates
on any goal. I mean, I would like to visit a certain city
within that period of time, or before August 2020.
But because then at least you give a more specific directive
to your brain. Okay, this is what I want and it needs
to happen within that certain time.
And also, blending small goals with big goals
is very important, cause as soon as you reach small goals,
it feels like you're moving forward and it gives you
more confidence to do it.
And I've seen so many people that write goal lists
but they're never specific enough.
I mean, if you want that car, well what car?
What color is it?
What brand is it?
How does it smell inside? What colors do you have inside?
So be very specific with anything you want and then it's
much more easier to get them in a faster way.
- I totally agree, because one of the things I
talk about is, when someone, let's say they're making
I don't know, let's say $3,000 a month right.
Instead of going, "I want to make a million dollars a year."
Well I said, "If you put that on the wall", and I'm not
saying don't do it, I'm saying
"Does that give you motivation?"
Or does that just, does that remind you of
how behind that you are? Right?
Cause I think human beings, we want to have experience
that success first. Right?
And success breeds success.
And then you can build from there.
"Oh, you know if I can accomplish." So you're making 3,000.
How is that going to make 5,000? Right. Once you hit that,
then you can set a goal to make 10,000 and so forth.
- Exactly
- You can have the vision that's long term,
that I want to build this.
But in the meantime I think you can break
them into smaller goals, right?
What about visualization? How do you visualize?
- I make sure to meditate and I also write things down
clear, so I can have clear mental vivid pictures in my head
when they happen, smell, touch, feeling, all that.
The more specific you become the more easy is for the mind
and whatever you want to call it, the universe, to connect
with each other and deliver it to you.
So, visualization is very important. I do it almost every
morning before I go to work. I close my eyes in my garden
and I think about all the things I want to be, do or have
and experience and I believe that they already happened
but, because they feel real in the head. So--
- Especially I think when it comes to a project that you
have to be the one that, you walk through a site where it
could be just dirt, there's nothing, right. You're walking
there, it's like, I think we could build property here and
this is what it looks like, and I bet you can visualize
this is what the windows look like, this gonna be the view,
and the guests come in and this is what they would feel?
And when there's nothing right?
And once you've got this picture, you gotta articulate to
your team, okay, here's how we're going to
build this, right. Talk to your architect, talk
to everybody else. To do this. That's amazing, I always
find that when I meet with all my other friends who are
in development. That they could have this picture, they
could describe in details, this is the carpet that
we're gonna use, this is the color of the paint that
we want to use. It's amazing.
I just find that fascinating.
With you, what's your goal for the next,
let's say, where do you see yourself
in the next like five or 10 years?
- Five or 10 years, hopefully retired. (laughs)
- (laughs) You're still young, we're still both so young.
- I'd like to travel and do things, but no of course,
I love what I do, it's a passion. And like you described,
I mean, there is not a better feeling that, when a project
is completed finally. You know that it started with
an image in your head.
- Yes
- And that image became a drawing,
the drawing became
a price, that price became the construction site
then after that it actually became something--
- A reality - You can, something tangible
And you knew it was just something you had at first.
- 100% agree. - I love that
But of course, sometimes you need massive help from
the engineers and architects because,
and also land departments, for what can I build on this land
and what's it going to look like and what is the unit types
and all that. And architects are very good at putting these
final details into place that you might
not see in the beginning. But at least I know what,
and also doing your research is very important.
Who is my competitors? What are they selling?
What are they doing well?
What kind of projects and all that, and I always compare
and I take a little bit of everyone, competitors I have
and I put them together, from the best parts.
So that's also how you create things and you know
that they're going to sell and be a good project.
- I love it.
What inspired you to write the book? Cause there's a lot
of Real Estate Developers and they just do what they do,
they do real estate developments, right? But what inspired
you to also want to inspire other, maybe even young people,
where they want to follow your footstep. Where they maybe,
they are at a certain place, or they hit rock bottom.
That to show them the possibility that hey, you know what,
if I can do it, right, you can do it and you can do it too.
So what inspired you to do that?
- I always believed in the law of giving,
or that's what I call it or vibrational giving and
I believe that whatever you want in life,
make sure to give it to others, as much as you can.
And that's what I call success.
And the whole idea with the book, is, of course,
thanks to Joe Vitale, he encouraged me to write it,
but I also want to give back and make people
more successful and if they can use the same principles,
I know they will get the same results because they work.
So I want them to be able to have a better life,
and that gives me great passion from instead of
real estate also, but this is my two biggest passions and,
when we get old one day, what are we going to remember.
The cars we drove, the money we had or the things we did or
the things that we helped other people to achieve.
I believe that I want to be able to be that old person
that knew that I changed other people's lives
into something better.
I'm not gonna care about what I did in materialistic things.
- I'm almost, I'm just guessing that where, because of these
principles have helped to transform your life, and there are
people who are teaching these principles.
I mean, we study them, right? All of them.
But there are not a lot of them where
it could be a highly successful person where they actually
openly talk about some of these things, right?
Sometimes, when someone is very successful, financially
and in the business world, they're just successful, right?
They don't talk a lot about, oh yeah I acquired these
principles, I set goals, I visualize right?
Or then you have the other school, which I call that
the prosperity gurus and all that, right?
They talk about this stuff but they don't actually,
they haven't accomplished a lot in their real business
world, right? You're one of the very rare person whose
done that. And then also you've done different events.
Talk to me about Mike Tyson, actually.
I saw the Mike Tyson post. That was so funny, cause I have
a Mike Tyson autographed glove
in my home. Right.
Talk to us about that.
- Well Mike Tyson has been a great role model for me
since I was little.
- Yeah, cause you were playing--
- I was playing him and I was always trying to win over him
and I said well maybe one day I'm gonna just
meet him instead. (mumbles) but I loved him,
and I mean, everyone sits up and stands
and I wanted to because he has a great success story.
He done a lot of failures in his life,
he's gone down, he's gone up. - A lot of ups and downs.
- And I mean to be able for him to go up and down like that
I mean, that cannot, that's the kind of people I like
to meet because it also shows that it doesn't matter
how far down you go, there is always a way back.
- So that's what I was saying, that where I felt that
because of these principles that helped you, now with
your success you could utilize
your success and your influence
to also impact others, right?
Also to be a living proof, like a role model.
Hey you know what? They work for you! They work for myself.
This is, I'm a living proof that this works.
Is that what's going through your mind?
I'm just guessing right.
- Well of course. I mean, like I said
prove the principles wrong. They worked me and
I've seen they work for employees of mine.
They work for managers of mine.
I implement it even to my sisters and brothers
and family members and they also got the same result.
So I do know that this universal's law that we work with
and it also other principles that if you do a certain thing
you'll get the same result.
It's the law of cause and effect also.
And that's what people should understand. If I can do it,
I'm not more intelligent than anyone else.
Or anyone can. But just prove them at least,
prove them wrong or at least try them out.
That's all I ask for.
- And then also what about your other businesses, talk about
besides real estate, I know you're involved with
other businesses as well.
Talk to us some about some of those businesses.
- I also have health centers, fitness centers,
gyms in Phuket.
I always been a good, I've also been passionate in health,
in extreme sports and keeping my body healthy and all this.
So, it all started with an idea with (mumbles) instead
of going to that same kind of health center gym,
why not have my own.
And I also have the coffee shops, restaurants also and
we're doing some import, we actually have our own coffee
plantation in the north.
And we import our coffee to Phuket and we serve
it into our coffee shops and restaurants.
- Right. And do you find that because of the business
you have which is mainly the real estate and then
the other ones, it's almost, it's a natural progression?
Oh you know what, I like that too.
Maybe that can fit into what we do.
Is that what you do?
- Of course they're connected in some way.
So, the fitness and it gives also my employees a chance
to be healthier, to get better prices in going to a gym.
I love being there. It's a bit of my psychology to feel
better when I'm in a gym as well.
And with the coffee, it was just more that we were always
offering coffee to our clients in our real estate offices,
in our buildings, in our restaurants, at the hotel.
And I say well, people seem to like this coffee
that we produce. Why not make it a brand of it and start
selling it separately in coffee shops. So it all develops
from a certain aspect. Yeah, so yeah.
- And do you have a CEO managing each component
or what do you do?
- I have managers doing that, but yes, so they have
executive titles, but also yeah, sales managers
is what I put all sales directors.
- All sales directors.
- Yes. That I put in place to manage this
and then I get daily reports every week from every company
or every office, so I can see at least what happened
in the day. And I can do comments if I need to.
And I can also see how many clients we got and all that.
See it's always important to have an eagle eye
on everything you do. You just need excellent managers
to report to you on the day-to-day operations.
- So basically a KPI, what's happening within each company
then you can give them the coaching that they need. Right?
- Correct. And if you can see that something is leading
the wrong way, or is leading, at least you can make sure
to break it up. Until it goes down to something
you don't want to. But at least you can how daily
operations, which is important.
- What advice would you have for let's say millennials
or young people, they are getting started,
that they have a big dream. And maybe they are in an
environment where they don't get a lot of help.
Maybe their parents aren't 100% supportive, maybe they
want them to follow a traditional path, go to school,
get good grades and get a job.
What advice would you have for them?
- I would say, find your inner passion, find your visions.
Find what makes me happy. That's the most fundamental
questions that you need to ask yourself.
Cause like you said, most people follow
other people's dreams. And I'm sorry if your parents
or anyone else tells this is who you should be.
This is who you should become. But if you do that,
then you don't want to become that person, are you going
to be happy for the rest of your life. I don't think so.
So find those things, they can be whatever.
They can be that you like making paintings.
It can be that you like working with cars,
so you want to have your own company but, find those things.
And I think it's important to write things down.
Cause we always have so much things in our mind,
like a cluster of all these stars,
but it becomes more clear. All right, well this is,
everyone has different passion, I cannot say, I cannot tell
you what to do or not to do and no one else can.
So you need to find that one in yourself.
But it all starts with a simple question.
What makes me happy? And write about all the things or
at least find out all the things that
doesn't make you happy. And then just write the opposite.
At least your getting closer to something that might cheer
you up for the rest of your life.
- That's a very good point, cause I always say if you don't
know what you want, there's a good starting point where you
just write down what you don't want. Right you make
a whole list, okay this is definitely what I don't want.
This example, I don't want to commute to work.
I want to be able to work from home.
Like you write down the list of things that you want,
then you can compare. This is what I don't want,
then you can start with the list that you want.
Then you can narrow it down and turn them into goals, right?
- Exactly.