'You've travelled through time and encounter a younger version of yourself. What life lesson (or lessons) would you share?'
This was a subject that I suggested, so I had better contribute something!
My life experiences have been varied, and during the process I have encountered some very helpful people and some very unhelpful people, some of whom turned out to be downright fraudsters. Fortunately, I was aware of the possible implications and avoided the losses.
My father was a Master Builder and I worked on sites with him at weekends from the age of 10 until around the age of 18 when I purchased my freedom, in the shape of an FC Holden Special sedan. One of the very early lessons that you learn on building sites is to watch where you are walking. In those days all homes were built on a timber sub-frame with wall frames, ceiling and roof structures all fabricated on-site. My advice to a younger version of myself in a similar situation would be to always look down when you are walking across floor joists, or foundation bearers. You only need to slip once, and the pain and the ‘barking’ of your shins will certainly ensure that you do not do it again.
The second piece of advice that I would impart would be to always go to an older experienced person if you need considered advice. Don’t listen to your mates, as they are as inexperienced as you are.
My third piece of advice would be to look upon anybody who suddenly befriends you with suspicion. My experience is that these people are general not interested in your wellbeing, but are more focussed on obtaining information that you have, or taking credit for something that you have contributed to your employer, or the community.
The fourth piece of advice I would share is the information that was given to me by a very wealthy Solicitor, who told me during a discussion about wealth creation, that you should never owe money on a depreciating asset. Not only are you paying interest, the item is depreciating in value. His logic was very clear, an asset appreciating in value, is not only providing an offset for your interest, it may in fact cover the interest cost and offer some form of additional return. Real estate does not depreciate, unless you have purchased in the wrong location, such as a flood area, or you paid too much for it the first place.
Lesson five, is the realisation that you will make mistakes. What you do with these adverse results is to consider what went wrong, or how could you have done better with the issues that you were presented with. Making a mistake once is human, making the same mistake again is stupid.
And finally, enjoy yourself before you get married, after that it’s too late!!
Barry O’Connor.
May 2023
This was a subject that I suggested, so I had better contribute something!
My life experiences have been varied, and during the process I have encountered some very helpful people and some very unhelpful people, some of whom turned out to be downright fraudsters. Fortunately, I was aware of the possible implications and avoided the losses.
My father was a Master Builder and I worked on sites with him at weekends from the age of 10 until around the age of 18 when I purchased my freedom, in the shape of an FC Holden Special sedan. One of the very early lessons that you learn on building sites is to watch where you are walking. In those days all homes were built on a timber sub-frame with wall frames, ceiling and roof structures all fabricated on-site. My advice to a younger version of myself in a similar situation would be to always look down when you are walking across floor joists, or foundation bearers. You only need to slip once, and the pain and the ‘barking’ of your shins will certainly ensure that you do not do it again.
The second piece of advice that I would impart would be to always go to an older experienced person if you need considered advice. Don’t listen to your mates, as they are as inexperienced as you are.
My third piece of advice would be to look upon anybody who suddenly befriends you with suspicion. My experience is that these people are general not interested in your wellbeing, but are more focussed on obtaining information that you have, or taking credit for something that you have contributed to your employer, or the community.
The fourth piece of advice I would share is the information that was given to me by a very wealthy Solicitor, who told me during a discussion about wealth creation, that you should never owe money on a depreciating asset. Not only are you paying interest, the item is depreciating in value. His logic was very clear, an asset appreciating in value, is not only providing an offset for your interest, it may in fact cover the interest cost and offer some form of additional return. Real estate does not depreciate, unless you have purchased in the wrong location, such as a flood area, or you paid too much for it the first place.
Lesson five, is the realisation that you will make mistakes. What you do with these adverse results is to consider what went wrong, or how could you have done better with the issues that you were presented with. Making a mistake once is human, making the same mistake again is stupid.
And finally, enjoy yourself before you get married, after that it’s too late!!
Barry O’Connor.
May 2023
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