Memorial Day with Wayne Nugent from US Marine to CEO/ Founder of World Ventures Travel Club

Lou Harty - Living Life with Military Precision

Jonathan Jackson and Lou Harty 

There is no doubt that Lou Harty is a high achiever. She speaks with Jonathan Jackson about how the military helped launch successful trading, mentoring and e-business careers.

Tracking through muddy fields at 5am, climbing walls with heavy backpacks, the raised voice of a drill sergeant, I can trot out a myriad of military movie clichés. And there’s truth to some of them. There has to be, because what the skills and practices that these clichés represent are life skills that once a good soldier is discharged can be applied to anything that soldier puts his or her mind to.

Exemplifying this is Lou Harty, a 21-year veteran of the Australian army. As a warrant officer, Lou had reached the pinnacle of her military career. It takes at least 10 years to reach the rank of warrant officer and they are highly specialized experts, trainers and leaders who provide valuable guidance to commanders and organisations in their specialty.

“For a female to reach that rank was an achievement. But I felt that there was nowhere for me to go to after that,” Lou says. With a husband in Special Forces and a growing family, Lou made the decision to leave her military career behind and concentrate on supporting her clan. She joined the army at age 17 – calling herself a private school ratbag with little discipline, but a strong personality – when there was only 7% female representation.

“It was definitely a boy’s club which forces you to be kicked around initially, but I knew that I would survive and marry one of these dudes.”

“He (Lou’s husband) has deployed to the Middle East and all over the world for the last 12 years, that’s been the story of our lives. So, I made the decision that we both couldn’t do that with three children.

We both can’t be out defending the nation.

“I wanted to make more money than I was earning, but I didn’t want to go and get another career. The military convinced me to undertake a degree, so I went out and did a Bachelor of Education, which although I didn’t follow through taught me how to research.”The course was remote, so all correspondence was conducted online.

Lou found that the development of those research skills became invaluable, particularly when she began to research the skills that made successful people successful, such as trading, investing and financial education. It is safe to say that Lou’s life since the military has been about discipline and the empowerment it creates.

“I have amazing discipline. It is one of the key professional qualities instilled in soldiers: time management, man management, dealing with people, looking after people, camaraderie, teamwork, professionalism and being structured in a routine. My daily routine consisted of being at work at 7.30am and after an hour or so of physical fitness the day was laid out: where to go, what to do, who to do it with and an end result. Instructions were simple and concise. When you look at it like that, there are similarities to running a business and or trading the markets. Now, when someone says here is a training product, follow it and implement it, I think ‘Okay, I’ll watch, learn and implement and get the same result’.

I don’t deviate at all, I do what the product owner tells me and I don’t question or try to reinvent it. And I think that’s the secret.”

That’s not to say Lou hasn’t donated back to the markets. Trading is volatile, but the same disciplines required to make the trade are necessary to back away from it as well. Many young or novice investors don’t understand this. Lou was keen to learn; she wishes she began her trading and investing career 20 years ago. However she may not have been as good a trader had her life been different; had there been no discipline.

“A lot of people who undertake trading courses come up with the idea that they can do things differently. Like most people, I wanted to earn more income. I had the burning desire to acquire as many assets as possible, and I was supported by all the things the military had given me, particularly working in a group and pulling together and the need to achieve the end result.”

She likens trading to the battlefield.“We train soldiers as young as 17. Within three to four months training, they are overseas fighting for their country. Their fear is similar to that of trading. If you have a young male who knows his role is to defend the nation, he is out of his comfort zone. It is the same as a young mother who has never traded before. It is the fear of the unknown. Of course, the consequences are different: worst case scenario for a new trader is that you lose some money… in the military you lose your life, but that’s how I relate it.”

The soldier is taught strategies and disciplines that will minimise the impact of any dangerous situations. “It’s a sweet relationship the way the skills are transferred. There are many people who have had far greater success than I have, but when it comes to chaotic decisions, I know I can rely on the disciplines.”

Traders will make mistakes and they will lose money, but if they have their eye on the bigger picture, if they stay current and understand what is happening within the market, they will be fine. If they lay down an undisciplined trade then they need to be prepared for the consequences; they must be accountable.

Accountability is another skill the military instils.

“Learn from mistakes. Reduce your risk; for one of my trading strategies I only risk 1%. So on a $10,000k account each trade I’m only willing to lose (or I prefer the term donate) is $100. Knowing that I’m confident I won’t lose much money and it makes it easier to go and trade again – even if you have two or three trades go against you. But so many people come in with the cowboy attitude, driven by greed and say here’s five to ten thousand dollars and they just blow it. The greatest traders in the world will tell you that it takes two to three years to become a disciplined trader.”

Greed is particularly dangerous when you’ve made a few successful trades and have a false sense of security or reality. However, easy money increases the risk (money laid out) and eventually turns into gambling.

“If three trades go against me in a day, I will close the computer. However, a word of caution: if you can’t afford to lose the money, don’t trade it. Always ask yourself…how much can I afford to lose? The profits will always take care of themselves. Trade with what you are comfortable with.”

Lou’s common sense approach makes her an excellent mentor, though she says she is a tough task master. She requires those she teaches to put 100% into trading; this means doing what needs to be done. Persist when the going gets tough, stay current with the strategy, know your risk/money management, understand your psychology and raise your standards.

Trading is a holistic experience and should be treated as such. As Lou says, “The strategies work; it’s the person that doesn’t make it work. There are hundreds of trading strategies available. They all work, however you need to find the one that suits your personality. For example, I’m predominantly a day trader; therefore those strategies such a Forex and Eminis excite me the most.”

Having given up the military to be able to earn more money and provide for her family, she teaches her children the same principles.

“My youngest daughter wants to be a chef. I taught her a couple of years ago to get online and follow her favourite chef’s techniques. Then I taught her how to create videos of her cooking meals which we hooked up to an affiliate program. Her pocket money is generated from people watching her cooking videos online and linked to a cooking affiliate program. My son is 16 and already knows what candlesticks are, trends and markets and is at an age where he’s receptive. He knows that in order to have what you want you need to model from those who already have it. A kid needs to have something to aspire to; he needs to see someone he can model from.

‘Ambition and having high personal standards is shown by his dad who is his role model and who protects the nation. But he also needs to understand money, how to use it and more importantly how to keep it.”

Lou is an entrepreneur; she trades, mentors and runs her own affiliate marketing business. However she is more than that; she is a natural leader and a motivator, teaching people to climb the proverbial wall, think for themselves and forge their own way forward.

This is how she has lived the majority of her life; moving forward by continuing to learn and apply disciplined actions to her tasks. She still sees herself in a ‘protect and serve’ role, “except this time I’m protecting and serving in a more passive way”.

Her greatest joy now is to help people achieve their goals and find purpose, just as she has during life after military. “You need a purpose and you need to love what you do. Robert Kyosaki doesn’t need to work, but he is motivated by passion. I need to feel good and I do that by living my passion which is to teach people the right way to do things.”

And let’s not forget the discipline she instils to make those things happen.

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See Tim Ferriss Live In Melbourne

Tim Ferriss

Bestselling Author of The 4-Hour Workweek and The 4-Hour Body 

Timothy Ferriss, nominated as one Forbes Magazine’s “Names You Need to Know in 2011,” is an angel investor (StumbleUpon, Facebook, Digg, Twitter, etc.), listed as #13 in the “100 Most Influential VCs, Angels & Investors” rankings, and author of the new #1 New York Times bestseller, The 4-Hour Body. He is also author of the #1 bestseller, The 4-Hour Workweek, which has been sold into 35 languages.

An active education reformer, Tim has architected experimental social media campaigns such as LitLiberation (to out-fundraise traditional media figures like Stephen Colbert 3-to-1 at zero cost), building schools overseas and financing more than 25,000 US students in the process. He is on the advisory board of DonorsChoose.org, an educational non-profit and the first charity to make the Fast Company list of 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World.

Tim has been invited to speak at some of the world’s most innovative organizations, including Google, MIT, Harvard Business School, Nike, PayPal, Facebook, The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Microsoft, Ask.com, Nielsen, Princeton University, the Wharton School, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

He has also been invited to speak and keynote at world-renowned technology summits including EG, FOO Camp, E-Tech, Supernova, LeWeb, and the Web 2.0 Exposition, where he shared the stage with figures like Eric Schmidt, Chairman of the Board of Google, and Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.

Tim has amassed a diverse (and certainly odd) roster of experiences:

• Princeton University guest lecturer in High-Tech Entrepreneurship and Electrical Engineering
• Finance and Entrepreneurship advisor at Singularity University at NASA Ames, co-founded by Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil.
• First American in history to hold a Guinness World Record in tango
• Speaker of 5 languages (6 if he’s reactivating something previously studied)
• National Chinese kickboxing champion
• Horseback archer (yabusame) in Nikko, Japan
• 2009 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute
• Political asylum researcher
• MTV break-dancer in Taiwan
• Hurling competitor in Ireland
• Wired Magazine’s “Greatest Self-Promoter of 2008″
• Actor on hit TV series in mainland China and Hong Kong (“Human Cargo”)

Tim received his BA from Princeton University in 2000, where he studied in the Neuroscience and East Asian Studies departments. He developed his nonfiction writing with Pulitzer Prize winner John McPhee and formed his life philosophies under Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe.

Branson in Australia ...Visit his Island Paradise

Looking for an ultra-exclusive locale for your next Australian holiday? Then Virgin tycoon Richard Branson's island off the Sunshine Coast might be your answer.
Holidaymakers can now "rent" the British billionaire's private leisure haven, Makepeace Island, located 20 minutes from Noosa in Queensland.

Once a muddy patch of land floating in the Noosa River, this 9.2 hectares heart-shaped island has been transformed into an ultra-luxurious Balinese-style retreat.
Branson, who bought the island in 2007, and Brett Godfrey, co-founder of Virgin Australia, have used Makepeace as a location to party with friends, family and staff.

But now Branson, who says Noosa is his "favourite place in Australia", has announced the island will be available for rent.
"When neither Brett nor myself are visiting Makepeace, we will make the island and its facilities available for others to enjoy the tranquility of what is a very special place," Branson said.
The property features a main long house with a giant bar, a four-bedroom guest house, several two-bedroom villas, a boat house and a lagoon pool with a lap lane, dive spots and a 15-person spa.
It can accommodate up to 22 guests.

The island, once called Pig Island, has its own riverboat to transfer guests, full-sized tennis court, outdoor cinema, two-storey open-air Balinese wantilan "for relaxing and gatherings", a games room and office facilities.

Makepeace is available for whole of island rental only. It costs $7,900 a night for between one and eight guests and up to $14,990 a night for between 20 and 22 guests.

Branson also owns Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands. It costs $US53,000 ($A49,380) a night to hire the Balinese village-style accommodation for up to 28 friends.
Details: www.makepeaceisland.com

Jamie McIntyre Talks about The Lessons Learnt From Richard Branson

In this post Jamie McIntyre discusses the lessons on branding in more detail using Virgin as an example. Virgin has been able to succeed through branding probably more than anyone else on the planet.
The Virgin Brand is carried over many industries including Virgin Group, building 8 separate, and billion dollar businesses over various industries.

Most people and entrepreneurs would like to have at least a single Billion dollar company, what to speak of 8.
However, many don’t realise the challenges involved in being able to protect a brand for over 3 decades like those which have been used on hundreds of various Virgin Companies. Many companies have tried and failed whilst the Virgin Brand has not only avoided any serious damage but flourished.

Perhaps their biggest brand damage was suffered by Virgin Trains in the UK which for many years failed to deliver the level of service and satisfaction consumers expected of Virgin and at one stage risked a major backlash against the entire Virgin Brand in the UK at the time. Eventually after many years of improvements they were able to improve the Virgin Train Brand and avoid it becoming a long-term negative.

I, like others, have modeled Richard Branson and the Virgin Branding concept in a much smaller way. I have been largely effective in building a brand and carrying it across various industries and numerous companies, by building over 8 separate million dollar companies in the last decade and numerous smaller companies the majority which have carried the 21st Century Brand and a few that have been independently branded. I still own most of these today including companies in education, trading, property, accounting, financial services, stock broking, publishing, media, licensing, coaching and rural enterprises.

I don’t share this with you to impress you but to impress upon you the power of modeling and how it can create tremendous wealth and success even if you only achieve a fraction of the success of those you are modeling. It’s a bit like modeling Warren Buffet as an investor. If you achieved just 1% of his success from modeling him as an investor, that’s a cool $300 million net worth.

However carrying a brand across numerous companies and industries can also come with the danger that if just one company doesn’t deliver to the high standards fans and clients expect, it can lead to short term damage like Virgin Trains did for Virgin’s UK brands, or in some cases irreparable damage, if not rectified in a way to resolve below expected performance. This can often occur if dealing with 3rd party suppliers who don’t always share the same values or concerns over ensuring your ‘raving fan’ clients always win or by having the need to delegate to be able to run a  dozen companies or more and it’s not always possible to ensure the personal touch still occurs in each company.

It’s a credit to Richard Branson that despite the number of Virgin Companies there are he has still been able to not only protect the brand long-term, but continually enhance it and have it become one of the World’s top 5 recognized brands; And all of this despite Richard not being actively involved in many of the Virgin Companies, other than being the founder and PR, or face of the company.

The fact he has an open door policy and regularly meets Virgin clients and team members, enables him to access constant feedback to continually pass on to his various management teams to ensure problems in any of his companies are quickly rectified and the client experience improved.

To that end I realize for 21st Century to continue to expand and achieve even greater success it must continue to improve each of its branded companies and ensure all companies perform to the level my clients and I would come to expect.
So I ask you for a personal favor if I may, and ask for your assistance in this. I would like you to personally email me any areas of concern or areas of improvement you can suggest in dealing with any 21st Century Company. This will enable me to be informed, educated and aware of the performance levels in any 21st Century company so I can pass back to the relevant managers to ensure they as a team deliver what you and I would expect in terms of value and service levels.
So I appreciate in advance any feedback you can provide.

Simply email me on jamie@21stca.com.au and of course I also love reading the 1000s of success stories I receive from clients of our education companies so keep them coming as well whether large or small.

PS. Here is a previous article on the 7 lessons I learnt from Richard Branson.
Enjoy

One of my business mentors for over a decade has been the billionaire Richard Branson of the Virgin Group.
Initially I learnt valuable lessons from reading his books and modeling some of his business strategies, but then I was fortunate enough in recent years to have caught up with Richard in person on several occasions to learn even more valuable business lessons.
Here are 7 valuable lessons I’ve learnt, particularly in regards to business, from Richard.

1. Do what you love and are passionate about and you’ll increase your chances of success in any endeavor.
This is a common lesson shared by the majority of successful millionaires and billionaires I’ve studied, yet it is commonly overlooked by so many people.
Richard gets his passion from making a difference and ideally making a profit at the same time so he can continue to make a difference. I believe that many people have issues with making money, yet without it, money reduces ones capacity to make a positive difference in many ways.
Most people’s ideal career is to do something they love and make a lot of money doing it, thus one reason Richard Branson inspires so many of us is that it’s obvious he loves being an entrepreneur and does business with a passion.

2. Build a committed team around you and allow them to grow by delegating.
One of Richards’s successes has come from attracting a quality team of passionate managers and then allowing them to run his business and, thus allowing him to not micro manage.
Spending time with Richard’s Virgin Team at some of Virgin’s parties I could tell they all loved the Virgin Culture, were passionate about their roles and felt a part of the Virgin family and thus would go the extra distance to deliver results.
Richard realized that you’re either an entrepreneur or a manager, not both.
Too many entrepreneurs micro manage their companies to death and never allow it to grow to where it will run without them. On the other hand people that are better managers often start their own business and fail as they’d be better off partnering up with a good entrepreneur and running the entrepreneurs company for them.

3. Make business Fun.
Richard advised me personally to throw a lot more parties and celebrate more achievements with my team. He said you don’t even need to spend a lot of money, however look for ways to celebrate success and reward your team as much as possible. Not only is it a lot of fun as everyone loves a party it helps your team bond and enjoy their work more because it’s not all hard work and no play.

4. Branding.
This is probably the most valuable lesson I’ve learnt, for business, from Richard in a monetary sense.Virgin broke all the rules of marketing by using the same brand across completely unrelated industries, yet the value of the brand not only carried over but increased the value of Virgin as a Brand to such an extent it is now one of the most valuable brands in the world.

5. Never delegate financial control completely.
This is a crucial lesson and difficult to do as one needs to delegate work to allow a business or companies to grow. For myself, owning 12 companies, I couldn’t possibly do financial control for all companies and have a life; so I used to delegate it completely and as a result have lost millions, from fraud and mismanagement by financial controllers.
But Richard said no matter how big a company becomes the owners should go into the business and sign cheques every 6 months so they know the expenses and as a result question costs to lower the companies overhead. As a result I now keep a much closer eye on every expense throughout my companies and have saved millions as a result.

6. Life is an Adventure so take some risks.
Richard has become famous for his daredevil stunts in hot air balloons and ocean racing etc… One may not need to be a daredevil to succeed in business however one must be willing to embrace risk.

7. Make a difference.
Ultimately Richard is still motivated and passionate to work as he is focused on making a positive difference to the world and thus has boundless energy and money is a secondary driver. Personally to keep up with Richards schedule one would need boundless energy as he packs so much into every day of his life.
These are just some of the valuable business and life lessons I’ve learnt from Richard Branson that I believe, if applied, will increase anyone’s chances of success in business and life
Jamie McIntyre