A Lesson in not Putting Things Off…
This week I had the chance to do the thing I love the most. Meeting people and sharing knowledge, so that together we can move closer towards our goals, whatever those might be.
Education is expensive for poor families.
You see I was running our regular series of free seminars. And at the beginning of these Seminars, I tell a short story. A few stories actually, but this one always leaves me with a lump in my throat. And it has a lesson for us all….. I’ll make it short. (I’m sure Bill won’t mind if I paraphrase it)
It involves an Australian guy by the name of Bill Gorter, who was working with an NGO in Cambodia. Bill was talking to a local boy and asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. The boy responded by saying that ‘in his next life’ he wanted to be a Doctor. Of course Bill asked ‘why not in this life’?
So the boy explained that in this life he had no hope. He had left school in the 6th grade to help his family. And in fact his family was so poor, they could no longer feed and house him, so he went to live with the monks in a local temple.
As a result of that conversation, Bill embarked on creating a wonderful Charity called ‘This Life Cambodia’, to help that child and many many more like him.
OK, so why do I tell that story to guests at my seminars?
Two reasons really.
One is to almost ‘shame them’ into doing something with the knowledge that we share. All too often people attend seminars, conferences and other training opportunities, get a great idea, and do nothing with it!
Rob learning a lot (as always) from B1G1 Founder Masami Sato
And that’s tragic. So I always implore our guests to take away at least one key piece of knowledge, and do something with it in This Life! Not just leave it on the shelf with all the other great ideas, collecting dust.
And the second reason of course, is to draw attention to the fact that there are many out there, who don’t have the opportunities that we enjoy. And they need our help to reach their potential, to be healthy, or merely to survive the next day.
Bill Gorter’s charity, This Life Cambodia is one of the charities we like to support through the B1G1 Giving Program. And whilst I have not had the pleasure of actually meeting Bill, I was lucky enough to meet some of his team, hear their own personal stories, and to see their work first hand, whilst visiting Cambodia with other B1G1 Business Partners.
If you would like to join us in supporting the great work that Bill and others like him do, you can. You’ll find projects in Australia and Overseas, focussed on education, environment, health and lots more. I’ll make sure we rotate the range of projects that we share for you on this link: Creating Real Impact – Together
To read more about the B1G1 Giving program and to see how we are tracking towards our next giving ‘goal’ just jump onto this link: Thanks A million
