“Wealth without purpose is just being rich”
– Alan Wiles
We’ve spoken about wealth on the podcast before but never quite like this. In this episode I chat with Alan Wiles – husband, father, entrepreneur, tech consultant, investor and learning professional.
Alan wears many hats and is also a close friend of mine. You know those people who just always seem focused, who always seem to have their life together, who are insanely smart? That’s Alan. In this chat, we talk about how he became the confident businessman he is today, why failure wasn’t an option and why resting is his priority these days.
Quick Wrap
Alan and I met in 4th form (grade 10). I was enrolled at Wolmer’s Girls’ School and he was at the Boys’ School . We were both doing Information Technology (in addition to a few other subjects) for our school leaving exams. Programming was a component of IT and our teachers thought it was a good idea for us to learn from each other because we were learning different programming languages. In the interview you’ll hear that his year group actually pioneered IT programming at Wolmer’s Boys’ – their year group was the first to do the discipline.
Alan had the most intricate program; anything you could think of – the program was able to do. So for me, his launch into a career in information technology was inevitable but he shares the story of first aspiring to be a pilot 🤷🏿♀️. This interview takes us from childhood straight through to adulthood (we didn’t leave anything out), and he also managed to give us some pretty sound, simple financial advice. Hear what/who he credits for his success in business, the mental fortitude to maintain momentum, and learn the definition of structured progressive planning.
Also, this quote should definitely be on a billboard somewhere:
“[by asking] ‘how do I pass this on’ – that is where wealth becomes impactful. Because, if you re the only person that is wealthy, you are on an island and very soon you will sink. Wealth is a very big network. A network of persons that you know, a network of opportunities you have and it’s the network of things you will pass on to the next generation”
— Alan Wiles
Skip Ahead
- 05:31 : Childhood dreams made true
- 07:34 : “Different definitions of success at different stages of life”
- 09:09 : What does it mean to be successful
- 10:56 : Staying the course
- 11:22 : Structured progressive planning
- 12:13 : “Failure was not an option”
- 14:30 : A little history
- 18:34 : Why everything isn’t just “black and white”
- 19:20 : “You are more important than everything else around you”
- 21:36 : Saving vs Investing
- 23:43 : Financial advice made simple
- 25:10 : The key(s) to wealth
- 27:18 : What are you most proud of, at this point
- 29:17 : Can rest make you a better person?
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