Wisdom From My Mentor

Most of us look up to someone, a mentor, someone inspirational, someone who strives on achievements.

I have several mentors, some who I have never met and some who I meet on a regular basis (I seem to be fascinated by peoples lives and their stories).

There is one gentleman who I find truly inspirational, this is my father Victor Camilleri.

My father has been running his own business for just over 35 years. He is well established in the catering industry and along with my uncle Anton owns a small hotel and a catering establishment, the Ir-Rokna (which means the corner in Maltese).

My father was kind of lucky I guess, as when he started, not much was happening in the area which dominates the Maltese nightlife today, Paceville. He started slowly and he worked hard to keep his restaurant evolving through the ages. In the 35 years he has been open he has seen numerous restaurants open only to fail two years after they opened.

Why was my fathers business doing well, what was the secret?

My father has always been the one who looks out for opportunities, he lives in the now, cherishes the past and looks steadily into the future. He is the mouse who keeps looking for the cheese, even though he has some cheese in front of him (principles taken from the book “who moved my cheese”).

In the late 90’s my father told me he was thinking of expanding the business by introducing a home delivery service. This idea was not met with kind notions from his fellow workers. This would mean, more costs, more work, more recruitment etc. My father insisted it was the way forward and that not doing so could potentially make his business close down.

I greeted his enthusiasm with joy and thought his idea was great. I even told him I would personally walk around every town nearby and hand deliver a menu at peoples door. This took a lot of time and energy, but it was fun, it was exciting, interesting and challenging.

Ten years later my fathers restaurant has a database of over 20,000 people. Not bad for an island, who’s population is of 400,000 (Thats 5% of the country). Obviously they do not all order the same day, otherwise he would have to build a factory.

This move was an intelligent one and the Ir-Rokna is rated as one of the best deliveries on the island. So what if he did not make that move? What if he listened to his peers?

Sometimes things might seem to be running smoothly, but if we keep doing the same thing, we will only get the same results. Creativity and Innovation can make us move forward. Risks might be seen as outrageous. However if you do your homework right, there is a good chance it can work.

Moving forward is the only way to become successful and although we sometimes make mistakes along the way, well thats ok too, its better to make mistakes then not try to do anything.

I have made loads of mistakes, no regrets, just more experiences to share as I become older and wiser.

I want to follow my fathers wisdom and keep moving forward, I know it will not always be plain sailing and who cares. I know my mission with Inspire is in for the long run. We plan to organize events, projects, conferences and workshops using life coaching and NLP for the well being of society.

In fact it is working so much, Inspire has a team of 9 people and growing. When I started Iife Coaching, I was laughed at by a few, but thats ok too. Today I am living the life I have always dreamt of, and if it took a few laughs then, heck I can take a joke too ;)

Believe in yourself and believe you can make a difference. Move forward not back.
Innovate and Create. Do this today and not tomorrow and your life will be full of joy and abundance.

Thanks Papa Vic for your life long contribution,
I sure have learned a lot from you,
I hope you enjoyed this message like I have,
if you have any feedback or suggestions, please feel free to contact me,


Keep Well
Claude

Written by Claude Camilleri,
Master NLP Practitioner, Malta
founder of Successlodge
www.successlodge.com