When I was ten years old, in a famous English boarding school with rigid discipline, there was no TV (can you imagine that!), only books.
I read the story of Stanley and Dr Livingstone, ‘Missionaries in the Depths of the African Jungle’. I made a decision that I wanted to become a missionary and help these African people have a better quality of life.
When I was 14 years old, I decided that I wanted to be a naval surgeon (a doctor in the navy).
All those things have come true in my life, although not in the context I imagined them. I did join the navy, and went to Naval Officers training college and then went to sea, and had been twice around the world by the time I was 18 years old. I became a doctor - not of medicine, but of sick businesses, and indirectly saved many people’s lives by them not losing their jobs and livelihood. My lifelong task, dream, aspiration, has been to help as many people as possible to have a better quality of life.
Although I started life from humble beginnings, I learnt that I was loved and how to love, thanks to my Grandmother and Mother, "Nanny and Mummy".
I do feel that I have been blessed by a higher authority to have an amazing life. I do not attribute this to luck - I attribute it to deciding what I want, clearly, passionately, specifically. I take risks by willing to be in my learning zone and not staying in my comfort zone, because I discovered that there are no new opportunities inside my already existing history of life. Continually repeating the same thing does not move my life forward, so I am not growing myself.
I have had this fulfillment in my corporate life as a chief executive, working with thousands of people to help them grow and help them and their families have a better life. This is including the 30,000 corporate executives and leaders who have gone through our transformational leadership and communication programmes. The joy I have experienced in providing, with my wife, 3,000 free scholarships for teenagers in confidence building and leadership is another highlight for me.
Working in the university with students on the same issues, I passionately believe that children are our future and if they have a bright, positive image of that future, that is what they will create for their own future. Because the thoughts we think create our reality. Now I have the opportunity to help many more people, through my ‘askbrianmartin.com’ website, to have a better quality of life.
I do not have a university degree, but I am the former vice-chancellor of the ‘University of Hard Knocks’ and the ‘University of Life Experiences’.
You can buy an education, but you cannot buy experience, and that is why I can and want to help people, because they will help other people. It is like throwing a rock of success into a lake, it continues to ripple out, and will touch many people. I encourage you to encourage others, to let me share with you that experience, for your benefit.
I feel blessed by a higher authority that I, the radio valve generation, have been gifted with putting some talented people to guide me and support me, so that I can talk to you.
So this is my cause, my passion.