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Acquisition Editors: Frank Pohlmann and Andrew Waldron
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First published: October 2018
Production reference: 1041018
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ISBN 978-1-78913-632-6
To my dear wife Tara whose support has made this dream possible and to my children Ekun, Jayee, and Taline. If daddy can do it, so can you
– Sean Au
To Penny Power who has powered me through the last 30 years since we first met by accident on September 1st 1988, supporting and believing in all the risks we chose to take, thank you for creating the next generation of Power's (PowORS) in Hannah 1992, Ross 1994, and TJ Power 1997. To our three little ones I say, remember the six magic words "we become what we think about" and always be Open Random Supportive (ORS) ®
– Thomas Power
"Just share what you know," he said to me as we sat at the back of a meeting room whispering to each other like kids in a classroom. And it was on that morning, on the 5th of June 2015, in a meeting at Canary Wharf, London where he drew the Nike tick and wrote beneath "Just Share It"... and I've been doing that ever since.
I had heard of the name Thomas Power back in August 2014 in conjunction with words like "a social media guru" and "the guy who teaches high profile board members and individuals how to tweet." That sounded silly to me but then, I knew nothing about social media, and to tell the truth, I didn't really care.
My Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts where all dormant, gathering cob webs in some dusty attic in cyberspace. I didn't rate them because I didn't understand them. Besides, as an introverted geek, why on Earth would I want to put myself "out there?" Little did I know that going to London for the first time and accidentally meeting Thomas Power would change my perspective and eventually change the way I would see the world.
At the back of that meeting room I hammered Thomas on why social media was a waste of time, questioned the benefits of being constantly present online and how it was a waste of time tweeting about your favorite TV show or what you just ate.
In the next 45 minutes, Thomas talked about being Open, Random, and Supportive, about being willing to serve and about staying hungry. Concepts that were beyond me but not strange to me. I then thought to myself, "maybe he knows something that I don't. Besides, what do I have to lose?"
Upon my return to New Zealand, I created a new Twitter account, dusted the cob webs off my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, and tentatively tweeted my first tweet. I started using an application called Klout (now shutdown), which measured one's social influence. I had no intention of trying to be popular but what struck me was the tag line. "Be known for what you love." This got me thinking, what is it that I love?
I've been interested in bitcoins since 2014 as well as blockchain technologies and decided to pursue this full time shortly after. It was one of the biggest decisions of my life. I spent an entire year reading everything I could on the internet and probably only scratched the surface! What has transpired is a deeper understanding of how money works, how the world works, and doing things I never thought possible such as co-authoring a book.
The journey of living and not just existing, of creating a dream list and not a bucket list, and the attitude of whether I succeed or fail being able to tell my kids that at least your daddy gave it a go is not for the faint hearted. It puts to the test the very person that you are. It is an arduous journey. One fought with hard work and determination along with more than the occasional inspirational pick-me-up YouTube videos from the likes of Eric Thomas (@Ericthomasbtc), Gary Vaynerchuck (@garyvee), and Jay Shetty (@JayShettyIW).
I challenge those in similar situations to take a chance and explore this new world, but remember that your fundamentals and core values need to be right. Don't just be social for the sake of being social. Be open, random, and supportive. Help others and stay hungry.