a.m. it's nice to just get up and go and sit in my kitchen and I've got some great views and we catch the Sun eise's and just sit and have a cup of coffee and just reflect at that time in the morning and whether it be just catching up on the news doing some banking at any sort of admin that's gonna give me a great spot today I really do enjoy sort of having that foundation to the day to be honest after that point I feel like I should be exercising and I'm moved house last August and I've moved probably about 20 miles away from where you used to live and I'm in a village which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere right the nearest gym is 14 miles away so I'm struggling to find that motivation to exercise at the moment because I'm not near a gym I never can actually go out and go and walk and run and things like Apple with the with the winter as it's been not the opportunity to do that so a key thing for me that I want to focus on in this year it is exercise and fitting that back into my routine because that would be great to do that at that point and then in terms of moving on from there I mean I generally just would move into what is a pretty normal working day to my day is made up of meetings pretty much all over the UK because to work for a multinational business and I might be working from home or I could be in Edinburgh or London so I can have a day that starts at 5:00 a.m. oh I've got to go and catch a flight or train or I can have a nice relaxed day where I'm getting offered sort of the time that I said and then sitting in just a night or five from the kitchen table if it is that I'm not actually working then ideally for me every traveling okay a lot of miles and the continent in the turbulent yeah yeah yeah job yeah do you listen to any audio balls or podcasts or anything like that always it just literally music on the road I'm a visual person so for me I rather than I mean I've I've always tried to read and I just find it so difficult to put my not put my time to sit and absorb a book so I'm visual so for me I'm a documentary sort of person okay I've watched probably every documentary going on Netflix on every topic possible so I would if there's something that I'm interested in I find it far easier to watch a documentary on it rather than to read a book on it okay that's interesting I can't read myself to be honest I use audio book for everything similar to yourself ie well I used to be on the road a lot so for me it was kind of an opportunity I supposed to kind of kill two birds with one stone I'd always listen to audiobooks I do need to get on the Netflix documentaries I heard there's some fascinating ones but I just wanna quickly touch on something there so you've got some traits there so the whole reflection and the early rising that's quite common amongst people who are trying to do more in life there is one thing I want to do a little shameless plug on is the exercise bit so I'm a massive massive advocate that we should always prioritize our health before everything and when I say how if I don't just mean your physical house I mean your mental health as well but yeah you've said something there and this is just my advice as a friend is the gym is far away well mate if you go on my youtube channel I have some videos which will tell you how to work out from the comfort of your own home so I want to see you doing those I'm gonna see you in star jumps in your next post yeah and as I said make that a hundred percent is a target of mine for 2019 and the mean talking about mindset as well I find setting personal towards a great way to motivate myself I mean when I set up the business that said at the beginning the year target for me this years to set up a business alongside work and estate agents evolved from and then this this is my target for this year to get back to fitness again fantastic just in relation to the business one have you ever set up a business before or is that you you set yourself a target and a boom you just went out and figured it out yes and literally do the estate agent are set up from scratch I just came up with the concept the Brandon sat down with a graphic designer who bought it all to lie for me but I came up with a concept that was completely unique and then you in the UK no other estate agent in the country was doing it and that was for the client to be able to choose the estate agent board that sits outside the property the color of it yeah and and that was extremely successful and it was a huge USP for the business and in a market that is so saturated yeah exactly saturated it was a USP and something that stood me above the competition it was something that had started online started out the spare bedroom at my old property and and grew it to a position that it was a business that could be sold on that's fascinating to me because you're you'll meet many people and if people just sit here today and think about the times in the last seven days but somebody's told them about a business idea or they want to do this or they want to become this and then actually see whether they go and follow that through it's very very slim that those people do it so for me obviously business my staff now I find it very very difficult there's a lot there's a lot of cogs to it and I think you touched on it earlier that in terms of making the same money that you're making you notified there's a hell of a lot more hard work involved so for you to be able to do that on this side one it kind of I always think if people have got an excuse they haven't because if they listen to you now you know you're working full-time and you set yourself up a successful business which I just find that really inspiring and would you have any tips for anyone is it just literally google it because I would say google it everything's on Google get out there Network speak to people is that kind of your best approach yeah a hundred percent I mean definitely I agree that everything's on Google now you've just gotta go out I mean for me there was something inside me telling me that I needed to do to do something to fulfill me over and above what I was getting from my nine till five at the time so I I am quite a visual person as I've said so I sat and you my maps I was like what are the potential ideas for a business that the it could give me what I want so I came up with the sort of events business came up with the estate agents I came up with a recruitment business and everything just brought me back to a state agency because of the passion that I've got on the side property property so from there I just I went and so what I wanted to do is understand what do you need to do to set up a successful estate agent so the first thing is I needed to get qualified as an estate agent so I had to go and do the qualifications alongside work set myself up as a director of a limited company and and just brought to life the the concept that had come up with him surround yourself with a successful team and for me that was having a really good graphic designer bring all the concepts to life and then the subcontractors who work for the business as well so I was pride in myself on photography particularly so I went out and I found I found the best photographer in the local area had to pay more to do that but when there was a buzz created about the business the photography was one of the things that people were talking about fantastic that's brilliant I think there's a blueprint they obviously for people who may have something inside them which makes them want to maybe go out there and do a business and you just touched on a point which is something that I always tell everyone is surround yourself with a successful team because you can't do anything alone in this world especially if you're trying to get rid of your 9 to 5 so I always try and do that I always try and I know it's a cliche but I was try and surround myself with people who are cleverer than me you have done more than me because that way it kind of forces me to grow it keeps me accountable as well and at the same time I'm learning as opposed to you kind of be in the cleverest in the room a hundred percent and the thing the thing is it massively surround yourself by people who motivate you to better the position that you're in and just just one point on what you were saying about the successful team is having the ability or the experience to to recognize that team and to be able to select the team as well because it's easy to go out there and for example get a photographer but without understanding their background in their experience and where they've been successful it's difficult to know whether to bring them into your team or not I think trades people is a perfect example and what we experienced with you on the property that I was like yeah there's so many Cowboys out there and so many people who are not performing as they should do I think I think they're all just kind of playing the small game and so for me it's if I was a tradesman and this is just my trail of thought is if I'm gonna work with someone if worst case scenario that the projects going a little bit tits up which they sometimes do and it could be of through no fault of anybody's I would still try and continue to over-deliver because then you've got more chance of repeat business and what I tend to see is people will happily exploit people for a quick dollar that that month or that week just to kind of maybe pay for their bills and so they can go drinking on the weekend and then all of a sudden somebody's losing out there whether it's repeat business or whether it's the customer or something and yeah and that reputation so building a reputation again is another key element of it because if you go out and and you rip someone off on day one you're never gonna get to day 100 absolutely great just like that not actually just be from a shift gears a little bit I have finally managed to find a good build and a good trades team and I'm actually what I've actually done is similar to you don't let go of him may I haven't so what I did is I set up a business and I became business partners with him because I was like listen I need to keep you here one because I trust you in your works fantastic you can do this side of it what I do is I use my whole branding and my project management experience to kind of get the clients in so we kind of work hand in hand but mate I've had to get so many bad frogs but yeah I'm not gonna let go now and in property that that's the perfect mix it's great for somebody like yourself who's got a huge amount of experience and in marketing to partner up with somebody who's got the skills in the experience on the technical side of it absolutely together you've created that perfect team absolutely I'm grateful now for where I'm I suppose I'm so grateful for all the lessons because if I hadn't have gone through what I did I wouldn't be where I am today at the same time I wouldn't even be speaking to yourself so you know everything happens for a reason I'm a firm believer of that exactly I mean if I hadn't done what I'd done on the side and you had done what you're doing we would never have cross paths absolutely made so I'm grateful for all my experiences it's obvious now then so you've had a very colorful life we lines ups and downs and you've done quite a bit actually a little bit like myself I always think I've managed to cram so much in so quickly so yeah you could tell us of a recent adversity that you've been through and then what's your approach when you're up against an obstacle how do you deal with it what lessons have you learned from it yes so in terms of adversity we've definitely already taught sunny during this conversation and and for me it is the fact that I'm gay and that was a huge point for me in my life and it's it's the most amount of adversity I've ever faced and I'll say that hands down and so it's never easy for me to talk about this but I genuinely believe that my life didn't start to come together until I admitted to myself who I really was and after that point I found the friends they were feel comfortable around and I found a partner I progressed financially and that for me was was the point in life so now I've got over that I don't feel as though there's any adversity or if I do come across adversity it just doesn't feel it doesn't feel like you've kind of been treated I suppose the biggest challenge of your life yeah quinta percent of me exchanged when I looked back because it's like looking back at a different pace and then it was some money I was trying to be someone who I wasn't at the end of the day and so I take responsibility for that but genuinely I think that society does play a part and that as well absolutely as I've said we're supposed to act in a certain way we're supposed to be a certain type of person and I was made to feel that being gay was wrong and it made me feel like of a person to be honest and it and that's what drove me to not want to be that person it's so sad isn't it how society and I think it is it is a society problem that we can discriminate or prejudiced against certain types of people or people who are different to ourselves and make them feel so bad because although you get groups and you get cliques and stuff nobody's really looking at the individual that you're segregating and what the effect is having to them and this is kind of something I learned in my um when I went back to study social workers and masters because my four of my siblings come from the care system I sin then be discriminated against in terms of they've come into our family we've tried to put them in extracurricular activities we tried to take it to football games and stuff and when one's got autism and then one's got learning difficulties and one is a displaying the level of intelligence that person should display at that age according to the school curriculum it's it's sad to see them just get put to the side or brushed off and it's it's something I don't think the solution for right now but I think if you can create more awareness just just for people just to have a bit of compassion I suppose for hope for people and just think listen everyone's trying to do the best that they can in whatever moment they're they're in and nobody wants to feel like an outcast normally wants to feel different we're all we've all got unique abilities within ourselves and we're all all got our own gift and I just wish the world could just be a bit more sympathetic towards each other to be honest 100 percent and I think talking about it is is awareness in itself and I mean that is something that I could carry with me and let affect me mentally I just don't I consider myself to be a strong person mentally and I just choose to not let it impact the rest of my life it's something that happened and it's something that will not affect me for the future and I think choose to make it a part of your strengths because what you what you're going to do even just by sharing the story which I'm very grateful for you doing you're gonna inspire and give other people the courage that listen it's okay it's okay in general I mean like Nick's doing fine now there's millions other people doing fine now and it's not as bad as you probably think it is at this at this point in time so yeah I mean I I don't want it to define me in life and I don't think anyone should let it define them in life I want my life to be defined by either a successful career or a successful business I don't want it to be oh yeah Nick Hall who's gay I want it to be he's a great businessman or a great person and I mean I would judge you it's just myself just under I'm the character in the person that you are similar to myself I I don't want to be judged as a particular thing it doesn't define you that's that's that's probably the right way of me yeah exactly thank you so you've obviously then overcame your biggest fear now and we've spoken about you coming out and realizing that you were gay and you you that's something now you're you're very comfortable with other than that what would be your next biggest fear and it could be anything it could be spiders it could be snakes for what else kind of scares you right now yeah something that genuinely scares me is not being financially secure later in life I think that our generation are in a strange position financially I mean our parents generally have or will retire on probably final salary pensions with a decent state pension at a relatively young age in terms of retirement to say young innovative compiz our generation we're going to need to work until were 70 we're going to have very very small pensions in comparison that worries me because I don't want to work until I'm 70 for a start and I don't want to live on a hundred pounds a week so it's something that scares me massively but I use it to motivate me because for me I want financial security because I want to enjoy my life effectively that's it yeah fair answer I think I think we all need to need to be mindful of what we're doing for the future which is one of the reasons actually that I got into property to create that kind of wealth in the future so everything I've done at least in my first few years a property was called wealth creation so I thought for a rainy day I've got a portfolio of properties that will keep me ticking over and now obviously now I'm trying to work on the whole cash flow element in order to kind of live the life that myself and my wife want to live so I think that's a good point and you actually just answered my next question I was gonna ask you which was about motivation and I'm always eager to see what keeps people more of a motivation for me it's kind of like I see it like a hit of caffeine I think you have some caffeine you're on a high for a bit and then all of a sudden you can use it so if we just alter that very slightly what kind of drives you maybe a little bit deeper like you what inspires you what makes you do the things that you do on the days but you don't feel like doing them I think weekends or a good example I mean it's easy to say what gets you out of bed from Monday to Friday it's a paycheck what gets me out of bed on a weekend for me at the moment what's getting me out of bed at the weekend is working on this property that I'm currently living in so I've got a list of jobs as long as my arm there if I don't get up on a Saturday morning and do them then they're not going to happen or I'm gonna have to pay trades people to come in and do them so I'm enjoying doing a bit of painting at weekends at the moment obviously the motivation and that is that that's going to invest in this property and eventually will increase its value so it's probably financially motivated that's fantastic yeah great answer mate okay so there we've heard it the buzzer has just gone off and we are now at the front part of this show and this is a part where I put Nick through his paces and I ask him as many random questions as I can fit in over the next 60 seconds so Nick are you ready I think so you'll be fine mate okay we're going to start in three two one what is your favorite documentary and at the moment the fire documentary that I've just what or Netflix about the fire festival whatever one what did you regret this I haven't eaten any breakfast yup the ability to fly it or be invisible fly definitely money or fame money your biggest achievement today living in the house that I live in after starting off and asleep on to internment 2touchpos your favorite food chorong net picture youtube in that place your number one goal this year to get fit again favorite TV show ever can I say film yeah but I'm gonna say film and one that I watched for the day lion would you rather know how you were died or where you were going when definitely love or money well books or movies movie you could sit with one person in the world for an hour who would it be Donald Trump what is this what is your biggest addiction sugar your favorite place in the world Vegas and finally if you could have polished one thing in the world what would it be terrorism fantastic how did you find that yeah good in relation to the fire one I just find that so fascinating the way the guy was the ultimate blogger the thing is though is he could very easily and pulled that off and he would you know that case that he is that's so true that's so true ok so we're almost at the end this show we just got a couple of more questions left my next one's on reflection and we all know hindsight's a wonderful thing it teaches us so many things ie how we can get to places quicker easier or less heartache at the same time I'm also a very very firm believer that the journey teaches us so much and I've got a real belief that everything happens for a reason so what I want to know is if you could go back in time to that one moment where you really struggled and suffered with adversity and just be able to whisper something in your ear knowing what you know now with all the lessons life has taught you what would you tell yourself we talked about quite a bit in during the show and that's the fact that I'm gaining obviously have been for a long time so it would be a case of me going back to the old me so today it just did some reassurance until we even almost give him a glimpse into the future that utterly no one cares probably do care but no one really gives a shit no one worthwhile kiss yeah mmm I love done mate thank you thanks for sharing that and suddenly we are now at the last question and the last question are always like to ask my guess is if in 150 years time science fails to save us all and all that is left is a book and that book is a book about Nick and it's about everything that Nick's done or the fascinating wonderful things I want to know is in this book what would firstly the title be and secondly what would be summary at the back tell us about yourself I suppose a great title would be how to be true to yourself and the blurb would be about discovering the things that make you happy in life and what makes you tick and and and living those in in your daily life okay good stuff so just before I close the show what I want to do is give you a chance to let the audience know where they can reach you or where they can contact you and obviously then that will give the audience a chance to really maybe connect with you whether it's in relation to property or you as a person or your business or sales or whatever is really and hopefully if they're resonate with it maybe you can potentially help them in some way so what's the best place is that people can find you I would say Instagram is the best place to get in touch with me because it's so interactive so my Instagram account is at Nick Hall underscore underscore but I'll let you put it on absolutely I'll put in the show notes as well yeah and Facebook LinkedIn any of those or hey I'm on LinkedIn as well welcome to connect with me that's more geared towards my 9 to 5 but of course welcome to get in touch with me on that okay and then Facebook and I keep pretty private to be honest so if not at the moment I've just got a family in front on that that's fine that's fine not a problem that's brilliant I just want to say once again Nick thank you so much for your time for you to share this story as well I'm sure it's gonna help many many people it's certainly given me more insight about yourself as well I mean we've known each other for a while now and are you a lot more so I just wanna say thank you to yourself and to the listeners at home thanks for listening yeah thanks for having me right and remember this podcast is absolutely free so all we ask in return is for you to share this with a friend and drop us a five star review over on iTunes have an awesome day  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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