So, I went skydiving on Saturday – all to raise money for the great cause of Christians Against Poverty – they provide financial education and sustainable debt relief to people right here in Australia (check out my previous post for more details, including how you can support them for my Dive Against Debt.

The skydive was absolutely incredible. I’ll let my friend and dive-mate Rae explain it, then scroll down for the video.

We boarded the small plane which could take up to 8 -10 divers at a time. We sat on the floor with each person leaning his back in between the legs of the one behind him. After take off and the initial 4000 feet I was able to relax and I enjoyed the flight during the remainder of the climb, which was about 15 minutes.

At 14000 feet a red light was flashing, indicating that we were about to reach the drop zone. My tandem, Bob, then strapped the harness which I was wearing to that of him and we were ready for our jump. By now the aircraft was flying over the drop zone and a siren sounded and the door was opened. There was a huge gush of wind and it was cold. There is a difference of 20c in the temperature at 14000 feet. The experienced skydivers jumped first, which gave me my first clear view through the open door out to the nothingness of air and blue sky. Panic engulfed me. I turned and yelled to Bob that I had changed my mind. As Bob was shuffling me toward the door I found myself desperately trying to twist my body in the other direction. I vaguely heard Bob shout at me, cross your arms, chin up, arch your back. It’s difficult to hear to each other because of the rushing wind, which is just as well, because at that point fear had taken over and as we lunged out past the wing of the plane I screamed “I love you Bob!”

Bob activated the drogue chute and even though we reached a speed of 220kph in 10 seconds there was no relative motion, (physics, they tell me) so it didn’t feel like I was falling. He tapped my on the shoulder to indicate I could now spread my arms open wide. Touching nothing but air you feel the exhilarating rush of adrenaline as you hurtle through the sky.

This was an experience of a life time. I had time to appreciate the view and think about what I wanted to remember the most. First I thought this is unbelievable, I’m actually really here, really doing this, I am skydiving. Then I laughed and thought “I’m not flying I’m falling with style.” It’s really intriguing, because you actually feel in you are in control. But I guess that’s just the adrenaline that has sharpened your focus, slowed time, and heightened your senses. Poetically speaking, the smooth collage of color below maybe where you live but this is where you are right now and you want to stay here forever. The free fall continued for about 1 minute and although my ears really hurt, (physics again!!) I enjoyed every second.

Suddenly, there was a huge jolt. Bob had released the main parachute and our rate of descent suddenly slowed to 20 feet per second. The mad rush of wind had suddenly transformed into a peaceful calm. So, there I was hanging under a canopy at 4000 feet up in the sky. Bob then gave the toggles of the parachute to me and I tried to steer it. You pull the left handle you turn left, right handle you turn right. Pull both together you break the descent. He helped me turn around so that I could see my friend Tim, who had jumped after me. Slowly my ears adjusted to the new volume and I could hear the flapping of that magical fabric above my head. Keeping an eye on the landing pad, we glided and turned adjusting direction to stay in close range to the target. So gentle all the way down.

As gravity reasserts itself I see the ground coming at me and although it’s faster than I imagine it’s still not enough to worry me. Bob quietly instructed me to raise my legs out in front of us and at a mere twenty feet above the ground he pulled on the toggles to slow our descent and gently sat me on the terra firma of the earth.

I dared to defy gravity, I dared to defy my fear and I have emerged victorious. And I begin to wonder, would I do it again?

And here’s the proof that we actually did it:

Would you consider supporting Christians Against Poverty? Please donate to them online today (choose a $10, $25 or $50 donation – or another amount of your choice). Just mention “Dive Against Debt – Tim Malone” in the comments. Thank you so much!

“My life was black with no hope for the future. I could not provide for my children and felt that I had failed them as a mother. I would punish myself by inflicting cuts and burns on my body. I couldn’t take the suffering anymore and attempted suicide as I felt a burden to my children. It was my role as a parent to provide for them and I had failed them in that. The pain I felt when they told me they were hungry and I knew there was no food in the cupboards ripped apart my very being. I could see no way out except through suicide…. I no longer live in darkness. For the first time in my life I see colours in my world….For the first time in my life I believe I have a future. Through CAP, I have been given a second chance at life. I want to live!”

That’s a quote from a client of Christians Against Poverty, that was sent to me once I decided to “dive against debt”. And it’s not an isolated story. I’m going skydiving this Saturday to draw attention to the work CAP does with people – right here, in our own society – who are struggling with unmanageable debt… and all of the personal consequences that come with it.

I got out of credit card debt myself recently. From the flow-on effects of three months of unemployment after moving to Melbourne at the end of 2009, I had managed to rack up about $7,000 in debt. This is a pretty small debt – but to someone who was brought up to spend responsibly and save abundantly, it was a burden over me for almost 11 months. I avoided purchasing things I wanted but didn’t need (a good lesson, actually!), and in some cases I avoided purchasing things I probably did… almost.. need (such as a bed). But I never went hungry. I’m not in a relationship. And I don’t have children. No-one was relying on me to provide for them, and I was in a share house with four other people where the split bills meant relatively cheap living for each of us.

I got debt easy.

But I’ve got a friend who has had to default on a loan, and has debt collectors knocking and searching. And CAP has clients like the one quoted above who are under a cloud of depression, can’t afford to eat properly, have to hide from collectors, and one previous client (now debt-free!) who used to hide the mail in the cupboard without opening it – she was afraid of what demands would be inside. People in debt tend to be ashamed of themselves, knowing that it was their choices that got them to where they are.

Started in 1996 in the UK – by a man named John Kirkby who had just £10 in his pocket – Christians Against Poverty has now spread across the world, opening in Australia in 2001. It’s a charity that provides professional debt counselling, financial education, and other practical help to release Australians from poverty. CAP helps anyone, and all of their services are provided for free.

CAP don’t provide cash handouts. They empower people to help themselves out of poverty, and teach vital budgeting skills that will last a lifetime. CAP operates through a growing network of local centres, each of them run in partnership with a local church.

And CAP’s vision – which I found out after deciding to support them but just makes what they do all the more exciting and effective – is to “answer the national problem of debt in Australia by having at least one CAP centre in every major town and city by the year 2021″. [CAP website]

This Saturday, the 13th November, On Saturday 20th November, I’ll be diving against debt to raise money for the vital work that Christians Against Poverty does. Will you please support me?

NOTE: I am not asking you to pay the cost of my skydive (I am covering that myself), and neither are you paying for cash handouts to people struggling with debt. All money raised goes direct to the Christians Against Poverty Australia head office in Newcastle for the purposes of running their programs free of charge to people in debt.

All donations $2 and over are tax deductible. Please donate responsibly and don’t use money you don’t have, particularly if you are struggling with debt. Are you in debt? CAP can help you out.

Skydiving photo by Flickr user divemasterking2000.

I’m a bit late getting this up, but hey, it’s timeless information so better late than never!

About a month ago on 89.9 LightFM, I spoke to Tony Gattari ahead of his visit to Melbourne for the Cre8 Kingdom Business conference.

Tony, as a self-described “firebrand 27-year-old”, was, under the leadership of Gerry Harvey, responsible for taking Harvey Norman’s communications division from a $12 million turnover to an incredible $565 million in just nine years. Now he runs the Achievers Group, where he helps business owners reach their potential.

In this interview, we talked about Tony’s experience at Harvey Norman – where his story shows that although he started off at a fairly naive position (something I’m sure he wouldn’t mind admitting!), he was able to achieve some pretty cool things. My point: if you think that you haven’t got what it takes to succeed in business, take a look at stories like Tony’s to remind you of the humble beginnings many of our high achievers came from.

In the interview, Tony also gave advice for small business owners on business survival, work/life balance, and involvement in partnerships.

You can listen to the entire interview with Tony below, or if you’re short on time, I’ve transcribed some of his key ‘nugget’ advice points.

[See post to listen to audio]
(download file – 9.5 MB, 6:55)

• One of the biggest issues in business is cashflow
• Tony’s premier advice to small business owners: “Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity, cashflow is reality”
• Many business owners overestimate what they’re going to do in the short term, and under estimate what they’re going to do in the longterm
• What ever you think you’re going to make in the first year, halve it, and halve it again – if you can survive on that sort of income, then you may well be successful in business
• If you’re in a partnership because you need money – go and see a bank. If the partnership is based on a shared vision, then that’s a good reason to do it.
• Don’t go into partnership based on skills – do it based on attitudes, belief and character

I purposely didn’t go out of my way to pick up the new iPad. I figured lots of people would be interested in it, and it may have even been unavailable if I went to make a move. But today, I was introduced to it by a friend of a workmate… and well, it wasn’t love at first sight.

Don’t get me wrong, the iPad seems pretty awesome. It’s cute, it’s smart, and it’s there whenever you need it. When I overheard the word ‘iPad’ in a conversation at work today, I didn’t need any more convincing. I inquired, was told it was sitting in the car, and moments later it was brought in for me to inspect.

It was smaller than I thought. Which is good, because I had visions of trying to carry around this weight-of-a-laptop object in one hand and have it crash down to the floor with the slipperiness I once thought my iPhone had (until I started using it without protection). The iPad is really a petite little thing, alot like one of those mini-DVD players – but with so much more functionality.

This particular iPad was the wifi+3G model, so it had Internet access wherever it went. The person who already owned it was a pastor, and he used it for the first time to preach this last Sunday. With a special case (protection), it stands up like one of those digital photo frames (another role which it performs with ease) and for this pastor, it provided a parallel Bible and his verse bookmarks at a finger’s touch.

The iPad’s web browsing capabilities make it almost as good as a laptop – in fact, for a fleeting moment I thought perhaps there’s really not much difference between a laptop and an iPad at all. The only problem with the iPhone is that it’s too small, right? The iPad attacks this limitation head on.

Perhaps the best thing about the iPad is it really is somewhere between an iPhone and a laptop. You can use the web browser – or any other app that you could load your own propaganda in – to present full screen presentations to a small group of people: incredibly useful – and snazzy! – for a sales rep.

You can basically use the iPad to do anything you’d use your iPhone or your laptop to do, with huge benefits:
- you save time and frustration by not scrolling around a tiny screen
- you save time and frustration by not waiting 5-10 minutes to boot up, log on, connect to the Internet, and load an application

I was skeptical about the usefulness of an iPad – and I always assumed that people would buy it just because it’s Apple – but you know what? I think it actually has a purpose. I’m not the first to rush out and get new technology – I generally wait until it comes to me some way or another, and then I’m pretty quick on the uptake after that. And today, seeing was believing.

But at $629 for the entry model 16GB WIFI … extending all the way to $1049 for the 64GB 3G+WIFI model – I can get a laptop for the same price. It’s slightly less convenient, but it does a heck of a lot more.

So pretty iPad, the cost is too great. I will continue to admire you from afar.

Photo credit: ivyfield on Flickr

On the weekend I posted that I needed people to make me do my tax return so that I don’t get it in late…

Well, I am pleased to advise that I got it in tonight (or rather last night because it’s now technically Thursday), at 7 minutes to midnight – being just within the de facto seven day grace period that (I think) exists!

So now it’s time for bed, so that I don’t further screw up my tiredness. Thanks to those who tried to make me do it, especially Adam!

For some reason I am very against doing my tax. Someone needs to make me do it this weekend – please!