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CHAPTERS OF RAW HONESTY<br />
For many years, Richard Wright had<br />
wanted to pen a book. And now he has.<br />
Yet the story he ended up telling isn’t<br />
the one he’d expected to write. Life took<br />
a turn. He shares his vulnerability and<br />
how he shifted his mindset in the face of<br />
extreme adversity to overcome all odds.<br />
Text: DANIELLA GRAHAM. Photographer: JAMES PUTTICK.<br />
For Richard Wright, The Power of Purpose is so<br />
much more than a book he wrote. It’s the vessel that<br />
holds his vulnerability.<br />
‘I laid myself bare,’ says the Randpark Ridge resident, and he<br />
did so for his two daughters.<br />
‘I firmly believe that our job as parents is to provide a<br />
platform for our kids that enables them to become better<br />
humans than we could ever be. It’s an account of my<br />
failures, mistakes, shortcomings, struggles, victories and<br />
unbecoming. When they are ready to read it, I hope that<br />
they will resonate deeply and that they will take something<br />
from it that will enrich their lives. We have many profound<br />
and meaningful conversations and always have but having<br />
it in a book is different.’<br />
He explains The Power of Purpose isn’t an autobiography,<br />
nor is it a self-help book. ‘It’s a weird hybrid, which is pretty<br />
apt because I’ve never really fitted into any of the usual<br />
categories either.’<br />
Richard is a renowned international speaker, sales guru<br />
and entrepreneur who believes ‘family time is a joy’. He<br />
has triumphed over what seemed like near-impossible<br />
adversity, and now, with raw honesty, he details his story.<br />
He was first diagnosed with rare pituitary cancer four years<br />
ago, and it was then that he defined the power of his<br />
purpose as, ‘How much it meant to me to survive, for my<br />
girls to have a dad, how badly I wanted it. How much I was<br />
prepared to endure to achieve that. That meaning, burning<br />
desire and tenacity became my purpose which, in turn,<br />
unleashed immeasurable power in mindset changes.<br />
‘We become what we think.’<br />
Over the next few years, Richard’s cancer returned a further<br />
two times – and both times, he beat it. ‘Early in 2016, the<br />
first tumour was discovered and was surgically removed. It<br />
had already spread, and I was told it was terminal. Later that<br />
year I went into remission, only for the cancer to return six<br />
months later. In December 2017, I heard that I had beaten<br />
it again. 2018, bout number three arrived, again terminal.<br />
March <strong>2020</strong> – remission number three! So, spoiler alert, I<br />
made it out the other side of the book [and am] currently<br />
free of cancer.’<br />
On top of the uphill battle to beat cancer, Richard – who<br />
Make sure you grab a copy of Richard Wright’s<br />
The Power of Purpose. Tracey McDonald Publishers, R275.<br />
loves the outdoors and says that cycling out in The Cradle<br />
of Humankind is a treat on any day – took on some of the<br />
world’s toughest endurance races. These included five<br />
full Ironman triathlons – his favourite competition. ‘I was<br />
fortunate to have many years of endurance sport behind<br />
me so my body is accustomed to the load. Mostly it was<br />
a conscious decision to force myself to get out the front<br />
door. Purpose played a massive role. Some days it was<br />
just physically impossible. But every day is a new day and<br />
another opportunity to abandon the past, control our fear<br />
of the uncertain future and live in the moment. Control<br />
the controllable.’<br />
Through writing the chapters of his book, Richard relived<br />
these events, rediscovered the lessons he’d learnt and<br />
found new ways to express them better – which, he says,<br />
was the best part of the process.<br />
Writing a book is something Richard had wanted to do for<br />
many years. Yet, the story he ended up telling isn’t quite<br />
12 Get It Magazine <strong>Nov</strong>ember 20