Ask Me Anything: Sir Michael Hill talks 30-year goal-setting with Paula Bennett

Sir Michael Hill is a big believer in setting 30-year goals.

Since opening his first store in 1979, Sir Michael Hill has become one of New Zealand’s leading entrepreneurs, expanding his jewellery business around the world.

However, it took him until the age of 40, after two decades of working at his uncle’s jewellery store in Whangarei, to find the inspiration to open his own store. And it all started with a fire.

“What changed me in a flash was suddenly, bang - I was with Christine, my wife and we lost everything in the house fire,” Sir Michael told Paula Bennett on her NZ Herald podcast, Ask Me Anything. “I can remember looking down on the house, and it was a big home, it was an enormous achievement.

“And as it burned down, I grabbed a card out of my pocket and wrote down - I’m gonna own my uncle’s business, or I’m going to leave him and start alone. That happened on that night. I had no money. I had nothing but what I stood in. And here’s me suddenly making a plan.”

While that moment was the inspiration he needed to start his business empire, Sir Michael puts his success down to his habit of setting his goals 30 years at a time.

“A 30-year goal is definitely the key to breaking away from the pack. You see, very, very few people have a clear direction for 30 years. It’s amazing when I give speeches even to 1000, 2000 people, and I ask people to put their hands up if they have a clear 30-year direction, and honestly, I’d be lucky if there’s one or two.

“So if one can plan sufficiently. And I’ll tell you how to do that. It is possible to move so quickly ahead of everybody else because you know clearly where you’re going. A lot of people have one-year goals, two-year goals, maybe five-year goals, but if you have a long one, it gets you moving.”

He said that anyone can do this as long as they do it when they have a clear head, no stress and time to sit down and properly lay out where they could be in three decades’ time.

On top of that, Sir Michael said he has three “secrets for success” - be yourself, trust your natural instincts and don’t copy others.

On his first secret, he said that everyone wants to be themselves, but we don’t fulfil that desire. “I really didn’t want to be myself because I didn’t think I was any good, and it stood with me honestly for probably nearly 40 years. I really wanted to be someone else. I dressed like I thought I should dress like somebody else. I walked like somebody else. I tried to talk like somebody else. I did everything like somebody else.

“And then one day I woke up and realised, my goodness, I’ve gotta be myself ‘cause there’s only one of me.”

Part of Sir Michael’s motivation has come from his childhood desire to play the violin. He now runs the International Violin Competition every year, but despite practising a lot as a child and aspiring to be a musician, Sir Michael never won any competitions himself - and even came fourth in one run by the Herald. That loss prompted an intervention from an uncle.

“He got me to one side and said, ‘you know, boy, you’ve been fiddling around for 18 months, wasting everybody’s time, everybody’s money. We can’t afford to keep this up. You’re gonna have to start as a watchmaker!’”

Listen to the full podcast to hear more from Sir Michael and Paula on tips for goal setting and achieving your dreams.

The Sir Michael Hill Violin Competition is on until June 10th.

Ask Me Anything is a NZ Herald podcast, hosted by Paula Bennett. New episodes are out every Sunday.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.