He exhorted the students to clarify what they wanted by using pictures; "You then start to see what you want, and it helps define it for yourself. Think about what you want."
He had now achieved and experienced many of the things on his board.
"When you put goals up you inevitably put them into your head, and it helps to remind you of what you are working towards," he added.
Mr Wright spoke of being a third former at Kaitaia College, and having the goal of becoming head boy. He asked himself how he would get there, and figured out the steps he needed to take to achieve that goal - from having the confidence to speak in front of others to providing service to the school, "a whole number of things".
Only small steps had to be taken to begin. "Once you achieve small goals, you build up confidence and realise the big goals are achievable," he said.
He also showed the students a chart he had made of the steps he had taken in his life, from Year 9 to today, to see how he had arrived where he was. Nothing had "just happened". The chart showed that one little thing led to another.
He urged the students to dream big and to remember that taking the first step was the hardest part.
He also asked them to find out what they are passionate about and talked about talent versus grit.
"It's about determination and sticking in there. It's not just about talent," he said, citing the example of wanting to enter the school talent quest at school but having no real talent. She he devised a mime show - and came third.
As an example of the fact that failure was as important as achieving he cited Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who was rejected by 19 publishing companies before getting a book deal, and becoming the richest woman in England.
Mr Wright left the students with three things to do - put together a visualisation/dream board, set themselves small goals, and to ask themselves how they could do things differently next time if they don't achieve their goals the first time.
Kaitaia born and bred Mr Wright (Te Rarawa) has been employed by Auckland business development company Ice House for three years, the last two running the Maori business unit. He is recently returned from a trip to Washington as part of the NZ/US Trade Council advisory board, where he was part of a 140-strong delegation including Cabinet ministers and business leaders.
"I've always been driven and inspired. I've always had big dreams, and I work really hard day in day out to achieve them," he said.
His latest goal was to find an effective way to build confidence amongst rural New Zealand youth.
"My goals are about affecting change in others," he added.
"If you can succeed in Kaitaia you can succeed anywhere. A lot of Northland youth understanding is that achieving their dreams can be difficult because we're so isolated from the world up here. I wanted to share my journey with them and show we can do it."
