A few nights ago I sat with a millionaire in front of a house he had built for his son, and he told me his story. He had started off milking cows decades ago, to now own one of the most well known tyre (tire) empires in Trinidad and Tobago. All the magic and mysticism of success was laid bare in what he told me- and out of all that he shared, one part of the story stands out.

He found a piece of property in a very high traffic area, but it was swampland. He spent the money and filled it up so that he could build on it - something he did with cash he had built up over the years of selling tires. He was desperate for cash, trying to leverage what he had into what he had as a goal - a large tire shop in a high traffic area that, in time, would not only pay for itself but also pay for much more. He had to sell some property he had to get some cash, and he used that to start the building. No corners were cut, and because of that the foundation was solid but the cash was low.

He went to the bank. He explained what he wanted. He needed $600,000 (approximately $100,000 US) to build the building, but they would only allow him $250,000 TT. He showed the bank manager what he was up to, and the bank manager approved the loan for $600,000 with the words, "Don't let me down." At the end of the day, he got the full loan based on his reputation - something cultivated over decades. He used a part of that money to stock tires in his other shop, since the building itself would not bring in money, and started building with about $300,000 TT. The tires sold, he serviced the loan and continued building with the profits from the tires. In time, his building was almost complete - but he needed some more money. He needed to paint the building.

On a whim, he spent $300 TT on a 'mark' - playing a local game called 'whe whe'. It won, and he spent the $10,000 odd dollars on paint and painted the place. But now he needed to stock the building with tires - and it was not a small building.

He went to the bank again. They sent a bank manager to evaluate the building, and they found one of the largest buildings in the high traffic area, solidly built, freshly painted - and empty. The building and property were now highly valuable, and the bank had no problem approving loans. They gave him enough rope to hang himself, advancing a line of credit that could easily have destroyed him had he made the wrong decisions (he did not tell me this, but it is true). He flew out and bought tires - stocking the store with millions of dollars worth of tires.

And he sold tires. Lots of tires.

And he became a millionaire.

As Christopher Morley once wrote:

The big shots are only the little shots who keep shooting.

All things considered, my goal is not to be a millionaire - indeed, another Christopher Morley quote comes to mind:

There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way.

Still, there are lessons to the success of my friend, the tire emperor. He built his opportunities - he did not stagnate, he did not wait, he just kept going and working. Many people do the same things and do not succeed. How is it that he succeeded where so many others failed? I do not know. That is the mystery that drives the success of stories of success; everyone wants to know how to move ahead. But all things considered, let's consider what this man's goal was: To sell tires. His goal was not to become rich. He simply wanted better tools to do what he wanted to do, and he found ways to do it. He took risks. He felt the stress of failure, the risks unmitigated by anything but himself. He passed through these.

And with every move, he built future opportunities. How many times had people passed that swampy piece of land before he built his building and decided not to buy it? How many people walk by now and know that the taproot of that success lays in a marshland where no one else saw something?

Every day, whatever we do, we build the opportunities we have tomorrow. There is a depth to that lesson that defies words.