Gold Magazine January - February 2014, Issue 34 | Page 82

A Day in the Life

Michael
Virardi
The motivational speaker and
inspiration coach on the joys of
fatherhood, how he manages to be
so positive and his ambition to work
a 4-hour day.
“I have always been

an early riser, getting up around
5.30. I go swimming and running every day except Sunday
– a 20-minute run followed by
a 15-minute swim to start my
day. My routine changed slightly
11 months ago when I became
a father, but only in that that I
now have to babysit until 7.15
when my wife wakes up – she
has to stay up later than me so
it’s only fair that she gets to lie in.
I would say that Christine and I
share baby duties 60%-40%. But
I still do my exercise every day
and once I’ve taken my shower, I
have breakfast – a smoothie made
from bananas, apricots, figs and
other things – and then I’ll can
start work around 8.30. I work
from home and, if I am busy on
a book, I will begin with that. All
the energy and zest I get from the
exercise allows me to think clearly.
If I’m not writing, I will start
work on my first priority. Every
night I draw up a ‘to do’ list of 10
things and in the morning I apply
the 80:20 principle to it, finding
the 2 things that will give me
80% of the value, and I deal with
them first. I don’t have a regular,
repeated routine. If I am giving a
seminar, I will be away all day and
at present that happens maybe
35 days a year. On many days I
visit existing and potential clients

– we all need to network! – and I
may devote an entire day to that.
I love this freedom to choose
how I spend my time. I enjoyed
working in the family business
but, of course, I wasn’t as free as
I am now. At 36 I decided that I
wanted to pursue my dream and
my father gave me his support
and blessing. In return I agreed
to a 30-month transition period
so at 38 and a half I started my
new career, while remaining
a director and shareholder in
Virardi Enterprises. My father,
in particular, is a remarkably
positive person so as far as
my own positive outlook is
concerned, I have always had
a good role model. Another
reason for being positive
is that I don’t listen to
hours of news and analysis
throughout the day. I only
watch one news bulletin a
day. Some people might say
that I am ignoring the ‘real
world’ but why should I listen
to all the negative stories? There
are plenty of positive ones around
that are much more valuable and
I try to see the positive aspects of
every situation. I love being able
to travel, meet new people, see
new places, be exposed to new
ideas – all these stimuli provide
inspiration and stories for my
books and lectures. Coming

A great book about
a great businessman

82 Gold the international investment, finance & professional services magazine of cyprus

My tasty, healthy Another smoothie:
my favourite
breakfast
singer Julio
smoothie
Iglesias

back to my day, I am lucky that
my mother-in-law Maria is a great
cook so I eat at her house four days
a week. Once I’ve finished for the
day you won’t find me in front of
the TV. Since I was a kid I haven’t
been able to watch anything for
more than 20 minutes so I read,
mainly autobiographies and biog-

raphies. Life is too short for
us to learn only from our own
mistakes so I like to see what
people who inspire me have
done. The last one I read and
loved was Walter Isaacson’s
biography of Steve Jobs. The
only person I can listen to while
I’m reading is Julio Iglesias. He
has been my favourite singer
since I was at university. The
latest I go to bed is 11pm; it’s
usually 10.30pm. I don’t feel
some kind of moral obligation
to work for 8 hours. In fact I
probably work for around 5
hours a day and I would like to
reduce that to 4! I don’t work
at weekends. I like football,
although I never go to local
matches. I support Leeds United. I studied in England and I
admire it for its discipline and
its organisation but I couldn’t
work there. However, I spent
a month in New Jersey and I
loved it. I feel I could happily live in the United States.
Every year I make my New
Year’s Resolutions. This
year’s list includes finishing
my new book by the end
of June, bringing my cholesterol levels down, spending more quality time with
the family, giving more lectures
at universities abroad… there
are so many! I don’t have any
unfulfilled ambitions unless
w H