I recently watched an inspiring BBC TV show about Nick and Lesley Vallance. Her story teaches a lot about how to achieve your goals and dreams even when your world literally and metaphorically collapses around you and you have a mountain of debt that overshadows your life.
Nick’s architecture business in Surrey had gone bankrupt. Instead of crawling into its shell, the Vallance chose risk and adventure. They decided to move to Spain to turn a 400-year-old Andalusian palace into a boutique hotel and family home even though they knew nothing about running a hotel and could only speak a few words of Spanish.
They also had no income after their business collapsed! However, Lesley commented that you only get one chance at life and you need to embrace it. The Vallance had a budget of £ 250,000. With this money, they wanted to start over and face a new challenge in an attractive location.
Nick had twenty years of experience as an architect, which would help, but the challenge was still huge and would soon get even bigger.
They bought the palace and then had to wait four months to get permission to start converting it into a hotel. Their debts increased while they waited. Lesley commented that they should enjoy each day like the Spanish and not just worry about the delay.
Before the license was approved, a large part of the building collapsed, removing six rooms from his hotel. This was probably because a neighbor was carrying out the demolition work!
The Vallance would have to redo all their paperwork and reapply for their license to adapt the palace. They would also have to spend even more money to strengthen the palace walls that had been shaken by the collapsed walls. At one point, they were paying their builders £ 40,000 a month. His mountain of debts grew more and more each day.
The neighbor refused to discuss compensation, so they had to start another important task in their lives related to going to court for years and hopefully getting some money back at some point in the future. They realized that they couldn’t allow this negative track in their lives to disrupt the main track they were on: getting the hotel up and running.
They accepted the fact, in advance, that they may not get money back. They also saw the silver lining in the fact that if the hotel had been open before the collapse, people could have died.
They also had other problems. Money was very tight, especially after the huge setbacks they had suffered. The building’s bill had doubled to half a million pounds. They needed to borrow more money and would incur more debt.
They planned to open the hotel in June, so some income would start coming in to start paying off their debts. Nick said he couldn’t afford to think negatively about what would happen if his project failed.
He had to believe that they would reach the June deadline, even though they had missed all the previous deadlines since they arrived in Spain. In the end, they also missed this deadline.
Nick clearly realized that he had risked a lot: “I’ve never been one to avoid a bet.” Nor was he the type to ignore a problem. He didn’t bury his head in the sand, but went to work. He didn’t even think about giving up.
Lesley also had the philosophy that every problem has a solution. The boys were not happy at a local Spanish school. The teacher was upset that they weren’t listening. “How can you listen if you don’t understand the language?” said one of the boys. After a year, the children were transferred to an international school where they were much happier.
The Vallance family maintained their positive attitude and after eighteen months of hard work, they felt they were closer to their dream. Lesley commented: “We have everything to gain and nothing to lose. My original dream of the hotel is there. We have achieved it.”
However, they would need 50% occupancy throughout the year just to cover expenses. They would have to learn how to market the hotel successfully. They were excited when they received their first reservation from their website. The booking fee of 90 euros was the first money they made in two years!
After two long and exhausting years, they were proud and excited about their palace hotel. In fact, they enjoyed running the hotel even though they had never done this type of work before. The sons, Harry and George, now seemed happy. They enjoyed their school and made friends. They spoke less of England.
Lesley’s language skills had improved as the locals did not speak English and she was willing to try speaking Spanish even when the native Spanish seemed puzzled.
They still had large debts to pay but their situation, thanks to their determination, hope and faith, had improved enormously. Lesley summed up her feelings: “I’m not that scared of life.”
She realized that having her family close to her was more important than anything else: “That Nick and the kids be happy feels pretty good, but I miss Marks and Spencer and English sausages.”
An interviewer asked, “Have you achieved your dream?”
“Very close!” said nick
Worries about money and debt can cause inaction, depression, and even suicide. Instead, Lesley and Nick ignored their money troubles and embarked on a life of discovery and adventure. They had to get out of their comfort zones well and learn new language, business and marketing skills.
At times, their world seemed to be collapsing around them, but they kept going until they reached the mainland. This took much longer than they expected, but in the end their courage, determination, and perseverance in the face of enormous challenges helped them achieve their dream.
Reaching your goals can take a lot longer and cost a lot more than you expected. You may also face major and unexpected problems. Things can seem a lot worse than when it started. You may feel like giving up, but if you keep going and are ready to learn new skills, your dreams can and will come true.
Hopefully, the Vallance family’s adventure in Spain will encourage you and me to achieve our own dreams. If your dream involves making money online, it is unlikely that you will face the kind of debt that plagued the Vallance, but if you are in debt, your story shows that solutions can be found even when your debts are mind-boggling.
A mountain of debt can be moved if you have the kind of mountain-moving faith described in the Bible or the kind of positive attitude displayed by the Vallance family. They did not allow their problems to paralyze them. They continued to work and apply their new skills until the mountain moved.
The Bible suggests that any of us can, with just a little faith, move mountains and perform financial or other miracles.
If, like the Vallance, you are faced with mountainous debt, remember that mountains can move and financial miracles can and do happen all over the world. In the meantime, keep working steadily toward your goals.