Nick Donnelly, the 344th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is a financial adviser, so he knows you build wealth through long-term compounding rather than get-rich-quick schemes.

The same rule applies in so many areas in life.

Nick has a policy of meeting at least one potential business partner – such as mortgage brokers, lawyers and aged care providers – each week. His aim is not to sell to the other person, but just to get to know them, because he’s playing a long game. As Nick has found, regular, ongoing relationship-building has a compounding effect, because once you’ve met a certain number of people, your reputation starts growing exponentially.

Nick used to be a corporate accountant, but ultimately felt he was better suited to being an adviser. Switching professions meant taking a step back in his career, but he knew it would produce outsized benefits over the long-term.

One of the things Nick loves about being an adviser is the direct impact he has on his clients’ lives. He relishes helping people solve complicated problems and achieve big goals.