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Balancing the Grind with Luke Harris, CEO of The Property Mentors Australia

Luke Harris is the CEO of Melbourne-based business, The Property Mentors Australia, and author of Property Fit.

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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?

Over the past twenty years I’ve accumulated my fair share of experience across business, property and investing.

It would be true to say I’ve always had an entrepreneurial nature – my first side hustle was aged 12, where I took bits and pieces of hard rubbish from curbsides to sell them for a profit! This can-do attitude also kick-started my property career quite early, in my (very) early twenties.

I managed to learn pretty quickly from the school of life, sometimes the hard way. But I think that with big dreams, persistence and resilience, I’ve learned some valuable lessons and obtained some enviable results. 

Along the journey I also realised that what I wanted out of life was a lot simpler than I’d initially thought: my own house to live in and a handful of investment properties giving me enough income to provide the lifestyle I wanted. This revelation kickstarted a fresh mindset. I’d gotten real about what I wanted out of life and I finally knew my ‘why’. 

These days, my truly personal ‘why’ is to help others to reach financial freedom through property, so they can go on to successfully fulfil their own dreams and ambitions.

So while I’m still growing significant wealth through my own property portfolio, I also run a successful company – The Property Mentors – a Melbourne-based business of property professionals who educate and motivate clients from all around Australia to create the wealth and lifestyle they truly desire. This provides me with the opportunity to pass on my hard won knowledge and to help others to grow wealth through property.

Right now, I have a development on the go up in Queensland; I’m a mentor, coach and educator; and I’m also an author, with my books Let’s Get Real and Property Fit helping a broad audience to start or expand their own property investment careers.

I’ve literally poured my heart and all my valuable learnings into writing my latest book so that others can learn the right way to develop their overall property and life plans.  

2) What does a day in your life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?

No two days are the same – that’s what keeps things interesting! Each day starts bright and early with a team meeting and from there my day consists of helping members of The Property Mentors to build wealth.

There are a lot of training sessions, meetings with members and mountains of research and due diligence to secure good quality investment opportunities for our members. My phone and email are never far away and I definitely don’t have a formal ‘finish’ time. 

3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine? 

 Absolutely, in fact I have purposefully designed my role to accommodate flexibility. The lengthy lockdowns in Victoria throughout 2020 and 2021 have also allowed us to adapt and provide this opportunity to all staff. This means everyone has a bit of extra personal time each day (instead of sitting in traffic or commuting to and from the office).

4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?

This was once a challenge for me to understand, thinking that I had to meet some sort of criteria to achieve the elusive ‘work-life’ balance. In fact, I believe that enjoying your work makes a huge difference to having a work-life balance.

It’s not one or the other and it’s not about balancing as such, to me it’s more about integrating your life into your business and vice versa. They are one and the same to me and I love it that way. 

5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life? 

There have been a lot of adaptations rather than changes. Most of those now seem to include the addition of a face mask!

6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?

The Magic of Thinking Big, David Schwartz and Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki. Oh and of course, Property Fit.

7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?

My entire life runs on my iphone! There are dozens of apps on there allowing me access to everything from up to date financial reporting across my companies, research and communication tools, our member platforms, and so much more.

It really is the most important tool I own. Second to that, I would have to say my phone charger! 

8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?   

My first response would be Elon Musk, he gets a lot done. But I know he never stops and I’ve seen many interviews with him, so in this case I would choose Oprah. This amazing woman has achieved so much in her life, and I am sure there are plenty more stories that just aren’t publicised.

People typically only see the positives in the media – a lot happens behind the scenes so I’d love to know more about the obstacles she has overcome through the years which would only make you appreciate her success even more. 

9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?

When you do something you love, there’s less need to ‘force’ a work-life balance. Find your passion and pursue it, and the work-life balance will sort itself out. Sometimes you need to step back and look at the big picture and recalibrate.

If you need a break from work, take it. Give yourself the time that you need to get into your groove, life isn’t perfect so stop trying to make it perfect – a healthy work-life balance comes from taking the yin with the yang, the good with the bad and enjoying the journey.

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About Author

Hey there! I'm Hao, the Editor-in-Chief at Balance the Grind. We’re on a mission to showcase healthy work-life balance through interesting stories from people all over the world, in different careers and lifestyles.