I cannot say that I have always wanted to be rich, especially when I was a youngster. Money just didn't feature in my life then. I remember at 12 years old wanting to be either a doctor, nurse or teacher, the kind of public service jobs which helped the community. I got a nursing scholarship to come to Britain when I was 18 because I used to volunteer a lot of my time helping at the local hospital, and boy did they need the help!

I did not enjoy the training at all after I arrived in the UK because I was far from home and the atmosphere and hospital administration were pretty racist, with overseas nurses being treated differently from native ones so I left half way through it. I then studied to become a teacher and was very successful in that, rising to education manager, but then left to write after 12 years in the profession.

I first started thinking about money and being rich when I went into writing and became self employed. Suddenly without the security blanket around me of a permanent job and a regular wage, money became a priority. Before that I really didn't care about it. As long as I had enough to live on, I didn't mind what I earned, as my ex-husband and I were both professional earners. But the fascinating thing I found during this time of early self-employment was that the more I fretted about making money, the more I spread my talents too thinly to try to make it and the less money I actually made. It was a constant battle to reach my targets each month, no matter how I approached it, because I was simply trying too hard. Focussing on getting the money instead of on the strategies and expertise.

Then the business finally closed after 12 years. I began working as a consultant and have never been happier. The strangest thing is that I am now earning more money than I did then, comparatively. The one thing I have also learned along the way is that if you concentrate on what you really love, and do it to the best of your ability, the money will come, as night follows day, because you will gradually make your own reputation. You will simply get better and better at what you do and begin attracting the kind of attention you want to your activities. I know I will be rich in due course, it is only a matter of time, as I am supremely happy now, I feel very competent in my work, I can see the impact I am already making and I absolutely love it. There is no greater combination and personal fulfilment than finding one's purpose in life and living it.

Getting to the top of one's career is a good aim because by the time you get there, the money should be lining up alongside it too.