Dr. Taddy Blecher is Chairperson of the South African National Government task team on Entrepreneurship, Education and Job Creation, and CEO of the Maharishi Institute and the Community and Individual Development Association. He is known as a pioneer of the free tertiary education movement in South Africa, having helped to create six free access institutions of higher learning. He is Co-Founder of the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship with Sir Richard Branson. In 2009, he was named by author Tom Peters as one of the top five most influential entrepreneurs in the world over the last 30 years.
What drives me | Is the absolutely knowledge and certainty that every human being is made of genius, and we have the opportunity to end poverty in this generation
Career and Life Highlights | Giving up a R1.3 million salary in the private sector, as well as 6 great job opportunities in the USA, Australia, and New Zealand, in order to join a non-profit organisation, and earn almost nothing financially for nearly 2-decades. Its been 19-years of service, love, joy, and putting our shoulders to the wheel to create free access to transformational higher education to disadvantaged youth. We have helped over 10,000 youth access higher education, vocational education, and entrepreneurial training. Our graduates will conservatively earn over R10 billion over the course of their working careers. This is worth far more than anything I could have earned as a single individual, and our target is to educate and help transform the lives of 100,000 youth, who will earn close to a trillion Rand over the course of their working careers. It is the greatest gift, commitment, and privilege to do this work.
Greatness come from | Persistence. Never ever ever ever even think of giving up.
My strongest talent | Commitment. Commit your life 100% to what you believe in. If you want the universe to support you, commit 100%. Put your life, heard and soul in the stream of Nature to achieve a higher goal, something really great! Pick something great, then commit and give it your all.
Characteristics of Success| You have to work hard and use your intelligence, but you also have to surrender to the Universe.
Principles and Values I live by | Go for the Highest. Enjoy yourself. Love others and yourself through the whole process. Hurting another person’s feelings in order to achieve your own goals, is a loss to life.
Critical skills to keep Improving | Your Ability to learn. You have to never stop learning for a moment. You will always be wrong about some of your own thinking. You always have some ‘blind-siding’. Please be open to recognize that there will always be better ways to do things, and this is where deep humility comes in.
I create balance by | My biggest single help in doing the work I do, is taking time every day to meditate – The Transcendental Meditation programme – it reduces stress, develops creativity and new ways to solve problems, it brings bliss, inner joy, and peace. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I deal with Self Doubt| You have to go to a higher place within yourself. You have to exit the noise, the stress, and the doubt. Deep within you is a field of all intelligence, bliss, and knowledge. Go there. Its within, and you reach it through deep silent meditation.
Always Ensure | Healthy mind, healthy body, healthy Soul. Never let your health fall apart. It’s the journey of the long distance runner.
My Dream | To educate 100,000 youth through University, to develop a nation of future authentic values-based leaders, to raise the Collective Consciousness, to end poverty and to end suffering in South Africa.
The Meaning of Life | Achieving Enlightenment for oneself, and a nation and a world full of success and free of suffering.
The Best Advice I ever Received | The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.
Advice on Wealth | Find something you love, and do it with your whole heart. Money is never a reason to give your life away. If you do what you love, and do it well, the money will follow.
Motivating Your Team | Find people of like mind, and keep the company of progressive people whose values are the same as yours
My Legacy| A nation and every individual to use their full potential
Useful Links |
Watch Taddy Blecher on TED:
