Bermudian entrepreneur and finance professional Arthur Rego has been published in the US as a contributor to a book called "Power and Soul". The book gathers the insight of 42 business people, chosen from a pool of 450 possible authors.

In the book, Mr. Rego's chapter "is about the ability to chase your dreams with relentless passion and focus," he said. "It's about not allowing various distractions, or the things that we deal with on a day-to-day basis to prevent us from realising our dreams and goals."

Mr. Rego's chapter is primarily based on experiences that he has gone through as an individual and a businessman. "My desire in writing the chapter was to provide inspiration and hope for those who want to achieve great things for themselves and their families, and at the same time to make a difference in the lives of others," he said. "I wanted to let people know that the sky is not the limit, only the beginning point, with respect to the goals and aspirations that they might have as individuals."

The path that led to publication for Mr. Rego started about a year ago. "I was exploring the field of motivation and leadership, looking for opportunities to share what I had learned with others," he said. "In my research, I made contact with Alexandria Brown, who invited me to contribute to a book she was compiling, in which seasoned and experienced individuals would send their message to business people around the world." Ms Brown is an online entrepreneur and international speaker known as the "Million Dollar Marketing Coach". She assists entrepreneurs to create electronic magazines and was named "one of the top 10 direct marketers in the world". Mr. Rego explained that "she had been wanting to put together a book such as this for some time".

His chapter is entitled "Chase your dreams; Stay the course". In it, he writes: "In order to succeed, I had to decide to take control of my life and fight for my financial freedom. The process required me to decide what was really important to me and to integrate the desired outcomes into my thinking. Chasing your dreams is a life-long process. There will always be mountains to climb and challenges to overcome."

The most important characteristics a young person needs if he or she is to succeed in business, Mr. Rego said, are: "Firstly, that you recognise your abilities and talents, so that you can play to your strengths. I'm talking about a serious review, a soul-searching exercise in which you must be honest with yourself. You need to be diligent in identifying individuals who have been successful, who have charted a course similar to the one you plan to follow. Through researching these individuals, learn how they became successful and then apply those principles to the venture that you are launching."

Distractions will come, Mr. Rego said. "All of us go though various things in life, but one needs a sufficiently developed sense of discipline. You must have a no-quit attitude to achieve the best results. Be persistent, no matter what life throws at you. Believe in yourself.

"Remain resolute. Bring passion to bear on what you do, to achieve what you want. Incorporate into your thinking that it's not a matter of if, but when," he said. And watch out for what Mr. Rego refers to as "dream-stealers", those who would derail your efforts. "They're out there," he said.

His chapter in "Power and Soul" explores some of these ideas, and others, at length.

Mr. Rego is married to Ann; the couple has two grown children. His background is in the area of finance and accounting, where he has worked for many years in various capacities. Most recently, he served as chief financial officer of a local IT company. At present, Mr. Rego is bringing his financial experience to local and international organisations on a consultancy basis.

"Dreams arise spontaneously;" Mr. Rego writes, "everything else is in the planning."

"Power & Soul" is available exclusively at the Bookmart.