A FORMER royal engineer took a confident boosting third place in a competition which saw the winner secure one-to-one mentorship with property boss and self-made millionaire Steven Green.
He was whittled down from 5,000 hopefuls and on Sunday, travelled to Redcar for the final.
The father to children Lola, 14, and Alfie, 10, who is married to Claire, finished third place. Gordon Wade secured second place and Kath Lock was crowed #TheOne.
She will now work directly with Mr Green, who founded the Property Investment Academy and featured in Channel 5’s Rich House, Poor House, to build a £1million property portfolio.
However, in a twist to the contest - Dan also secured the chance to work with Mr Green.
The three finalists pictured together. Gordon Wade finished in second and Kath Lock was crowned #THEONE.
Dan said: "The final involved two stages - a voting poll to decide the top two which took place live on Facebook whilst each of us finalist gave a three minute pitch to a panel of celebrities [Paul Merson, Sally Gunnell, Josh Kelly and Gemma Sharples] on why we should be #TheOne.
"The second stage was the panel of celebrities choosing who they would pick. Despite some amazing support, I unfortunately finished third in the voting poll and so my time in the competition came to an end.
"Once the results had been announced, there was a twist. Steven was so inspired by everything the final three had delivered, he said he would like to work with all the four of us.
"We will be setting up a Ltd company and will be taking a journey together to build a successful property business."
Dan, who joined the army in 1997 and left in 2007 before starting work at Warwick Chemicals in Mostyn, added: "The competition has been a huge part of all my family’s life for the last three months. I’ve not done anything like this in the past.”
Dan first came across Mr Green last July. Whilst watching him on tv, he recognised the professional speaker and decided to contact him.
“As the programme went on, I realised that I had actually served in the army with him," Dan explained.
“I contacted him on Facebook and said ‘listen, really well done on what you have achieved since leaving the army’. He has gone on to create a multi-million pound property investment academy.
“I said to him that I had always been interested in property and he asked me if I’d like to come up for some training.
“That was October last year.
“It is not only property that he teaches - he teaches mindset training. He gets people in the right mindset to take their business to where he thinks it should be.
“The first goal he set me, if you like, was to lose three stone and I did it."
In January, Mr Green created competition The One.
Steven Green set Dan Williams a challenge to lose three stone. Pictures: Before and after
Dan said: "I initially entered the competition with a view to building a successful property portfolio and thanks to Steven's twist, I'm now going to be able to fulfil that."
Dan said his life has changed massively since last October.
"When I saw Steven on tv, an ex-soldier who had served in the same regiment as me in the army, I finished watching the programme feeling hugely inspired by what he had achieved," he added.
"Back then I was reliant on anti-depressants after having been diagnosed with PTSD after leaving the army in 2007. I contacted Steven on Facebook after watching the show to say how inspired I was by his story. He invited me to sign up to some of his training and the next day, I did just that.
"Watching Steven on the TV that day gave me the push I needed to begin the journey of coming off 13 years worth of anti-depressants and to change my life around.
"Not only was I reliant on anti-depressants at that time but I was also three stone heavier and in bad debt. From July to October, I tapered myself off the medication and since October 8 2020 I have been anti-depressant free.
"That very same day, I attended the first day of Steven's three-day property training course. Steven uses the first day of that course to develop his student's mindset to that of a more positive goal way of thinking. He asked the room on the first day if there was anyone who was looking to improve a certain area of their life.
"I put my hand up and explained I wanted to improve my fitness so Steven set me a challenge to lose three stone by the time I met him again for the next stage of training in March (four months).
"Using the tools that Steven coached, I completed it with ease.
"Since going public with my story, I have had so many people message me to say how inspired they have been," Dan added.
"I'm amazed and saddened by just how many people are in the same position as I was.
"I have since decided that as well as the property business side of things, I want to help people in a similar position and help them change their lives in the same way I have.
"I want to break down the stigma associated with mental health and make people feel comfortable speaking out about their troubles."
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