Achieving your dreams in 2008
The Reverend Marvin Anderson often said that we can have anything we want, as long as we meet three conditions: we know what we want, we believe it is possible, and we’re willing to pay the price.
When I worked as a financial planner, this was one of the most difficult challenges for my clients to master, and yet I knew through both my own and other people’s experience that it is absolutely essential.
Most of us have long wish lists, but they often turn out to be what I call ‘advertising dreams’ — the mental debris we’ve absorbed from the $41 billion in advertising we’re exposed to each year. While the items on this list may make our hit list of ‘wants’, they aren’t things we want badly enough to pay the price for. Or they may be so unattainable we can’t believe in their possibility.
To begin the process of creating your three-fold want list for 2008, ask yourself the following questions:
1) What are the things I love to do?
2) Who are the people I love to spend time with?
3) What environments light me up, energize me and yet bring me peace?
4) What change do I want to embody in the world?
5) How can I incorporate more of these activities, people, environments and attributes into my life today and throughout 2008?
You’ll find that when you begin to incorporate these essentials for rich living into your life, the other questions — what kind of car to drive, where to live — will begin to answer themselves clearly and completely.