"Begin with the end in mind."
- Stephen Covey (author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People)
When I was a little kid, I used to love science. I use to look up at the sky and stare at the stars and the moon for hours. I owned a toy telescope and imagined that one day I would be an astronomer and would discover a meteor that I would name "Allen." By the time I got to college, I hated science. During my years at UC Riverside, I tried to avoid any science classes. My interests seemed to change as I got older.
One of my earliest blogs (Read What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?) discussed the difficulty many adults still have when deciding what they want to do in the near (or not so near) future. During the first financial planning session I have with my clients, I typically ask my clients what are their goals and many of them have difficulty answering me. During my upcoming blogs, I will continue to write about money, but will elaborate more on cash flow, retirement plans and investments. However, before I continue with the 'money discussion,' I want to make sure that we back up a little and think about our goals, our dreams.
A picture is worth a thousand words
"The first thing I want you to do," I ask my client (who we will call), William, during our first financial planning session, "is draw a picture of what your future will look like." I then give William a box of crayons and leave him alone for a few minutes. Williams gives me a look of disbelief, but moves forward with the assignment as soon as he realizes that I wasn't kidding.
I recommend that everyone who read my blogs does the same assignment. Hang it on your fridge if you want to, but draw out what you envision your future looking like. If you have a spouse, I recommend that you and your spouse do this assignment separately, and then come together to discuss your picture. You will be surprised how the conversation about your future just 'never came up'. I see this all the time when I meet with couples.
What would you do with your time if money wasn't an issue?
Most people think their dreams are silly. After drawing their picture and explaining to me what they drew, they'll follow up with comments like "but this was just an assignment," or "these are just dreams, you said I can draw anything." Most people think their dreams are an impossible thing. They give up on their dream before they even begin dreaming. I say, keep dreaming and imagine money wasn't an issue. Strive to keep dreaming and don't forget that dream. You can overcome the 'money' obstacle if you really try, but you must believe that your dream is a possibility. As soon as you believe that your dream is a possibility, 'money' will no longer be an obstacle.
Write down your goals
Many people keep their personal goals in their head and a few might share them with someone here and there. Write down your personal goals and I will guarantee that they will align with your financial goals. Most of the goals people write down have a dollar sign attach to it (i.e. traveling, buying a home, etc.). After you write down your goals, put a deadline on it. Napoleon Hill once said, "A goal is a dream with a deadline." Writing your goals will help you remember what your shooting for.
There will be people that will help you along the way. There will be challenges you will face. There will be times when you feel you'll never get to the end result. Just keep believing in yourself, in your ability to make your dreams happen. Your ability to make your dreams come true are strongly tied to your will to make things happen and the will to believe in yourself.
Share your thoughts and good luck accomplishing your dreams.
Don't forget to share this blog so you can encourage others: family, co-workers, friends. Give them something to get motivated! You never know what they might be going through. A few words of encouragement can go a long way.
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