Set Yourself on Fire

I recently read a book called “The Dream Manager” by Matthew Kelly. It talks about how businesses can help their employees achieve their dreams and in turn achieve extraordinary results. As I read it, I thought about the process it took to step out of the rut I had found myself in only a year ago, in the lead up to the epiphany that was starting my own business.

Goals: dreams with a deadline.

In the years prior to my departure from a practice I had grown to see as family, I had been a keen goal-setter. Help this number clients, travel to that country, earn $X, save $Y, invest this, buy that. Over the years I’ve set plenty of goals and over the years I’ve achieved most. As I think to the goals that I didn’t achieve, after all is said and done… I hadn’t truly wanted them enough to do what was needed to get there.

Passion: strong and barely controllable emotion.

The goals I achieved, the truly pie-in-the-sky, “How did I possibly imagine this was possible, let alone do that??” goals, were ones I became so emotionally tied to, success was the only option. They came from a deep place of thought and analysis – questions of what and why came first, the how was just the next logical step.

In our lives I feel like so many people (myself at times included) drift between experiences, not really moving consciously forward and achieving things we’ve set out to conquer. Whether financially, professionally or personally, the satisfaction that comes from a challenge accepted and overcome cannot be put into words!!

The first step in creating any financial plan is to ask a simple question: what do I really want? In my life, from my relationships, from my career, for my family… And everything you want to achieve will then be the motivation and driver of your financial goals.

Money: a current medium of exchange in the form of coins and banknotes.

Money is a medium, a facilitator. To have money is not the final goal – it’s a means to achieving your goals. What’s the point of all that facilitation if you are just strolling through life experiences uncertain of what truly fulfils you and makes you happy??

My own rut came to an abrupt halt when I realised what I truly wanted: to help people achieve their dreams. I wanted to build a business centred on my clients – delivering a high-touch, personal service, building wealth from the ground up. Providing the security people need to go out with confidence and achieve what they truly desire is my dream. And in July 2013, that dream became my reality.

So… What are your dreams? What do you truly want? And what are you willing to do to get there??

“Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion, you must set yourself on fire” – Arnold H. Glasgow