Do You Know The Way To Your Dreams?

I know it sounds cheesy, but this is the best exercise ever.

We were poor when I was a kid. 

My dad owed money to a lot of people, my mom could barely hold down a job for more than a few months, and my grandma collected the furniture that our neighbors threw out. 

So I made a decision only a kid can make: 

I’m gonna be a millionaire one day! 

Well, here I am, now 36, and still no millions. 

On my birthday this year, it bugged me more than usual. 

In my twenties, I used to say to myself I was too young. 

At the beginning of my thirties, I thought, now is the time; it will happen; I can feel it. It didn’t.

But 36? 36 is closer to 40 than it is to 30, and still no millions. 

So I sat down one morning—just my journal, my coffee, and me—to do some serious thinking. 

First, I wrote down everything I wanted. 

No limits—whatever my mind could come up with, I put it on this list. Things like: 

Taking 2 months off (total) every year. 

Traveling the world with friends & family. More specifically, taking a minimum of 3 trips a year. 

Purchasing properties in London and Los Angeles. We’d rent them out and also use them as vacation homes. 

I kept writing—the cars I wanted, the clothes I wanted, the monthly budget I wanted. Everything. 

When I finished, I looked over the list and felt my blood pressure rising. 

How would I ever—EVER—make this happen? Did I write this list only to start cutting from it? 

I stopped the negative train of thought and told myself I am enough. Are there people in the world who have enough money for all this? Sure, there are! And many of them, too. 

Did you know there are 56 million millionaires in the world? Yes, in USD. 

There are 3300 billionaires, too—but let’s not go there. 

I mean, 56 million people have made it happen. Maybe some of them inherited it or won the lottery, but still. That’s a high number. Very high.

So I was like, okay, I can do this. Now let’s narrow it down. Let’s see how much money I need to make yearly to be able to afford all these things.

I won’t take you through my very complicated calculations, but here was my shocking discovery. 

To get everything I’ve ever wanted, I have to make at least $300K* per year for at least 10-15 years. 

$300K! 

Am I crazy or is that not so bad? 

First of all, I’ve already made $110K per year—so I’m not that far off. Sure, I need to triple my income, but it’s still within the 6 figure range. 

Second of all, the internet is full of people who make this and more. Way more. I’m on the internet, doing the same thing they do. Sure, they’re ahead of me, but so what? That’s just a matter of time if I keep going. 

And third of all, for whatever reason, my stupid brain had confused net worth with income. When I said I wanted to be a millionaire, I thought I have to make millions every year. But no. I can become a millionaire with $300 per year —or even less—as long as I’m smart about it. 

When I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, I kept digging. 

I considered all my current revenue streams and all the revenue streams I was planning to activate in the close future. 

Now that I knew what I wanted, it was easy to spot which revenue streams wouldn’t get me there or wasted too much of my time and energy. It was easy to create clearer goals, set clearer milestones and take more determined action. 

Writing all my income streams down also let me feel what was right for me and what wasn’t. Some things, when I read them, I could feel my stomach drop.

So I scratched them.

At the end of this exercise, I had my super exciting wants and my even more exciting plan to get there. 

And slowly but surely, I advance in that direction. 

I’d love it if you can get as determined, pumped up, and inspired as I am. Hopefully, you feel it through my writing. I want to be your ball of energy. 

We don’t do this enough, you know?

We don’t take enough time to think about the big picture.

It’s always day-to-day tasks, day-to-day problems, little goals that are really milestones, not goals. 

Let’s change that. The big picture matters. If I’m lucky, I’ll wake up at 66 or 76 one day, and I don’t want to have missed everything because I didn’t stop to adjust my GPS. 

I find this is true for most people. Especially super driven overachievers which is most of the people on this list. 

We’re so focused on getting the results that sometimes we forget out dreams. 

And I invite you to sit down, weekly or monthly or whatever works for you, and plan your dreams, step by step. 

If you need some prompts, here are a few questions to get you started. 

Do you know how much money you want to make per year? First exciting milestone? 

Do you know how you could make them? 

Do you know what’s the type of business you’d most like to have? 

Do you know how you’ll monetize it?

Do you know what you’d be most proud of on your deathbed? 

Do you know what really makes you happy? 

Also, be brave enough to amplify your actions. 

This reminds me: I’m challenging myself to write 8 Medium articles per week (instead of 4), submit them to top publications, and see what happens. Would you like to know the results of the challenge? 

Dream away, boys and girls, and let’s make dreams happen! 

Maya

*Considering that properties are bought using credit, and I don’t necessarily want the most expensive properties on the market. Plus, trips around the world could be very expensive but also not so expensive, depending on where you go.