THE21 SUCCESSSECRETS OF$ELF-MADEMILLIONAIRE$HOW TO ACHIEVE FINANCIALINDEPENDENCE FASTER AND EASIERTHAN YOU EVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE

THE21 SUCCESSSECRETS OF$ELF-MADEMILLIONAIRE$ episode (02)

Dream Big

Dreams

Dream big dreams; only big dreams

have the power to move men’s souls.

—MARCUS AURELIUS

THE FIRST SECRET of self-made millionaires is simple:

Dream Big Dreams! Allow yourself to dream. Allow

yourself to imagine and fantasize about the kind of life

you would like to live. Think about the amount of

money you would like to earn and have in your bank

account.

All great men and women begin with a dream of

something wonderful and different from what they

have today. You know the song that says “You have to

have a dream if you want to make a dream come true.”

It’s true for you and for everyone else, as well.

Imagine that you have no limitations on what

you can be, have, or do in life. Just for the moment, imagine that you have all the time, all the money, all

the education, all the experience, all the friends, all

the contacts, all the resources, and everything else

you need to achieve anything you want in life. If your

potential were completely unlimited, what kind of a

life would you want to create for yourself and your

family?

Practice “back from the future” thinking. This is a

powerful technique practiced continually by highperforming men and women. This way of thinking

has an amazing effect on your mind and on your behavior. Here is how it works: Project yourself forward

five years. Imagine that five years have passed and

that your life is now perfect in every respect. What

does it look like? What are you doing? Where are you

working? How much money are you earning? How

much do you have in the bank? What kind of a

lifestyle do you have?

Create a vision for yourself for the long-term future. The more clear your vision of health, happiness,

and prosperity, the faster you move toward it and the

faster it moves toward you. When you create a clear

mental picture of where you are going in life, you become more positive, more motivated, and more determined to make it a reality. You trigger your natural

creativity and come up with idea after idea to help

make your vision come true.

You always tend to move in the direction of your

dominant dreams, images, and visions. The very act of allowing yourself to dream big dreams actually raises

your self-esteem and causes you to like and respect

yourself more. It improves your self-concept and increases your level of self-confidence. It increases your

personal level of self-respect and happiness. There is

something about dreams and visions that is exciting

and that stimulates you to do and be better than you

ever have before.

Here is a great question for you to ask and answer,

over and over again: What one thing would I dare to

dream if I knew I could not fail?

If you were absolutely guaranteed of success in

any one goal in life, large or small, short-term or longterm, what would it be? What one great goal would

you dare to dream if you knew you could not fail?

Whatever it is, write it down and begin imagining

that you have achieved this one great goal already.

Then, look back to where you are today. What would

you have done to get where you want to go? What

steps would you have taken? What would you have

changed in your life? What would you have started up

or abandoned? Who would you be with? Who would

you no longer be with? If your life were perfect in

every respect, what would it look like? Whatever it is

that you would do differently, take the first step today.

Dreaming big dreams is the starting point of

achieving your goal of financial independence. The

number one reason that people never succeed financially is because it never occurs to them that they can do it. As a result, they never try. They never get

started. They continue to go around in financial circles, spending everything they earn and a little bit

more besides. But when you begin to dream big

dreams about financial success, you begin to change

the way you see yourself and your life. You begin to do

different things, bit by bit, gradually, until the whole

direction of your life changes for the better. Dreaming

big dreams is the starting point of financial success

and of becoming a self-made millionaire.

◆

[ACTION EXERCISE

Make a list of everything you would

do or attempt if you were absolutely

guaranteed of success. Then decide

upon one specific action and do it im]