Goals, Dreams, and Money

“Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.”

I am not sure where I heard that. It might have been from someone famous, but then again, it might have not. But over the last few weeks, it has resonated with me.

Today, I am going to talk about dreams and money.

Most people that I know have dreams of some kind. They are deep desires, and wishes of things that they want to accomplish. Some want to own their own house, some want to travel, some want to meet the perfect person and settle down. Some will tell everyone that they encounter about their dreams. Others will keep their dreams close to their chests. If they tell anyone, it may fly away and fail to happen.

Those that I have met that don’t have specific dreams have problems. You see, dreams and desires are goals. They keep us focused and moving forward. Dreams will allow us to see the light at the end of whatever tunnel that life is dragging us through. Without a goal, you become becalmed. Stuck in one place, without any direction. Dreams are fickle things, they seem like they are right at your fingertips one moment, then gone the next.

Dreams, you see, keep us sane.

Life comes at us hard and fast. We close our eyes and years have rolled by like sand through our fingers. We start work, blink three times and then realize that we have been working for the same company for five years. Yet nothing in our life has changed. We still live in the same crappy apartment paying rent, have a massive debt load, out of shape. All that has changed is things have gotten worse. Anxiety, depression spring up in our lives and stands like a roadblock.

I believe that having a dream, a goal, then keeping it in front of you. Focused on it, ever doing things to accomplish it will focus your life. You will be able to make decisions that go towards that goal. If you are planning on buying property and that is your goal, going on a vacation to the tropics is counterproductive. Going on an expensive vacation will not bring you closer to that goal. You can justify it to yourself, but it still won’t change things. People can justify many things if they put their mind to it.

By having a goal and making decisions towards that dream, you will accomplish it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day, it will happen. Dreams also take sacrifice, commitment, and stamina. It takes an hour of bad decisions, made in the spur of the moment in the middle of a time of high stress and emotions to completely ruin all of the progress that took years to get to.

But not just any goal will do. Many people have abstract goals. They want to lose weight. Or make more money. Most people never think about their goal enough to break it into parts and pieces. It is too scary. Dreams are fickle, to think about it too much will cause it to scatter.

But dreams and goals need to be thought about. Plans need to be made. Steps need to be laid out. A goal that has steps is a more straightforward goal to make. If your goal is to lose weight, then having a step of going to the gym three times a week, every week, is a good step. Having a weight loss goal is secondary and the next step. Getting into the healthier habit is a better first step. If your goal is to earn more money to afford a house one day, then living within your means is an excellent first step. Cutting out unneeded expenses will take you that one step closer.

I have a dream.

It is a glorious dream, one that I am keeping close to my chest. But I am making decisions that will allow me to get to that dream. Cause one day, it will happen. And one day, I will tell everyone about it. But today is not that day.

Until next time.

Stay shiny.