read it and write things to implement 1
SECRET
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, 5
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l l i o n a i re s 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 high-performing 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
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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 long-term, 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
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l l i o n a i re s 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.
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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 immediately