Where I share an awesome resource from Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, about how to tangibly go for your dreams..
Today I want to share with you an inspiring and useful strategy to not only lay out your dreams in a clear way, but also how to reach them. Ever feel like your dreams are too big? Or it’s great to have them but how in the world will you get there from here? Fear no more! Timothy Ferriss is here!
Some of you have probably already heard of the bestselling book by Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated).
I read it a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it and was inspired and motivated and all of that. And then I put it down and went back to my daily life. I realized the thing with these inspirational books is that you absolutely have to DO what they say along with reading each chapter. You can’t just fly through it and gulp down all the info. That’s great, but not enough. You must slow down and do the exercises while reading along. I learned this the hard way.
I took the book off the shelf again this week as I was feeling utterly lost with pursuing my goals. I didn’t know which one came first or how to achieve them. I felt like I was swimming in mud. And then I came upon his Dreamlining chapter. And I remembered that not only I had done the Dreamlining exercise I even remembered the notebook I had wrote it in and even — most importantly— I remembered where the said notebook was! I pulled it out, and to my surprise, I still have the same goals now.
Not to say that I had made no forward progress. But it helped assure me that it’s not crazy to go for my dreams, and that these few specifically are not temporary. They are true lasting passions of mine.
You can go to Ferriss’ blog to download the chart. Here’s how to fill it out:
1. Create a timeline (“In 6 months I dream of..”) and list up to 5 things you dream of having, being, and doing. Having can include material possessions, a cook, or an island. Being can include skills or achievements like being a great cook, or in awesome shape. Doing could be sailing around the world, dating 30 guys this year and finding the one, etc. Do not limit yourself or be concerned about how you will achieve it. Just dream big for now. Don’t judge yourself either. Just be totally honest.
Still drawing a blank? Think about what would make you most excited to wake up to every day? Or if you had $100 million dollars in the bank, what would you do on a day to day basis?
2. In the second column, convert each being into an action, just like the doing category. So, being in awesome shape could be: doing a 24 mile stand-up paddling race around Manhattan.
3. Choose the top 4 dreams that would mean the absolute most to you. That gets you the most excited and you would die for.
4. Determine the cost of each dream and calculate the Target Monthly Income (TMI). This is a key step that helps make the dreams into a conceivable reality. We often put off our dreams because we feel there’s no way we could afford it. By calculating the extra monthly income necessary to achieve our dreams, we can see the tangible amount needed which oftentimes are much less than what we would have thought.
a. Total each of the rows (having= A, being = B, doing = C).
b. Add (A + B + C) + (1.3 x monthly expenses) = TMI
Make sure to only add the expenses from the 4 dreams you selected. The 1.3 represents your expenses plus a 30% buffer for just-in-case.
c. TMI is what you will need in addition per month, along with your usual expenses, to save up for your dreams. It can be helpful to further divide the TMI by 30 to get the TDI (Target Daily Income) to make it even more tangible.
5. Decide 3 steps for each of the 4 dreams and take the first step now. Ferriss strongly recommends short-term goals and short-term planning. It’s more tangible and leaves less room for procrastination. The first 3 steps are important to build immediate momentum. Determine the 3 steps for today, tomorrow, and the day after. This is the 4th column. Make sure they are simple, small tasks between 3 to 30 minutes.
The last step has made the hugest difference for me. Along with Ferriss’ following chapter on time management, focusing, and doing less, I have felt a huge improvement in productivity, less overwhelmed, and much clearer on my goals and priorities.
Questions: What is the biggest dream that you are scared to reach for? What would truly make you excited to get up in the morning—every morning?
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